Author

Subject: burning dragon

blue

13:16 23/09/2000 

It was a beautiful sunny day. The colours were vivid and bright as if to enhance the overall happy and carefree mood of the dream. I ran out my front door and onto the lush green grass, looked up at the clear blue sky and thought it was a wonderful day to be airborne.

I stopped only to grab the hand of a little boy standing by the side of the road outside his house, inviting him to come fly with me. He was really enthusiastic about it and so we soared up into the sky.

We were only four metres off the ground but he was scared so I set him back on the ground and flew up as far as I dared.

I felt so happy and free, when I noticed something black falling from the sky in the distance. At first I was scared and was about to turn away but at the last minute I decided to go and see what it was.

I sped towards it, slowing down in confusion as the shape became clearer. When I reached it, it had already sunk to the earth. My carefree happiness left me and was replaced by a strong feeling of confusion. This thing before me was so out of place, it didn't belong in this dream. It was the blackened still burning carcass of a massive dragon. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was as if the dream suddenly stopped right there: nothing before mattered, just this massive burning dragon. All I could think was, what does this mean? There was no fear only confusion.

Dream edited for easier reading - JT, 2005

Rick B

17:04 23/09/2000 

Blue,

What else was out of place in the dream - the little boy's fear? I feel there is some part of you that is also afraid to fly. I know this is true of me also. You mention confusion a couple of times. Perhaps you are confusing yourself. Perhaps there is something out of place, coming out of the sky and into your life, something you don't care to see. Yet the dragon is sometimes thought to symbolize courage or determination. I feel this a very affirming dream. This reminds me of something someone said to me recently, that my "psychomythology is greater than my psycopathology."

Rick B

blue

19:12 23/09/2000 

Rick,

I have no fear of flying and the little boy was only around 4 or 5 years old so his fear was understandable. Nothing was out of place, only the dragon. It was mystifying, it appeared out of nowhere and I didn't know what to think. I don't think I've ever been taken by surprise like that in a dream before. A lot of what you said makes sense, I find that I tend to overlook even the most obvious possible meanings of my dreams expecting something complex. The dragon symbolising courage and determination actually makes a lot of sense (I'm not very well informed about symbolism). Thanks for the insight.

blue

Jane Anderson

14:02 24/09/2000 

Hello Blue,

(Why Blue? Is that your name, or is it blue like a sunny day sky, or blue like feeling blue? Somehow blue rings through as being at both extremes: both high, like the flying, and low, like the confusion pulled down with the appearance of the burned dragon.)

In any case:

As we reach higher levels, as we transcend previous limitations and reach new heights, we release the fears or thinking patterns which previously limited us. Your burnt dragon was released through your soaring flight. The old, dragon of past fears, past thinking...

Yes, hard to relate to now but ...

The little boy was around 4 or 5 and you saw his fear as understandable so you left him behind you. He may symbolise yourself as 4 to 5 years of age (irregardless of your sex, he would symbolise the male aspect of yourself, the Yang), or he may symbolise an event which is now 4 - 5 years old, i.e. something which happened 4 - 5 years ago.

What a wonderfully affirming dream, for your dream action was the decision to leave this old belief/experience/fear behind and continue your upward journey.

The thing is, we are usually completely unaware of our unconscious fears or limitations until we have let them go - the value of hindsight is recognition.

And so, the benefit of leaving this past behind is the RELEASE of the dragon which has been sitting in your unconscious mind for a long time, since dragons are usually very old. The dragon was black (unconscious?) and burnt. What was burned within you at age 4/5 [or 45 'four-t-five'??] or 4-5 years ago?

The recognition of the dragon caused confusion. Well, yes, it would, because it necessitates a reconstruction of your perception of yourself and your past.

Yes, no fear only confusion. Spot on. The fear had gone because you had left it (little boy who feared the flight) behind. Old fears mystify and confuse us when we are no longer fearful of them: "What on earth made me feel fearful of that?"

On Earth? Hmmm ... what on Earth did you leave behind. ;)

Long may your dreams continue to surprise you, and may all the fallouts, like the dragon, bring freedoms and blessings.

Jane Anderson

blue

08:58 25/09/2000 

Jane,

thank you, it all makes sense now. Blue for both the aspects you mentioned, but thankfully now it’s more often ‘blue like a sunny day’. I didn’t think the little boy had any significance, but I guess it was really the key to fully understanding the dream. Something’s been eating away at me for four or five years and I’ve only recently fully acknowledged and let it go; and you’re right, it was an unconscious thing that I wasn’t aware was affecting me until it was gone. Thanks again for your help!

blue

Jane Anderson

09:52 25/09/2000 

A pleasure Blue.

And thank you for sharing the dream and your reactions (and thank you Rick too) as everyone always learns so much through looking into the mirror of other people's dreams.

Jane Anderson