OVERVIEW INTERPRETATION
Hi Teri,
As you were unaware that your partner had his own gorilla dream just before yours, there must be a gorilla link in common. Had someone recently used the phrase ‘gorilla hug’ in front of you both? Had you seen a documentary on gorillas, heard someone mention research into gorillas or overheard a joke about a gorilla? Have you visited a house or restaurant where there’s a poster of a gorilla on a wall, or seen an ad in a magazine featuring a gorilla? Has someone told you about a going to a fancy dress party as a gorilla or shown you a soft toy gorilla? Or have you seen a movie or discussed guerrillas? (Dreams use visual word play, such as substituting a gorilla for a guerrilla.)
Any of the above gorilla encounters may have triggered deeper feelings and thoughts that your dream has gone on to explore using the gorilla as a symbol of that encounter.
Partners do often share dream symbols but this usually happens on the same night. There are two main reasons for this. One is that one dreams and the other tunes into the dream and incorporates the same symbol into their own dream. The other is that as partners you share similar experiences and issues and so it’s common to dream of similar themes with similar symbols.
As your gorilla dreams were more than a day apart, it’s most likely that you were each addressing a similar theme for which the gorilla symbol was appropriate.
So, let’s forget about your partner’s dream now and focus on yours.
Which three words would you use to describe the personality or approach to life of a gorilla? Write them down. When you think of a ‘gorilla hug’ – a person giving another person a hug and calling it a ‘gorilla hug’ – what one word would you use to describe the feeling of that hug? Write it down. You now have four words.
In your dream you are embraced by something (the gorilla) that represents those four words.
Animals in dreams often symbolise your instincts (especially survival instincts). Another way to think about this is to see animals as symbolising energies. Look again at your four words and see how they relate to instincts within you that you are beginning to embrace or tune into. Or ask yourself if you can feel these energies within you and how they may or may not help you in your current situation.
When an animal looks deeply into your eyes in a dream it is connecting with you and you are connecting with it. You are meeting eye to eye. But as the gorilla really represents your own energies and instincts what you are really doing is meeting an aspect of yourself eye to eye, or I to I.
In your dream you felt fear but when the gorilla embraced you and looked into your eyes you felt safe. Our survival instincts are all about ensuring our safety. Where in your life were you feeling your safety was threatened? What exactly were you frightened of? In your dream you were suddenly left alone – except for the gorilla – and that’s where the fear kicked in. Where, in your life, have you suddenly felt alone? It may be in your relationship with your partner or someone else, or it may be that you have been required to work solo instead of as part of a team, for example. What support structure seemed to disappear at the time of your dream?
What would a gorilla do in your situation, considering the four words you wrote down describing a gorilla’s approach to life?
Your dream shows you ready to face the fear of gorilla energy and ready to find safety by embracing gorilla instinct. Your task is to recognise these instincts within yourself and then to ask yourself whether they are helpful to you in your current situation. Sometimes our instincts serve us well. Sometimes they are reflex instincts based on ways of coping that have helped us in the past but which are not helpful in the long run.
You will find it helpful to read ‘The awesome wild animal’ in Dream Alchemy, pages 150-6.
DREAM ALCHEMY PRACTICE
Dialogue:
Your dialogue is between you and the gorilla while it is looking deeply into your eyes. Start with you saying, “Should I trust you?” and see what the gorilla automatically answers. Keep it going for 20 minutes.
How to do this:
Give yourself no longer than 20 minutes. When you do this exercise do NOT think! Don’t plan ahead. Just let whatever happens happen. Let the two entities speak to each other on paper using whatever words come up. It’s a bit like writing a film script or play – but without the brain being involved.
How does this work?
By not thinking, by keeping the words flowing, you are letting your right brain and unconscious mind do most of the work. They created the original dream so they know what these symbols mean for you. They will reveal. You will be surprised.
More details on Dialogue as a Dream Alchemy Practice in: “Dream Alchemy”, by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 321-4 and 333.
Jane Teresa Anderson
You can consult with Jane Teresa or her Dream Team and receive your interpretation by email within five working days.
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