Exhibit Two: Acquired by the Dream Gallery 23 July 1998
'Whale Ecstasy'
Feeling
The Picture
Your feeling reactions to a dream are keys to its interpretation. These are my feelings. If this were a scene in your dream or life, how would you feel about being there?
A whale exuberantly lifts from the ocean, not so
much 'leaning backwards', but arching his b ack to stretch and lift his soft chest to the
light as if exposing his soft side to the world in joyful abandonment. In lifting from the
sea he exposes something of the mystery of the ocean. What usually moves below the surface
is safely lifted to the surface. I am watching the whale, rather than being the whale. The
colours in the picture give me a feeling of new sunshine after a dark, rainy day.
The Symbols
Symbols in your dreams often relate to your personal memories and associations, so always consider those first. Then let your mind play with other, more general possibilities. They will not all apply! Just open your mind and notice where the symbol seems to fit and make sense of the rest of your dream.
The ocean generally symbolises the unconscious:
either within you or as the collective unconscious accessible by you at all times. The
whale often represents the unconscious too, since it is such a huge creature, as is the
unconscious compared to our relatively small waking conscious self. Weather in a dream
often reflects the dreamer's emotions or feelings. The chest and stomach of any mammal is
soft and vulnerable. The air and sky above the ocean could be seen to symbolise the
conscious mind. Putting the symbols together, this dream picture suggests the dreamer
might have been going through a dark, emotional (rainy) period, but that darkness has
birthed (or is just about to birth) something that was previously known only to the
unconscious mind into the conscious mind, transforming darkness into joy. What has 'come
up' from the unconscious is something to do with feeling freer to expose vulnerability,
mixed with a readiness to abandon old ways of being. A feeling of re-newed safety is
suggested. My whale was masculine: symbolising the Yang: the left brain, the outer world.
Maybe this emergence is a new understanding about, or expression in, the outer world. At
the time of the dream, this emergence from the unconscious is still so new that the
dreamer does not yet identify with the whale, but watches, objectively. This may also
reflect the fact that moving something into consciousness often allows us to view the old
conflict in a more objective way. A mystery of the self is brought to the surface. Joy!
The Questions
Here are some questions the dreamer of such a dream picture might ask to work towards a complete understanding of the dream.
Try these yourself: just give your 'gut reaction' answers to the questions - your answers will surprise you in the insights they deliver. The key thing to remember is, "Don't THINK about your answers - give quick gut reaction replies". Your unconscious will deliver.
If this process can work powerfully for this image, consider how infinitely more powerful the insights are when the image comes from one of your own dreams - direct from your unconscious!
* I felt the whale was a 'he' in my
interpretation. What feeling did you get? Why?
* Can you relate the dream picture weather to what is happening for you emotionally at the
moment?
* What life situation does this help you to identify? This is the issue your dream is
addressing.
* How might 'exposing vulnerability' fit into your current life? Are you aware of
protecting your 'soft side'?
* What is the worse possible thing that can happen to you if allow your vulnerability to
show?
* What is the best thing that could happen?
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