Exhibit Twenty-Six: Acquired by the Dream Gallery 31 May 2000
'Through the Trees'
 ~ Kindly donated by Joan Bramsch, author and editor of The Empowered Parenting Ezine. This is the cover of Joan's new book, "Chilled Run", a free serialised adult ebook novel. You can visit Joan's site or contact her by email.
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?
I feel uneasy about this dark place between the two silhouetted, overpowering trees. Has this place been my nest, my sleeping place or my prison? I feel as if I have emerged from the dampness of a dark, cold, mouldy earth and I feel the freedom of the morning sunlight which embraces me as I melt into it. Now I feel safe. Echoing voices reunite
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.
A single tree in a dream commonly symbolises the dreamer's life. The roots may symbolise the dreamer's roots (origins), the trunk may represent the main support system and growth processes while the branches can be seen as the various branches of the dreamer's life. The leaves, being green and often being deciduous, can symbolise cycles of personal growth and the very tips of the newest twigs can indicate the dreamer's current growth points and directions.
The health, size and season of the tree all contribute towards portraying the dreamer. A stunted tree may symbolise stunted growth; an uprooted tree may reflect the dreamer's feeling of being uprooted or unstable (an uprooted tree is also a common dream symbol of depression); a dehydrated tree may symbolise a lack of emotional support (water symbolises the emotions) and so on. The species of the dream tree gives further clues: a pine tree may be a dream pun on 'pining' for something, an oak tree may symbolise potential (the oft-quoted cliché about oak trees growing from little acorns); the weeping willow may reflect sadness and so on.
Trees in groups, such as in this image, tend to represent either groups of people (and may emphasise the idea of the family: "the family tree") or society and relationship to others in general. The number of trees or the pattern they form may be significant. The two tall dark trees framing this image may symbolise two people, two aspects of the dreamer, frames of a viewpoint or an enclosing situation, nest or prison.
Familiar childhood fairy tales about forests may cast their symbolism in dreams too. We frequently wander into the depths and darkness of dream forests when we wander into the depths and darkness within ourselves. To glimpse what lies at the heart of a dream forest is to touch the core of the dreamer. To do so is often to be transformed. It is the journey into the dark that returns us into the light.
The sun throws light shafts through this image, creating both shadow and silhouette. When we stand fully in the light (when we are fully conscious of an issue) we see our darkest shadows and know our true selves.
Darkness can symbolise what is unconscious, what we cannot see clearly about ourselves, what we are 'in the dark' about. Light and colour in a dream reflect our conscious understanding. If you were to dream of emerging from the darkness into the sun in this freeze-frame dream image, the dream would be reflecting a parallel emergence of insight from your unconscious into consciousness.
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!
- If this were a fairytale forest, which fairy tale character would you be?
- What problem was this fairy tale character faced with in the original tale?
- What strengths did the character develop during the tale?
- What vulnerabilities did the character show in the original tale?
- What were the dark aspects of this character?
- What resolution did the character help to achieve in the original tale?
- If you could re-enter that fairy-tale and take a different role, which role would you choose?
- Why?
- As this second character, how would you treat the first character?
- Which emotions does the first character mostly feel?
- Which situation in your life now reflects these same emotions?
- Which emotions does the second character mostly feel?
- How do these emotions fit in with the current situation you identified in Q11?
- What can you learn about your current situation from this?
- Name the dark secret the two tall trees hold.
- What happens when you move into the light and look back on the two tall dark trees - how do they look now?
- How will your current situation appear when you look back on it from a sunlit position at a later date?
- If the trees standing in sunlight in this picture had names, what/who would they be?
- How long did it take you to notice the patch of blue sky in this image?
- What is the blue sky that often goes unnoticed in your life now?
- How much does this whole picture change your feelings if you step into the light and never look back?
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