Issue 138, February 2010
How to cure a headache
copyright Jane Teresa Anderson, February 2010
“It was a horrifying dream,” began Simon, “but I know enough about dreams to know it’s not what it seems. “I was swinging an axe down hard on a kangaroo’s head, but that’s not the worst of it.”
Simon has worked with me on his dreams for some time, and invited me to share this one to encourage people who may be reticent to admit to such violent dreams. As you’ll see, the interpretation of Simon’s very short dream is extremely revealing, positive, and potentially life changing.
“In the next scene,” Simon continued, “I was swinging the axe down hard on my niece’s head. The axe kept missing the spot, so I had to keep chopping. My niece, Sasha, was in pain, and pleaded with me to keep going. She had a headache, and this was the cure.”
Can you imagine how someone who knows nothing about dream interpretation would feel about a dream like this?
I knew kangaroos are also known as thumpers, so I could see one connection within the dream. I knew Simon must have thumping headaches. But I knew there was much more. I decided a question and answer approach would be best. Here’s how it went:
“What kind of kangaroo was it?”
“A Big Red.”
“How would you describe the personality of a Big Red?”
“Not very intelligent.”
That surprised me, so much so that I needed verification. “Why?”
“They jump out in front of cars, don’t look where they’re going.”
“And what about Sasha’s personality?”
“She’s smart. It’s taken her years, but she’s finally recognised that she’s smart and she’s doing something about it.”
I knew there had to be a connection between the kangaroo and Sasha, because the dream basically repeated, substituting the kangaroo for Sasha. It’s an example of a recurring motif. They’re very common in dreams once you know how to look.
So we have a kangaroo that’s not very intelligent, Sasha who’s finally recognising her intelligence, and a dream that focuses on heads and headaches. Somewhere in here I knew that Simon was ready to ‘open up’ a painful issue about intelligence.
“Do you have headaches often?” I asked.
“Yes, terrible headaches,” said Simon. “Like being hit over the head with a blunt axe,” he chortled.
“How old were you when you had your first bad headache?”
“Thirteen. I needed reading glasses.”
“Did you get them?”
As you have probably guessed, Simon got glasses but he didn’t wear them because he didn’t want to look intelligent. He knew he would get bullied. Although he was smart, he decided against university and made career choices that challenged him physically and emotionally but not intellectually.
“People always expect me to be more intelligent than I am,” Simon told me.
“And how do you measure that, Simon?” I asked. “What if you expect them to see through you, to know that you’re more intelligent than you allow yourself to show?”
“So I’m like this big, lolloping, stupid kangaroo, and I could be more like Sasha?”
“Far from it,” I said. “You’re very far from stupid, but your dreaming mind has come up with a dramatic symbol for how you feel about the past, now, looking back. The dream came from you: you see yourself in the past as a bit of kangaroo when it comes to being smart. Somehow, though, I think there’s more. By your definition, all kangaroos are “not very intelligent”, because all kangaroos jump in front of cars. What makes a Big Red different from other kangaroos?
“From my early 20s I was known as Big Red.”
“Let me guess, you got glasses when you were in your 20s?”
“Yes. I wore them a bit. The others ribbed me for looking clever, but it didn’t bother me too much.”
“Do you think your headaches might be connected to times when this issue of intelligence comes up for you?” I asked. “Your dream shows the part of you that wants to just get on with being smart – like Sasha – pleading to be freed from those thumping headaches. Maybe the axe is slipping in the dream because you’re not yet totally done with the issue. Could it be time now to let it go?”
Our physical bodies hold painful memories in painful ways. Simon’s dream suggests he has held painful memories about his intelligence as headaches from, perhaps, the age of thirteen. Whenever waking life touches on this issue, Simon gets a thumping headache.
The dream has come up because Simon is close to resolving this issue now. He has just to steady his focus and stop slipping back (like the axe). The point of the dream was not to kill Sasha, but to cure her of her headaches. The point of the dream is to cure Simon of those painful memories, the issue, and, as soon as he focuses his intent, the headaches.
Simon has consulted doctors over the years about his headaches, and the diagnosis has always been stress. Dream interpretation helps get underneath stress, to the cause.
Simon’s dream alchemy practice involves making peace with his thirteen-year-old self, making it okay for him to be smart. And any time that he feels a headache coming on, he will stop and examine what he was thinking and feeling the moment the pain niggled. His task is to observe and simply release.
Jane Teresa Anderson
A bumper Dream Sight for you today!
Once a quarter, I write a new Dream Sight article, and here it is (above), ‘How to cure a headache’. Enjoy.
This issue also brings you links to all the January podcasts and highlights from January’s blog posts. Plenty of dream inspiration!
If you live within commuting distance of Brisbane, you might be interested in an exclusive, 15 week, dream interpretation course I’m offering this year. Six participants only. Contact me for details.
Here’s to a fabulous February for us all,
Jane Teresa
Blog Highlights: January
6 Jan 10
Love comes so easily
11 Jan 10
Radio 2UE: Rat race or mouse trap?
19 Jan 10
Radio ABC Victoria: Joy flight
21 Jan 10
Be true to yourself
Jan 10
Time out
26 Jan 10
Lottery win
28 Jan 10
See through another’s eyes
The Dream Show - January episodes
A free weekly podcast
There were five Fridays in January. Five Fridays, five podcasts. Here they are. You can listen to these online, free on iTunes, or download to your iPod.
Listen to all episodes
Or subscribe/download to your iPod
And I'd love to have more guests on the show, so if you're interested in having a dream interpreted on the show, please email me.
Enjoy and share these:
Episode 37:
Change the world
This podcast episode, released the first day of a grand new decade, is dedicated to changing the world, one dream at a time, and showing you how to do this.
This is especially for you if you’re ready to greet a new decade by getting serious about understanding your life by looking into your dreams.
People often ask, “Why don’t our dreams spell out what we need to know in a language we can understand?” When you hear the story of Dolores’s dream in this podcast, you’ll see the light.
Episode 37
Episode 38:
Jen's dream: The cat wore glasses
Jen found a cute little cat wearing glasses who needed rescuing, and, well, one thing led to another and the dream ended with two Maori weddings. Jen awoke with all the lyrics to a song sang at one of the weddings: beautiful, evocative lyrics, complete with a message, all the work of her own unconscious creative mind.
Listen as we discuss the interpretation of her dream, and hear Jen confirm how the interpretation relates to her life.
She also mentions a recent accident and other waking life details that I then interpreted “as if a dream” for extra insight. Interpreting waking life events can add powerful perspective, as you will hear. So there are lots of tips and insights for you here.
Episode 38
Episode 39:
Kate's dream: Gin with the tonic
Kate dreamed of being on a plane, well, actually she was in a drawing of a plane wondering whether to sip the free gin and tonic that manifested, cartoon-like, before her eyes.
It's a fun dream that uncovers a block that has been limiting an aspect of Kate's life.
It's a fun chat too, so listen in for some entertaining insights that will enrich your understanding of both dreams and life.
And if you've had dreams of sitting school tests, or dreams of a deceased parent, there's extra insight for you at the end, when Kate asks about these recurring dream themes.
Episode 39
Episode 40:
Eve's dream: A good gossip
We unpack Eve’s dream involving DJ Olive, a good old gossip in a restroom, a game of Nintendo, an ex-boss, and a pink bejewelled evening gown.
Now what could that possibly be about?
Listen as Eve realises the dream uncovers a significant event in childhood that has been affecting her choices and decisions. No longer, of course!
Eve had this dream the night before the podcast, at a time when she has an important decision to make. The insight she gained from this dream interpretation gave her clarity, as you will hear.
Episode 40
Episode 41:
Kitty's dream: Mirror, mirror on the wall
Kitty brings a dream featuring an unusable toilet (how many times have you dreamed of a toilet you can't use?), a vertical ladder that's hard work to climb and impossible to exit at the top, and a feeling of increasing anger and frustration.
What does it mean, and what does Snow White ("Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all") have to do with the interpretation?
If you like a good mystery, join Kitty and I as we do the detective work, following the dream clues to an enlightening conclusion.
Episode 41
Listen to all podcasts
Media: Coming up this month
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