Issue 78, February 2005
Like a Dolphin Out of Water
©Jane Teresa Anderson, February 2005
“I was in town when I saw a dolphin on the other side of the street, gasping for water. I offered help, but he bit me. I woke up thirsty. Was the thirsty dolphin alerting me to my dehydration?”
Well yes – and no! This was a dream shared by a radio presenter during a dream segment last week. My short answer was, “Yes and no. External events and physical sensations do enter into our dreams, so your thirst may well have introduced the theme of gasping for water, but the big question is, why a dolphin? Why not a fish, a camel, a withering flower or a dream of ordering a glass of water and being given an empty cup?”
What’s with the dolphin?
It’s the totally bizarre, out of place symbols in a dream that can tell you so much. Especially when you ask them. This is how it’s done:
Awake, have an imaginary written conversation with your bizarre dream symbol, in this case, the dolphin out of water. For this to work you need to write so fast there’s no time to think. If you let your thinking, analysing mind take over it won’t work. When you write fast, letting yourself be silly, your dreaming mind takes over and explains itself.
The thing is, YOUR dream dolphin is different from my dream dolphin. We all have a different concept of a dolphin so our individual dreams are going to use our individual concepts of ‘dolphin’ to express our unique associations.
Here’s Fiona, Marco, Kirsty, Guy, Tara, Ben, Eli, Sian, Billie and Jade’s conversations with a dolphin out of water to show how it’s done and what kind of insight this kind of Dream Alchemy Practice (exercise) can deliver.
(I’ve made up these examples, based on the kind of results a selection of people dreaming this dream might get. Amazingly, when you turn off your thinking brain your dreaming brain often expresses itself succinctly with wit and humour. In reality it usually takes three or four lines of conversation before it begins to makes sense, so when you do this yourself with your own dream symbol persevere through the first few lines and then you’ll strike gold.)
The radio presenter’s dream revealed a physical thirst (she said she was dehydrated) but also a deeper thirst for something represented by a dolphin. Her conversation with her dream dolphin would reveal its unique personal meaning. I wonder if any of these come close.
FIONA
Dolphin:
I feel like a fish out of water.
Fiona:
You’re not a fish. You’re a mammal.
Dolphin:
Exactly. I want to be like other mammals, living on the land, but I’m seen as a fish out of water.
Fiona:
I know how you feel. Sometimes I don’t fit in.
Dolphin:
Doesn’t it make you spit – um, bite?
Fiona:
It makes me angry. And it hurts. I feel unquenched.
(Fiona’s dream was about recognising her anger about not fitting in.)
MARCO
Dolphin:
I’m a New Age dolphin.
Marco:
Aren’t you a bit behind the times? Wasn’t the New Age at the end of the last century?
Dolphin: (to self)
Peace, peace, peace, love and harmony...
Marco:
Can I show you the way back to the water?
Dolphin: (to self)
Grr… bite him … no, calm: love, peace and harmony …
Marco:
Why are you angry with me? I’m only trying to help.
Dolphin:
I don’t need help. I am at peace with the universe.
Marco:
Yeah, right. You wouldn’t know anger if it bit you!
(Marco’s dream was about his denial of negative feelings.)
KIRSTY
Dolphin:
I’m free! Free! Free!
Kirsty:
From what?
Dolphin:
I escaped the net!
Kirsty:
What net?
Dolphin:
The tuna net. Too many of us die in tuna fishing nets.
Kirsty:
Won’t you die on land? You’re gasping for water!
Dolphin:
My thirst for freedom is putting me at great risk, isn’t it?
Kirsty:
I can help. Ouch! You bit me!
Dolphin:
I like to be free. Don’t get close to me!
(Kirsty’s dream was about her fear of getting too close in relationships.)
GUY
Dolphin:
Don’t you recognise me?
Guy:
No.
Dolphin:
Remember hot sports days at school?
Guy:
Umm… my dolphin water bottle!
Dolphin:
Yes! I’m so thirsty!
Guy:
But …. It’s YOUR job to provide the water.
Dolphin:
I’ve run out of resources. Can only give so much. I’m the one who needs help now.
(Guy’s dream was about his need to recognise how run down he is, and why.)
TARA
Dolphin:
I swim with the pod. I’m part of the team. We are as one.
Tara:
Ah! My swim team when I was a nipper was called the Dolphins!
Dolphin:
And you were angry with the swimming instructor, remember?
Tara:
He always said I bit back.
Dolphin:
Who are you angry with now?
Tara:
My employer – the team manager. Ah.
(Tara’s dream was about recognising that she is reacting to her employer in the same way that she reacted to her childhood swimming instructor. She is transferring old baggage.)
BEN
Dolphin:
I swim with the pod, with my mates.
Ben:
Where are they now?
Dolphin:
I’m gasping for their company, their support.
Ben:
Why didn’t they come up into town with you?
Dolphin:
They didn’t share my vision – the adventure of pioneering the land.
Ben:
I know how you feel.
Dolphin:
How so?
Ben:
At work I was part of a team but I had a pioneering vision.
Dolphin:
You went it alone?
Ben:
Successfully but I’ve been ex-communicated by the old team.
Dolphin:
Are you angry with them?
Ben:
Bite!
(Ben’s dream was about recognising his anger and feelings of being abandoned and ex-communicated.)
ELI
Dolphin:
Radar. It’s all about radar. Intuition.
Eli:
Is your intuition working well?
Dolphin:
I go wherever it leads, even when the territory feels dangerous.
Eli:
How can I help you?
Dolphin:
You can’t. I have to listen to the inner voice, no matter how tough. That’s what intuition is all about.
(Eli’s dream revealed her deep personal belief that she must follow her intuition come what may.)
SIAN
Dolphin:
I can speak many languages and I have terrific ESP.
Sian:
Why are you here?
Dolphin:
I want to conquer new territory, learn more about life on the land.
Sian:
A real thirst for knowledge!
Dolphin:
You bet. But still unquenched.
Sian:
Can I help?
Dolphin:
Bite. I’m angry with you.
Sian:
Why?
Dolphin:
You forget about me when I’m in the sea. You ignore me.
Sian:
I don’t see you. Out of sight, out of mind.
Dolphin:
It’s time now to stop ignoring and denying me – your intelligence, I mean.
(Sian’s dream opened her eyes to her denial of her intelligence, an intelligence needing to be quenched.)
BILLIE
Dolphin:
Bite.
Billie:
Hey – don’t bite the hand that is willing to feed and water you!
Dolphin:
I’m angry with you.
Billie:
Why?
Dolphin:
I should be able to help myself. I don’t want to be beholden to anyone.
Billie:
It’s good to be independent but ..
Dolphin:
But what?
Billie:
But – thank you – I’ve just realised help doesn’t always have to have strings attached; sometimes it comes purely from the heart.
Dolphin:
Always happy to teach a spiritual lesson.
Billie:
Ah. I always thought dolphins were something special.
(Billie’s dream delivered a breakthrough in attitude, transforming her old belief that help comes with strings attached into a healthier belief in altruism.)
JADE
Jade:
I feel silly talking to a dolphin.
Dolphin:
You’re not talking, you’re writing.
Jade:
Don’t be pedantic.
Dolphin:
And while we’re at it, I’m not a dolphin.
Jade:
What are you then?
Dolphin:
A dream. A figment of your imagination.
Jade:
Shit. So, I’m talking to myself.
Dolphin:
(silence)
Jade:
Talking to myself. No-one else is here.
Dolphin:
(silence)
Jade:
Play the game. I’m supposed to learn something from this!
Dolphin:
Game, game, got to play the game.
Jade:
Pedantic, silent, serious, cynical.
Dolphin:
Sounds like someone I know.
Jade:
(silence)
Dolphin:
(silence)
Jade:
Okay. Why the dolphin disguise?
Dolphin:
Dolphins love to play and have fun. I’m gasping for play.
Jade:
When I was little the school bully used to bite me when I tried to join in the fun, so I gave up on play.
Dolphin:
At last! The bite message got through. I was beginning to think you’d never get it.
Jade:
Once bitten, twice shy.
Dolphin:
Did you enjoy this conversation?
Jade:
It was fun! You’ve taken the sting – um bite – out of play. Thanks.
(Jade’s dream revealed the original cause of her treasured seriousness, healing it in the same instance.)
Okay. Now, go play with your own bizarre dream symbols. Play always brings out the best!
Jane Teresa Anderson
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