Horrible, Scary, Nasty Dream....

[Kiama]

I had a rather nasty dream last night....

I dreamed that I was due to be beheaded at dawn, and that I was waiting in my cell, watching the night turn to dawn, with ever-growing fear. Then, the guards came along, and took me to the 'block'. I took off the long leather jacket of my boyf's that I always wesr, I took off the amber ring that was a present from my boyf, the necklace and ring which I always wear, and placed them in a neat pile, in front of the Princess who ordered my execution. I asked her to send them to my boyfriend, who was apparantly still in England, whilst I was in France... I was about to be executed, when the Princess said that she would give me a pardon if I gave her the ring my boyf bought me. I agreed, and was given back all my stuff, except for the ring. Then, one of the Princess' hand-maidens chased after me, cuz she didn't agree with what the Princess had done, and she tried to kill me using a poisonous snake. But, I accidentally trod on its head, so that it died, but its venom spurted out into the hand-maiden's face, and she died. There were other girls who were being executed, but I don't know why...

This dream really un-nerved me,and I woke up crying. It wasn't just the fact that in the deam I had nearly been beheaded, but the fact that I swapped the amber ring for my life. The leather jacket, and the jewellry I took off seem to define who I am to the outside world. People at college think something is wrong if I am not wearing the floor-length leather jacket I spoke of! The jewellry I took off in the dream all has a symbol of my belief on it, and are very important to me.

What does it all mean?

Kiama

[Emily]

Hi Kiama,

I'm not really into dream interpretations but I do have these sort of dreams when I get worried. Sometimes the subconscious works on things that don't really worry you when you're awake. It could be starting University in September, new place, new friends, a whole new life - I hope this helps a little :) (hopefully others here will be able to give you a better insight than I just have lol)

[Liliana]

My real name is Amber, not that I think its about me but its a fun possibility to consider :)

Sounds like it was telling you not to give up yourself no matter what. The ring representing your true self as you said, you gave it up and evil (snake,Christian symbolism but hey) tried to kill you, but with your personal poweryou still defeated it and its "Handmaiden" (those who wouldhave you giveup yourself). Actually maybe its not about not giving up yourself, but about not being afraid to give up some of yourself because your personal power will always be with you.

[fairyhedgehog]

I agree with Emily that it is likely that something is worrying you at a subconscious level. Could it be the move to University?

I wonder what beheading means to you? Clearly, in your dream you feared [whatever it is], enough to be willing to give up something of deep importance to you. But as Liliana pointed out, you were still able to defeat the snake. (And what does a snake mean to you?)

There is one theory that everything in a dream stands for you, or for some aspect of you. So you would be the beheading Princess and the snake ...

It sounds like a really unpleasant dream but I believe that it does mean that your subconscious is working on whatever is scary for you.

All the best, kiama,

FH

[jade]

i haven't read anyone else's interpretation but....

when you were going to die, you took off the items that make you YOU and you offered your shell up for execution.

when you stepped on the snake by accident and the enemy died...... i think that represented that you don't have to intentionally disable your adversaries....the goddess does it for you.

in light,
jade

[Malachite]

You're YOU whether you wear the ring or not, and whether you pander to other people's perceptions of you or not.

[Alta]

Here are my thoughts on your dream Kiama,

First of all, dissociate the emotions you felt when you woke up from the dream symbols. You reacted to the symbols literally with your emotions.

You are ‘losing your head’, and feeling trapped, and it is something to do with the relationship between you and your boyfriend. The Princess would be your higher self, and she is saying that you can escape the situation if you are willing to surrender part of your relationship. (not all clearly, you keep the coat and necklace).
Not sure about him in England and you in France. Depends on how you feel about those countries. Whatever, apparently the two of you, at this time, are in ‘two different countries’. Maybe that means he is taking a logical, ‘British’ approach to the upcoming changes in your lives, and you are feeling more passionate and dramatic about it all.
Part of you cannot even tolerate this idea (the hand-maiden), even any degree of separation between you. In fact you feel threatened by any idea of change and feel even that a small change is worthy of ‘death’. Snakes tend to represent pretty primitive energy, often sexually related. So I would take that as positive that somehow you are managing to deal with, or kill via the accidental poison, the part of you that cannot accept that you are growing and changing, and things in your relationship have to change.
Dreams are *very* subjective, and I should warn you that I just read a dream book, "Dreams, Your Magic Mirror" by Sechrist.

[Melvis]

:* :* :* (Had to edit this reply so I could add some 'Kiama Kisses!')

"Our unconscious is like a vast subterranean factory with intricate machinery that is never idle, where work goes on day and night from the time we are born until the moment of our death."
Milton R. Sapirstein, Paradoxes of Everyday Life

Ain't that subconscious mind a b*tch when it's trying to tell us something? ;) Even though we know we shouldn't react to nasty dreams like the one you had, it's so hard not to! Just remember that subtlety is not one of the subcons. mind's strong points...it tends towards overkill when trying to speak to the conscious self.

I'm going to go out on a limb a bit in my interpretation...look out!

IMO, I don't think worry about the future or feeling trapped is the main point of this dream. I think your subconscious wants you to feel guilty about the way you are going about the changes in your life. It's showing you that you are 'beheading' yourself by turning your back completely on your the life you've lived so far. On the face of things, this may not be how you feel, but maybe there's a little part of your brain that's been nagging you that something's not right about this change. Perhaps you feel guilty about leaving your sister to go to school? Maybe that's who was represented by the handmaiden.

So...after my very bold interpretation of your dream, let me just say one more bold thing...trust your own instincts as to how you are handling the change in your life! It's true that your old way of life may seem 'lost', but there's soooo much more ahead of you! Just don't try to deny your feelings about the people or the life you leave behind, and maybe your subconscious will cut you a bit of slack. :D

I hope your dreams will be more pleasant from now on. And like I said, this is just my opinion...feel free to tell me to take a flyin' leap if I've gotten too personal! ;)

Peace,

Melvis
:TSTRE

[zorya]

poor kiama, after all this time wanting to remember your dreams and then getting this one. do you feel as though you are moving apart from your boyfriend in any way or that changes in your life could separate you? do you worry that if you do lose him, you will be losing part of yourself? that choosing whatever it is, is not the "logical" thing to do because it could hurt your relationship? but you know that change is inevitable and you need it to grow.

[Kiama]

Wow, thanks guys! I'm gonna see if I can work this one out, given all the answers you've got, but I'll do the Mix 'n Match thing.

But first, to Malachite, with all due respect: I knew that already. However, 'pandering to other people's perceptions of me' is something that everybody does at some point. I used to. Now,what I wear, what I choose to look like, is to try and make people realise that when they judge me, they are damn wrong! They are more wrong than they could ever be! I dress like a grunge-music fan, a Goth, and even go punk-grunge every now and then. It makes me look as though I am anything but intelligent, anything but successful, anything but approachable. And its funny to watch people's judgement of me from my looks crumble around them when they realise that I am not what I seem.

I have my quirky 'things' such as the leather jacket, which is personal preference. That's something I do for me not for anyone else. That is why the leather jacket is seen as represetation of who I am. Not because I put it on for other people to be able to recognise me.

That said, I'll move on swiftly... I agree with most of what Jade said... It hit home somehow. I am still trying to work out if the dream is referring to University or not. I haven't been worrying about it at all recently, so I don't know if the dream would be talking about it or not. Certainly it seem as though it is pointing to some new stage in life... I'm not afraid of the changes that I am going through right now, and I'm quite looking forward to it all... My relationship with my boyfriend has actually just got better, and the move to University will be good for us both, cuz he'll be going back to the place he was born! Zorya was dead on the nail when she said that I feel that losing my boyfriend would be like losing a part of myself, but I can't see how that applies to my life at this point...

Marion's perception of the two different countries is very useful. I think I need to ask my boyfriend what he really thinks of the change when we move in September.

Melvis, you shocked me with the part about me feelng guilty about leaving my sister behind! Very accurate! Y'ee, one of my sisters (The eldest little sister) has just begun to study all the different religions, aswell as Tarot, under my guidance. I wasn't so much teaching her about anything, just recommending books, helping her when she got stuck, answering questions, and guiding her to the next thing. She has begun her study of religions with Paganism. But quite often, she gets lost, and I am very worried that moving all the way to Wales (A whole different country) to go to university would leave her with no way to know whether or not she's doing it all right, and I won't be there as much for her.

Hmmm... I think I need to think about this some more.

[Alta]

Hi Kiama,
Thanks for adding the personal associations. Maybe your boyfriend is in Britain because he is 'home', going home in this case. While to you it is a foreign country.
I also had a thought about the other girls being executed. You commented in thread a while ago about how much you were enjoying being seventeen because it was your last year of being a child (yes, I know it was a bit tongue in cheek). Maybe the maidens being executed are childish parts of you that need to 'die' so you can become the woman you are meant to be.
I kind of think the dream is not so much about going to university, but that going to university marks such a big turning and change point in your life. Related to growing into a woman, to moving on, and personal growth. I think your boyfriend is strongly in there, though I did not mean to imply giving him up. Maybe giving up some childish aspects of the relationship. I did not mean that disrespectfully Kiama, but inevitably the ground on which the two of you stand will shift, as it does for all partners. I think that idea that you managed to get rid of the poison was a good sign.

[zorya]

hi kiama, having just read your reply, i can't see how this fits, but as i've been lying in bed thinking about it the last couple hours i thought i'd throw this out to you anyway. rings represent eternity, commitment. you gave up your ring but ended up with the jacket etc. i thought maybe the jacket represented the comfort of the relationship.

[Kiama]

Ah! Now it makes some sense! Marion: The thing about me having to grow up is probably the most accurate meaning ascribed to this dream so far! WoW! That does seem to have pretty much solved this dream...

Zorya: I will be giving your interpretation some more thought later.

Thanks guys!

Kiama

[blumoon]

thought i'd jump in too...

perhaps unconsciously you feel that being with your b/f you are losing some of your own identity/personality and taking up more of his? and by giving in your ring you are giving away some of your identity but still have his (the jacket you mentioned he gave you), or maybe you feel others see you this way? i dont mean to offend...it's just that i can relate to this interpretation, when i was with my ex b/f i forgot who i was and turned into what he wanted, then i finally came to my senses...i didnt really know who i was then so it was easy to lose my identity...you sound like you already know yourself well enough though so your ahead of the game ;)

[isthmus nekoi]

Verrrrry rich dream, Kiama! Couldn't resist this one... :P

My own association w/this beheading was immediately: Bluebeard, specifically Angela Carter's interpretation The Bloody Chamber: a fairy tale about the dark animus - the puella (little girl archetype) who wanders into Bluebeard's dark realm to be awoken into knowledge.

Few generals:
night to dawn - dawning consciousness
beheading - cutting off the old conscious system or beliefs (which are based on the female ego's relation to the animus)?
jacket - protective cover/persona> reflects identification w/the animus?
ring - Self, wholeness, eternity (consciousness = mortality, uncon = eternal life)
princess - inner female, unintegrated aspect of the psyche?
snake - gnosis, sexuality etc snake is really really too rich a symbol!!
girls - other feminine aspects

Okay, let's put this back together:
- you're going to be beheaded by the Princess> the aspect of the psyche which is not happy w/the way things are going. Greater understanding of the Princess, who she is, what she is like etc might help.
- pardon if you give her the ring > allowing her access to the totality of the psyche, allowing her into your relationship w/animus spares you. You can keep your persona (other items)but the Self - the centralizing nucleus of the psyche remains w/her - not the animus.
- attempts to murder w/a snake remind me of the Eden myth - to eat from the tree of knowledge is to enter consciousness is to die
- accidental killing of the snake... interspace b/w knowing and not knowning. The knowledge is coming, but is facing resistance?
- other girls> the ego has been spared, but the puellas continue to be executed in the background.

I know I'm making this sound grim, but it's really really not!!! Meaning, it doesn't have to translate to grim-ness in the external reality. The uncon has a way of overdramatizing things sometimes ^-^

[lunalafey]

marion saw a good one with 'losing your head'
as for the Leather jacket, could it be ' sheading your skin'?

[Angel Star]

This dream has much symbolism in it Kiama and it also sounds like to me somewhat past lifish. But this is my interpretation. Have you ever done any past life work? I have many past life trances and dreams they make so much sense when we cannot actually interpret dreams. Look into some dream books. There is one out called a Witches dream book I am not sure of the title I have it stored away in a box but if you want it I can look it up. This is one of the best books I have picked up on dreams.