Dream Journal - February 1997

* * *

February 1997

2/23/97 - The Big House

2/15/97 - On the beach

2/08/97 - Chicken Feet

2/23/97 - The Big House

Bob and I have moved into a big, old house in the country. It's painted shiny brown, and the paint looks thick, like wood looks when it has lots of layers of glossy paint, one on top of the other. The trim is dark green. I'm pleased that the previous owners have painted the house for us, I didn't expect that. I'm walking around the house making notes about the interior decoration to record it here, in my web journal. The living room is papered in sheet music, and the dining room wallpaper has a soft pattern of china (plates and cups).

There are two cooks in the kitchen washing dishes, and I'm being very quiet so that they hopefully won't notice me. I feel uncomfortable having them in the house, and I'm thinking that I need to find out who is supposed to pay them (I hope it's not me). There's a menu posted on the wall of the dining room. I ask someone and they tell me that the cooks are paid by someone else who runs some kind of group, and they are also the ones who use the dining room and the posted menu. I'm relieved that the cooks aren't my responsibility.

I look out a window and see what seems to be a balcony overlooking a wooded area. I make a note to go out later and inspect it. I can't now because Bob is sleeping and opening the door might wake him up.

So I get on the computer to check my email and it starts downloading message after message--33 in all--all from people I don't know. One writer corrects my grammar, and another sends me jokes, while another sends me a series of cartoons. None of the messages contains anything of substance. I keep looking through the list, hoping to see mail from someone I recognize, but there isn't any.

Interpretation of "The Big House":
I HAVE SEEN THIS THEME OF A BIG HOUSE REOCURRING IN YOURS, MINE AND OTHER PEOPLES DREAMS. I STILL LIKE AND AGREE WITH JUNG'S CONCEPTION THAT THE HOUSE IS SYMBOLIC OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS. THE LEVELS IN THE HOUSE REPRESENT LEVELS OF THE UNCONSCIOUS. (BASEMENT: THE LOWER LEVELS , ETC.) THERE ARE SEVERAL INTERESTING IMAGES IN YOUR BIG HOUSE. THE FACT THAT IT IS BIG RATHER THAN SMALL MAY SUGGEST THE EXPANSIVENESS OF YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS (OR YOUR EGO - HA!) THE COLORS OF BROWN AND GREEN SUGGEST TO ME EARTHEN COLORS OR THE COLORS OF NATURE. THEIR THICKNESS MAY MEAN THAT YOU HAVE LAYERED YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS WITH IMAGES AND LESSONS FROM NATURE. INSIDE THE HOUSE ARE OTHER PEOPLE. THE COOKS ARE THERE BUT YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE IN THEIR ROLE. PERHAPS YOU NEED TO COOK YOUR OWN. THE NUMBER 33 APPEARS. I HAVE READ SOME INTERESTING THOUGHTS ON NUMEROLOGY IN DREAMS, BUT I DO NOT HAVE THE REFERENCES WITH ME. PERHAPS YOU CAN, IN THE FUTURE, REDECORATE AND REARRANGE YOUR BIG HOUSE AS YOU NEED TO. I WOULD GO AS FAR AS TO SUGGEST THAT THIS HOUSE MAY REFLECT CURRENT EVENTS AND ATTITUDES AND COULD CHANGE AS YOUR WAKING REALITY CHANGES.
From: Lavitagus
Date: 3/04/97

2/15/97 - On the beach

I'm on vacation with Barb. We go to the beach and sit on the sand, which I notice feels really soft. We sit directly on the sand, we don't have a towel or anything, and I wish I had something to sit on. Barb remarks that she can tell by the way the waves look that there is a storm brewing out in the ocean. I start idly digging into the sand and start unearthing all kinds of watches that are buried there. There are watches with all kinds of cartoon characters--I set aside one with Winnie-the-Pooh for me, and there's an old Beatles watch for Barb. Later, I see a pile of sunglasses near the trash cans and look at them, finding a pair that I had lost the summer before.

Some of the people I work with are on vacation with us, too, and one of them is on the phone to someone at a religious shrine, asking if we can take alcohol when we visit there. At the same time, I'm watching a show about this shrine on television, and they're saying that they used real candles when they filmed the show but that normally they only use electric bulbs, because candles are too dangerous.

Interpretation of "On the Beach:"
The beach setting is the symbol of where the material (finite) meets the spiritual (infinite) The soft sand indicates the current comfort level of your situation at the time of the dream and your satisfaction with your spiritual progress. The desire for the towel shows reluctance to release material habits (always wanting more comfort than already given) The friend, Barb, is an aspect of yourself (your best self) advising you that there is a storm out at sea that is not immediately threatening, but could pose a hazard if ignored. This is a warning of potential turmoils in your married life relating to your spouse's willingness or ability to accept, understand and/or join in with your own spiritual journey. Do not rush things. Digging in the sand indicates that if you begin "digging" (self-examination) you will not need to hurry the work (your spiritual studies) as there is more than enough "time" for all the pursuits you wish to explore and more can be found than you (or any other single individual) can handle, even in your entire lifetime! The needs of others connected to your life must be considered when you pursue such things as, all this being new to them, they need time to catch up (the excess of watches indicating that you also have enough "time" for others in addition to yourself). The watches for Barb and for yourself show that there is time to consider the higher minded aspects of life (which is what the Beatles represent to you) and for the lighter, humourous, whimsical aspects as well (Winnie-the Pooh) It is also telling you to "bear" you burdens with a smile, as aid is being given to you as you strive. The sunglasses indicate an aspect of yourself that you attempted to discard the previous summer by working to open your vision. That they were only beside the trashcan and not in it shows that vigilance is needed to avoid the temptation of returning to old habits (the trash in the can) that you indulged in in the past. The shrine symbolizes the "holy of holies" within self, wherein you can meet the Spirit. Calling the shrine to ask if alcohol is permitted relates to your studies involving meditation which indicated that you should not drink any alcohol if you would meditate successfully. This shows a reluctance on your part to dedicate yourself to a purpose, seeking justification of a habit you wish to continue, rather than sacrificing it to acheive a greater understanding. Seeing the shrine on the television indicates that by "attuning" self to the higher purposes, you may enter the "holiest of holies" in meditation. The candle flames versus the electric bulbs indicates how the spirit may manifest today in the contemporary world just as readily as in the days of the saints and prophets of old. But you must trust the spirit to guide you, even toward the "flame" of understanding. One does not draw nearer to the Father by being careful!
From: Esteban
Date: 5/05/97

2/08/97 - Chicken Feet

I'm picking up food to take to my family, and for the third day in a row I'm getting chicken. My routine has been to pick up a roasted chicken, pull off the browned skin and eat it, then put the chicken in a bag and take it home. I feel guilty about eating it because I don't normally eat meat. I feel strange getting the same thing so often, and worry that my family won't be pleased. This time the chicken doesn't seem to be cooked very well--the skin isn't browned--and as I put the chicken in my bag I see that all the "parts" are still there, including the chicken's feet.

I pull out the legs with the feet still attached and put them in my bag, while trying not to look at them. The legs are really long, like a flamingo's.

Interpretations of "Chicken Feet":
We all have heard the warnings about eating or touching uncooked chicken; salmonella or something like that. perhaps this dream is not about food at all. the chicken could be symbolic of something that has the following attributes: dangerous when not prepared properly, has ugly parts (innards, feet), something you should not partake in or allow to come incontact with your family. Your routine has been eating the skin or the surface of the symbol. whatever this foul thing represents you have some guilt because it is something you have used or come in contact with before. just because you eat only the surface, you can see the rest of the ugly parts of this symbol. the feet are the most hideous. I can not fathom their meaning but whatever this chicken represents, it is something best left at the store (work?) and not brought home for the family.
From: Lavitagus
Date: 2/19/97

Being in the grocery store indicates diet is involved. Buying the chicken for your "family" and then eating the skin prior to taking it home is your inner self chiding you for practicing a hidden indulgence, while rationalizing your actions by telling yourself it is justified because you are doing it "for others". Indulging. mentally or physically, in a practice that you publicly disavow (eating meat) brings chastisement from the higher self. Thoughts are things! And are as real as if one actually indulged physically. This dream is showing your incomplete commitment to the diet concept chosen (vegetarianism) thus the symbol of the undercooked chicken showing that the commitment is underdone or "half-baked" It is well to be vegetarian. It is just as well to be non-vegetarian...but choose! And be faithful to your choice. The large size of the legs and your inability to hide them, while in a public place, shows that others are aware of the behavior indicated in spite of your attempt to conceal it.
From: Esteban
Date: 5/05/97

Last Month | Next Month | Dream Index

This page last updated: 5/06/97

2/23/97	- The Big House
2/15/97	- On the beach
2/08/97	- Chicken Feet