More Dream-symbols

Here are a few notes that, it is hoped, might be helpful:

Nothing appears "at random" in a dream. Everything means something. Let's use archetypal language to fill in some of your dream-dictionary:

The "large familiar building (mall, office building, etc.") is a large area of your longterm memory, for a large room or other area, especially if it might contain "stores," is all about memory-storage. You are "looking for the bathroom." Since you use "bath-" instead of "rest-" room, the emphasis is on interior cleansing or purification. The very first part of the mystical Way is the "Way of Purgation," which means, "purification." This is a never-ending process, for all eternity, as we continue to get contaminated or polluted in mind, and must continually repeat our many internal purification processes. Once you find it, "there are lots of stalls." This implies the many strategies and mechanisms of the Mind that can facilitate interior purification. They include meditation, deep breathing, chanting, stillness, friendship, service, selflove, and many others. But they have "no doors." This implies that there are no real barriers separating you from these purification processes, techniques, strategies, or modalities. There are also "no real toilets." This implies that your methods for detoxing yourself of psychotoxins are not present, or not effective. So, it is probably a sign that you must work more on detox, or experiment with other methods. You say that there are "no toilets that work." This is a change from "no toilets." If there are devices that are simply malfunctioning, the dream is saying that you do have some approaches, but they are simply not working.

Now, to your "curious haunted dreams": "I am in a haunted house, and the entity within wants to harm me or kill me." This is quite a common motif. It appears all the time. The "entity" is a subconscious aspect of yourself, perhaps hidden from even you, by conscious suppression or unconscious repression. Its desire to "kill you" can imply that the memories are so life-changing, so dramatic, that they will "kill"your old egoself. They might promote rebirth of yourself as a spiritual being. This can be very good, of course, but it scares the hell out of the ego.

While still in the dream, you need to find the lucidity to shout, "What are you?" For in the worlds of both dreams and magic, knowing the identity gives you power. (In ancient lore, this was to know the "name.") Also, you can go back and recover as much memory as possible, and dig around until you "strike gold." You then seem to refer to the "entity" as "she," so it might be connected with your destructive "inner child" or "inner mother" (very cancerian).

You continue, "She/it turns Rex [pseudonym] (the dog) into many little dogs..." Rex represents your undeveloped bionature. What you are doing is dividing and weakening the energies of your "animal" nature instead of directing them towards positive expression. Do not deny your animal-nature. Embrace it as a part of your Self-- a part that needs trained and guided, but is not "evil." For the animal-nature protects your biosurvival; hence, it is not only difficult and challenging teacher, but "friend." (Even when it resists our spirituality, it can be seen as a nemesis that makes us stronger.)

You next write, "in order to get Rex back, I must be willful and demand that she restore her." This means that to reintegrate your biosystems, you must be a bit assertive and demanding, approaching your biosystems as their master (mistress), not reticently, reluctantly, or trepedatiously. You must take forceful control, and make demands, not requests. For your own Master has made you mistress of the body, to some extent.

Now, to the "haunted house which is beautifully decorated with ornate mirrors gilded in gold." A "mirror" is selfreflection, selfexamination. This is the theme of the dream. But there is a superficiality to the seeing. If the frames were pure and solid gold, the meaning would be altered. But they are "guilded in gold." This is a thin layer, for appearance. Gold, as in alchemy, is the internal "sun" of goodness and Love. So the dream is discussing any activity that might be "religious" but not truly spiritual. To others, and even to yourself, certain actions might seem to be (or to reflect) the Way. But unless they emanate from your deeper Self, from your deep heart, they are invalid.

You next write, "I realize the entity within wants to harm me, or kill me, and that it can do it with the mirrors I've been admiring." Your reference to the "entity within" clues us in on the identity of the entity. It is indeed in service to the Spirit of Love. It is this compassionate Spirit that is moving you to selfreflection, selfexamination, selfcorrecting. And the "you" who are in danger of death is not You the Soul or higher Mind, but "you" the ego. (In a dream, it is not at all unusual for you to represent the conscious self or ego.) So, the earlier intuition here proves to be true: The entity feared by the ego is the Lovelight that threatens its dissolution, and the survival instinct of the ego kicks in big-time. The ego thrives on, and creates, fear. Fear is "Purina Ego-chow," and the function of ego is to block the spiritual (Love) through the manufacture of Its opposite, fear.

The identity of "you" as ego is confirmed by your next words: "I attempt to escape." This is egofear, but, since you are running from your Self, there is nowhere to which you can escape.

The Christ said, "I am the door," and the Buddha similarly represented the deeper nature as a "gate." So, next you get stuck between this world of fear and the world of interior enlightenment: "I get stuck in the door,..." So, you have reached a stasis-point in traversing the mindspace between ordinary reality and the interior Reality of the inner "world" of Mind. You then seek aid: "I call outside with a cell phone." Again,the wording is critical. You call "outside," but all your assistance and wisdom are "inside." This might indicate some outward-turning for assistance when the only real help is in inward-turning.

A masculine (yang, intellectual, assertive) part of your nature appears to come to your assistance: "A man answers."

This male-part actually is acting against your best interests in the short-run, but serves Love in the longrun. "It's a trucker." So, this is the functions of mind that carry data from one part of mind to another. It is the mental function of intracommunication (the mind talking to itself). "He is waiting for me." This mind-communication includes the structuring of larger ideas brought together from smaller ones. Like bumpers and hoods carried in a truck, to be fitted together with the whole car, this mind-connecting function has only pieces of the puzzles of existence. It is waiting to capture you in its words, concepts, ideas, and doctrines. (The universe can be understood intellectually, and operates in only this way.") "He captures me." So, this is a cautionary note against getting too caught up in ideas. If "God is truth," then, "Mind is Reality," not any or all of the ideas held by mind. Ideas and concepts can be limitations, shackles, and traps or snares.

"[He] puts me in a box under the stairs." A "box" is an idea or concept that limits new ideas or new vision. Think outside the box! It is "under the stairs" because it is all operating subconsciously ("under"), but also supports your "upward" growth to God (Lovemind; stairs).

"[He] makes me wear a leash." This part of your mind is the intellect whichlikes to be always in charge; indeed, it often wants to believe that it is the totalmind-- all there is to mind! He wants all the forces of ego to serve it, to do its bidding, follow its orders, be led around by its directives ("leash").

"[He] then slices me up into pieces like bread." This is the old archetype of Osirus, who was similarly sliced up before his integration and return as savior. This is the disconnection created by the multiplication of categories. The cosmos is one. But the intellect is convinced that if it can cutthings into little pieces, chop up the integrated and unified cosmos, it will be able to understand. In science, chopping data into small bites is the first step: The first step to understanding is the creation of categories. This "male" part is convinced that it can understand even you by picking apart and separating the data. The problem is that you, like the cosmos, are much greater than the sum of your parts!:)

In the next part, you write, "I am finally shown two homes. One is haunted and one isn't. The one that is haunted is grey, cold, empty and doesn't belong to me. The one that belongs to me is warm, filled with color and welcoming energy."

The haunted house is the self ("house" always=self) that has died. It is egoself, and is haunted by any number of bad memories, traumas, failures, negative selfimages, weaknesses, etc. On the Way, you have largely abandoned it. So it is "cold" (emotionally dead) and in disrepair. You must work to maintain a self or it falls apart. This house, in short, is old, superceded, past, outgrown selfimages full of doubts and fears. The new and warm place is your current higher (or deeper) self, bright and friendly, as the Spirit within is Love.

The next: "I am in a building." A "building" is an expanded "house," in archetypal language. So, this is an expanded or growing selfimage. In it, you are "walking up a ramp." This is "level-symbolism," in which upward movement always signifies spiritual growth, development, and evolution. As you walk upward, the dream also used "horizontal" symbolism: "ahead of me are three women." The "three" is not literal; reference is not to three parts of your nature, but to that part of your nature represented by the numeral three. Three is the triangle, which has two points at bottom, and one at top. So, this is the state of wholeness (holiness or healing) obtained by your long, hard trek through the illusionworld of duality. This is not simple intrinsic oneness, but that which has been earned and learned. It is oneness won by hard challenges. The dream is clearely saying that you are on the right path, spiritually, because you are "following" this part of your whole or enlightened nature.

Next, you write, "Along the sides are high heeled shoes that are very steep and look uncomfortable." Lao Tzu similarly writes, "Standing on tip-toe is not real standing." Shoes represent your pisces energy (pisces is the sign of the feet). The shoes are unnatural and uncomfortable. They are techniques and approaches that are not allowing for the natural Flow of your life. If you are doing anything besides reading, learning, and absorbing spiritual material, you are being warned against trying to push your self artificially to a "higher" position or "higher" Self or Mind, a "higher" level of consciousness. So, if you are doing anything but learning, the dream is warning you to stop this. Abandon "short-cuts" or ways designed to speed up your spiritual growth.

Next, "Then I notice [that] the women in front of me have no lower legs. They are walking on the trunks of their legs just above the knee." In astropsychology, this also involves the feet, which are absent. This implies that you might not be using fully your pisces (naturally intuitive, mystical) aspects of mind. It can also mean that, although a source of much good and valuable knowledge and wisdom, your interior Guide has lost "groundedness-- connections to the practical, "nuts and bolts"world of everyday reality. The goal of mysticism is to implement and uplift the practical into the spiritual. But it does not do this by lifting the mystic outside of the "real, everyday, ordinary" world. That is like trying to develop muscles without the exercise-weights that resist them. For people with aquarius in their chart, the symbolism would imply that they are not using their aquarius energy to promote or
improve their spiritual course.

Next, "Each one is wearing a different color pastel shorts-- pink, yellow, blue." These are the forces with which you are being encouraged to work right now. Pink is the first chakra [red, but purified (mixed with wite or purity)=pink], pure intellect (yellow) and communication (blue), with both yourself and others.

Next, "I wonder if [whether] they can dance." Here you are questioning your ability to express Love, wisdom, etc. through playfulness.