Dream Interpretation 21

DREAM 21

4 January 2012

Main environment

An exterior setting – it was raining and there were streetlights, but that is all I recall about the location of the dream.

Timing 

Night

Characters 

• Myself – in third-person perspective, looking at myself (looking as I appear in real-life)
• Princess Diana
• Dodi Fayed (mention only)
• The lower-half of male medics attending to Princess Diana

Narrative 

I was standing in the rain under some street lamps which illuminated the scene. I can’t recall anything further about my surroundings. I was looking at a car – inside I could see myself seated in the passenger seat (as I would be in real-life, as I do not drive). My hair was loose and I was eating a Twix – biting both ‘fingers’ at the same time. I knew I was ‘me’ watching myself. I wondered: “why am I eating it so strangely?” I tried to get closer to the car, but the scene changed. I wasn’t outside any longer, but I cannot recall exactly what environment I was in, except that it was more light – like the lighting in an interior. I was anxious about having to write up several long dream analyses regarding numerous dreams I had recently had, but not yet recorded (this is not true – I have posted all recent dreams – and should my anxiety have reflected concerns about updating my records with this particular dream – the only ‘outstanding’ one left to be written up – you will see, it was far too brief and vague to have caused me such worry). I then had a thought – “you must remember to write that interpretation of the Princess Diana dream”. (This is peculiar as in real-life I had not yet had a dream involving Princess Diana). I then saw Diana in my dream – standing close beside me, appearing as she did in popular culture (i.e. reflecting my expectation of how she looked). I thought “why is she here now? She’s really dead...” and then I saw her lying on a mortuary slab, with a white sheet up to her chin and another white cloth lying across her forehead. I could see there were male doctors standing around – at least 3 – but all I could see was the torso down to the upper thighs, dressed in blue hospital scrubs. Diana looked peaceful and un-injured., but I was aware I was seeing her shortly after her fatal car crash. I thought “where’s Dodi Al Fayed?” (I realise now, his name is simply Dodi Fayed) I didn’t see him, but as I looked to my right-hand side, I saw Diana alive again, standing beside me. My thoughts returned to concerns about my ‘backlog’ of dream write-ups. I woke up. I felt anxious when I woke, my heart was pounding and I was very hot (despite the weather being particularly cold right now). I did not feel frightened – just frustrated that I wanted to go back to sleep, but felt there were unfinished tasks I needed to attend to (there wasn’t – other than to edit two articles on Freud’s dream of “Irma’s Injection” which were near completion and have subsequently been posted on this blog).

Potential Triggers 

• The writing up of my dreams generally; the two un-edited articles on Freud’s dream of "Irma's Injection" which were on my mind; realisation that dream research can become so fascinating/fulfilling that it is a drain on spare time
• The days preceding this dream I had been experimenting with dream incubation techniques (see my post on this topic for further information and instructions). The ‘focus question’ I concentrated on was ‘what can I do to make myself feel fulfilled when I feel so de-motivated to make changes in life?’
• The day before this dream I had watched a Youtube video of a rap MC battle, involving an acquaintance of mine from Norwich competing against an American rapper. I voiced (by way of Facebook message on the Norwich rapper’s video-share) annoyance that non-UK battle MCs always resort to using lyrics about Princess Diana in their rounds, despite the fact she is of little relevance to the UK contestant they are battling and her death was now some 14 years ago, therefore in no way topical.
• Whilst writing this dream up, I suddenly remembered that I watched an old episode of Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe which had a brief segment about the media handling of the death of Princess Diana – i.e. a focus on public emotions/reactions by way of rolling news as opposed to factual reporting.
• Over the past few days I had been thinking about my previous Blog which used to be homed at this address. That was a fashion/beauty/health blog, with a specific section on ‘how to dress like Kate Middleton’ (Diana’s would-be daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge). I had to discontinue this particular Blog as it was far too time-consuming given the nature of the industries I was Blogging on; and in any event, there was far too much ‘competition’ with other fashion bloggers who were more accomplished that myself. However, it frustrates me that although I feel I have found a ‘niche’ with my current Blog, my former one had several thousand page  views/visits a day – something I am unlikely to achieve now. The former Blog also contained articles/images about Princess Diana and made comparisons with the Duchess of Cambridge – aka Kate Middleton. I had, on the same day as my dream, read an online newspaper article about Kate Middleton – showing a photograph for each year of her life to celebrate her 30^th birthday. ‘Kate Middleton’ was the search term which brought the greatest number of visitors to my former Blog. Actually – the number of page views I get for this Blog aren’t as important to me as actually having some form of record of my dream/self-analysis. I chose the format of a Blog as I felt it was more ‘contemporary’ than pen and paper and knowing other people might read it would encourage me to continue with it. I think perhaps this may be reflective of a sense of confusion as to exact my purpose in recording my results in this format...
• It was raining the night of the dream and I had been out in a car.

Interpretation/Analysis  

Rain:

1. A gift or assistance from God
2. Nourishment and replenishing (as rain nourished plants)
3. Spiritual presence
4. Cleansing, washing away the old, and starting new

Illumination/light:

1. Hope; goodness; assistance - especially when it appears in the darkness
2. Clarity or understanding, as in ‘shedding some light’ on a particular subject

Being outside:

1. Beyond yourself; outside of your inner experience
2. The part of your life where you interact with others or make impressions on others

Viewing a situation/looking down on action from above:

1. A higher or insightful perspective, or ability to see the ‘big picture’
2. Superiority; power; or having greater knowledge or vision - if you are looking down on others in the dream
3. Feeling more experienced; qualified, or at a higher level
4. Wisdom; maturity; evolution; progress
5. More spiritual or more in touch with a higher power
6. Aloofness; unwillingness to involve yourself in the lives of others
7. Being ‘above the law’

Watching:

1. A feeling of observing rather than participating
2. An objective or neutral observer's perspective
3. Curiosity or a desire to understand whatever is represented by the object being watched in the dream

Yourself being watched:

Being watched can represent a feeling of self-consciousness; an awareness or fear of being observed by others; or a heightened concern about others' opinions or motives somehow in your life.

Car:

1. The means by which you move forward in your life; the context within which you grow personally and learn your life lessons
2. Your personal integrity and the ‘sum of all our parts’ (our knowledge, intentions, abilities, etc) at the time of the dream

Chocolate:

1. Love; celebration and self-reward
2. Indulging in too many excesses and need to practice some restraint.
3. To eat chocolate in your dream indicates that you are embracing your own sensuality

I also feel there is some significance in the fact the chocolate bar was in the form of two ‘fingers’ – this may represent the number 2, or may be phallic symbolism. The day before this dream I had made an irrational comment to my mum (during a telephone conversation) about being independent and not being committed to any one man in order to be a ‘feminist’ and fulfil my (non-specified) ambitions. It were these neurotic thoughts which were behind my choice of focus question for the dream incubation technique I experimented with.

Twix

Something which appears odd/weird in a dream (i.e. your dream-self questions why it appears so):

1. The characteristic that makes it seem odd (such as the crookedness of a crooked road representing a complex process, or a strange language representing a communication breakdown with someone)
2. Something in real-life that doesn't make sense to you or that your subconscious mind is trying to understand
3. Someone or something in real life that you consider weird or different 
4. The unknown, or a fear of the unknown or of things that are different

It was strange how I not only questioned the presence of Princess Diana in the dream (although from my recollection, it was the mistaken thought that I had failed to write up a (non-existent) dream about her which made her appear. I’m thus wondering if there was a moment of lucidity in this dream – i.e. I intentionally ‘willed’ her to appear?) but also the fact that I was eating chocolate (I don’t particularly love chocolate and rarely choose to eat it), but also the way in which I was eating it. I think I realised the significance of the symbolic meaning of this act whilst in the dream.

Celebrity/figure from popular culture:

1. May appear familiar due to ‘knowing’ them from media
2. Traits/characteristics associated with that person; desire to possess such traits

Royalty:

Status; respect; specialness; wealth; power; popularity; approval - or other things you personally associate with royalty

Princess:

Affections and desires

Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales (1961-1997)

Princess Diana:

1. A need to be more compassionate or giving  
2. A loveless relationship; search for true love

With regard to Princess Diana – I wasn’t a fan of her while she was alive, nor did I dislike her, although my perception of her was that she ‘played to the media’ at times. I did, however, dislike the unprecedented public outpouring of grief around the time of her tragic death and the way the event was handled by the public media – particularly in light of the dignified responses of her young sons, thrust into the media spotlight.

Fatal accident:

1. Fear of something catastrophic happening that's out of your control
2. Fears things are out of control somehow in your life right now
3. Feelings or fear of bad luck or things not going your way
4. Car accident – your emotional state: consider who is controlling the car

Dead body:

1. The end of a phase in some area of your life.
2. If the dead person is someone you know, it can represent that you consider that person to be reaching the end of some phase before the beginning of the next, or it can mean that you are afraid of that person dying or becoming unavailable to you.
3. A dead body can also represent the physical body in general, and how it is just a shell that is occupied temporarily by the soul, mind, body, and emotions.

Mortuary:

1. Hindering yourself through not recognising/utilising own talents/abilities
2. Aspects of yourself you need to discard/get rid of

Doctor:

Seeking assistance and solutions to a real-life problem – spiritual, physical or otherwise

Blue:

1. Royalty or distinction; heaven; eternity;
2. Honesty; truth; sincerity; loyalty; devotion; openness ; clarity of mind
3. Average or regular
4. Sadness
5. Spirituality; relaxation; tranquillity; or alternatively, a need to escape
6. May represent your ‘spiritual guide’

White:

Purity or blankness

Cover/something covered:

1. Obscured view or limited understanding - as in an object blocking your view out the window that represents you feeling uninformed about events in the world
2. Concealment or hiding
3. Protection
4. Misrepresentation or dishonesty
5. Denial (dishonesty to oneself)

Forehead:

1. Thought or ability to think
2. Awareness of something, as in having something "at the front of your mind"
3. Intuition or knowledge
4. Connection with Spirit

Searching/looking for someone:

1. Knowledge; understanding; insight
2. Trying to regain something physically, mentally or emotionally