My apologies for not getting a dream out at the end of 2017. Like so many things, life simply took over and I didn’t have the time to write. But I did enjoy the holidays with my daughter, and for me to step away from my therapy work for that long during the holidays from others who find this time of year difficult, provided both a blessing and renewal. And that is what Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s etc. represents—an opportunity to change how we’ve done things and go within, choosing something that nurtures us.

Due to not providing a dream blog in December, I am doing an extra-long interpretation this month. I chose this dream because in a small way, it mirrored my own emotional juggling to take a different path over these holidays, in ways I hadn’t fully allowed myself in the past.

I woke this morning to this dream and it was so strong that I recorded on my voice recorder so I could remember details to write to you.

So:

I am walking across a street at night — not quite running away from something, but definitely staying to the shadows and trying to avoid something. I get across and go to the side/back of a building to have a cigarette (even though, awake, I don’t smoke 🙂 When I finish and go to the front, I run into my parents and one of my brothers. They are going inside the restaurant/bar and I say I will join them and ‘buy a round’ of drinks.

I don’t remember what happens in there but as I’m leaving the building the “government or police” arrest me for smoking. I’m put with a bunch of people waiting to be executed/hung for their crimes. I say to one that I can’t believe this is really going to happen and she says that they don’t go ‘all the way through with it’ (meaning executing people).

My phone is there and I put it down. Next thing I know we (criminals) are being taken out and I see others outside waiting with black veils on their heads and faces. I realize they are the family members of others and are ready to be in mourning because we are going to die. I’m mad that I didn’t make a call to my roommate to feed and take care of my cat (I haven’t had a roommate in over a year in waking life)

We go down a dirt path to where I see 3 stumps with a large ax and some hanging rope near them. Each stump has a circle of dried blood in the center. Right before we reached the location a woman (prisoner) says to me “You don’t want to be in the front with the smokers’ – which of course I am (ugh)

I am able to wake myself at this point with heart racing. In waking, I realize I kept thinking all along that I would be hanged, but actually would have had my head chopped off. I fell back asleep and was back in this place in some hazy way, but it’s not clear. Finally woke exhausted (and late, of course)

 

I am walking across a street at night — not quite running away from something, but definitely staying to the shadows and trying to avoid something. I get across and go to the side/back of a building to have a cigarette (even though, awake, I don’t smoke 🙂 When I finish and go to the front, I run into my parents and one of my brothers. They are going inside the restaurant/bar and I say I will join them and ‘buy a round’ of drinks.

A street represents a life path, walking across it signifies that one is changing the way they have done their life path up to this point. You are not quite running, but you are definitely staying to the shadows, and it is night. Not quit running suggests you may be fearing something about this life change.

To me it is curious that you are staying to the shadows, because shadows show themselves mainly during daylight, and they are an illusion of form. But these shadows (assuming from streetlights or the like) give you comfort from not being seen. My question/s would be how do you see yourself now that you have created this change in your life? And what are you avoiding perhaps, due to this change in your life? Staying to the shadows implies that there is a sense of needing to be either prudent about the change or perhaps you need to revisit some of the options you made for this change.

You go to the back of the building and have a cigarette, even though you don’t smoke. Smoking in a dream often implies feeling stressed, and going to the back of the building implies trying to hide something (either from yourself or another). It also carries implications to watch for high blood pressure.

Seeing family members can mean many things. They can represent themselves or something about you. I know that your parents have passed, so when we dream of parents who have crossed over (like you have done on the street, and in your new life) it is asking us to let go of a way we see ourselves and learn to ‘parent’ ourselves in a new way. They are with your brother. What was your relationship with your brother? What is one word you would use to describe your brother? That’s a clue for you. Is the interaction a pleasant one, are you glad to see him, is there a dispute you have had with him….what is your connection in one word.

They are going inside a restaurant. Restaurants, like families can suggest nurturing. But if the restaurant is not good, or the family wasn’t supportive, or possibly even distant, it says something about a conflict within yourself that you might need to change, address, and/or nurture within yourself moving forward. You offer to buy them a drink. This appears like you wish to celebrate something or toast something. Maybe about what it has taken you to change your course and release stress from your world? To drink something in a dream (and you didn’t say what, which also carries a symbology) represents the ability to take in a new idea or implement a new concept.

I don’t remember what happens in there but as I’m leaving the building the “government or police” arrest me for smoking. I’m put with a bunch of people waiting to be executed/hung for their crimes. I say to one that I can’t believe this is really going to happen and she says that they don’t go ‘all the way through with it’ (meaning executing people).

You don’t remember, which could suggest that you don’t know the new way to fully implement this new life. Also I have suggested in other blog posts, that other people in the dream represent themselves as well as aspects of our self. The police and government imply monitoring agents; they suggest there are new rules and regulations that you need to implement in your life now. They also suggest that some aspect within you is putting stress in the form of ‘rules’ about something in regards to this change. It would be good to take some time and think on what that might be.

The ‘bunch of people’ waiting to be executed are perhaps aspects of yourself that that are ‘dying’ to an old way of doing things, i.e. your life as you once did it. There is a part of you though (the woman), who knows that we really don’t need to let go of all aspects of our self if we do not wish to, it is merely a metaphor of how we speak of our self and are heard in the world now….especially if your past job was one where you spoke, lectured, taught, or counseled because hanging implies the throat chakra and voice.

My phone is there and I put it down. Next thing I know we (criminals) are being taken out and I see others outside waiting with black veils on their heads and faces. I realize they are the family members of others and are ready to be in mourning because we are going to die. I’m mad that I didn’t make a call to my roommate to feed and take care of my cat (I haven’t had a roommate in over a year in waking life)

You put your phone down. Phones are access of communication to the outer world. You have put aside how you communicate with the outer world, and decide how to do that perhaps differently in your life now. Criminal from the Latin root means “to decide.” Deciding how, when, and what you wish to do, is all yours.

The others are wearing black veils on their heads and faces. Black on the Wisdom Wheel is about going within, listening to one’s inner guidance, and finding one’s own source of truth moving forward. These are the most important symbols in this dream as I see it, because it gives you the direction you need to go, within “to decide” how you wish to proceed. The family they represent, is the new ‘inner family’ you are formulating now that you are “parenting” yourself to take a new direction.

The old is dying away, but you know that death is simply transformation to another awareness. Some part of you, subconsciously, is mourning the old you, or old position, as you redefine your new life. This could be as simple as the day-to-day time/structure of your life having changed, to the location you lived and worked that you once knew so well.

Your roommate is you, the one that lives within your psyche and the cat (in dreams) represents intuition and mystery….which we get to fully tap when we are in the ‘black position’ on the Wheel, because we now have the time to explore another part of our selves that needs voice.

We go down a dirt path to where I see 3 stumps with a large ax and some hanging rope near them. Each stump has a circle of dried blood in the center. Right before we reached the location a woman (prisoner) says to me “You don’t want to be in the front with the smokers’ – which of course I am (ugh)

I could interpret a dirt path in two ways, and would need to ask you more questions to assess which interpretation might be right for you. Dirt is needed to seed something, and it is already laid out in path which means the direction is there for you, to release the old and grow something new. But again there is a need for prudence, because not all seeds planted take in dirt. The other way it can be interpreted is that a dirt road can portend a possible struggle, and you may be encountering that internally by the way you are fearing punishment ahead.

A stump represents the ‘tree’ is no longer what it once was. The Tree Of Life, symbolizes our life’s path in many forms, and this stump appears to signify that you do not feel the lushness of the growth of the tree anymore.

Three (3) on the Wheel symbolizes “regulating and refining.” It has to do with new ideas and impressions; reorganization of our behavior; discipline, growth, precision and commitment. To what? Your new life. How will you enhance your life source energy? What will you choose to do? 

Dried blood may signify that you feel a lack of life force energy, but it is in a circle, and circles represent eternity. You are in the front of the line. This new path and the seeds you plant are entirely up to you; this is a new beginning.

I am able to wake myself at this point with heart racing. In waking, I realize I kept thinking all along that I would be hanged, but actually would have had my head chopped off. I fell back asleep and was back in this place in some hazy way, but it’s not clear. Finally woke exhausted (and late, of course)

When we wake up sharply like that, with a start, or our heart racing, or a jolt, it is our Higher Self, the most conscious part of our being, trying to make sure “we got the memo.”

Believe it or not, beheading in dreams represents personal freedom. Why? Because the head and mental body that defines often how and what we should do, is severed from the body and the pleasure centers that desire. Thus you are not relegated to any one else’s systems, time-lines, or rules, other than creating your own script.

Death becomes your liberation here, not as a reality, but as a new beginning from the old way you did your life for so many years; it offers you new freedoms and explorations. The dream does ask you to review where you may still feel connected to a past definition of yourself that no longer serves the new life you can embrace, as it has ‘your heart racing’. Although, the liberation to plant new seeds and discover whatever brings you to a celebration of your new life, is right there too. Salute!!!
Thank you dreamer for sharing.