DREAMCATCHER: Alex Hossack and Catherine Aubrey interpret your dreams

Today’s Dream:

I was on a beach in Devon in the daylight with a group of people at the edge of the tide. There was a black hole a few metres into the sea. There were 3-4 men in black wetsuits around the black hole for protection/safety. The sea was quiet and the tide was calmly moving in and out. I felt some anticipation but I was at ease. The dream was in colour.

Monica from Master Chef was there at an organised ‘dive’ event into the sea. She was wearing a wet suit and flippers and turned around to face me over her shoulder. She was smiling and asked me to take a photograph of her as she ran into the sea. I agreed and she ran through the tide and went to dive into the black hole but she tripped and fell in - limbs flailing. I felt some anxiety about this but knew I had to follow her.

I asked my partner, Anthony to take a photo of me diving into the hole. We were standing on the beach and I was talking to him and seeing him through my own eyes. He agreed and I started to walk with confidence toward to sea. Then I realised that the last time I did this, I had decided not to dive in but to take a row boat around it instead.

I then skip to the next part of the dream.

People who had dived into the hole were now in the sea with a wooden rowboat upside-down over their heads. I could only see their hands at the edges of the boat holding the oar rings along the edges (the oar rings ran along the full length of the boat). I felt a little confused and was trying to figure out what they were doing. There seemed to be 3-4 people under the boat and they were treading water. It felt like they were men.

Interpretation of the Dream

There is a problem in this person’s life but it is not immediately threatening ie: it may be a longstanding issue.

The dreamer has structure and protection around her on one level, but other people are not aware of the problem, or are ignoring it. She has tried more than once to ‘dive’ into the problem and may have made at least one failed attempt to resolve it. As she gets near to the issue, she finds herself avoiding it.

She is getting on with her life generally happy and active, but there is a significant anxiety provoking problem of which she is aware but deals with it by adopting an approach - avoidance strategy ie: she keeps trying to approach the problem but then finds a way to avoid addressing it. The dream may return in different forms if the problem is not addressed.

Basis of the Interpretation:

• The dream starts with the dreamer in a pleasant, calm mood, which may generally usual for her.

• The black hole in the sea is a symbol of distress, danger, a problem and/or a darker mood state.

• There is still some distance between the dreamer and resolution of the problem, referenced symbolically by the distance between the beach and the black hole.

• There is organisation, structure and self protection on the beach (use of wetsuits) and protection around the black hole, symbolised by men in wet suits surrounding the perimeter of the hole.

• The dreamer wants to remember that the problem exists which is highlighted by the request for photographs.

• There is repetition in terms of approaching the resolution of the problem, but it has always failed to date ie: Monica fell in and the dreamer skirted around the black hole in a boat.

• The dreamer is conscious that herself and possibly other people are ignoring the problem and getting on with their lives. This is represented by the men who are hidden by the boat, which is over their heads as they move forward treading water.

• When the dreamer has approached the problem (black hole), she has protected herself symbolically by placing herself in a boat rather than in the water.

Interestingly, we have found that it is not always easy to interpret your own dream, probably because it often represents the sublimation of feelings or thoughts that we are trying to avoid in our waking lives. However, with a little assistance from the dream interpreter, the symbols and themes can start to make sense and help us to move forward.

If you are interested in having a particular dream analysed, please send us an account of your dream to ACDreamcatchers@mail.com

We only have space to interpret one dream a week which will be selected from those received. Please refer to the guidance provided below to describe your dream as this will enable us to provide a full interpretation.

 

Alex Hossack and Catherine Aubrey are Public Service professionals with years of experience as practitioners and managers in the Criminal Justice System.

Alex Hossack: I am a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and have worked in Forensic Psychology in both community and secure settings for the past 28 years. I have delivered therapeutic dream analysis in those settings aimed at helping people to improve the quality of their lives and better understand their emotional response to personal circumstances.

Catherine Aubrey: I qualified as a Probation Officer in 1988 and moved into management after ten years as a practitioner. I have worked in a range of Court, prison and community settings to assist the rehabilitation of offenders. My interest in dream analysis came from working with Alex,who taught me the fundamentals of dream interpretation which I then developed by studying academic texts. Dream analysis is a useful way of making sense of life events and associated emotions that we unconsciously sublimate.

We both have a strong local connection with the South Lakes. Seven years ago, we bought a boat on Windermere and have lived on it nearly every weekend since. As a result, we have had the pleasure of developing an existing love of the area, great friendships and an active involvement in local events. We have a real affection for The Westmoreland Gazette which we read every week and so it seemed a logical step to offer our dream interpretation service to this newspaper.

Dream Theories

Dream work and dream theories have an ancient and rich history with religious, spiritual and paranormal links and we have attached meanings to them for thousands of years. In 1900, a more formal approach to interpretation was attempted by Professor Sigmund Freud with the publication of ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’. Freud proposed that dreams were the result of unacceptable memories, desires or impulses and concluded that they had origins in wish fulfilment. Many variations on this theme have been offered since then, including those of Jung, Perls and Faraday.

We engage in a thematic approach to dream interpretation involving the analysis of symbols offered in the dream from which themes are developed. We use the model of dream work proposed by Custaway and Sewell to look at the relationship between the distinct parts of the dream and relate them to everyday life.

Dreams and the Dreamer

Dreams are the personal creation of the dreamer and their symbols can be both personal and universal. Dreams often represent unconscious thoughts which are not usually recognised by the dreamer in their waking hours. The dream is satisfactorily ‘interpreted’ when it makes sense to the dreamer. The interpretation can help the dreamer to make decisions and/or changes in their lives.

Guidance for the Dreamer

• Record your dream in writing as soon as you wake up with as much detail as possible.

• First of all ask yourself who is in the dream.

• Where are you, what is happening to you and what is happening around you?

• Record how you are feeling about what you and/or others are doing.

• Are there particular symbols or objects in the dream that are unusual?

• Are there any sounds and is the dream in colour or black and white?

• Are you watching yourself in the dream or are you experiencing it first-hand ie: through your own eyes?