DREAMCATCHER : Alex Hossack and Catherine Aubrey interpret your dreams

Today's dream from Noah:

This is the first time in years I have had this type of dream. The dream begins with me lying in bed in the dark. I turn to notice a ghost on the landing. I was terrified and unable to move.

Then I notice in front of me to the left, another ghost hovering in the air. I stare at it for a while before I recognise it as a square piece of cloth about 3 feet by 3 feet slowly moving towards me.

I was frightened but not as frightened as I was by the first ghost. I remain still for some time before I accept it’s just a cloth. Feeling some relief I wake up.

Dream Analysis:

To understand the analysis, the dreamer may wish to review his experience of recent traumatic or shock events in his life that have left him emotionally ‘immobilised’.

His ‘inability to move‘ is represented by the terrified reaction to the ghost on the landing and indicates that he was unable to respond to feeling shocked at the time, leaving him feeling redundant.

The dream wording such as ‘lying in the dark’ indicates that he didn’t quite understand what happened to him to create such a lack of response.

The second undefined ghost may represent a reaction to the traumatic event but one which he comes to terms given he had time to analyse the situation and so became less threatening.

A nightmare is a particular type of dream that has an emotional intensity that we rarely feel at any other time. The commonest characteristic or reaction to a nightmare is the urge to escape.

Almost inevitability there is relief that one escapes the ordeal of being caught.

Shadowy ghost figures are a way of alerting us to a past way of being which needs to be identified before we can move on.

By putting ourselves in touch with what is ‘dead and gone’, we are able to formulate an action to resolve the issue.

When the dream includes a ghostly figure undefined, it suggests that we have not handled a particular emotional event very well. This dream is probably the result of a very recent conflict.

If the dreamer would like to provide feedback about the interpretation, please send it to ACDreamcatchers@mail.com.

Interestingly, we have found it is not always possible 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 the following email address: 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 to describe your dream as this will enable us to provide a full interpretation.

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.

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