DREAMCATCHER: Alex Hossack and Catherine Aubrey interpret your dreams

Kat’s Dream:

I was in a room in a stately home. It was a lovely, bright room with big windows that I love and I was sitting in a comfy chair.

I had decided to marry the owner of the home. Although I didn’t know him I felt it was going to be an arranged marriage, I was being ‘sold off’. I knew my partner was there, I couldn’t see him but felt he was in control of the situation.

I wasn’t unhappy about this but was slightly anxious. The man’s son was standing to my right. He was an adult in is late thirties. He said something, I can’t remember what and I replied “you may have a half brother” or “what about a half brother?" He laughed.

I thought the guy I was going to marry looked ok and I could imagine snuggling up and lying on his chest in bed but wasn’t sure that I could be intimate with him even though he seemed like a nice person.

Two men came into the room and spoke as though they were there to check something. Someone else had done this previously. They apologised and left. I thought the owner was going to tell me what they were there for and he started saying something but didn’t actually give an explanation.

I thought “I’ll know all about what needs doing in the house and it’ll be mine eventually”. It was then that I realised that he only wanted me here as a glorified housekeeper. I felt despondent and a little panicky as the realisation sank in. At this point I woke up.

Dream Interpretation:

The dreamer is generally comfortable in her life. However, themes of needing to commit to something and of being ‘used’ appear throughout the dream, causing her some anxiety and insecurity about whether she is in control of her life.

The conversation in the dream with the brother may indicate some family rivalry where she feels rebuked or rejected and another form of being controlled. Interruptions from the two men are also likely to represent a sense of being disregarded.

The theme of being used returns again when she feels set up for marriage along with the realisation that she is to become a ‘glorified housekeeper’. This triggers several responses. Firstly, it causes her to seek comfort, secondly it triggers her fear of intimacy and thirdly the ultimate belief that she will resolve the issue and reclaim control of her situation, which is represented by the realisation that she will ‘own’ everything in the end.

Intruders in dreams are most often masculine figures. When this occurs in a women’s dream it confirms the earlier issue of feeling a lack of control over her life and the development of a need to defend herself. The presence of intruders, in this case two men, prompts defensiveness and suggests she has difficulty managing her fears and doubts. However, this dreamer maintains core confidence that will help to resolve her situation and associated fears.

The challenge for this dreamer is to identify who or what are creating feelings of defensiveness, being taken advantage of and how she intends to overcome them.

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.