[ScientiaOmnisEst]

So I just got back from googling how a lot of people insist dream interpretation is pseudoscience. I can accept that there's nothing empirical about it, and the sketchiness of dream dictionaries that propose "universal" meanings for symbols. I doubt, however, that dreams are total nonsense with no connection to one's mind or personality. Interperting them might be heavily subjective, philosophical, and psychological, but it's not nothing. I wasnever super-invested in it, but did have a habit of trying to look up symbolic associations when I did have vivid dreams.

Now that that's out of the way, I had one of the weirdest and most vivid dreams in a long, long time. I grabbed my laptop and wrote down notes almost as soon as I woke up:

I had the weirdest ******* dream last night. I met this boy, we seemed to like each other and were travelling somewhere far together. For whatever reason, we needed, tried, to cut through a weird, cultish, fundamentalist church. I remember not being able to find any actual congregants, just religious “officers” – priests, pastors, etc, in their ceremonial garb (yet at a different church?) chattering in the audience. For whatever reason, the main speaker, a woman, picked out me and my guy as new non-members, and was going to initiate us right there. She even had spare ceremonial robes (kind of like altar server robes), and asked us to come to the front of the church and put them on over our clothes to do some sort of initiation. There was some sort of delay though, and the three of us went outside to talk about…something. ???

I remember the guy’s name as being Alex, but the woman called him John, for some reason. Asked him what his name was but got it wrong anyway. I remember mistakenly saying my biblical namesake was the former wife of John the apostle (wrong), but she was okay with it. Alex snuck away and I found him frustrated, hiding behind the building. When the speaker turned away, I bolted for it. I found Alex and we ran for it – there was a road and a forest ahead with some trucks (road work?), and I woke up as we were fleeing, still in our robes.

A few things worth mentioning: I've been getting into and reading a lot about spirituality, and am a little too fond of conspiracy theories. Honestly the most surprising thing about this dream was that I actually featured in it, as myself, and as a rather strong and active Self (very much contrasted from how I normally am in real life). That almost never happens.

Any thoughts?

[Thunder Bow]

You were fleeing a controlling situation. A situation you did not want to be a part of. Road work means you are making your own path in life. It could relate to a controlling situation in real life that you ran from. Dreams are real and are real science. After all your brain made them, and that is Medical. Dreams are how our mind processes our days events, and are all about our feelings.

[Eyes of Blue]

The boy in your dream represents an aspect of your mind and reflects a specific idea you have taken a liking too. [Considering the church image, this might be the idea/issue of spirituality.] It is an idea that may provide some emotional satisfaction but lacks somewhat in logic. (met a boy - not a man) You see yourself really getting somewhere with this idea. (traveling far)

A church represents the idea of organized Christian spiritual thinking. For some reason you have no awareness of (for whatever reason), you feel you need to "cut through" a church. This can imply needing to take a shortcut and by pass the church OR it could imply getting somewhere by going via the church. Yet here "the church" you are going via and may need to by pass is a weird cultist fundamentalist church, i.e. not one reflecting mainstream religious spiritual thinking. You may need to remember that the idea of being a worshipper in such a church (the congregants) is not "a find", i.e. it is not an idea to value and treasure. (unable to find congregants) What you could see as "a find" are the officers of the church, those having an official role of authority, those who minister to the spiritual needs of the congregation (priests and pastors etc.) yet these could be found at a different church - implying not at the cultist church. But even this may be questionable. (at a different church ?)

The woman speaker represents an emotional aspect of yourself that "speaks to you" when you respond to the new idea you have taken an interest in (she picks out me and my guy), i.e. she reflects a feeling that strikes a resonating chord within you or addresses your concerns. Here this feeling would have you see yourself as an initiate of this cultish church and make it official (by donning robes and an initiation ceremony) A delay allows you to see that in reality (outside) there is something to be discussed about this idea (talk about it)... but exactly what is highly questionable (something ???)

You seem quite aware that the significance and function of the idea you have taken a liking to has no Biblical association (boys name is Alex not John) yet from the emotional perspective of the speaker or spokeswoman for a cultish church - you persist in regarding it as such. (calls Alex, John) You are also associating yourself (via your name) as having a function of responding to a Biblical idea (named as a former wife of John the apostle) which you know to be wrong. Yet at some emotional level you are okay with this error.

You take an opportunity to get away from this cultish church and the idea you have taken a liking to may be seen as "a find" when it is seen as being not really "up front" or legitimate in relation to a cultist church. (find Alex behind the church building) There is a course of action leading you towards a forest, i.e. towards a situation regarding which there could be too much concern for details and no real understanding of the whole situation. (as in "can't see the forest for the trees") The course of action seen suggests that rationales that seem workable (trucks) are creating your course of action which is also a questionable idea. (road work?)

[Nikki O.]

I feel when you dream of yourself being the strong person you want to be means that you must be developing stronger. I have a lot of repeater dreams and throughout the years they slightly change as I grow mentally. Like right now I'm feeling confident with my image and so my dreams lately are showing me that too!

Also, instead of finding online what certain symbolic things mean you should look to yourself and ask what it means to you. Like I have a big fear or spiders so if they were in my dream it would mean something very very upsetting to me but to one of my old friends she saw spiders as an animal of creativity. But, the online dream interpretation guides are still interesting, fun, and helpful at times too.

[ScientiaOmnisEst]

Originally Posted by Eyes of Blue

*snip*

This is a pretty great analysis (though I'm replying late and snipped the quote for brevity's sake). I have been trying to get into some sort of spirituality, but I keep feeling like my issues are more existential in content, only spiritual in an emotional sense. I think and worry about morality and ideals far more than any distinct religion; I've had several nihilistic/existential crises in the past year but I thought I was mostly over them by now. At the very least, I've buried them sufficiently.

A week after this supposedly meaningful dream about moving toward something in my future, I feel awfully, painfully stagnated and tied down. I guess it was more about a desire to move forward than anything else. And when I woke up I was especially impressed by my being a strong, active character in that dream, as opposed to a more passive figure, or not in it at all.

[Eyes of Blue]

Thank you for the feedback. Better late than never. I'd just like to add a word concerning that future you are moving toward in this dream. The idea of not seeing the forest for the trees I could see as applying to your comment about "trying to get into some 'sort of' spirituality". Please remember that if your spiritual quest does not put God and His Word first and foremost, there is no spirituality. God is The Spirit from whom all spiritual thinking comes. This is the total "forest". There are many activities and groups claiming to address your need for something spiritual but they may turn out to be like the "cultist church" the True Self was trying to get away from.

The strong active character impression that has impressed you so greatly needs to be related to the scene. It would demonstrate that regarding getting into something more spiritual you need be this person so that you do not get roped into the first spiritual group you come across if it does not fit the proper criteria. Good luck with your progress.