Recurring Dreams

by guest columnist Colleen Matan

In the April issue of CH Confidential, editor Lucy McNab shared some very, um, interesting dreams and wondered, 'Have I finally flipped?' No, Lucy, I don't think you've flipped. I'd like to take a stab at dream analysis to show you that you're just as sane as...well, never mind.

Lucy's Dream #1: (I get this one most often) I'm falling, in free fall, somewhere over the fields in, um, Iowa I think. Don't ask me how I know. I'm doing a parachuting course, but I suddenly realise that I don't have a parachute. Luck is with me; around me are also falling members of Crowded House; all four of them, and they're all wearing parachutes. Paul is giggling at my distress, but Mark unfastens his, and throws it across to me; no mean feat in free fall. The other three follow suit, and soon I'm clutching onto four parachutes while they're not wearing any. Unbelievably managing to put one of them on, I drop the rest, and then pull the cord. Guess what? The four Crowded House members start slowing down as though they were wearing the parachutes, and I accelerate downwards. The last thing that I can hear before I wake up is Mark laughing...

Analysis: Let's see. Falling and feeling frightened means that you are about to undergo a major difficulty in your life. And travel dreams which involve other people mean that you will soon meet new friends and begin to have a good time. The upside down force of gravity probably turns the falling imagery upside down, so Lucy, it looks as if you are in for a time of meeting new people and having some fun.

Lucy's Dream #2: I'm at a beach; probably Malibu, I guess. It's hot, and I'm sitting on a towel. Past me walk Nick, Neil, Mark and Paul. Neil is wearing a shirt but the rest are bare chested. For some reason, I just start staring at Nick's midriff; I can't keep my eyes off it even though I'm being so rude. My concious self, the one that's recording the dream, says 'come on, dream self, wake up! You don't even LIKE Nick; he's so smug.' My dream self ignores this, but suddenly I look down and I find that I'm naked! Suddenly Mark, wearing those cool sunglasses, reaches down and puts his hand over my eyes. 'You're too young for Nick', he says quietly. And that's where the dream ends...

Analysis: Seeing yourself on a beach actually means that there is something which will require a lot of work coming your way. If you dream of a man who is naked from the top up, it means that a female of your family will become ill. To dream of yourself naked means you have something on your mind that you want to speak up about. So this looks like someone will become ill, and it will entail a lot of work for you. And, as in most stressful situations, you will undoubtably have words with someone about it. But having your eyes covered means that it will end suddenly and for the best.

Lucy's Dream #3: (I've only had this one twice, but it scares the hell out of me) I'm on the London Underground during the blitz, and everyone is dressed in WWII suits and clothes. There are army people everywhere. For some reason the dream is in black and white. The train I'm on stops at a station, and Nick, Paul, Neil and Mark get on, all in army uniform, and press up next to me. It's very crowded and people look unhappy. Suddenly the train lurches to a stop and the lights go out. Everyone screams. Suddenly Mark (I think) screams 'get down!!' and throws himself across me. There is a huge explosion, and I wake up. ...What the hell do these dreams mean, and why is it MARK who does all the talking?

Analysis: Uniforms symbolize a concern with conformity and duty, and the fear that your individuality is being unnoticed. Train rides are symbolic of the journeys of our lives. Freud always read trains as phallic symbols, and if this sudden darkness is in fact a tunnel, then that signifies intercourse. The explosion--well, even Jung would have to agree with Freud on this. I'll leave it to you to figure out and do further interpretations on your own. As for why Mark does all the talking--that's easy. He's the one we all want to talk to the most, whether we admit it or not.

OK, here's a dream for everyone to chew over...

Colleen's Dream: I'm with a friend, taking a walk, and we pass by the dream town's outdoor amphitheater. Imagine our surprise when we learn that Crowded House is playing that night. We scurry to the box office and manage to get some (free) tickets. We can hear music already and it's general admission seating, but at this point we're so excited that we don't care that we're likely to have terrible seats. My dream friend decides we ought to walk to the front of the venue, on a hunch that other people gave up on trying to find better seats. We walk down the grassy path and find some seats about 5 rows back, but way to the left. As it turns out, the music is coming from the warmup band and my friend decides that we should move even closer, or at least more to the center, when people get up at that intermission. We do that and are now in the center of the 2nd or 3rd row. (No one seems to mind we are stealing these seats, either.) The scene switches and I am outside the venue, walking. A woman in a car stops and picks me up. She asks me what is going on and I tell her it's a Crowded House concert. She's very excited and asks me if she thinks she could get a ticket. I tell her it's no problem, and I walk her into the arena. I go back to look for my friend. She's moved back a few rows and has been joined by a bunch of our other friends. They point out a seat they've saved a few rows ahead of them for me. I'm glad not to be sitting with them. You see, their arms are full of boxes of tissues and rolls of toilet paper--part of a giveaway at the concert. The band begins to take the stage, and I, of course, wake up. What on earth does this mean?

Send your interpretations to C.H. Confidential at confidential@writeme.com. If you're having recurring dreams of your own that you'd like to have interpreted, please send those along, too.

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