Today’s Dream from Liz:

I was out for the day. My daughter Ruby was aged 7-8. It was a sunny day. There were lots of kids in the pool having fun. I was watching her from the room above.

Ruby jumped in the pool, I shouted and ran down, I thought she was swimming the length of the pool underwater but she didn’t surface.

I started to panic and I decided to jump in after her and ran down towards the water.

Three Police Officers in a boat arrived and I was in it with them. One of them said “she’ll be alright” but the other officer said you shouldn’t say that.

Then I realised we were on the sea adjacent to the pool. All this time Ruby hadn’t resurfaced and I was worried she was unconscious at the bottom of the pool.

Everyone (kids) was still having fun in the pool. I was very upset and said I needed to get out of the boat which I did and ran over to the pool. I couldn’t see her and realised that the longer it went on, the less likely I would find or save her or ever see her again. I was fully clothed and intended to jump in after her. I woke up.

Dream Analysis and Basis for Interpretation:

The dreamer begins reflectively observing and reviewing a positive past time in her life. During this reflective period an intrusive thought or feeling has occurred which has caused her anxiety.

She believed that she was able to manage the associated impact but has realised that she is not and feels a sense of urgency to resolve the intrusive, negative feelings. This is represented by the daughter swimming under water and not surfacing. The resulting jumping and running are symbolic of urgent actions.

She feels momentarily comforted, safe and in control but this is quickly lost and the problem appears bigger. This is represented by the safety of the boat, presence of officers in authority and the words offered by one of the policemen which are subsequently retracted.

Finding herself in the sea rather than the pool represents the enormity of the problem and the potential difficulty in resolving it. She seeks a different and easier route to addressing the issue. This is symbolised by getting out of the boat and running to the pool.

However, at this point the negative feelings remain. Although she aspires to address the difficult problem, represented by her thoughts of jumping in the pool fully clothed, at this stage she has not done so. Throughout the dream, she is surrounded by positive day to day activity.

This dream relates to a core underlying, intrusive issue which remains unresolved. The dreamer fears that unless addressed, the negative impact will continue to affect her and the longer it goes on the harder it will be to resolve.

The dreamer is in a reflective period of her life and the core unresolved issue which remains sublimated, continues to surface in a dream because it is not being consciously attended to in her waking life.

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.