Wierd dream...

[Mahtu]

The other night I had a very strange dream. I dreamed that I was living in this large house and out back was a large cage. Inside the cage was a massive panther. I have no idea why it was there, it just was. Anyways, I walk to the cage and slowly put my hand up to the wire. The panther puts her paws up on the walls and starts licking at my hands. I felt a friendly presence in her, so I gradually worked up the courage to let her out of the cage. She jumped up on me and licked my face like a puppy and did not make any attempt to harm me. Later my friend's dog started jumping up on me and the Panther (can't remember what I called her in the dream) instinctively turned to attack him. Animal control came and grabbed her by the neck, then stuffed her in a cage in the back of a truck. This is the part that confused the hell out of me about the whole dream: When the truck was driving away the panther transformed into a girl and began to cry. I can't explain how it felt when she looked at me. All I can say is that in this vivid dream that felt so real, one look from this poor being broke my heart. It took the whole next day to shake that feeling. I don't know what all of this means, or if it even means anything. If it could be a symbolic vision of some sort, or even a message from my subconscious. As a psychologist, I am trying to make sense of all of this myself, but I know that hearing someone else's opinion might help me find some sort of answer.

[the eternal me]

merly a reflection of what is inside you.

that is somthing you are going to have to figure out yourself.

the panther is representative of a part of your psycy. a part that you keep caged.

[Zhypher]

yeh, might be a part of you that you dont let loose since you are afraid of loosing that part of you

dreams are hard, often it is only the dreamer or somebody close to them that can explain them, like your friends dog meaning in all of this

[eight bits]

Can you tell some more about the house?

Also, you are male? And relative to you, was the girl older, younger, or about the same age?

... and since you brought it up, what sort of psychologist are you?

Edited April 3, 2008 by eight bits

[She-ra]

Too odd.

I sponsor (can't say own) a Florida Panther. Her name is Mya.

I am going through a weird time with her. I have to transport her from Florida to Texas.

She's 2 and a half years old and very playful. She is used to Rottweiler's and plays with them at times; no other type of dog.

Not sure why I'm even posting this except it reminded me of what is happening in my life.

Cool.

[Mahtu]

merly a reflection of what is inside you.

that is somthing you are going to have to figure out yourself.

the panther is representative of a part of your psycy. a part that you keep caged.

Well I'm not sure if it's me or someone close to me, because normally when i dream of myself in an animal form it looks like a falcon or some other kind of bird. Also, if it were me why would the panther transform into a woman?

Can you tell some more about the house?

Also, you are male? And relative to you, was the girl older, younger, or about the same age?

... and since you brought it up, what sort of psychologist are you?

Well all I remember is that the house was very large, white, and had a kind of big glass back door.

Yes, I am male, but I do not recognize the girl at all. I'd never seen her before. But by judging age she was about my age, maybe two years older or younger at the most.

And I am a therapist. Mostly doing therapy sessions with children and teens, and a couple adults.

[eight bits]

Thanks for the additional details, Mahtu. Here goes:

To dispose of a surface issue first, the transformation of a panther to a girl is the main plot of Cat People.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083722/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034587/

Even if you haven't seen the movie(s), this is part of the culture. So, there is a good chance that you simply borrowed that particular image and worked it into your dream where it fit.

To dispose of another issue, I do not do dream interpretation. Sometimes, however, it is possible to recognize motifs in dreams which many other people have also dreamt. If so, then it might be interesting to consider what the motif seems to have meant to many of those other people. However, only you can decide whether your dream means something similar to you.

Both "wild" animals and opposite sex-same age strangers are frequently encountered symbols for aspects of the source of dreams itself (or call it the subconscious, unconscious, objective self, neglected self, ... ). So a wild animal who is a girl, an identity with cultural resonance, sounds especially promising as a symbol of the dreamsource.

Similarly, a house often sees symbolic service as the whole mind. The source of dreams might have its own space within the house. Sometimes that's a basement, or an attic, but a cage in the backyard will do nicely, and fits in nicely with the animal symbolism.

A cage is a peculiar enclosure in that it is open to the world even if it is confining. The big glass back door has a similar property: a barrier that nevertheless lets the outside see in and in the inside see out.

You are suprised that your source is friendly, but you shouldn't be, since she is just as much you as you are. The difference is that she knows it. You are inhibiting her free movement, and keeping her out of your life, when she would prefer that you work together. The cage was your idea, not hers, so to speak.

No story without a plot, and so we have what seems to be a little exploration of why she's in a cage. That is, why you put here there.

She does 'have a mind of her own' and will have a different take on things than you do. There is that difference of opinion about the neighbor's dog. (Odds are he's an aspect of you, too, but a tame male canine foil to a wild female feline borders on symbolic overkill.) So, since you can never be sure what she might do, it's a little dangerous to leave her wandering about - although that isn't what she seems to be proposing.

For example, when your significant other asks you whether those slacks make her look fat, Lady Panther would say yes, if that were the truth. You know better than to say that, especially if it is the truth. You're civilized, and she is at best more tame than she might appear.

Animal control, indeed. In real life, how civilization deals with whatever bit of the wild might wander into well ordered areas. In the dream, yet another aspect of you.

And by now you are about ready to wake up. So the dreamsource takes one last shot at grabbing your attention, to ensure that you will remember this dream after you wake up.

And she is a shamelessly calculating pussycat, and so she hauls out her best aspect, and the one that you as a psychologist have run across, Jungian or not (you probably are not his brand of therapist, but you sure are his kind of dreamer), your anima...

Your age because she is your fraternal twin (so to speak), born when you were, and not your sex because she is your complement.

... being carted away in a paddy wagon, rounding out the cage motif.

Damn, she's good, even if Cat People did that one first. And she has gotcha.

As I say, that works for you or it doesn't. If not, that's cool. But you more than most people here can check out the bit about other people using these symbols within common motifs, and that's all I can put on the table.

Edited April 3, 2008 by eight bits

[138]

It obviously means you should buy a transforming panther. Try Ebay.

[000000000000000]

dude I personally think dreams are nothing more then dreams and mean nothing. I have weird dreams. Just the other day I dreamt I was sonic(yes the hedge hog) and for some reason I was trying to talk to this girl. And that is my least weirdest dream. I have alot. If anyone wants to hear about 2 of my weirdest pm me. But sorry for off topic but I really need to know

Are your dreams in 1st person- as in like regular life

Or 3rd person. As in like you not having a physical body and watching you play out your dreams?

all my dreams are like that and I really wanna know about everyone else

[Mahtu]

Thanks eight bits, it never occured to think of it in terms of the panther being a complement of myself. You're right, I'm not a jungian psychologist in any way, really more of a humanist, but I did feel pretty much the same way about the house and the glass door and the cage...

Thanks, 138 haha!

And Torch, my dreams are typically in 1st and 3rd, flashing back and forth, but this one was all in first person. Also, I believe that dreams are often random and seem meaningless, but when you start to see a pattern of some kind within the dream then you can start to find out meaning, because your mind is subconsciously choosing to repeat those motifs and themes, meaning that at least on a subconscious level these things have a sort of meaning to you. Also, I do have lots of strange dreams and don't think much about them. The only reason I cared to post this one is because for some reason the look that this girl gave me pierced right through me and it felt so real and vivid that it took all day to stop feeling the shock that it gave me.

[John from Lowell]

And Torch, my dreams are typically in 1st and 3rd, flashing back and forth, but this one was all in first person. Also, I believe that dreams are often random and seem meaningless, but when you start to see a pattern of some kind within the dream then you can start to find out meaning, because your mind is subconsciously choosing to repeat those motifs and themes, meaning that at least on a subconscious level these things have a sort of meaning to you. Also, I do have lots of strange dreams and don't think much about them. The only reason I cared to post this one is because for some reason the look that this girl gave me pierced right through me and it felt so real and vivid that it took all day to stop feeling the shock that it gave me.

The feeling I got was that the conscious you is the animal control element that prevented the creative feminine from defending you from the logical self (friend's dog). The sadness you feel from the inner child(panther transformed to girl) is because you betrayed her affection and protection.

[Miri Rin]

Hm. Maybe it's a sign; like the treatment of wild animals these days, being taken in and caged?

Well, something like that.

Kind of give me an idea for a story

[the eternal me]

the girl is a part of you, not you in the literal sense.

panther has its own energy, this energy is associated with a part of your psycy.

there is so much symbology of what diferent animals mean in many cultures its not worth it to go into all of the different meaning each culture holds.

but it is a part of you that you are afraid of loosing.

Edited April 6, 2008 by the eternal me

[20SEP2008]

Sometimes people look to far into dreams. I know I have.

The real part... In case you haven't noticed, any emotion that you feel in your dream seems very 'real'. Thats because when your sleeping, your subconscious sends electrical impulses to your brain telling you that you are, in fact, feeling that emotion. And in reality you are.

Or it means something.

Depends which card you play.

But no matter what card you play, the game still ends.