A Dream About Prisons And Pooping Out Eggs

  image courtesy of reference.com

Sometimes dream imagery can be really absurd. It's one of the reasons why dreams have the reputation of being frivolous and unworthy of attention. Even if a dreamer is willing to entertain the possibility that a dream might have value, if the symbols and images emerge in a ridiculous sequence of events or an improbable scenario, the dream is likely to be overlooked. "I don't know what to make of all that!" is a common reaction.

I try to remind dreamers that the reason the images seem so odd is because the dream is communicating in a "foreign" language. Imagine if we found ourselves suddenly deposited in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. We had no clue how to survive, but we were fortunate enough to encounter an indigenous tribe that wanted to help. The only trouble was that they were animatedly jabbering away using a rapid-fire verbiage that left us clueless. That would be as absurd as a dream with weird images. But I doubt seriously if we would dismiss this tribe's offer of assistance!

Dreams are the same. They communicate with us in a language that we need to translate. And exactly like the Amazonian tribe, they are trying desperately to help us. And yes, in their own way they are trying to save our lives.

For that reason, I encourage dreamers to stick with their dreams, no matter how bizarre they might seem. What follows is an excellent example.

A dream about prisons and lizards
In my dream, I am visiting a kind of prison. The inmates haven't done anything particularly awful. It's more that they are young, inexperienced and made some stupid decisions. I try to engage them in friendly conversation, but they remain absolutely silent. I start to walk away from them, feeling as if I have had no success. Then, one of the prisoners points to my back side. I look and see, to my horror, that I have been pooping out large gelatinous egg-like blobs. These eggs are all over the ground. Each one is pliable, almost a little bit spongy. And each one has a lizard inside of it. Then, to my increased horror, one of the lizards starts to emerge from its egg. I look for the nearest exit path and almost run to it to get away.

Initial assessment
This dream certainly falls under the category of absurdist! But I think we will see, as we work on converting it into its metaphoric incarnation, that it has as much to offer the dreamer as any other kind of dream.

We'll start the process on Wednesday. Stay tuned!