Toad crawling under door

DREAM INTERPRETATION: Feeling disrupted or invaded by habitual ways of being or an unknown entity [symbols: toad, boyfriend, poltergeist, phone]

Last updated: April 9th, 2019

In our weekly Mindful Dreams column, Aneta Baranek of the School of Metaphysics is offering free dream interpretations to The Mindful Word readers, as well as articles on dreams in general.

If you’ve ever been curious about deciphering the cryptic contents of your subconscious mind, here’s your chance! If you would like Aneta to interpret your dream, fill out this form. She will respond with your dream interpretation through this column, published every Thursday. Aneta would love to receive more comments for the dreams interpreted. If you can relate to a dream posted here or have any insights to add, you can post them as comments to the interpretation, or email her at aneta@themindfulword.org.

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DREAM

Hi Aneta,

I’ve had two mild episodes of sleep paralysis within the last two nights. Both episodes were accompanied by dreams that seem to share certain characteristics. For context, my relationship with my boyfriend (who features in both) has only been going on for about a month so far.

Dream #1: I’m lying in my bed with my boyfriend (and this was true, the night of the dream) and it’s early morning (about 4 a.m.). I hear a noise on the floor and see a mouse scurry out of the room. We get up and go to the kitchen (which doesn’t look like the kitchen of my apartment since it’s larger and has two fridges).

I tell him that I think the mouse is under one of the fridges and he goes to look. As I look at the other fridge, I see a very large toad and point this out to him. He’s busy looking for the mouse as the toad leaps at me. I run back to the bedroom while being chased by the leaping toad.

Eventually, I’m cornered and the toad jumps on my back, which triggers the sleep paralysis. I try to yell my boyfriend’s name, but can’t. I wake up unable to move and making weak sounds.

Dream #2: I’m lying on the couch in my living room (again, true on the night I had this dream). I hear something moving in the apartment and call my boyfriend (on the phone) to ask if it’s him, because I know (from real life) that he’s not at my house that night.

He assures me it’s not him. I hear the movement at a different end of the house and notice that several lights have been turned on. My boyfriend tells me there’s a poltergeist in my house and I just have to wait for the spirit to be done with its mischief. The poltergeist then proceeds to make noises around me while moving in circles, knocking things over, etc. and I wake up paralyzed.

Besides taking place in my apartment, featuring my boyfriend and involving me being attacked by something, the dreams share another feature that occurs prior to the paralysis-inducing part.

In both dreams, I’ve been using my phone at some point to communicate with other boys (both known and unknown) besides my boyfriend.

Prior to the second dream, I specifically remember texting someone I barely knew in graduate school about meeting up with them at a friend’s wedding, and the conversation was sexually charged (though not explicit).

I haven’t actually done anything of the sort since beginning my relationship, but it seems relevant.

Any guidance would be appreciated. What am I trying to tell myself through these dreams?

– J

DREAMER: Male, 25, U.S.

MAIN SYMBOLS:

Apartment — known, familiar place in dreamer’s mind

Boyfriend — known aspect of the dreamer

Toad, mouse — habits

Food — knowledge

Fridge — place where knowledge is preserved

Kitchen — place where knowledge is prepared

Couch — place of assimilation

Poltergeist (ghost, spirit) — undefined, subconscious entity

Phone — means of communication, particularly mind-to-mind

INTERPRETATION

Hi J,

Thanks a lot for sharing both dreams with me, as well as the background information. How fascinating! So, what do your dreams tell you about you? Let’s take a closer look. 🙂

In Dream #1, your process of assimilation (lying in bed) with a known part of yourself (your boyfriend) is interrupted by two different habits (mouse and toad) scavenging through a place used for the assimilation of knowledge (kitchen). There’s a disconnect between you and this known part of you (your boyfriend) with both of you focusing your attention on a different habit. The mouse is a habit quite relevant to the kitchen space. The toad—not so much.

This dream speaks to habitual ways of being that you, the dreamer, perceive as disrupting the relationship between you and that familiar part of you represented by your boyfriend. Since the dream takes place in the kitchen, it draws your attention to how you assimilate what you’re learning in and through the relationship.

In Dream #2, yet again, your process of assimilation is disrupted by another “”invasion.” This time, it’s an unknown ethereal/subconscious entity (ghost/ poltergeist) that invades your resting space (couch). Talking on the phone symbolizes inner-level, mind-to-mind communication between you and that part of you your boyfriend symbolizes.

APPLICATION

What emerges through both dreams, and the following sleep paralysis, is some sort of fear. This is fear that has to do with feeling disrupted or invaded, either by habitual ways of being (toad and mouse) or an unknown, non-physical entity.

If these were my dreams, and I were at the onset of a new relationship, I’d look at ways in which entering into this relationship could invoke a sense of fear. Both dreams are urging you to look deeper into who you are, beginning with that part of yourself that your new boyfriend represents.

In the language of dreams, every dream is about the dreamer and every person, place or thing represents the dreamer. So ask yourself, “What does my boyfriend represent to me? What are the two hallmark characteristics that come to mind when I think of him?” He reflects these qualities within you—the dreamer.

Couple (male and female) on paddle boards in water - Dream interpretationIt’s through relationships that we discover who we are on a much deeper level, as in these relationships, we see ourselves reflected in others. Intimate relationships, by design, invoke emotional states of being and trigger our insecurities. These insecurities then prompt us to face our deepest fears and make changes if we choose to. In the process, we have a bountiful opportunity to evolve both as a human being and a spiritual being.

May your dreams illuminate the inner and outer you…


image 1: Pixabay; image 2: Pexels

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