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Are you prepared to set yourself free?
Dreams of being caged may sound quite simple to understand, but in reality they often prove more of a challenge than you might initially think. For while we can easily understand that a cage represents some kind of restriction or loss of freedom, knowing why the cage exists, and how to be released from it can be a lot more challenging indeed.
When you dream of a cage, it can help to start by looking at who or what is in the cage. By using some of the other posts I have written you may begin to realise which aspect of yourself is caged. Is it a wild animal? Maybe your inner wild nature is being restricted. Is it another person? Maybe an aspect of your personality is being shut-off or caged.
Dreams of being caged can also represent a difficulty your are facing in your waking life, where you feel circumstances do not allow you to be your real self, or where you are compromised in some way. Take a look and see how much of this is really out of your control, and how much you are complicit in what is going on. Are you just avoiding the confrontation or feel you lack the bravery it would take to change things? For while cages can seem like a prison to some, to others they can be a safe haven. Does the bird in the cage want to live there safe from the cat’s evil claws, or would it rather fly away to freedom? If you are the bird, what is it you really want? For others, the cage keeps the wild things safely hidden away. But remember, these are all simply aspects of yourself. If you are a lion, do you want to roar proudly, or cower in the dark in shame and humiliation?
The reason dreams of being caged can be so difficult to resolve is because often it is only our-selves who have constructed the cage in the first place. Dreams of cages invite us to consider:
- Where have we placed restrictions upon our-self?
- What self-limiting beliefs or behaviours are we exhibiting?
- What part of ourselves do we need to “set free”
Are you caged by your own thoughts?
As soon as we begin to realise that we can cage our-selves with our own thoughts, dreams of being caged may become less distressing of frustrating. Often, we hold the key to our own release. Address these areas of your life, and see how your dreams may change to ones with symbols of freedom, such as running happilly, dancing, flying or floating.
It may also be helpful to look at my posts on”Wild Animals” “Other People” and “Obstacles.”
What precious thing needs care and nurturing in your life?
Babies in dreams can mean a variety of things.
They can refer to our own inner child, the part of us that remains innocent, spontaneous, playful and trusting. These kind of baby dreams ask us to look to where in our life we need nurturing. Do you need to take better care of yourself, or maybe you have judged your self harshly and need to be a bit kinder and gentler to your self.
They can mean a new project in your life, something that you create and nuture as “your baby.” The age of the baby can sometimes indicate when this project was started or “conceived.”
If you lose or forget the baby in your dream, you might feel a terrible sense of sadness or guilt. Look for where in your life you feel you have lost something precious. This might be a new loss, like loss of a job, giving up something personally valuable to you in order to achieve another goal, or help someone you care about. It might also be an old loss, remembrance from a pain in your past that was unresolved, when the innocent, trusting part of you was hurt or let down. Baby dreams ask us to address these issues, so we can feel trusting and happy again.
And while it is not the most common reason for people to dream of babies, some women do realise they are pregnant by dreaming of their baby. This is because the subconscious mind often knows before the conscious mind what is going on in the body, and will send us messages to let us know!
The important thing to remember, is that even if you dream of your own children, or children you know, these are usually symbols your mind is using to express an idea to you. There is no need to feel anxious or guilty over your parenting skills, but you might want to look at what other causes for anxiety there are in your life, and remember it is just as important to care for and nurture your self as it is to care for your baby.
Dreams of loved ones can be confusing
Dreaming of the ones we love can be very confusing and at times upsetting. We see their actions played out in our dreams and think somehow we are getting an insight into what they are really thinking or feeling. But remember the things you dream about are usually aspects of you. So your husband or wife or significant other in your dream is more likely to represent the qualities of yourself that you see in them – often qualities that are buried quite deep in us, as many partnerships are external ways for us to address what we are missing in our waking lives. Dreams of loved ones invite us to look at what characteristics in ourselves we feel we can’t access. If a partner is cheating or hurting you, look for where in your life you might be lying to yourself, or denying yourself the emotional support you need and deserve. Remember before accusations fly or doubt creeps in, that it is far more likely you are letting yourself down in some way, than your lover is.
Parents in dreams are often related to our need for nurturing, support, wisdom and guidance. They will often contain good advice for a particular issue in your life, so listen for the messages they offer. Parent dreams are often about addressing any areas of parenting we lacked growing up, and now need to fulfil for ourselves. They invite us to grow up and become responsible for our own development.
To dream of children can often be about our own inner child or more literally our conflicted feelings about parenting (for example, how much discipline versus how much love?) But dreams can work on multiple levels at the same time, and if a parent dreams of their child in distress, I would not suggest ignoring this – you may have picked up a subconscious message that your child is unhappy or unwell in some way, and can’t express it. So do look into it with sensitivity, but also look to your inner self as well. The outside world will often reflect our inner struggles and triumphs in surprising ways.
Before we go on and look at some other big themes and common symbols in dreams, I thought it worthwhile clarifying a question that comes up a lot about the people who star in our dreams. So many people say “I dreamt of this guy/girl at work, I dreamed about an old friend/relative/lover etc. Why am I dreaming about them?” Even strangers we barely know, people we have noticed for only a fleeting moment at the shop, on the train, passing by on the street, all can make guest appearances in your nightly imaginings. What do they have to tell us?
The first thing to get clear is that dreaming of these people is not wish fulfilment (no you don’t really want to “have sex with/kill/insert other bizzare action” with these people.) Despite the sniggers you may hear when you say “I dreamed about so and so last night” and the reply “yeah? was it good?”, such replies really display a basic lack of knowledge of dreams and what they are all about.
Remember, dreaming occurs only in your head. These other people haven’t magically popped into your head of their own will - you are imagining them through a dream. Just think if you dream of others in this way, even strangers and people you don’t especially care about, how often have you made a guest appearance in somebody else’s dream? Which leads us back to the original question – why this particular person, at this particular time? Like all symbols in our dreams, people represent something other than what they are. Remember our dreams speak to us in pictures, and they try to use elements from our everyday life that are familiar to us. So going back to the practice of explaining symbols in your dream as you would to a child from the previous post, do the same thing for the person. Describe their character, their personality, their relationship to you. Then look at those words, not the person and see what they mean to you.
Using the example of Bob the neighbour from the previous “Attack” post: he lives close to me, and I feel like he is always butting in to my affairs. He is always criticising with a harsh tone and makes me feel uncomfortable. This can you help you understand where in yourself you are being critical and harsh. When you dream of attacking Bob, you dream isn’t telling you that you really want to attack Bob (even though in real life you may find him annoying) it is actually revealing what you have in common with Bob, and how you want to silence your own inner critic, your own “inner Bob.”
Sex and love dreams can make us feel equally uncomfortable. But instead of thinking of this as some fantasy to be ashamed of, go through the same process of describing the person and their defining characteristics from your perspective, and then view the sex/love actions in the dream as areas of your own personality you are coming to love, new aspects of yourself you are embracing. These dreams are not about wish fullfilment but about personal healing and finding unity within your self. For example, you might dream of sex with the boss. You might describe your boss as uncompromising, influential, powerful and a strong leader. This dream would indicate that you are starting to embrace your own leadership qualities, and learning to wield your own influence and power. So don’t feel ashamed, but maybe refrain from sharing this dream with the boss or anyone else at work who is unlikely to understand the metaphor!
Another aspect of the male/female unity dream is of embracing our own opposite sides. Jung believes each man has a feminine side, and each woman a masculine. Finding the correct balance in a society that defines these roles for us can be challenging. A man dreaming of sex with a strange or beautiful woman is not likely to be thinking about cheating, but more positively, is probably becoming more in tune with his feminine side, maybe getting more in touch with his emotions. Similarly, a woman dreaming about making love to a gorgeous male stranger is not necessarily having a fantasy, but more likely embracing her own masculine qualities, such as maybe learning to stand up for herself or become more assertive. Often these dreams will seem more than simply sex, and have a profound love or even spiritual aspect to them. This is a true sign of internal healing or growth. And it is not “cheating” on your partner! Rather, your partner is likely to enjoy the new energy and confidence such dreams create as you embrace your entire true nature.
There is one aspect though, depending on your own personal beliefs about life and death, where to dream of another person may not be symbolic. That is when you dream of someone you love who has departed this mortal coil. I know controversy exists around this, but I personally believe that to dream of a deceased loved one, (especially when quite recently departed), whether you believe they actually appear in spirit form or not, can still be a profoundly moving experience, and one that cannot be adequately explained by referring to that person as a metaphor or symbol. In these instances, the person is simply them-self, and to dream of them can be a step in the healing process of mourning, grief and loss. These dreams are like gifts, psychic hugs if you will, that help us along the path to acceptance and recovery.
So, next time you dream you are attacking the neighbour or sleeping with the boss, remember to stop and think what these people represent to you. They are not themselves, simply masks your dream has used to express a concept too difficult to condense into words.
