"I'm Driving My Car and I Can't Slow Down." A Dream Interpretation.

Dear Satya:

I have had several dreams in which I am driving and I can't slow down. Sometimes I run red lights, sometimes I am driving and I cannot figure out how to use the brakes. I am usually very scared but I somehow manage to stay in control of the car.

A: Unfortunately, this is a very common dream theme, but it's one that is indicative of a cultural illness of manic activity. The message from the dream is clear: you need to slow down.

You may even think that you have already slowed things down in your life. If so, the dream is saying "try harder." This is your own unconscious giving you a very clear message. Listen.

Cars in dreams are symbolic of you. They're like turtles' shells, the additional homes or bodies in which we travel through the world. If you have dreams of driving, pay attention. Pay attention to the way in which you are driving, or if you are driving at all. If you're not driving, who is? Who's in the driver's seat? This is very important information. You can develop great insight into what aspect of you is actually in control of your life, or perhaps it's another person in your life altogether.

Your dreams are indicating that you are holding onto control by the skin of your teeth. You may think "but I'm killing it right now! I'm totally in control of things!" If that is the case, this dream is clearly indicating another layer of what is going on, that perhaps you're riding on a degree of mania, feeling on top of it while actually beginning to crash (pun intended). While you are safe for now, you don't really know how you're managing it. After a while, you'll start to pay the price if you don't heed the advice of your dream.

Dreams are often the first line of defense in getting us into alignment with our inner selves. If we're checked out or disengaged from our path in life, our dreams will reflect that. Sometimes, they'll turn into nightmares to get our attention. But if our awareness gets too fragmented, we can fall into physical danger too: we forget to look both ways when crossing the street, we stop paying close attention when driving our car in waking life, maybe we just get angry with people in our lives when we needn't be. It's also possible that following these dreams, an injury or illness may appear to slow us down by force. This may again be what the dream is reflecting directly, with the car representing the body. Take a good look at your immune system, your sleep habits, your eating, and your physical well-being.

Your dream world is your ally. If your dream is telling you to slow down, it's not demanding something you cannot accomplish. Find a way to spend more time alone, to breathe, to stay aware of the moment-to-moment details in your life. Bringing yourself into the moment of whatever it is you may be doing will significantly slow down your internal clock and pace. You'll be the better for it.

Have you had a dream like this? Leave a comment and share!

Satya Doyle Byock is a Jungian psychotherapist, the Director of The Salome Institute, and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022).

"Sexuality and the Baby Elephant Upstairs." A Dream Interpretation.

Dear Satya:

Q: I go upstairs into a room that I'm surprised I've never been to before. Then I realize I used to be up here all the time, but not for a while. There is a sweet baby elephant jumping and playing in the room, small and gray. I'm with another woman about my age and with my coloring. She's there to spend time with the elephant. I ask her if she comes up here every day to visit, but she tells me that she's only able to come up every other day for a few minutes. I think that the elephant needs more time than that. It's otherwise alone up here. I worry for its loneliness and lack of companionship. Then there is a bear. The baby elephant gets distracted. The big brown bear is in a wooden trailer, heading towards the wall opposite us. The trailer is making noise like the low rumbles of an adult elephant, and the baby bounds after the trailer. Then, I'm shocked to see the bear go head first into what I know is a shredder or meat grinder. I gasp. I watch the baby elephant jump in too. Both are immediately dead and bloody. I see their bodies deflate as if all that is left of them is their skin. I am so sad, and I turn away.

A: Oh dear, what an image. This makes me sad too. What's been happening in your life for these images to arise? You noted that the elephant is getting only very sparse attention and you reflect, "I worry for its loneliness and lack of companionship." As a dream's elements are all elements of one's own psyche, I wonder if you have been feeling only intermittently cared for yourself, lonely and without the relationships you'd like. What playful aspect of you has been relegated to a corner of your life, like a rarely visited room you once knew well? I've noticed that dreams of elephants often arise with the beginnings or endings of intimate relationships, so I'm drawn in particular to this mention of companionship in the dream. I inquired with you about this aspect of your life. You told me that you had just spent the night with someone new when you had this dream, and that you were feeling uncertain about your emotions in the days following. I can only imagine, given the way the dream ends, that you were indeed experiencing some mixed feelings and perhaps hurt. The image of the bear and the elephant being deflated makes me wonder about your own sense of emotional deflation, like having the wind and momentum of life taken out of your sails.

The archetypal layers of this dream are very interesting. I was intrigued by the association of intimacy and elephants in dreams, so I did some research into the symbol and was further struck by the correlation. In Hindu philosophy and metaphysics, the elephant is associated with the root chakra Muladhara, located at the base of the spine. This chakra, one of seven points in the body thought of as centers of vital energy, is said to govern sexuality, mental stability, and sensuality. It is the base of Kundalini energy, the place from which that fire of life initially rises; it is for this reason that sexuality plays a major role in tantric traditions. Sexuality can create physical life in the form of new conception, but it also can kickstart new energetic life and awakening in each individual. In Buddhist mythology, it is said that an elephant calf is responsible for Buddha's conception when it caressed Queen Maya's body with its trunk while she slept. Conception and awakening in one.The Muladhara chakra is also associated to the color red, a color that Jung described in his exploration of Kundalini philosophy as "the color of blood, of dark passion" (Kundalini Seminar, p. 17). This association provides a twist (a less upsetting one) on the appearance of the blood within the dream. The red is an inherent aspect of this chakra energy associated with the elephant, suggesting here more an emergence of passion and life energy than the destruction felt within the dream. Is it possible that while you were feeling a bit mixed-up after your recent evening, you might also be feeling a new energy for life these days? I found the information on the Muladhara chakra fascinating and hope you'll continue to learn more about it on your own. There is a strong correlation here between the activity of your physical body and the reflections of your psyche, one which might be a gateway to greater insight. Exploring the symbolism and diving into the literature around the various images in your dream will almost certainly provide you with greater connections and kickstart some wonderful creativity too. Dreams can provide tremendous comfort when you discover an image that, by its very emergence, provides insight into your life. If you haven't experienced that feeling yet, dive in and start exploring. Perhaps that too is the attention your baby elephant desires.

Have you had a dream like this? Leave a comment and share!

Satya Doyle Byock is a Jungian psychotherapist, the Director of The Salome Institute, and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022).

"Two women. One dream. Gum Stuck in My Throat." A Dream Interpretation.

Dear Satya:

Dreamer #1: I have a recurring dream that I have gum wrapped around my back teeth and am trying to get it out. It feels like a lot of gum, and sometimes it will start to go down my throat, which really freaks me out. I feel anxious that it's there. Sometimes, I am trying to get the gum out of my mouth because I'm doing something in which I need to speak.

Dreamer #2: I have a recurring dream that there is gum in my throat, a thick wad of it, and I'm desperate to get it out of my mouth. The more I pull, the more gum keeps coming. It never ends and I'm totally freaked out.

Whew! Here we have two different women, living in different states, who reported to me their primary recurring dream. Forgive me for being a bit of a nerd here, but is this not just the most fascinating thing? Many people have heard of the common back-in-school and teeth-falling-out dreams and might be desensitized to how very strange it is that we can dream very similar dreams at night. But it really is pretty amazing. How does that happen?? What is the unconscious (collective or personal) representing here? What human experience is being captured by these images?

Let's explore this dream viscerally. To start unlocking this dream, imagine yourself in this situation. Imagine you're in public and you have a huge wad of gum in your throat and in the back of your mouth that (of course) you really want to get out. You try to remove it... you begin to get anxious... the gum's not easily coming out... there's a lot of it... it keeps coming... What do you do? How do you protect yourself? What are the types of fear that arise?

In this dream, the ability to speak has been thwarted. One's mouth and throat are all gummed up. The capacity for self-expression has been prevented and shoved aside by more complicated feelings of fear, shame, and insecurity. As one is privately managing a fear that she is in a strange, maybe dangerous situation, out of control of what's happening, she is simultaneously trying not to let others know of her predicament out of shame. She is in a "sticky situation," managing her own fear while trying not to let others catch on. T

he images in this dream are representing certain inner experiences; as it's a recurring dream, those inner experiences are likely rather persistent and common to the individual: a difficulty with authentic self-expression, with finding one's true voice, and therefore feelings of insecurity, of being alone with one's own emotions despite being among people, and feeling that things are not easily within one's own control.

To you two beautiful ladies who dreamt this dream (should my analysis of it prove at all true), you might consider playing with this dream a little to alter it and take care of yourself in the process. Dream it forward. You've got gum stuck in your throat, and you're anxious and panicked, but you don't have to deal with this very strange crisis by yourself. Imagine the dream and add someone in who you trust completely and who you can look to for help. How do they react? What do they do? What do you need? What help can they offer? See what arises and explore what comes next...

Have you had a dream like this? Leave a comment and share!

Satya Doyle Byock is a Jungian psychotherapist, the Director of The Salome Institute, and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022).

"Gross! I Pooped and Put it In the Fridge!" A Dream Interpretation.

Dear Satya:

Okay, this is kind of gross, but I'm really curious... in this dream I'm standing alone in a nice, big kitchen in a house that feels somewhat communal. I have to go to the bathroom, but I don't want to use one of the bathrooms because I want to avoid people knowing. The next thing I know, I've pooped in a plastic compost container and am placing the full container in the refrigerator! I know I intend to flush it all later. It's really full and gross. Later, I am in another room and there's a crew of people, in their 30s, happy, gathered and cooking in the kitchen. I have anxiety that the container will be discovered. When they leave, I go to the fridge and find that someone has dumped and cleaned the container and that it's now full of cooked white rice. What?!

Awesome! Yes, in a way this is a totally gross dream. Fine. But the symbols behind it are also pretty awesome. Here's the quick-and-dirty (so to speak) about poop dreams: they can very directly reflect what's going on in our "psychic digestive systems." The psychological processing of things is not unlike physical digestion in the way it works: we take things in, process them, integrate the nutrients, and release the waste. When life throws us things that are requiring more of our attention, poop dreams often show up. The dreams are pointing to the need to digest something, to fully take something in, or they can point out problems with the processing. With "psychic digestion," there are endless social norms that can keep us from properly integrating what we take in. Each day, the emotions, experiences, memories, relationships, stimuli, information, and conversations in our lives cannot all be fully digested because we don't have the time, or we get interrupted, or we're at work and on deadline. Too much of the external expectations and not enough of the internal awareness can leave us constipated, or sick. Symbolically and literally.

In this dream, you're scared to go to the bathroom because other people are around. This can suggest that you have needed to process something that's happening in your life away from others, or that you were unnecessarily concerned about the opinions of others in regards to what you're sorting through. I say this in the past tense because this dream has a full conclusion. To start, you do poop, reflecting that something that you were processing (a relationship struggle? a work difficulty?) has worked its way through your system (you've found some clarity with it), but before you let it go completely, you put it in the fridge! You "put it on ice." Something more was to be done.

The critical, wonderful twist to this dream comes when you discover that the poop is no longer in the bin and that there is cooked rice in its place! Wow. This kind of image reversal is known as alchemy, the act of turning stone into gold, or the psychic human equivalent, poop into food: the S*&t of life into personal growth. This is a pretty literal symbol when you look at it that way. (The compost bin, if you consider the concept of compost, is the other symbol that really points to this.)

This theme of transition is such a crucial one in dreams that I know we'll have to explore it more soon. For now, I would venture to say that this dream is reflecting that you have successfully processed through some things recently and have turned the experience into nutrients for a new beginning. Get to know those people in the house who helped you do that. They're your allies and support and good parts of you to know for the future.

Have you had a dream like this? Leave a comment and share!

Satya Doyle Byock is a Jungian psychotherapist, the Director of The Salome Institute, and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022).

"My Teeth are Falling Out!" A Dream Interpretation.

Dear Satya:

I've been having a recurring dream in which I discover that my teeth are falling out (I've heard this is a common one). In the dream, I am doing some mundane task when all of a sudden I reach into my mouth and pull out one of my teeth. Subsequently, I realize that numerous teeth are loose. Before I know it, I have a handful of teeth in my hand. I am consumed with a feeling of panic.

Yup, you're absolutely right, this is a very common dream (and so unpleasant!). I would even venture to say that this may be the most common dream that people share with other people after having it, it's just so weird! First, let's review that recurring dreams show up when things are sort of stuck when there's an issue or emotion that is working its way through our systems and can't quite get resolved. The easiest way to get recurring dreams to go away (should you want to be rid of one) is to write the dream down and talk it through with someone who can help you objectively explore it. What you're looking for is the emotion in the images, that is, it's not an entirely intellectual process. For instance, you know you feel panic in this dream, but what kind? What does it remind you of? What are the specific fears wrapped up in it? The emotion will have to find its way out of your system and be felt. Unfortunately, no impersonal dream interpretation can accomplish this task fully without your participation. The "aha!" moments are just too personal, too particular, and have to be experienced to be transformative.

But let's see if we can get a head-start on this process! Teeth. Teeth are the very beginning of the digestion process, they break down food before it enters our stomach so that the nutrients can be better integrated into our systems. Symbolically, they can point to the beginning of a similar process of psychic digestion, trying to process information and events that enter our awareness. If they're falling out, it may suggest that we're struggling to integrate something, perhaps as a result of being overwhelmed by it. Importantly, teeth also fall out naturally at only a couple of stages of life: early childhood when we are gaining our adult teeth, and in old age. We've got bare gums when we're babies and often when we're old. The shared experience between babies and the elderly is one of a lack of autonomy, a feeling of sort of being swept along by your own physical needs and the requirements of the outer world; for both stages in life, personal choice and personal desire are something of a luxury.

You say you're regularly doing some mundane task in this dream, which suggests to me a feeling of monotony and boredom in your life. I venture to say that for you, this dream is pointing to a feeling of persistent boredom and a loss of autonomy in your life, a feeling of being infantilized (by work or school?), and then panicked about how to reverse that experience and regain a sense of adulthood and control. My guess is that your panic in this dream involves an anticipatory feeling of having to face the world now. These teeth-falling-out dreams may be a version of the naked-in-public dreams: pure panic, terror, and a sense of desperation — "how am I going to get out of this situation and make this go away?"

So, I'm terribly curious about the nuances of your emotions when you discover that you're losing teeth. I wonder about that panic. Perhaps the notions of not being in control of your day-to-day existence, of having to face the world before you're calm and collected (a bit naked), resonates. What more is in there? These images may point to themes that others experience too, but the nuances are yours alone. What are the very specific fears and contemplations about the future, unique only to you, that arise when you look in your hand and see a handful of teeth? What do those feelings remind you of from your waking life?

Have you had a dream like this? Leave a comment and share!

Satya Doyle Byock is a Jungian psychotherapist, the Director of The Salome Institute, and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022).

"I'm With a Lion on a Beach..." A Dream Interpretation.

Dear Satya:

In this dream, I am on a beach with others. I know it was just nighttime, but now it feels sort of in-between times. We are walking on the edge of the water but then I walk up the beach. Then, after a short while, I turn around and see a full-grown lion standing halfway in the water, looking right at me! The lion is not threatening, but it is very real and I am struck by its size, strength, and presence as it stares at me. It was an incredible dream!

Fabulous. What you've got here is a dream clearly marking a major life transition. Do you see some of the indications? It's "in-between times," as you put it, and you're walking on the edge of the water, between water and land. There's a pattern there. It may sound cryptic initially, but the imagery suggests that you yourself are somewhat in between worlds, bringing something that was not conscious (of the night and the watery ocean) into the daytime and onto land, where we humans are more comfortable. You're transitioning from one attitude or way of life into another. It's a liminal time, a transitional time.

The incredible imagery of the lion appearing to you is a visceral experience, right? It's those moments that stop you in your tracks and make you go "Whoa!" And for good reason. That lion is a presence, almost a messenger, staring straight at you, and acknowledging you. These kinds of dreams tend to give the dreamer a feeling of meaning, versus many other dreams that can be more easily tossed aside as "day residue." It's got an archetypal feel; you just know that lion is not in your dream because of any nonsense from the day before.

Lion's are not just any old animal, they are the kings of the animal world. When a lion appears in a dream, coming up from the depths of who-knows-where to pay you a visit, it's a good idea to pay attention. Your attitude towards the lion in the dream is important. You do not rush up excitedly to hug him, nor do you run in the other direction in fear. Your attitude suggests a kind of reverence and gratitude, a good sign, suggesting that you are open to this transition in your life instead of fighting it. If, instead, you had misunderstood the lion's power to hurt you in the dream (jumping on its back or getting too close), I would not feel as optimistic about your "prognosis" for the transition. You get it. You get that this lion has power, and you get that it's sort of an honor to have him there, staring right at you. I know this is a big time in your life, because kings don't pay visits for just any old reason.

Have you had a dream like this? Share in the comments!

Satya Doyle Byock is a Jungian psychotherapist, the Director of The Salome Institute, and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022).

"Feral cats! In My House and Everywhere!" A Dream Interpretation.

Dear Satya:

I am in my house and look outside and see a swarm of feral cats invading my yard. I am extremely frustrated and anxious. I go around to the kitchen and open the door to scare them away, but the cats start coming into my house! There are other people in my house, and everyone wants me to get rid of the cats! I pick up one of the cats but it starts scratching my arm so I drop it. I try to start shoving them out, but they're all dodging my efforts. Then a big, Native American blanket is somehow thrown over a cat and it transforms into a giant, stuffed, toy pony that falls to the ground. The whole scene changes. The cats are gone and everything is now outside.

Like a proper story, this dream provides the setting, the problem, the climax, and then the unlikely solution. You're in your house looking into your yard. Feral cats are swarming outside and, in your desire to be rid of them, you inadvertently let them in! Your attempts to get rid of them by force fail, but then, out of nowhere, an unlikely shift: with the help of something more ancient and unfamiliar, the cat is transformed into a cuddly, inert, soft, pony. And just as you desired, the cats are all gone.I know from conversations with you that this is a recurring dream; these feral cats have been haunting you for a long time. As a recurring dream, you are being presented with a challenge of some kind, a personal difficulty, that persists because (almost like an injury) it requires your attention. So what do these cats represent for you and why are you determined to keep them out?

Cats are companions for many people and bring comfort; they live in our homes, sit on our laps, sleep in our beds, and cuddle up with us. They are also dependent on us for food and shelter. I won't go into the varied mythological symbolism of cats here, because I think the primary question is why these cats are so regularly in your dreams, seeking your help, and why you are so determined to keep them out.

In the dream, are you at all concerned that these cats are homeless and seeking shelter in your home? You and I have spoken about this dream, so I'll share with our readers that when I asked you this question if you were worried about them, you replied that you were just annoyed with them, and that, perhaps, you wanted them gone quickly so that you didn't have to worry about them. Out of sight out of mind.

That's it, though. The more we try to avoid things, the more they bother us. A small part of you, I think, is actually concerned about these cats but avoiding thinking about it. So what does that mean? Every character that arises in a dream is a part of us. These cats, whatever they represent, are a part of you, a part that may be rather soft and even somewhat dependent on others, that you may prefer were not part of you at all. All this work you are doing to protect your home (another important symbol) suggests that you are working hard to keep your defenses up, fortifying walls in order to keep from admitting that something a little gentler, maybe emotional, is being neglected and left out.

All of your tools to keep the cats out of your house are not working. They never will. In order to get rid of these cats once and for all, you may just have to let them in and engage them. The incredible solution at the end of your dream, the Native American blanket and the toy pony, will need to wait for explanation for another time. But I promise you, if you learn to pay attention to this cat part of you and what it needs, this recurring dream will either change dramatically or will never come back again.

Have you had a dream like this? Leave a note in the comments below!

Satya Doyle Byock is a Jungian psychotherapist, the Director of The Salome Institute, and the author of Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood (Random House, 2022).