With another lockdown looming for England tomorrow, Jacquie Flecknoe-Brown shares some insight into who we can interpret our dreams during the pandemic. Our dreams can give us information about how we are doing, information we should know but don’t. Here are some examples:
Isolation: dreams of ‘sneaking out’, or partner sneaking out of the home: this might be about a need to find space in a house where the dreamer feels a bit trapped in with the family, or a need to get outside more (some people are isolating too much and forgetting that a walk around the block or to the park is very important for the mind as well as the body).
Unwanted intrusions by a snake: the snake can be a creative symbol or a dangerous sign, so depending on the context of the dream, might be a reminder to do one’s own creative work (writing, drawing, reflecting) instead of spending hours online.
Grieving work: some dreams throw up images of cancelled work plans or returning to work- particularly for people who are self-employed or in creative fields – the loss of which exposes the vital necessity of work for these people and sometimes elicits or urges solutions for this loss e.g. online conferencing or planning next year’s calendar of events.
Childhood reminiscences: the solitude if not filled with too much screen-distraction can bring up dream images of childhood issues that need to be reflected on, particularly in folk whose childhood was lonely.
Earthquakes or tsunamis: earthquake images are mythically connected to Poseiden, the earth-shaker and relate to the psychological shifting of the ground beneath one’s feet: things can change dramatically and involuntarily, in other words, and much like images of surfing in dreams, these changes and movements have to be ridden out: while we can take precautions, we can’t fight the big natural events.
Alien invasion: these dreams are often related to either a hope that something outside will save us (due to fears of climate change or pandemic), or a dread that we will be taken over by some inhuman response to our current circumstances.
Jacquie Flecknoe-Brown is the author of The Dreamer’s Odyssey: A Guide to the Creative Unconscious. She is an experienced Jungian Analyst working in private practice in Melbourne.
