Further Pondering of the Dream 2-19-2024

A few days after the dream of February 29, I woke up at 6 a.m. and lay in bed until 6:30 either thinking about or listening to an explanation of the dream. Jenny and Frank had encouraged me to look at it from a symbolic viewpoint, but I never studied Jungian interpretations of dreams. Frank had asked about the symbolism of the alligator, and Jenny did a quick internet search for me. So this inspired me, and the following is a second interpretation of the dream which is more personal.

Background: I have had what I consider two traumatic incidents in my life that deeply impacted my ego and the persona I present to others. One was a horrific hospitalization when I was five-years old, and the second was a divorce after twenty years of marriage when I was forty-two.

Shortly after the divorce I began a spiritual quest with lots of questions and began obsessively searching for answers: Who am I? Why am I here? Why does the universe exist? Who created it? When? How? What happens when I die? …to mention a few.

Another interesting middle-of-the-night dream

February 19, 2024

It’s 2:19 a.m. and I just had another dream I have to remember. I awakened from the dream and needed to use the bathroom, but as I lay in bed I realized I was still watching the dream unfold. So, I stayed, watched, and listened as long as I could.

Somehow I knew the woman in the dream was an aunt, but not a very good one although I didn’t know those details, and she was on her way to visit her young niece and nephew. When she arrived at their house the children were outside on the sidewalk and there was a huge alligator approaching them. The aunt leaped out of the car, grabbed both of the children in her arms, somehow opened the door and put them inside. There was a broom on the porch which she picked up instantly. Then without fear she approached the alligator and swept it off the walk into the grass. It scurried away. Although she wasn’t religious, she immediately thanked the Lord.

Next she ran back into the house looking for the children but they weren’t there. Thinking they had gone out the back door, she ran through the house and out into the field. In the dream she used the word “rushes” which I understood to be tall weeds in which other alligators could be hiding. She was so scared as she ran frantically calling the children when, suddenly, she looked up at the house and could see them standing at the window watching her.

Probably the most interesting dream I’ve ever had…

Early Friday morning I had a dream which I immediately typed in my journal. I have been pondering its meaning, so after the journal entry is my present understanding. If anyone has other insights, I would be interested in reading them.

“February 2, 2024 Friday 2:55 am

“Just returned from the bathroom and remembered the dream I was having…it’s a really strange one. I don’t know how it started or what was happening at first, but the part I do remember begins with me driving to my cremation. Suddenly I was inside a building with a man and a woman who informed me that she would be handling the cremation. There was some conversation, but I don’t recall what it was. Then, although I was standing there watching, I knew my body was inside the enclosure. There was a flash of light and a loud sound which meant my body was being burned. I recall stepping back several feet and possibly leaning against a wall. The man who was there asked if I was okay and I said yes.

“It was over quickly and the next part I remember was the woman handing me a container with my ashes in it. I thought they would be in a box, but it was a large mixing bowl without a top.