I received this comment about dream interpretation when I mentioned that I often dream one or more of my cats has gotten outside:
Many cultures see cats as representing a type of aloofness and leadership qualities. ...
Not long after that, a friend on another list posted this:
I thought you all might find this interesting...
What it means when you dream of certain animals:
...
Snake - Shedding old skins, healing, renewal
...
Domestic Cat - Wildness with affection, wisdom, detached observer
I don't believe it :-)
Cats
Let's talk about cats first. Leadership qualities — I'll accept that as a feline trait. Bebop says he's got those and Squirrel agrees (at least about Bebop :-) I'll agree with the affection too, but wildness? Wisdom? Detached observer? Aloofness?!
The people who make these interpretive suggestions don't know my cats. :-) No one who suggests aloofness is a characteristic of cats has ever had a cat beg to be picked up, held, and cuddled. Right NOW.
My cats are... more independent than a human toddler (but at about the same intelligence level). Less independent than a human teenager :-) In respect to dogs, it's not really so much a question of (in)dependence as merely the fact that cats are family/tribe animals and dogs are pack animals. Humans can be either, depending on their personality.
Cats are definitely observers, but never detached, always participating - in supervisory mode of course.
In my case, my cats are my kids; my life is tied up with my cats; of course I dream about my cats. Frankly, I'm surprised I don't dream about them more often.
Snakes
Then we come to snakes, and a segue to an interesting story, entitled "On The Loose", printed in the February Readers Digest. Written by Peter Brazaitis, superintendent of the Bronx Zoo's reptile collection, and excerpted from his book "You Belong in a Zoo!", "On The Loose" recounts the search for (and capture of) a king cobra accidentally released from its cage in the Zoo's Reptile House.
It's a fascinating read, but to me, at this time, the best and most telling paragraph is the last:
Afterward, every time we found ourselves in a stressful situation at work, Bruce [the curator] and I reported sharing the same dream. In it, there was always an angry king cobra to catch.
Dream Interpretation
I believe we dream what we know. The subconscious mind may remember more than the conscious mind, but it doesn't know more than the conscious mind. In order to "speak" with the higher levels of consciousness, the subconscious can only use stories, pictures, and allegories based on events and knowledge the dreaming person already posesses or has experienced.
What I'm getting at is this... one "interpretation" of snakes in dreams is "shedding old skins, healing renewal". That's all very interesting... but it can only be meaningful if the dreamer knows that snakes shed their skins and has already made a connection, in his or her mind, between that shedding and some feeling of "renewal". I sincerely doubt such an interpretation would occur to me. Although I know that snakes shed their skin, I have no mystic touchy-feely new-age response to that knowledge; it's simply what snakes do. Bears hibernate, snakes shed their skin, birds molt...
To Peter Brazaitis, dreaming of snakes is natural; he's the superintendent of a large metropolitan Zoo's reptile collection. He probably dreams of snakes fairly often. Thanks to his experience with the cobra, his subconscious has produced an allegory for stress (and danger) related to his job — a real life event has been turned into the basis for a periodic (interpretive) dream scenario.
Dreams must be interpreted in the context of the person who has them. While there appear to be several "universal" dream patterns ("exposed" in public, late to a test, never took the class, lost, chased), even here, the interpretation must be considered in light of the actual dreamer's life and thoughts. The best (perhaps only) way to correctly interpret dreams in a reasonable fashion is to first understand the background, knowledge, psychology, and personality of the dreamer.
That said, I still believe that a large proportion of dreams have no interpretation other than as entertainment, a "letting go" of the day and a drifting of thoughts. Most dreams are nothing more meaningful than a movie in my head, as it were.
Pass the popcorn.
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