Countryside

Your feelings of relaxation, and what you are without trying. Therefore your natural or spontaneous state. It can also depict natural forces of life active in you.

It depicts how you feel when you are in the country. Often this is about your natural spontaneous feelings, or feeling relaxed. It might also refer to the forces of ‘nature’ in you, your instincts or your moods – a rainy countryside would be a more introverted mood than a lively sunny scene. If the countryside is wild and rugged, or stormy, it could suggest you are meeting a difficult time in your life or growth.

In some dreams the countryside depicts a feeling of safety or the absence of stress. Or it might link with the past – i.e. a past way of living. Many people have a ‘retreat’ in the country, so it could suggest a way of getting away from the everyday demands of your life. This getting away from the demands of life, the countryside, might be shown to be unrefined or more coarse or down to earth than your usual life.

Example: I used to have a recurring dream in which I had to choose between a modern house made almost entirely of glass situated in open country on a hilltop, and a small cosy cottage  by the sea against which the waves beat fiercely in stormy weather. This helped me uncover a conflict between the choice of a ‘public’ career – the glass house – in which I could rise in the academic world – the hilltop; and a cosy home life of domesticity close to the emotional, primitive roots of being – the sea. The stimulus was obviously the fact that at the time my husband was threatening to leave me unless I gave up my career to devote myself to the family. Ann Faraday from her book Dream Power.

If the countryside doesn’t have roads or paths it often means you are in a phase of your life where you are exploring a new or unknown direction. This frequently show you entering more deeply into your own ‘nature’ and discovering more of yourself. It could of course simply say you are very uncertain of your direction at the moment.

Country lanes: Meeting what is natural in us – this may disturb the dreamer, perhaps being in the form of a wolf or animal. Sometimes it is shown as an escape route from something or someone. See: lane; landscapes; farmer; settings.

Driving in the country: This might suggest either that the going is slower or the way harder, or that you are more relaxed. The atmosphere of the dream should clarify which.

Useful Questions and Hints:

What sort of countryside is it, and what does that suggest as a mood, feeling or attitude?

Is this countryside I know, and if so what are my memories and associations with it?

What am I doing here – searching, relaxing, making love – and what does this suggest about my natural or relaxed feelings and inner self?

See Associations Working With – Techniques for Exploring your Dreams – Questions