Idiot

Lacking control of reason. Without development of logical mind. It may mean you are doing something stupid. Sometimes it represent intuitive knowledge or insight. If this is so you will probably feel the wisdom of the person in the dream. See: Madness; archetype of the fool.

In some dreams a character who is either mentally impaired, or actually insane may confront you. There are several possible meanings. Firstly he or she can represent parts of your emotional and mental development that have been held back, either through trauma or lack or stimulus. Another possible meaning is that there are areas of you that have not recovered from childhood hurts, and these are often presented as insane because they are not integrated with the rest of your personality. And occasionally the apparently mad person has a great deal of wisdom, and their madness is simply because they do not comply with reason. See: archetype of the fool-clown-trickster.

Example: Two of the dogs – perfectly harmless and friendly when not hunting, were coming close to me and trying to lick me. They had huge mouths. I got very angry with one man, a farmer type, who I thought had been careless in the way he was urging the dogs to hunt children. I swore at him in public, calling him something like a ‘fucking idiot’. There was a large public gathering and I wondered what the public would think of me swearing.

Example: Ethan says to me, “My daughter had a dream about a jury. What can it mean?” I say, “You idiot! She is the jury and the judge!” He says, “But what does it mean?” “It means,” I speak slowly and witheringly, “that she is feeling guilt. She is sitting in judgement of herself.” He sits back and looks sad and guilty. He’s aware that he’s partially at fault. Barb Sanders

Example: The feelings of embarrassment became very strong. I had the image of a hidden part of a house being opened and the idiot child being brought out from the house, to the enormous embarrassment of the family. I had to talk to myself saying – Brian, this is not any fault of your own. It came about because of the circumstances of your birth and how your mother felt about it. Your mother constantly looked for signs of strangeness in you. All her sister’s gave birth to such big heavy babies, so she felt unconsciously you were odd. But people accept such things now. So there is no need to carry this sense of shame any more. People forgive so much.

But I feel like I am constantly protecting my slightly malformed baby. All day and every day I am protecting my internal baby – and I feel something similar for young son’s vulnerable aspects. Talking to myself again I say – “It sounds like you are protecting your idiot son. You don’t need to be ashamed.” Nevertheless I acknowledge that for years I have felt that I am not a normal person. Am I okay. I even asked my wife yesterday if I was okay as a husband – what sort of husband am I? She never really answered my question. She never does. I don’t know why. She will never acknowledge it. I think my mother always felt I wasn’t quite right, as if there was something to be afraid of. In the dream I had about her I say to her, look mum it’s okay. She collapses and I have to pick her up. There is always the question – Have I got a weak body? Have I got a weak mind? What is the problem? Have I got some hidden deficiency or illness that I am not aware of? She must have carried the guilt of not producing a ‘normal’ i.e. big baby for years. Right until she saw me grow up. I feel she carried it right on until I was producing kids. Then she dropped it.

Useful Questions and Hints:

Am I attacked or haunted by an idiot – if so can I offer it love and healing?

What feelings and thought have I harboured or been told about being an idiot?

How do I react when face by an obvioiusly backward or idiot person?

See Inner World – Summing Up – Avoid Being Victims – Techniques for Exploring your Dreams