Safari

Coming face to face with your instincts, unsocialised or undomesticated urges. What happens on the safari will probably illustrate how well you relate to your own inner animal. See: Animals in your Brain; Animals

In a sense any dream containing wild or undomesticated animals is a safari dream. The third example shows how we have fear of the ‘wild’ sides of our nature, and how we deal with fear changes as we meet it.

Also a number of the dreams in my database area about clothing, which suggests the image one is portraying. Probably an outdoor sporty image, ready for anything type.

 Example: I was expecting Ben, but it is Michael, decked out in new clothes, safari style. The colours are all greens: leather coat, khaki shirt, dark pants. He is jaunty, strutting. He walks around the table to give me a closer look at his duds.

Example: At one point I am surprised to see that the safari suit that I am wearing is different from the one I thought it was – it is kind of reddish brown with furry or hairy material. I didn’t even know I had one like this.

Example: Now I am in a place like a safari park, but perhaps it is actually in a country natural to the wild animals. It is very dim and misty, and I, along with other people are in a fenced area in which is living accommodation for us to holiday in. The animals, I feel nervously, are ‘out there’ in the mist somewhere and might appear suddenly, so I need to keep alert in case of danger. I walk along a boundary fence, which is on my left. A wild looking animal/man appears and threatens me, he is holding a large knife. I have a large wooden spear in my hands and harry him with it. I feel more than equal to him. As I poke at him the knife now suddenly appears to be plastic and his appearance becomes more refined. Although he still has a slightly dwarfed body, or a hunched back, he has an intelligent and cultured face. I feel we can be friends. I then walk further along in the direction I was going and enter what appears to be a massive cave. I have the information from somewhere that ‘they’ have hollowed out this cave from the solid rock, and I am impressed by the results. The cave is about thirty feet high, and sixty long, in the shape of an inverted U. It is also wide. A lot of people are inside, playing or relaxing. Tom

An interesting dream because it shows how if we are not cowed by fear of the instinctive sides of our nature we can find a different relationship with them. Tom does not try to kill the animal/man – which is an excellent description of most humans – but is ready to defend himself, the threat turns out to be harmless and it also transforms the animal/man to a more intelligent and cultured person. Having a personality, a self, is a very new thing, but has a huge background of instinctive behaviour, which often we do not deal with well, feeling fear or repressing it. Tom’s dream goes on to show the impressive work of this side of our nature.

Useful questions and hints:

What image do I have of myself in regard to a safari?

Am I frightened of even terrified of wild creatures?

Have I ever felt close to a wild animal?

What do I when faced by my own wild reactions?

See Programmed – Self Observation – Autonomous Complex – Techniques for Exploring your Dreams