Yoma – My impression is that you enter the dream with feelings and condition of being 8 years old. In waking we tend to exist in the age and place of our body, but in dreams we enter a completely different dimension of experience. In it we can be aware and experience the whole sequence of our life, from before conception through that period to birth and beyond to today. See
https://dreamhawk.com/pregnancy-childbirth/my-needs-as-a-premature-baby/To return to being an 8 year old it suggests that there was some trauma experience at that time and your dream was setting about helping you deal with it.
The move to ‘very advanced town’ is something dreams often do - a complete change of experienced environment. It showed you that the change did not change your feelings for you were in ‘a continuous chain of melancholy’. It lasted through till you were sixteen. Such a long period of melancholy left a powerful influence on you that you have sought to deal with. Your efforts led to you opening the glass door even though you were frightened. It is always facing fear and not running away from it that is the transforming force in people’s lives. It brought forth the little boy - a real wonder.
I believe you gave birth to the boy, not unusual in dreams, and as in dreams we create out of our own enormous potential, it is obviously your own creation. In the process of birth we are a whole being, but we are split to become either female or male, but in doing so we retain in a latent form the other sex. So you as a male hold within you the ability to give birth to a child – at least, in the dream world. Such a child is a new part of you that like any new ability or function is young and needs to be cared for as it grows and matures. I sometimes call these children – Spirit Children.
Many people might think a spirit child or spirit character is a complete farce and without any reality in the world. However, that is far from being true. For instance, take characters such as Superman or Spiderman. These are creations in the mind of one or more people. Your son was born in your dream, created out of the flow of life in you.
Coming back to Superman and Spiderman, those characters have an enormous life in the material world. Millions of people are involved in their existence on screen or in books. So you son will have very real influence in your world.
The dogs are almost certainly anxiety that you felt. You felt anxious because you were still locked in waking type comprehension. There is nothing that can hurt you in dreams for it is a virtual reality created by our mind and emotions. Of course you can frighten yourself into paralysis through fear and anxiety which you did in your dream, forgetting that you are the master of your inner world – which means you can either direct your dream to scare you sill – or be in charge of your fears.
Example: This was okay and I was thinking there was no problem when the creature leapt at my throat in a flash of movement and ripped my throat out. This sounds disturbing but I simply observed this and thought to myself that stroking and trying to be friendly was no way of dealing with this thing. It was as if I was in command of the imagery in that I simply formed another body. But then it dived into me to devour me from within. In fact apart from the gory imagery, there was nothing to be frightened of, as the creature was only attacking my dream image of myself. As I wasn’t identified with this, it couldn’t hurt me. That was the end of the dream.
Climbing a high fence suggest you were trying hard not to deal with the dogs so managed to lift your awareness higher, out of harms way. This new viewpoint allowed you to be able to leave the paralysis of your friend/self and find a different approach. The ‘0’ approach is a way to leave behind you all your mistakes and thoughts and try to start again. This takes a lot of awareness and effort, so be aware that this huge change is underway, but needs your support.
The friend; each person, object or even place in a dream should not be thought of as a symbol, such as a road sign that needs interpretation. A person or object is a living part of you, just as your hand is not a symbol it is a living part of you. As such a person is alive and responsive, with enormous depths. And a good friend is a wonderful aid in your life, an aid that can see you through the difficult times, and show you a new side of yourself.
To understand the friend you need to be that friend. I mean imagine yourself in their body and see how it feels, and describe yourself as them, even ask them questions. In doing so do not forget that this is a part of yourself you are making more real. Don’t get the silly idea this is someone else, even though they have the face and body of someone else. In this way you will discover an enormous amount about your own strength and ‘goodness’. But if you cannot do that, then at least imagine talking to them ask them questions and listening for their replies. Or if you cannot even do that, then remember that you have a good friend and treasure it. But remember this aspect of yourself was known to be paralysed by anxiety.