Uncatchable

[Anholti]

Hi Tony,

I've had a recurring dream every couple of months since childhood. I think I understand the basic interpretation - but not as well as I need to, nor what I need to do about it.

While the specifics vary, I'm being chased. It's always in an empty architectural environment at night, like an abandoned school, a university overnight or old industrial buildings. I never know anything about what's chasing me. But here's the odd part: while the thought of being caught is terrifying and I know it mustn't happen, I'm never particularly afraid of it actually happening, because I know all the tunnels and secret passages and attics and pipe spaces throughout the old buildings better than anyone. As long as I work as hard and as fast and as single-mindedly as I can, while it can follow me, it can never catch up. I wake up tired.

It's pretty clear from your Dream Dictionary that I'm avoiding dealing with something - and that I'm very good at avoiding it. But I've no idea what it might be, or what to do about it. Ideally, I know, I'd turn and confront my pursuer and come to some realisation about it - but I never realise I'm dreaming, in this or any other dream, and in the dream the thought never occurs to me. Maybe even being caught would be more revelatory. But I'm stuck, with no way even to reach towards any better understanding of the issue. Any insight or advice you can offer me would be deeply appreciated.

With thanks,

Ash.

[Tony Crisp]

Ash - Excuse me quoting part of what was said to another member,

The following is a description of what I met in feeling involved in being apparently abandoned in a convalescent home. I regressed inside to a three year old, and for six weeks I couldn’t function normally because the emerging emotions and states of mind were so strong. If you have never relived a child’s terrible panic and known a state of timelessness where there is no hope of change, it may not be possible for you to understand or believe. I lost all sense of time and could not sleep because the experience was so strong

What I learned from being exposed to such feelings - actually living them with a child’s intensity - is that we build tremendous inner barriers to the experience. We build a wall of pain or even terror to hold the experience at bay - in other words we never want it to become conscious. Obviously for a child the experience is too much for it to face. But as an adult we gradually gain greater strength, and then we start to have such dreams as yours, where a frightening character threatens your life.

In your dreams you know the route of escapes so well you can avoid actually feeling what you are avoiding. But you can bypass the difficult of not facing it in the dream state. The dreams are sent to you because your core self want you to heal the problem. But the difficult is that we have an automatic reaction to avoid pain - hand on a hot thing. Which is fine in waking life, but in dream life does not help.

So you must imagine yourself back in the dream and see yourself turn round and meet what has frightened you. Believe me when you do it is not scary, but a great relief to know yourself. It is the protective wall that we have to pass through.

Imagine it again and again and use the keyboard condition to help you allow what was hidden to become conscious. See  http://dreamhawk.com/body-and-mind/the-keyboard-condition/

Tony