Sharks in the water

I have another dream for you all. Unfortunately, this theme is fairly common for me but I'll get to that after the dream.

I was out to sea with a dog I recall being named Paul Anka and a large man I didn't recognize. I knew he was my enemy in some way and while we all seemed doomed to die out at sea I was determined to try to live. While on some driftwood with Paul Anka I had managed to take sea water and with plastic, create condensation from the heat of the sun to drink purified water in limited amounts (I have no idea if this would actually work). I would continually scan the horizon looking for land and always could see a shark's fin in the distance but it never seemed to get closer. There was a giant wave that came at us and I was able to move my little makeshift raft with Paul Anka to the back of the wave so it didn't raise us up to the top of the wave but the large man near us got pulled into it and once the wave crashed down the little vortex it created sucked him under the water but I somehow ended up entangled with him and sucked under as well. It pulled us down maybe 40 feet and I kept kicking to get back up to the surface even though my lungs felt like they were on fire and the pressure from being under water made me feel dizzy.

I'm not sure what happened to my enemy but I finally broke through the surface and could see shore. I was able to ride another wave to shore with Paul Anka and we could see a city built with a narrow opening to the heart of the city. I led Paul Anka down the narrow passageway and was greeted by a group of people wearing orange life-vests who had recently rescued my enemy. They put a life-vest around me as well and suddenly I found myself feeling grateful towards my enemy and I embraced him. It turned out he owned the building we were standing in front of and allowed myself and Paul Anka to come inside to eat and get warm but that's when we noticed the waves were reaching further and further into the city until one finally hit against the door. My enemy was suddenly irritated with us and the rest of the group for having his home destroyed and once the water receded we went outside to assess the situation. There was no reason to believe the tide would recede or the waves would stop but there was also no where to hide. My quasi enemy yelled something then rook off running. I followed after him thinking in his anger he would lead me back to the shore but instead he took us to a secret passage that was able to close off the water. The passage was made out of some reinforced windows making everything visible to us so as we ran we could continue to watch mother nature rage at us with larger and more powerful waves.

And then my son woke me up.

Before I start trying to dissect this dream I think it would be helpful to give you a little more information about my main man Jung. Jung had believed that all dreams are influenced by a personal and a collective unconscious that hold symbols of objects, subjects and archtypes that play a role in our dreams. The personal unconscious would include people and objects which hold specific meaning to us such as our parents, siblings, our room, a favorite toy, game or clothing article. All of these things have a special meaning that only we can fully appreciate or understand. The collective unconscious is said to hold archytpes that remain constant and common across time and cultures such as an appearance of a wise old woman, the shadow, water, fire, the anima and the animus. Jung spent much of his life identifying a variety of different archtypes and actually created the "Red Book" which is a giant, leather bound book full of his work that was only recently published but is heavy enough to make a decent weapon if need be. A friend of mine actually received a copy (that she will never read) for which I am only slightly jealous alas, that is another story. The point of this is to explain there is a variety of levels you should examine when completing dream work and to be honest, doing your own dream work is generally frowned upon because there is no way to be completely unbiased. But this is my journey I am sharing with all of you and I of course am open to any other interpretations or ideas.

So lets start with Paul Anka, shall we? I believe he made an appearance because I recently watched Gilmore Girls where there is a dog named Paul Anka so I don't know if there was any more to it than that. Possibly as dogs are know as man's best friend he could have represented loyalty and friendship. He did stay with me throughout the dream but didn't seem to have any other significant interactions with other dream subjects.

The man in my dream I can only imagine to be my animus, a compilation of masculine traits within me projected into my dream. Jung would often classify an anima or animus as positive or negative and in this dream I felt unclear as my feelings towards him changed from enemy to saviour, back to fear and then relief. This could indicate I am having difficulty creating a positive relationship with my male psychological traits or that my anger is getting out of hand.

Again, I am in water. An entire ocean throwing me about like a rag doll, dragging me into it's depths and all the while being circled by a menacing shark. If this sounds bad, that's probably because I think it is. This is not a happy unconscious. The violence in the waves, being pulled under so I can't breath and the ever present threat of being eaten by a silent predator all invokes a sense of fear and being overwhelmed with the only possible solution seeming to indicate I need to find better balance between myself and my anima to make it to safety. I'm curious whether it may also mean I am on the verge of drowning in my unconscious and maybe need to take a step back? Hard to say. The dream did end with me seeing, with clarity, the gravity of my situation while again running away. I think it will be helpful for me to revisit this dream. Any input is appreciated!!

redbook.jpeg