Trapped in the Mansion. What does it mean?

To start off, let me explain my typical lucid dreaming. I am a writer so there's a lot that goes on in my mind so the same could be said for dreaming. Thus, all of my minds have many layers, often different endings depending on what I allow to happen. However, I've yet to actually have any interpreted because a lot of the aspects that occur in my dreams are never really directed at me. For example, being underground. Some will say that means I am feeling the need to lie low or wanting to find answers that might be 'buried'. However, this 'underground' aspect -- while a HUGE aspect of the dream -- was merely my mind building up a rich fictional world. Humanity was split by monetary value and those who weren't important enough was forced to live in underground structures resembling a dormitory. But I'm getting off topic now as this is about an entirely different dream.

This time, I was the target.

I was in the 'mansion', a recurring setting that is never-ending, infinite, and ever changing. Each room leads to a new 'mansion' that is different from the one you come from, either the mansion's aura is different (like more stressful compared to the previous one being relaxed and joyous) or straight up different (where it's less of a mansion and more of a warehouse, if that makes sense). If you try to return to the previous one through the door you walked through, it will only be a typical entrance door leading to outside. The only difference is each mansion exits to a different type of world. This leads to many different potential settings from the mansion being a walmart set in the middle of a flooding world to an elaborately decorated home that is oh-so-familiar but located in a world where snakes are the new feral cat. Now, the name mansion could be misleading right now as a familiar two-bedroom home and a walmart are two very different buildings and no where near a mansion but it is called so due to it's first appearance. No matter how many times you've been in it, the moment your dream starts here it will be in your typical mansion-- it's up to you to change it.

So, whenever I find myself in the mansion, I go through the first door I find (as each door does not lead to the same world each time. It's constantly shifting so there's no telling what you'll get). SO I did, but it was just a room you'd expect to find in an ordinary mansion. There was no 'world shift', nothing changed in the world I came from either. It was the same as the one that I started in. First red flag was here.

I continued on, though. I eventually encountered a large group of people who chattered together like old friends. 30 to 40, maybe. All various ages yet majority was young adult and older. I gathered that there was to be a race to see who could exit the house first but the door we all came through was no longer accessible. All sides of the building inside and out were being watched as we only had the option of finding the door that led back to the outside. Sometimes a room would work as it should be, transporting us (as by now, we had split into groups. My group was maybe 6 to 10 people at most) but it would always be somewhere else within the mansion. By now, I was curious. If the front door to the mansion was sealed (later noticed to be gone completely) and the rooms were just rooms or transported us to places ONLY within the mansion rather than new settings/worlds/universes, was this even the same mansion?

Pushing forward in the race to freedom, I did consider just stopping it completely and having a dream /I/ wanted because this was quickly becoming tedious. There's nothing fun in dreams like that, where you feel like you're actually doing work. My party started to get freaked out, though, so I decided to just make an exit of my own. SO I did, or so I thought. See, sometimes my subconscious works against me. I know I'm dreaming, able to control everything up until the point I try to destroy the storyline of the dream. I could choose to fly as far as I can to leave behind the dream world below me should it prove boring only to find an ocean in the sky acting as an obstacle with the same dream world waiting for me on the other side of it. Either I go through the water to the world or turn back to go to the /same/ world. Usually this happens if there's something my subconscious wants to happen or wants me to experience. For the most part, it's therapeutic. It helped me overcome a certain traumatic period in my childhood by preventing me from running away from it. This time, though, the whole /feel/ of it was different.

It was then that I realized I never knew who issued the race in the first place. I just followed the crowd for the fun of it. My own curiosity proved to be my worst enemy.

My exit was just a sliding glass door that appeared in the wall. It led to a parking lot filled with all the people's cars and my group immediately ran towards their cars in relief. As I cannot drive and don't like doing it in my dreams, I decided to just fly towards the city on the horizon. As I prepared myself, I heard my group burst into screams and sobs. Those cars weren't cars. They weren't anything! Your hand would go right through them if you went to open the door. Just a giant trick. We were still in the mansion. At least part of the mansion as this was definitely outside. So, I decided to leave. Just leave them all behind and go find a different setting. This didn't work as, to my surprise, something started to attack me. I felt no pain (as that is something I have a choice to partake in) but the image of my assailant was what prompted me to post here (as well as what happened after). She looked a little like me but if I was older with long white hair (shifting to black and then to gray after a few seconds) and skin that looked like it was made of ash. Like, if you look at a used cigarette ashtray, imagine the ashes as a solid texture/form. Thats the best I can describe that. But never have I ever seen anyone that looked like me in my dream outside of my reflections. This was a brand new experience.

My attacker came at me again and the group of people who had been with me jumped to pull her off. She went through their fingers like smoke yet I could physically restrain her whenever I could. She was screaming something I couldn't understand but it didn't sound like gibberish. It sounded like english words but they just weren't. By now, my people were pulling me back into the mansion and one man barricaded the door. The rest of the trapped people showed up moments later in response to the screams and all of them shared the same lack of success. Everywhere they went was a dead end however they never made it outside the mansion walls like we had. Everyone grew impatient and angry, many so fearful that they only huddled with certain people, whom I suspected was something they knew. I then learned that I was the only single stranger there. Everyone else was with a family unit or a group of friends. Nobody was a complete stranger to /everyone/ else. Even some of the separate groups had knowledge of people from other groups. It was like someone had grabbed a handful of a small town's population and dropped them in the mansion.

(continued in next post)

I was the odd man out. WHich isn't strange as I usually am surrounded by strangers in my dreams. But, this separation soon seemed to hold some meaning.

We were them told by a man whose face was like smoke, never solid enough to have discernible features, that the lady of the house was the only one who could allow access to the outside through the door that carved itself into the side of the wall. He removed the bar across it and stood by with a handful of papers. Everyone was rushing to it but none could leave through it, even when it was opened. Apparently there was an invisible wall still left to removed. That small taste of freedom of seeing outside broke the nerves of many of them. They started to scream at the smoke-faced man demanding the lady of the house to show herself. He only smiled.

And then pointed to me, saying it was with me they should share their concern.

There's another red flag. NEVER had I ever held such an integrated position within my dream worlds. I was always a non-party, a person playing dream-Sims who liked to give her game some autonomy to enjoy the world as she wanted. BUT not this time. I was a designated person who's part in the dream was taken from the very beginning by her own mind.

I was absolutely furious. I considered leaving through the door and ending the dream right there because at this point, my patience with it all was gone. But, again, I am a writer and to see where this would all end without stirring it up any more would only make me more curious about the mansion. This was the first time it was a stable setting in my dream, not just a gateway to other settings/worlds, let alone a place that was designated to be /mine/ per the man saying I was the lady of the house. All of my residences/homes have all been houses I've stayed in for long periods of time. This a huuuge first.

So I stayed, and grabbed the papers from the smoke-face man's hands. They were all general run-downs of the people trapped here like their height/weight, eye color, and bits of their family trees. There were also things listed as their future with pictures attached that I understood to be glimpses of who they will be in the coming years, their fears, and desires. When I asked what the heck I was looking at, the man explained that I could look through the papers and decide if they were worthy of freedom based on the knowledge provided. Or I couldn't read anything and just let them all go. The catch was if I let them ALL go, every single one, I couldn't leave at all. For me to leave, I had to either leave them all behind or let only a few go and force five of the trapped people to stay.

Basically, I had to read the information on these people and choose five of the worst ones to stay in my place if I wanted to free any of them AND myself. The problem was there was a time limit and everyone had their own negative points and positive points. There wasn't a single one I could see that absolutely was trash and should stay being trapped. Everyone had their downfalls, but everyone had their own redeeming points. They were all the average citizen.

And then there was me. Who had to make the decision to be selfish for my own freedom or be biased towards a select few to free myself, or be completely selfLESS.

With time pressing on me, I let them all be free in sacrifice of staying stuck within the mansion. The last view I had of them before I woke up was the image of the parking lot clearing out.

So I desperately need help interpreting it from an outside party. That would be YOU as you don't know who I am or traits I have. You're not familiar with me so personal bias will be off the table. I'm wanting to know what the mansion is, the woman who looks like me but stopped me from leaving, the smoke-faced man, and the task I was appointed with. Is there a clear meaning to this dream that I should be aware of? OR is this nothing more than my mind having fun with me?

Simply put, dreaming of buildings is said to be dreaming of your real self. Some people dream of a bright sunny cottage, others a foreboding castle.

You sound very complex, your 'dream self' is a labyrinth, lots of rooms, turns, somewhat confusing.

When you dream of the basement that is the deep psyche, where things are 'buried' , entrenched, fixed.

I had a dream once of going down a spiral stair case to a sub level and all my past bad habits were sealed into the stone down there. The meaning I took is they are still with me, still in my deep psyche, just inactive. So I gotta be careful. They will probably always be with me, dormant, waiting for me to slip up.

a reply to: Chimney

Just my first impression after skimming through: You're concerned about becoming indoctrinated into something. Your future self seems dangerous. How can you judge everybody without condemning yourself? You may have an upcoming opportunity to change the world in some way, but what effect will your decisions have on you (and everyone else)?

a reply to: intrptr

Thank you! That makes being called the 'lady of the house' more understandable because I'd /literally/ be the house. Haha,

a reply to: VP740

Thank you too! Would my future self be represented by the thing that attacked me? And what of the man with the face like smoke? What would he represent in all of this?

a reply to: Chimney

I think the way to get to the meaning of something in a dream is to ask yourself what it reminds you of; or perhaps better, what reminds you of it.

Yes I get the impression that the thing would have something to do with your future. Just a guess on the smoke faced man: In context of the surroundings and what he said and did, perhaps an illusion of authority or power. Perhaps something you think or wish could handle your problems or take responsibility for you.

a reply to: Chimney

I had a mansion dream too.

I had a dream months ago that some friends and I where sitting on a park bench discussing the up coming Rousey vs Holm UFC fight. I stated that as much as I liked Ronda Rousey, she was going to lose because of her arrogance. Immediately after my statement, a horrifying thunderstorm formed over us, and we knew we were not safe, so we went looking for shelter.

We crossed the street and found a mansion with geometric glass mosaic window in the door. We knocked on the door asking for help as the storm grew more dangerous. Then through the glass, I could see the figure of a woman with her back turned. She was ignoring us, but the door was unlocked and the storm was terrifying, so we went in.

When we got in, the girl was nowhere to be found. We called out to see if someone was there, but no response. The décor was like that of the Victorian era; gold trim along the sealing, marble floor, elaborate dual wrap-around staircases, expensive vases, etc.

We then decided to split up to look for a phone, agreeing to regroup at the base of the dual staircases in 5 minutes. I opened a door, and it took me into a very dimly lit bedroom. The door either disappeared or locked behind me. Sometime went by before I realized that I must have slipped into a trance, because I found myself arguing with a crazy woman that had been hiding in the room. I don't know what the argument was about, but I felt an irrational sense of hatred come over me for no reason at all. I felt like I could get violet at any moment. Then I realized that the whole time there was no "crazy woman". I had been pacing and yelling at the top of my lungs like a mad man (possibly for hours).

Finally I gained some control over myself and remembered that I had to find my friends, so I opened the closet and found a crawl space leading to the attic.

After that, the dream went completely nuts...so crazy that my mind will not let me recall most of it. I just remembered that I was being lured by some supernatural force from one room to another, and each room tormented me in a unique way: terror, sadness, rage, betrayal, deafening silence, intolerable loneliness, violence, mania...pretty much every form of psychosis that is known to man.

I never found my friends, never found a way out. I simply just randomly woke up. Every now and then, I have a dream that just screws up my day. This one screwed up my week.

Thankfully, I think I've found a way to purge my subconscious mind of things that might trigger these kinds of nightmares. I've been free of them for almost 3 months now, which is a major improvement.

BTW, my prediction came true, Ronda Rousey lost the fight because of her arrogance. She tried to beat a boxer at her own game and lost.

a reply to: Chimney

I have a simple interpretation, for what it's worth.

A mansion is a mind. In this dream you liberated many aspects (they could be called sub-personalities or even a coagulation of personalities from other lives) of your subconscious mind which had been held hostage, or repressed, and were heretofore inaccessible consciously.

I would be interested in knowing if you experience any effects in your day to day life in the coming weeks because of this dream.

I could be all wrong but I will leave what I wrote as is.

An interesting dream!!

In my dreams, an old farm house or a home represents my family. Different rooms represent different aspects of family throughout time. Doorways are the connections, like the path taken or a thread that pulls the aspects together.

Your mansion seems different but similar to me. You are the owner of this mansion where the other people even have family tree information attached to them. The general condition of the mansion would be the condition of your family in general. If it's richly lavish, perhaps this points toward some form of excessive materialism trapping you and the others.

Eventually you let them go, but trap yourself in the process. Your mansion, trapping yourself and forcing you to make decisions to free others from your mansion. This part is more confusing to me then the mansion itself.

a reply to: Chimney

Dude! I believe I've had this same dream or one very similar in nature a few months back.It was mirror image only in the difference being that my recollection was much more fragmented than that. I suppose could 've been watching it somehow.It felt very real though! It started with a race inside the mansion! And I felt as if the man at the door was like the gatekeeper from Thor. But I remember the smoke. I felt like I wasn't close enough to him so my mind wasn't creating him or something,(weird,astonishingly I know) , but I feel like these things are fights, trials for your soul or some undisclosed outcome, or info. I also smoke like say a Chimney,lol, and from I understand this is supposed to # up your sleep/wake/ dream cycle but who knows. I feel like there's a celestial homeroom that hands out their own brand of 'spelling tests' if you will or pop quiz I should say. I for one must say that these 'assignments' are increasingly weird and the conditions and warnings beforehand are sporadic. Never keep a beat on em. I feel like I'm learning more from the glimpses I get and why they're important.

originally posted by: VP740
a reply to: Chimney

I think the way to get to the meaning of something in a dream is to ask yourself what it reminds you of; or perhaps better, what reminds you of it.

Yes I get the impression that the thing would have something to do with your future. Just a guess on the smoke faced man: In context of the surroundings and what he said and did, perhaps an illusion of authority or power. Perhaps something you think or wish could handle your problems or take responsibility for you.

For future reference should I have a dream like this -- one so distinctly out of place among the norm -- what are some aspects I should take note of? Like, I know the obvious: scenery, distinct figures, etc., but are there any other things that could mean something?

originally posted by: tweetie
a reply to: Chimney

I have a simple interpretation, for what it's worth.

A mansion is a mind. In this dream you liberated many aspects (they could be called sub-personalities or even a coagulation of personalities from other lives) of your subconscious mind which had been held hostage, or repressed, and were heretofore inaccessible consciously.

I would be interested in knowing if you experience any effects in your day to day life in the coming weeks because of this dream.

I could be all wrong but I will leave what I wrote as is.

An interesting dream!!

For what it's worth, I had what I would think would be considered an existential crisis the other day. It really messed me up for a few hours. Scary, really, but I guess it was a long time coming.

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
In my dreams, an old farm house or a home represents my family. Different rooms represent different aspects of family throughout time. Doorways are the connections, like the path taken or a thread that pulls the aspects together.

Your mansion seems different but similar to me. You are the owner of this mansion where the other people even have family tree information attached to them. The general condition of the mansion would be the condition of your family in general. If it's richly lavish, perhaps this points toward some form of excessive materialism trapping you and the others.

Eventually you let them go, but trap yourself in the process. Your mansion, trapping yourself and forcing you to make decisions to free others from your mansion. This part is more confusing to me then the mansion itself.

Hmmm, those are some interesting concepts to look into! I'll have to see if I can remember in detail how the mansion looked like or hope to remember to check next time I dream in that setting.

Do you have any hypothesis on the last part, re: Eventually you let them go, but trap yourself in the process. Your mansion, trapping yourself and forcing you to make decisions to free others from your mansion. This part is more confusing to me then the mansion itself., ? Confusing can't be a good thing

originally posted by: PharoahSpiderMan
a reply to: Chimney

Dude! I believe I've had this same dream or one very similar in nature a few months back.It was mirror image only in the difference being that my recollection was much more fragmented than that. I suppose could 've been watching it somehow.It felt very real though! It started with a race inside the mansion! And I felt as if the man at the door was like the gatekeeper from Thor. But I remember the smoke. I felt like I wasn't close enough to him so my mind wasn't creating him or something,(weird,astonishingly I know) , but I feel like these things are fights, trials for your soul or some undisclosed outcome, or info. I also smoke like say a Chimney,lol, and from I understand this is supposed to # up your sleep/wake/ dream cycle but who knows. I feel like there's a celestial homeroom that hands out their own brand of 'spelling tests' if you will or pop quiz I should say. I for one must say that these 'assignments' are increasingly weird and the conditions and warnings beforehand are sporadic. Never keep a beat on em. I feel like I'm learning more from the glimpses I get and why they're important.

Oh my, that's incredible! I've heard of that happening to other people too, dreaming an eerily similar dream. I think it's connected to the Astral Plane theory or belief? I can't remember for sure. I've heard the same thing about smoking, though. That the chemical you breathe in can hamper your REM sleep, however I can attest that I have experienced no change in my sleep patterns/dreams whether I smoke or not. It's been pretty static on my end.

What's this about a celestial homeroom and quizzes, though?

a reply to: Chimney

If it was me, I would interpret the existential crisis as a form of energetic reset.

This reminds me somewhat of a very vivid dream I had a few years back.

I was in a mansion like you describe but the main difference is that this mansion was massively larger than normal. A little perspective I was standing next to a dining room chair in this mansion and my head did not even reach half way up the leg.

I never actively explored the mansion though. As I stood in awe of the massive size of all the furniture and wondered how far away the walls were I suddenly began to rise/float up past the chair I was standing by, continuing up and up past this absolutely huge chandelier and eventually nearing the ceiling. When I got close to the ceiling an odd vaporous vortex of energy began to form above me and I kept rising up into it. A noticeable buzzing/frequency entered my senses and my vision began to blur. The buzzing reached a crescendo as I nearly touched the ceiling and I bolted upright in my bed with a highly elevated heart rate.

Naturally the intense nature of that dream has stuck with me ever since.

I bring this up because I don't have any clue as to what that might mean let alone provide insight on the nature of yours.

The similarity of the mansion however made me want to share my dream and maybe get someone else in the thread to weigh in.

originally posted by: tweetie
a reply to: Chimney

If it was me, I would interpret the existential crisis as a form of energetic reset.

Interesting, I'll toy with that interpretation then! Thank you again, tweetie!

originally posted by: corvuscorrax
This reminds me somewhat of a very vivid dream I had a few years back.

I was in a mansion like you describe but the main difference is that this mansion was massively larger than normal. A little perspective I was standing next to a dining room chair in this mansion and my head did not even reach half way up the leg.

I never actively explored the mansion though. As I stood in awe of the massive size of all the furniture and wondered how far away the walls were I suddenly began to rise/float up past the chair I was standing by, continuing up and up past this absolutely huge chandelier and eventually nearing the ceiling. When I got close to the ceiling an odd vaporous vortex of energy began to form above me and I kept rising up into it. A noticeable buzzing/frequency entered my senses and my vision began to blur. The buzzing reached a crescendo as I nearly touched the ceiling and I bolted upright in my bed with a highly elevated heart rate.

Naturally the intense nature of that dream has stuck with me ever since.

I bring this up because I don't have any clue as to what that might mean let alone provide insight on the nature of yours.

The similarity of the mansion however made me want to share my dream and maybe get someone else in the thread to weigh in.

Wow, that sound intense from just reading it! I've had dreams like that where I feel like Alice in Wonderland with the large scenery and such, but not in the mansion (yet!). I wish I could give you some insight on what it could mean. Hopefully someone else will pop in and help you!

a reply to: Chimney

Well, I honestly have no expertise in interpreting dreams. I've puzzled over my own dreams and sometimes I come up with reasonable explanations, but not always. I've read some theories; for instance I started reading Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams. Judging from his book, it seems you have to figure out how to make everything about sex! I didn't finish reading because I was immediately disappointed with Freud as a scientist. I was also repulsed by some of his interpretations of interacting with children in dreams.

I've heard of dreams being explained from cultural or new age perspectives. I actually think there's some similarity to trying to interpret myths or scripture. I wouldn't try to interpret dreams strictly through cultural symbols though (especially if you didn't grow up in that culture). And if someone acted like they could explain everything from some type of dictionary of dream symbols, I'd have to think they were either misguided or a charlatan. Could a house represent a persons mind? Could an attic represent their subconscious? Sure, but it isn't guaranteed to mean that for every single person; or to even have a consistent meaning in different dreams from the same person.

I wouldn't be to worried about missing signals from your dreams, because it's all coming from what you're thinking to begin with (unless the supernatural comes into play, I wouldn't know how to deal with that). When I can make sense of my own dreams I usually put more focus on what I was thinking before I fell asleep that night, than what I saw in the dream itself. For example: I once dreamt I was watching a movie about the Vietnam war on TV. I liked the movie, but it was R rated and uncensored. I was surprised something like this could get on the air without being edited for TV (this was in the late 90s). When I woke up I laughed at the idea of what I saw in the dream; then I remembered the night before thinking about how funny it was that Lucy couldn't use the word pregnant on TV and other such things. It hadn't occurred to me before that that our standards would continue to change, and not necessarily for the best.

When I hear about your mansion, it doesn't really give me the impression of a house. What works that way in the real world? An airport? A train station? Perhaps a TV or bookshelf? I've seen some video games where things are accessed from a central hub (Braid comes to mind). But this has generally been a place where you visit but don't live? Is there anything like the mansion for you in the real world? Has your relationship changed with it recently?

While it's not about dreams, perhaps crimsongod21 could give you some tools to assist you if you send them a PM about interpreting word associations. I imagine the same principles are involved.

a reply to: Chimney

My wife read your dream and came up with her own interpretation (without seeing mine or anyone else's first).

The mansion is a publishing institution. The smoke faced man approves submissions for publication. Those set free are published. Your struggle with your other self is based on your frustration with writing or your carrier (it was stopping you from giving up). If your writing isn't judged to be good enough you'll have to spend more time working on it before you can progress. If you stick with it long enough, you'll eventually end up in the position of the smoke faced man.

a reply to: VP740

Yeah, Freud's never been my favorite for that reason. Some of his topics made me uncomfortable for a number of reasons. Of course, the last I remember learning of him was back in high school and it was a watered down lesson according to my teacher. I'm interested in his dream interpretation, though! I should have known he would have developed something about dream meanings, just never looked into him after that high school class, haha.


As for the mansion, I think you covered all it could translate to in real life. Airports and train stations are an interesting take as the first time I ever flew was last 4th of July, where this mansion has been present for a few years now. Books and television are more consistent in my life, plus I do read a lot! Maybe it has something to do with that? (Looking back at this after reading your wife's interpretation, this is a very interesting correlation!)

My general relationship/feeling towards the mansion is far more wary than before. It's never been a 'home' in my dreams, just a gateway of sorts. Whenever I have a place designated as a 'home', it's in a building I've lived before. Even then, it's never been where /I/ am the sole owner of it; it's usually in the same set-up as it was in real life, ie. renting or dormitory. This is the first time it hasn't acted as a gateway until it came time for me to choose who can leave, then the front door was the gateway to freedom.

I'll shoot them a PM right away! Word association as always tickled my fancy.

Your wife's interpretation is really interesting to me for the sole reason that it revolves around writing. I would never have thought of it! While I've yet to feel comfortable with trying to publish my writing (for lack of confidence), I've always wanted it to be part of my life, even if it's only small works of fiction or a novel or two. Thank you and your wife!

originally posted by: MichiganSwampBuck
In my dreams, an old farm house or a home represents my family. Different rooms represent different aspects of family throughout time. Doorways are the connections, like the path taken or a thread that pulls the aspects together.

Your mansion seems different but similar to me. You are the owner of this mansion where the other people even have family tree information attached to them. The general condition of the mansion would be the condition of your family in general. If it's richly lavish, perhaps this points toward some form of excessive materialism trapping you and the others.

Eventually you let them go, but trap yourself in the process. Your mansion, trapping yourself and forcing you to make decisions to free others from your mansion. This part is more confusing to me then the mansion itself.

After more consideration to clear my confusion over the basic elements of your dream, perhaps your family has undue influence over your personal life decisions. You feel obligated to make your decisions because of the possible negative consequences to the family (including extended family members). That's how I'd think of it in terms of my own dreams.