I just want to share this and get some feedback if I may.

I always have had odd dreams, I've written about some of them right here on ATS.

Last night I'd the most strange, vivid and oddly emotional dream. I want to write it down while it's still fresh in my mind, and would appreciate any thoughts or input from anyone who's interested or experienced in interpreting dreams.

First, some basic background, I'm in my mid 30's and not prone to giving in to emotion. I once had a dream as a young boy that I said goodbye to a family member, it was a permenant goodbye and I awoke from the dream in tears, I'll never forget that - it hasn't ever happened since until last night.

It started off quite odd and got stranger as it went on, I'll do my best to describe it.

I was with my mother, we had bags of shopping, groceries. We were stood waiting for a lift, the lift doors opened and my mother walked in, as I entered the lift behind her she turned and handed me money, it was vivid enough that I remember she handed me 40 UK pounds, I said to her she was only supposed to give me £20...she owed me money for something, which is peculiar in itself.

I asked why she'd given me 40 and tried to give her 20 back, she refused and told me to keep it, when I enquired as to why she said "because I never liked you when you were a boy" but she was smiling when she said it, I've always had a great relationship with my parents - I looked her in the eye then we both laughed, the lift doors closed and we started to move downwards.

The lift started to move faster and kind of shake from side to side, I said to my mother "this isn't right"...we both were a bit worried but trying to make out like we weren't, eventually the lift slowed and came to a stop, the doors opened.

This is where it got surreal, the floor of the lift then started to move forwards towards the threshold, like one of those escalators. The floor moved quickly, I'd left my bags of shopping on the lift floor and didn't pick them up fast enough, they were whisked towards the threshold and got caught between the moving floor and threshold, the bag jammed in the mechanism and the contents burst out everywhere.

The lift had opened into a street, it was a very hilly street, not flat. Lot's of hills, with grass and houses on them. I was walking around retrieving the items that came from the bag that burst when something caught my eye. There was a huge sheep like creature lying on its side - I knew what it was in the dream, I shouted to my mother to draw her attention to what I'd noticed, I forgot all about my shopping and we both rushed over to this sheep thing which was laying on a patch of grass.

I was ill or in pain, and I was terribly upset, it had a human face but the body of a sheep. There was another odd creature which I can't really remember much about, standing over the sheep.

My mother and I comforted this sheep like animal, I knelt behind it, just at it's back and put my arms around it, I was crying and so was my mother. I distinctly remember the feel of its fleece, it felt so real I can still kind of feel it now. It was trembling, almost vibrating, I turned to my mother in tears and cried "He's shaking!". I was frantic and desperate, I just wanted to hold and comfort it.

The other animal that was there was concerned but composed, not showing much emotion at all, he then said that the sheep thing had "chosen" this, I knew it was ill or injured and it was going to die, I was really upset and couldn't stop crying, I had to walk away and stood on the edge of a road weeping uncontrollably, my mother came over and we were crying, the other animal then came over and again said "he chose this, don't be upset".

This other animal then told me "he has 5 days left", I returned and was cuddling this sheep thing and crying, the other animal then came over again and said he had 5 hours left...I remember saying "you said 5 days" and it replied "I was mistaken"...my last thoughts in the dream were mistaken about what? Were you mistaken about the 5 days or the 5 hours?

I then woke up, not ashamed to admit I was actually crying and quite disturbed, I felt like I'd lost something I loved. for the first time in moons I actually woke before my alarm went off, I looked at the clock and the time was exactly 5:05 am, which I thought was an odd coincidence.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this, I can't recal what the other creature was or what it looked like, the rest is crystal clear and I've a lump in my throat right now just thinking about it. The sheep type thing, from memory, was big and ugly. But I loved it, in the dream it was something really dear to me, my mother knew how much it meant to me in the dream, as she was being very supportive and was also upset.

I believe dreams mean something, this is completely random, I can't remember the last time I saw or thought about a sheep. I can't interpret this dream but to be it seems steepd in messages and symbology, the lift, the money, my love for something that was actually quite hideous. I can't stop thinking about it, I felt depressed on my way to work thinking about it.

That's pretty much it, any thoughts?

I'm not very good with dream symbolism. I just tend to dismiss the symbols and go right to examining the emotions (unless the symbol is a recurring theme.) The symbols are just that; shadows of an abstract concept that you can feel emotionally.

I think dreams can be a lot of different things. In my experience, I've found that dreams are often just a chance for me to experience a powerful emotion. It's sort of like..an interactive holodeck to experience genuine, uninhibited emotions (you said you tend not to be swayed by emotion easily.) I think sometimes it can just be an entertaining little change of pace filled with mystery, love, pain etc...same reason we watch sad movies and listen to sad music.

I also like to keep the possibility open that dreams can be past life memories or goings-on in the astral world that are grossly misinterpreted by the brain.

As I said, the emotions of a dream are more important than the symbols (in my humble opinion.) Consider the emotions. Are you afraid to lose something/someone?

Thanks for sharing and I hope someone more adept at dream symbolism can offer you some information.

reply to post by samerulesapply


I use this to get information...perhaps it will help. Deep inside though you have an idea what this dream means. I suggest when you go to bed tonight, drink 8 oz of water and program your dream sequence to give you an answer.

www.dreammoods.com...

Sheep To see sheep in your dream indicates docility and conformity. You lack creativity, individuality and initiative to venture out on your own. You tend to go along with the group. Alternatively, seeing a sheep signifies your compassion. The dream may also be a metaphor on being sheepish. Perhaps you have done something wrong. To see a black sheep in your dream symbolizes greed and temptation. The dream may also be a metaphor for someone who represents the black sheep in your family. Perhaps it is you who is the non-conformist.

reply to post by NarcolepticBuddha


Thanks for that, you might have a point. the emotions were powerful at the end and it's what woke me up. I can't stop thinking about holding that thing so tight, like I wanted it to know I was there and that I cared, that it wasn't alone. Even through my day when I thought about it, it's like I want to feel that again I suppose, I keep trying to capture that moment in my mind, not just the emotional aspect but the physical...i sound odd now. Dude wants to hug a dying sheep!

I kind of felt like this is still going on and I'm absent when I should be there, if you get me. There's something that's obviously important to me suffering and I'm back here in the real world trying to forget.

To be frank, I've always dwelled on the thought that I'll lose those closest to me one day, since childhood really. I don't cry over it but, I suppose it's natural to fear what the future may bring...seeing relatives grow old, ill and frail. So that's something I've always lived with, I don't think about that kinda stuff too much but now and again I'll find myself fretting, I thought everyone did that, though.

Thanks for the response.

reply to post by samerulesapply
Thanks for sharing your dream and I have to admit that I was quite shaken while reading your accounting of it.

Let me say that I strongly believe that our dreams serve an invaluable purpose - to communicate what our subconscious knows but that which our conscious mind might not be registering for some reason. Our subconscious never lies and is always right. I can glean quite a bit about many of the things you said, but I've learned that you need to think about what happened in your life during the preceding day or two. We can usually find that something (an event that happened, a thing that was said, a person you saw or spoke to) triggered a core issue that your subconscious needed to release. There are also people who sometimes have pre-cognitive dreams, but there's so much symbolism in your accounting that I'm more apt to think that this is a subconscious release. Did anything out of the ordinary happen to you yesterday or the day before?

reply to post by soulpowertothendegree


Oooh, well the sheep was definitely white, so that's a phew!

I'm not the conformist type, not anti-social but prefer my own company, I mean I can talk to almost anyone quite happily and can be outgoing in a social situation but i'll avoid such occasions if possible.

I'm quite creative, though, which I think it partially the cause of my tendencies to be a loner and a bit of an outsider. Was always artistic, like making things.

I am a kind of black sheep I suppose, I'll deliberately not do something simply because everyone else is doing it and don't live what most people would call a conventional lifestyle.

A lot to think about and good info, i might hit google a bit later and read more before bed.

reply to post by samerulesapply


Seems clear to me the sheep represents all humanity. You are on ATS and are familiar with the term Sheeple and the shoe does fit. The sheep have truly choose our path and it leads to destruction, it is the wide and well traveled road.

The lift had opened into a street, it was a very hilly street, not flat. Lot's of hills, with grass and houses on them. I was walking around retrieving the items that came from the bag that burst when something caught my eye.

This represents the 'stuff" that people choose and love as they gorged themselves with goods, torn and lost unimportant at the end.

The other creature may be the remaining who travel the narrow path who do see, who understand what the sheeps choice has led to but it was a choice.

So the actual message of the dream is there is little time left to make that choice in fact a finite amount of time which is represented in some way by the 5 and may actually give a timeline.

reply to post by timidgal


Nothing comes to mind, it's all been rather textbook and monotonous for a while now. I've been thinking that throughout the day, trying to find any kind of source for it but I've drawn a blank on that one.

I've had much stranger dreams in terms of visual content, some really horrible dreams and recurring ones years ago, which I've written about. So visually, it wasn't a striking dream, it was the emotions and feelings...physical feelings.

I've not touched many sheep...now there's an expression I never thought I'd use in my life...well it's true. I remember clapping one when I was a very small child. In the dream when I put my arms around it, it felt so real. My hand on its fleece, the texture of it, not cold but not exactly warm to the touch either, a latent heat emanating from underneath the wool...I can still feel it, it was powerful.

I'm glad I had the dream, even though it was disturbing and kind of depressed me for a few hours. I feel like I kinda got something from it.

reply to post by Char-Lee


Hmm, I have heard the term sheeple, don't like it much and never really saw myself as a "sheeple" person to be honest. There could be something in it I suppose, for a while now I've been questioning what the hell I'm doing with myself. Wasting time working and having no quality time for self development and doing the things that actually make me happiest.

I mean I'm kind of awake, I see things about the world and the way we live that totally infuriate me, the battery life...all work and no play for a meagre pittance. It's all a bit pointless, isn't it? I think most of us get that from time to time, is it wrong to have expected so much more for yourself?

That has been eating at me for a while now and I do want to break free of that, I know I'm capable of being more than what I am but am sort of trapped in this life. Actually - It's a good angle now that I've thought more about it...

i need to eat and unwind for a bit...I wasn't expecting many responses to this and was suprised to see so many in such a short space of time. Thanks for reading my account and contributing, I'll have a ponder over this over dinner and pop back on later.

Thanks all.

reply to post by samerulesapply

Hmm, I have heard the term sheeple, don't like it much and never really saw myself as a "sheeple" person to be honest. There could be something in it I suppose, for a while now I've been questioning what the hell I'm doing with myself.

The sheep had a human like face. Your subconscious is not you so your subconscious may clearly see the sheepness of humanity.
Your path may need evaluating at this moment maybe your subconscious wants you to change corse.

Aside from the above comment concerning ignorant "sheeple", I have always considered sheep to represent innocence. Ever heard the term "Sheep among wolves"?

Maybe you're losing your innocence. Any recent mischief? Perhaps part of you is now beginning to let go of your childhood. Are you a young adult who has recently moved away from your parents?

This dream could represent many things IMO, but I'm impressed with the amount of detail. Thanks for sharing.

reply to post by Wookiep

above comment concerning ignorant "sheeple"

I did't say that. More like lost sheep.

reply to post by Char-Lee


No worries, I wasn't trying to accuse you of calling the OP ignorant. I think we've all seen the term "ignorant sheeple", on here, so it was intended to be a general statement.

reply to post by samerulesapply
Some psychologists and/or dream specialists believe that everyone and everything in a dream, with the exception of close family members, is a representation of parts of ourselves. They believe that you can use the "gestalt method" of analyzing your own dreams. To do this, imagine yourself sitting in a chair facing another chair which would contain the different people or elements of your dream. Ask the item or person in the other chair what they represented and what message they were trying to give to you. Listen to your inner voice for the answer. This takes practice, but it works. An explanation of the gestalt dreamwork method can be found here:

Dreamwork is a common Gestalt awareness practice, in which enactment and integration of dream elements are favored. An initiator of Gestalt dreamwork intentionally re-experiences their dream as if it were happening in the present. The initiator then assumes the role of various dream elements, and enters into a dialogue with whatever is encountered in the dream. This approach is borrowed from the Gestalt therapy model.[32] However, in contrast to Gestalt therapy, alternative sources of dream interpretation, including intuitive experiences are welcomed in Gestalt Practice.

Okay, so I'll take a stab at this from a slightly (but only slightly) better than average psychology 101 dream interpretation perspective (I've participated in some workshops on the subject matter but who knows how good I am at this, lol).

The groceries in the bag represent your emotions which are initially neatly contained and controlled inside of the bags (or kept in check) until you start losing control when the lift starts to act erratically. I would also interpret the lift as a visual representation of your emotions (both the lift and the bags are vessels for your emotions). You first say that the lift "went down" (as opposed to going up) which should have been clue #1 that this was going to be deep (pun intended since our subconscious often uses puns on words). Then the lift was shaking from side to side and you said to your mother "this isn't right" which is how you felt about your initial dialogue with her about her feelings toward you during childhood. The lift stopped and started moving forward (it was propelling you toward the main message of the dream) and during the process, you couldn't "catch" your groceries (or emotions) quickly enough and your usual composure "burst out everywhere" (pretty self-explanatory). The lift opened onto a hilly street, not flat (this was not going to be an easy journey for you). As you were gathering your emotions back up, which had burst from the bag, something caught your eye (your subconscious said "oh no you don't). The half sheep/half human creature was lying on its side, evidently ill or in pain, just as you yourself felt ill or in pain. I believe that this creature represented a part of you, perhaps a vulnerable or soft side which you normally try to keep in check (only you will know the answer to this statement). You were frantic to protect and comfort yourself and expected your mother to do the same, just as she has done for your entire life. This animal was familiar to you and you remember the way it felt because it represented the softer side of you. You were trembling or vibrating because it was your own frequency you were making contact with. The other animal "was concerned but composed, not showing much emotion at all" (the flip-side of yourself - the controlled part you were so desperately trying to recompose via collecting the scattered groceries) and told you that this other animal had "chosen" this. This could represent a myriad of subconscious things that only you would know about. Is there a choice you recently had to make? Perhaps you've chosen something in your life that doesn't feel as if it's the "real you" being expressed. Again, only you know the answers to these questions. Then you had two "5's" in your dream. Does the number 55 or 10, or the symbol 5-5 resonate with you in any way? We can also say that you had two "doubles" in your dream 20 pounds/40 pounds and 5 and 5 - perhaps this represents the double sides of yourself being represented in the dream.

At the end of the dream, of course you woke up crying and shaken. You were given a glimpse of your own vulnerability which is hard for any of us to face. Exactly what that vulnerability surrounds is something that only you can figure out for yourself (I know I say this a lot, but dreams are highly personal and specific to our own feelings or experiences).

That's my rudimentary layman's interpretation of your dream for what it's worth. I hope that some of this resonates with you. If not, no offense would be taken if you told me to stick to my regular day job, lol!

reply to post by timidgal


I think your interpretation is really really good!

This part though

(I know I say this a lot, but dreams are highly personal and specific to our own feelings or experiences).

There is another kind of dream, like the ones many people had before 9/11 that involve more then ourself.

reply to post by Char-Lee

I definitely agree, Char-Lee. What you're referring to are pre-cognitive dreams which I mentioned in my first response and perhaps some of this is pre-cognitive, but only time, and the OP, can tell.

reply to post by samerulesapply


The sheep with a human face - certainly sounds like Jesus, to me. His time of suffering is quickly coming to an end - He comes back as a lion. And when he does, you won't need your money or groceries (worldly things) anymore.

What initially came to mind when I read your OP was that oh yeah, I've seen this creature on ATS and YT, but never stopped to really think about it and its particular brand of suffering. I saw those mostly on the screen at the end of a video that shows tiles of other vids we can click on.

So rather than being pre-cognitive, perhaps it's just a delayed more complete compassionate reaction to something you might not have taken the time to consider before?

reply to post by timidgal


That was a trip!

Pretty amazing, thanks for taking the time to type that up.

reply to post by samerulesapply

Just off the top of my head...

You feel sad for the "Sheeple" because they are sick and afraid. The incompassionate Overlord standing over them is shrouded in secrecy. (We don't really know who's behind the curtain, so you have no visual on that creature, in your otherwise detailed dream.)

The lift was out of control, like the world, but stabilized before plummeting to destruction. (Or with the money factor, it could symbolize the financial crisis?) The fast-paced world was there when the door opened, and your food (survival) got caught between the plummeting financial crisis and the fast-paced world, such that the necessities of life (food in bag) were hard to come by and you had to look for them. But you took the time to reach out that random unknown sheeple, who you did not know, but loved unconditionally because you realize we are all one.

How'd I do?

Ok, after I typed this I read timidgirl's and mine sounds like a 3-year-old thought it up, by comparison.
(Except I think I should get brownie points for the 'sheeple' idea, 'cause it's kinda cool, eh?)