I was with my friend Yoa, on a short trip in Italy, coming from Spain, supposedly. We were to return that night and being at the station we already were in front of a train that was coming right in front of us. But for some reason, that wasn't the train we were supposed to take, and she notices this quickly and leaves to the other lane, on the other side of this train, which was the right one, but apparently I don't notice or hear her; I only see her when I enter, and look at the other train's window and she's seating there already, looking at me in shock that I hadn't followed her. And the train starts to move, and I thought I couldn't stop the train in any way. So I was going to an unknown place, late at night, alone.
I end up in a small village, a German village, which were uncharacteristically rude to me, or just uncaring when trying to figure out where I was and how would I get back. I didn't even know the name of the place I was in! I walked around, saw a stable-like place where a gallery or an art exhibition was to take place the next day. Walked around some of the stoned-paved streets. When I went back to the train station I was trying to get a ticket back to where I wanted to go, but it was late, there was a possibility I could remain the night there, and I was getting stressed about it. Some machines also weren't so cooperative and I was feeling lost in translation, even though I knew a bit of German, so it was probably just stress. When I came then to the counter, I began explaining my situation, and not two words out, the man was already making faces, and stopping me from talking, looking to a boy beside him, like, 'ah, ah, this is wrong, this is no good'... and I tried once or twice to try to speak, and the man wouldn't let me... then when I took a breath and began speaking my little bit of German, then he was like 'aww, there', and with an attitude that said, why didn't you begin with my language in the first place? He then went on to help me.
I never knew if I got to that train I needed, if I went out and came back safely. But at least, it was a start that man was eager to listen!
[places weren't exactly as in real life, it was more like an in-between reality and fantasy world, and it is influenced on my recent student exchange, in which the three mentioned countries were visited.]
To see a train of cars moving in your dreams, you will soon have cause to make a journey.
To be on a train and it appears to move smoothly along, though there is no track, denotes that you will be much worried over some affair which will eventually prove a source of profit to you.
To see freight trains in your dreams, is an omen of changes which will tend to your elevation.
To find yourself, in a dream, on top of a sleeping car, denotes you will make a journey with an unpleasant companion, with whom you will spend money and time that could be used in a more profitable and congenial way, and whom you will seek to avoid.
To see a train in your dream, represents conformity. You are just going along with what everyone else is doing. Alternatively, a train means that you are very methodical. You need to lay things out specifically and do things in an orderly and sequential manner. In particular, if you see a freight train, then it refers to the burdens and problems that you are hauling around. It is also symbolic of manual labor. If you see a passenger train, then it relates to mental work. If you see or play with a model train in your dream, then it indicates that you want more control and power over your own life and where it is headed. Dreaming of trains may also be a metaphor that you are "in training" for some event, job or goal. According to Freud, a train is analogous to the male penis.
To dream that you are on a train, symbolizes your life's journey. It suggests that you are on the right track in life and headed in the right direction. Alternatively, the dream means that you have a tendency to worry needlessly over a situation that will work out in the end.
To see or dream that you are in a train wreck, suggests chaos. The path to your goals are not going according to the way you planned it out. You are lacking self-confidence and having doubt in your ability to reach your goals.
To dream that you are the engineer, signifies that you are in complete control of a particular situation in your waking life.
To dream that you miss a train, denotes missed opportunities. It also suggests that you are ill-prepared for a new phase in your life. You may be procrastinating or putting things off that should have already been completed.
Seeing a train in your dream, represents conformity and go along with what everyone else is doing. You have the need to do things in an orderly and sequential manner. In particular, if you see a freight train, then it refers to the burdens and problems that you are hauling around. Dreaming that you are on a train, is symbolic of your life's journey and suggests that you are on the right track in life and headed for the right direction. Alternatively, you have a tendency to worry needlessly over a situation that will prove to work out in the end. Seeing or dreaming that you are in a train wreck, suggests chaos. The path to goals are not going according to the way you planned it out. Or you may be lacking self-confidence and having doubt in your ability to reach your goals. Dreaming that you are the engineer means that you are in complete control of a particular situation in your waking life. Dreaming that you miss a train indicates missed opportunities or nearly escaping your death.
This dream symbol can be very complicated and its meaning is specific to the dreamer. If you normally take the train to work and it is a part of your daily experience, closer attention should be paid to the other details of the dream. Going on a train ride may be symbolic of your life's journey. If you are the driver, you may be reassuring yourself in the dream state that you are in control of a specific situation or life in general. The train could also be symbolic of your need to move on and to do things in an orderly and sequential manner.
Night is related to the passive principle, the feminine and the unconscious. Hesiod gave it the name of ‘mother of the gods’, for the Greeks believed
that night and darkness preceded the creation of all things (8). Hence, night—like
water—is expressive of fertility, potentiality and germination (17); for it is an
anticipatory state in that, though not yet day, it is the promise of daylight. Within
the tradition of symbology it has the same significance as death and the colour
black.
To have a dream that takes place at night, represents some major setbacks and obstacles in achieving your goals. You are being faced with an issue that is not so clear cut. Perhaps, you should put the issues aside so you can clear your head and come back to it later. Alternatively, night may be synonymous with death, rebirth, reflection, and new beginnings.
If you are surrounded by night in your dreams, you may expect unusual oppression and hardships in business. If the night seems to be vanishing, conditions which hitherto seemed unfavorable will now grow bright, and affairs will assume prosperous phases.
Dreaming of night means some major setbacks and obstacles in achieving your goals. You may find that some issues you are facing are not all that clear and you need to put them to rest for awhile before a decision is made.
To dream of meeting unknown persons, foretells change for good, or bad as the person is good looking, or ugly, or deformed.
To feel that you are unknown, denotes that strange things will cast a shadow of ill luck over you.
To see an unknown person in your dream, signifies a part of yourself that is repressed and hidden. Alternatively, it symbolizes the archetypal dream helper who is trying to offer some insight and advice.
To see an unknown place in your dream, represents change in your life. Consider how you feel about the surrounding. If you are afraid or lost, then it indicates that you are not ready for the change. You are not ready to leave the past behind. If you are excited or happy in this unknown place, then it suggests that you are ready for change.
Seeing an unknown person in your dream means a part of yourself that is repressed and hidden. Alternatively, it symbolizes the archetypal dream helper who is trying to offer some insight and advice.
To dream of being in a beautiful and fertile country, where abound rich fields of grain and running streams of pure water, denotes the very acme of good times is at hand. Wealth will pile in upon you, and you will be able to reign in state in any country. If the country be dry and bare, you will see and hear of troublous times. Famine and sickness will be in the land.
To dream that you are studying a language, suggests that you are having difficulties expressing your thoughts. You are confronted with an unfamiliar problem that you do not know how to approach and resolve.
To hear foul or vulgar language in your dream, signifies an embarrassing situation.
To hear or speak a foreign language in your dream, indicates a message from your unconscious that you do not yet understand.
Dreaming that you are studying a language indicates that you are having difficulties expressing your thoughts. Hearing foul language in your dream means that you will soon find yourself in an embarrassing situation.
Languages that you do not understand in dreams may represent feelings of failing to understand something in your waking life, or that you might be missing the point of a situation in waking life. If someone is translating the foreign language for you it could mean that you need someone else to help you understand the point or situation that you are failing to grasp on your own.
If you find that you are speaking a foreign language is could be that your subconscious feels that you need to broaden the scope of your aspirations, learn new things that are hitherto unknown to you. If you find yourself having to interpret a foreign language for other people in your dreams it could reflect a feeling that your friends, family or workmates are relying on you too much to explain things to them, or that you're feeling overburdened by their lack of understanding.
If the language in your dreams is gibberish that you can't understand, or you have difficulty speaking clearly yourself, it could be that you're having trouble communicating with others in waking life, or that you are feeling anxious about an upcoming event that relies on your being able to speak eloquently to achieve your goals.
Listening to foreign languages in dreams that you don't understand can also represent part of your self that you don't normally listen to trying to communicate with you, and a process of understanding this part of you can often be accompanied by a process of understanding the foreign language, bit by bit, in your dreams.
To dream that you are under stress, reflects the actual stress that you are experiencing in your waking life. The stress has carried over into your dream state where even in your sleep, you are unable to relax. The dream may call attention to some setbacks, obstacles, self-doubts, or criticism that you are facing in some waking situation or relationship. You are on the verge of breaking down and need to take some leisure time off to distance yourself from these issues.
Dreaming that you are under stress, is a reflection of the stress that you are experiencing in your waking life that has been carried over into your dream state. Even in your sleep, you may be unable to relax. The dream may call attention to setbacks, obstacles, self-doubts, criticism that you are facing in some waking situation or relationship. You need to take some leisure time off.
Man comes to see himself as a symbol in so far as he is conscious of his
being. Hallstatt art, in Austria, shows fine examples of animal-heads with human
figures appearing above them. In India, in New Guinea, in the West as well, the
bull’s or ox’s head with a human form drawn between the horns is a very common
motif. Since the bull is a symbol for the father-heaven, man comes to be seen as
both his and the earth’s son (22), also, as a third possibility, the son of the sun and
the moon (49). The implications of Origen’s remark: ‘Understand that you are
another world in miniature and that in you are the sun, the moon and also the
stars’, are to be found in all symbolic traditions. In Moslem esoteric thought, man
is the symbol of universal existence (29), an idea which has found its way into
contemporary philosophy in the definition of man as ‘the messenger of being’;
however, in symbolic theory, man is not defined by function alone (that of
appropriating the consciousness of the cosmos), but rather by analogy, whereby
he is seen as an image of the universe. This analogical relationship is sometimes
expressed explicitly, as in some of the more ancient sections of the Upanishads—
the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya for instance—where the analogy between the human organism and the macrocosmos is drawn step by step by means
of correspondences with the organs of the body and the senses (7). So, for
example, the components of the nervous system are derived from fiery substance, and blood from watery substance (26). These oriental concepts first
appear in the West during the Romanesque period: Honorius of Autun, in his Elucidarium (12th century) states that the flesh (and the bones) of man are
derived from the earth, blood from water, his breath from air, and body-heat from
fire. Each part of the body relates to a corresponding part of the universe: the
head corresponds to the heavens, the breath to air, the belly to the sea, the lower
extremities to earth. The five senses were given analogies in accordance with a
system which came to Europe, perhaps, from the Hebrews and the Greeks (14).
Thus, Hildegard of Bingen, living in the same period, states that man is disposed
according to the number five: he is of five equal parts in height and five in girth; he
has five senses, and five members, echoed in the hand as five fingers. Hence the
pentagram is a sign of the microcosmos. Agrippa of Nettesheim represented this graphically, after Valeriano, who drew the analogy between the five-pointed star
and the five wounds of Christ. There is a relationship, too, between the organic
laws of Man and the Cistercian temple (14). Fabre d’Olivet, following the Cabala,
maintains that another number closely associated with the human being is nine—
the triple ternary. He divides human potentialities into three planes: those of the
body, of the soul or life and of the spirit. Each of these planes is characterized by
three modes: the active, the passive and the neutral (43). In the Far East, also,
speculation about the symbolism of man began very early. The same kind of
triple ternary organization is to be seen in the ancient teachings of the Taoists
(13). It is also interesting to note that there is a relationship between the human
being and the essential or archetypal animals (the turtle, the phoenix, the dragon
and the unicorn) who appear to bear the same relation to man—who is central—
as the tetramorphs do to the Pantokrator. Now, between man as a concrete
individual and the universe there is a medial term—a mesocosmos. And this
mesocosmos is the ‘Universal Man’, the King (Wang) in Far Eastern tradition,
and the Adam Kadmon of the Cabala. He symbolizes the whole pattern of the
world of manifestation, that is, the complete range of possibilities open to mankind. In a way, the concept corresponds to Jung’s ‘collective unconscious’. According to Guénon, Leibniz—perhaps influenced by Raymond Lull—conceded
that every ‘individual substance’ must contain within itself an integral reproduction of the universe, even if only as an image, just as the seed contains the totality
of the being into which it will develop (25). In Indian symbolism, Vaishvânara, or
the ‘Universal Man’, is divided into seven principal sections: (1) The superior,
luminous spheres as a whole, or the supreme states of being; (2) the sun and the
moon—or rather, the principles to which they pertain—as expressed in the right
and the left eye respectively; (3) the fire-principle—the mouth; (4) the directions
of space—the ears; (5) the atmosphere—the lungs; (6) the intermediary zone
between earth and heaven—the stomach; (7) the earth—the natural functions or
the lower part of the body. The heart is not mentioned, because, being the ‘centre’
or dwelling-place of Brahma, it is regarded as being beyond the ‘wheel’ of things
(26). Now, this concept of the ‘Universal Man’ implies hermaphroditism, though
never specifically. For the concrete, existential human being, in so far as he is
either a man or a woman, represents the dissected ‘human’ whole, not only in the
physical sense but also spiritually. Thus, to quote the Upanishads: ‘He was, in
truth, as big as a man and a woman embracing. He divided this atman into two
parts; from them sprang husband and wife.’ In Western iconography one sometimes finds images which would seem to be echoes of this concept (32). A human
couple, by their very nature, must always symbolize the urge to unite what is in
fact discrete. Figures which are shown embracing one another, or joining hands, or growing out of roots which bind them together, and so on, symbolize ‘conjunction’, that is, coincidentia oppositorum. There is a Hindu image representing the
‘joining of the unjoinable’ (analogous to the marriage of fire and water) by the
interlinking of Man and Woman, which may be taken to symbolize the joining of
all opposites: good and bad, high and low, cold and hot, wet and dry, and so on
(32). In alchemy, Man and Woman symbolize sulphur and mercury (the metal).
In psychology, level-symbolism is often brought to bear upon the members of the
body, so that the right side corresponds to the conscious level and the left to the
unconscious. The shapes of the parts of the body, depending upon whether they
are positive or negative—whether they are protuberances or cavities—should be
seen not only as sex-symbols but also in the light of the symbolism of levels. The
head is almost universally regarded as a symbol of virility (56). The attitudes
which the body may take up are of great symbolic importance, because they are
both the instrument and the expression of the human tendency towards ascendence
and evolution. A position with the arms wide open pertains to the symbolism of
the cross. And a posture in the form of the letter ‘X’ refers to the union of the two
worlds, a symbol which is related to the hour-glass, the ‘X’ and all other symbols
of intersection (50). Another important posture is that of Buddha in the traditional iconography of the Orient, a posture characteristic also of some Celtic gods
such as the so-called ‘Bouray god’ or the famous Roquepertuse figure. This
squatting position expresses the renunciation of the ‘baser part’ and of ambulatory movement and symbolizes identification with the mystic centre.
To see a man in your dream, denotes the aspect of yourself that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. Perhaps you need to incorporate these aspects into your own character. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him.
If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, then it suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality. It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man.
To see an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness. The old man may be a archetypal figure who is offering guidance to some daily problem.
To dream of a man, if handsome, well formed and supple, denotes that you will enjoy life vastly and come into rich possessions. If he is misshapen and sour-visaged, you will meet disappointments and many perplexities will involve you.
For a woman to dream of a handsome man, she is likely to have distinction offered her. If he is ugly, she will experience trouble through some one whom she considers a friend.
Seeing a man in your dream indicates the masculine aspect of yourself - the side that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him. If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality . It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man. Seeing an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness.
All different kinds of people clutter our dream landscape. The men in your dream may include family members or total strangers. You may dream about your father, son, husband, or friend and should interpret the dream according to its details. A man, particularly the father figure, may represent collective consciousness and the traditional human spirit. He is the Yang and his energy, when mobilised, creates the earthly realities. Depending on the details of the dream, the masculine figure could be interpreted as the Creator or Destroyer. At times, women dream about men that are strangers to them. These men may represent the women's unconscious psychic energy. At times, a strange and ominous man in men's dreams could represent their "shadow" or their negativity and darker sides of personality.
To dream that you are late, signifies your fear of change and your ambivalence about seizing an opportunity. You may feel unready, unworthy, or unsupported in your current circumstances. Additionally, you may be overwhelmed or conflicted with decisions about your future. Time is running out and you no longer have time to accomplish all the things you want. Alternatively, being late in your dream could be telling you that it is better late than never.
Dreaming that you are late indicates your fear of change and your ambivalence about seizing an opportunity. You may feel unready, unworthy, or unsupported in your current circumstances. Additionally, you may be overwhelmed or conflicted with decisions about your future.
If you are arriving late, your unconscious may be telling you to be more perceptive and to use more foresight when making plans. Lateness suggests that the dreamer may be feeling unprepared and distracted in a particular situation in daily life or in regard to long-term goals.
If you dream that a payment is late, you could be feeling unsatisfied with something in your waking life.
To see the front of something in your dream, indicates that you expressing a desire to keep your distance. The dream may also be a pun on "fronting". Are you being someone that you are not? Are you overly concerned about how you come across to others and how they see you?
To dream that you are in a village, denotes that you will enjoy good health and find yourself fortunately provided for.
To revisit the village home of your youth, denotes that you will have pleasant surprises in store and favorable news from absent friends.
If the village looks dilapidated, or the dream indistinct, it foretells that trouble and sadness will soon come to you.
To dream that you are in a village, represents restrictions. You need to follow the rules. Alternatively, a village signifies community, simplicity, and tradition.
Dreaming that you are in a village, represents restrictions. It may also indicate that you are unsophisticated, but well-balanced. Alternatively, it means community, simplicity, and tradition.