Sunday, April 22, 2001		Dream theme

Dreaming of a donkey
By Vinaya Katoch Manhas

DONKEY has always evoked humour and contempt from people. Singled out for its passive nature and submissiveness, these qualities have been attributed to the lack of intelligence. When all such characteristics are visible in a human being, the immediate comparison that crops up is to a donkey.

To see a donkey in one’s dream has several connotations. Seeing one bray on your face, denotes ill-will for the dreamer and indicates insult and mockery. If there is distant braying of a donkey which sounds very sad, then it shall bring you wealth and release you from unpleasant relationships. Seeing yourself in your dream as riding a donkey indicates travels to foreign lands. Seeing others ride a donkey, denotes meagre inheritance to come to them, but also a life of hard work.

In Hindu thought, the donkey has always played a major role. To see a donkey before going somewhere or while returning from a journey is said to be very auspicious. To see yourself travel on a donkey towards the southern direction, according to the Swapnadhyai, bodes ill for the dreamer. The same is echoed by the Swapna Kamlakar. It also specifies that if you are dreaming of travelling on a cart, pulled by a donkey or on a donkey itself and you wake up mid-way then it could be fatal for the dreamer.

As per Western thought, driving a donkey, predicts that all your energy in the future shall be expended in trying to ward off enemies. To be kicked by a donkey shows illicit connections from which you shall suffer due to betrayal. If you should see yourself as leading a donkey by its halter then you shall be the master of every situation. To see children riding donkeys signifies good health and obedience from them.

To fall from a donkey or to be thrown off one, denotes ill-luck and disappointment in secular affairs. To dream of taking into possession a donkey, either by buying or being presented one, you will attain an enviable position socially.

Psychoanalytically, the donkey is a beast of burden and the mother archetype. To see a human take on a donkey’s form means that he embodies certain qualities of the animal.

This is a very complicated dream. In the first part, the donkey personifies herself as a donkey, carrying her kids. This indicates her as having taken up the burden of bringing up the kids all by herself. The saree tearing episode could be a reflection of an episode in the past. Here the donkey personifies her husband and its death is a wish-fulfillment — her desire to get rid of him.