Sunday, January 6, 2002		Dream theme

AT times one perceives that one has dreamt of a particular time of the day, whether it was morning, evening or night. One may not remember the dream clearly. But along with other symbols one can also recall the time of day. Thus, the interpretation of other dream symbols in that particular dream changes according to the time. Just as in a painting the background color is important, so also in a dream the time of the day is a significant symbol.

In the Indian context should a person dream that it is dawn and the sun is rising in the sky then he can expect some good news to come his way. Should it be dusk then it is a bad omen. If you see it is noon time then it indicates gains in wealth although some struggles are also foretold. Generally to see night in your dreams is not a good symbol unless it you also see a full moon and stars. If you dream of total darkness then be forewarned of troubled times ahead.

As per western thought to see night time in your dreams warns an employed person of oppression and hardships in his or her occupation and students in their field of study. Should you see the night giving way to dawn then it means that the conditions which were till then unfavourable will become favourable. While the dawn is indicative of a new beginning, dusk portrays the coming to an end of a particular phase in your life.

Psychologically speaking, the time of a day implies a particular time in the dreamer’s life. Whereas the daylight hours is a symbol of our conscious waking life, afternoon signifies the necessity to put our experiences and learning to good use, because it means that our knowledge has now matured enough to be put to practical use.

Evening signifies the end of life. It highlights our ability to be more relaxed about our lives and activities. Mid-day is a symbol of our complete awareness of our activities. Here the word life refers to a particular phase of our life. Whereas morning highlights our early experiences and emphasises the earlier phase of our life, night is a period of depression and secrecy.

It can portray both introspection or simply the need to sit back and relax. Twilight is often the indicator of uncertainty and ambivalence. It could also indicate a period of transition. A tendency to see your watch again and again in your dreams points to the person’s ability to master time rather than be a slave to it.

Thus for time to be significant in one’s dream, it is necessary to measure it in some way or to use a period of time as a measurement. Thus a particular actually signifies a particular time in the dreamer’s life.

A 47-year-old man dreamt that he was standing on a hilltop holding his to-be second-wife's hand. He sees his son and daughter walking away holding his first wife’s hand, who was no longer alive. The time of the day was twilight. Twilight as we know portrays both uncertainty and a period of transition. He wanted to start a new life with his second wife. However, he feared that his children might not accept his second marriage. What the man needed was to sit down with his kids and try and explain his need to have a companion and a wife, and abate their fears that she might try to usurp their mother’s place in their lives.