Sunday, November 17, 2002		Dream Theme

Dreaming of age
Vinaya Katoch Manhas

THE symbol of age rarely dominates dreams. However, we may frequently see our acquaintances or ourselves living to a ripe old age. But death and birth are more common as dream symbols. One can also dream of being blessed with a long life or of one’s long life being foretold. In most cases such dreams where one sees long life being foretold are supposed to represent the opposite, that is a short life. But interpretations vary.

According to Indian thought, to see your age in your dream is not a good omen. It usually foretells some illness or an accident. One is advised to take extra care of oneself. To see a short age being foretold, or in other words an early death, foretells a long life. Hence, on seeing such a dream, one should not worry.

As per western thought, dreaming of age foretells failures in whatever venture one undertakes. To dream of your own age means that differences of opinion might cause misunderstandings with relatives. To dream that you are being blamed of lying about your age warns you that you may attract wrong friends. You may face contempt if you are not careful. To dream of yourself having become old, forecasts sickness or unsatisfactory ventures. Should you see your spouse as aged you are warned to be careful regarding his or her health and safety.

Psychoanalytically speaking, to see your age in your dream either denotes your worry regarding your life or it indicates a sense of responsibility growing within you. To see yourself as a child is an indication of regression, that is, a desire to always remain a child, to shrug off the responsibilities that age demands.

A 35-year-old woman would often dream of seeing her children as old men with wrinkled skin and stooped backs. The children were in reality aged five and eight. She would often worry about the dream, assuming that it foretold that ill-health would plague them. Many times after seeing this dream, either of the sons would fall ill. Actually it is not unusual for children of that age to fall ill frequently and any apparent like between their illness and their mother’s dream was a mere coincidence. The dream actually denotes the desire for a long life for her children, a wish for them to live to a grand old age. As a result of this desire she would constantly worry about their safety. Having married late and consequently having had a family late, she was obsessed with their welfare. She could not foresee life without any of them, and would also pray for their safety. The paranoia could also be a result of some experience in her life, some incident which left an impression on her and made her so insecure.