I've gotten a dream that I am completely confused by...

[Ecumenist]

Lately, I have been unable to really get time to spend here on DU. Things have been really hectic. I have been doing alot of praying and burning ALOT of Frankincense, Myrrh and Dragon's Blood during prayer. I have used the actual resins on charcoal and burn it outside my back door, partially due to the fact that the smoke kept setting off my alarms. I've been doing this to facilitate communication through my dreams and intuition. Last night, I dreamt that I was at the home site where DH and I are building a home. To describe it, it is made up of a western end of an escarpment or butte. In this dream, my deceased mother was with me and she was showing me the home that was built,(which looked NOTHING like the one we're building) and was showing me MY ROOM. My father, who my mother divorced, thank God, 22 years ago, was there too and he was acting as if they were still married and SHARING a bedroom with my mom!

As my mother was walking me through the house, she took me into the room intended for me, which was done up in the most treacle cotton candy, bubblegum pink CHINESE silk brocade, (complete with large medallions made up of phoenix and a dragon) and this bedroom was on the 5th floor of this edifice. I HATE that colour!! The house wasn't finished yet and in fact, was still obviously under construction. We walked outside to look at the progress of the construction. The strange thing is that this "house" was not only nothing like the one we're building but it was 5 stories tall, a BLACK CASTLE, (complete with 4 turrets and NO WINDOWS), and FLOATING!! It was at least 30 feet above the highest point of the hill. You could see what seemed to be "heat waves" underneath the castle. Weird, I tell ya. The strange thing is that I could look out of what appeared from the INSIDE of the house and not only see out BUT I could see a city that is about 55 miles north of the home site as clear as if I were looking down from a second storey window to a street! BUT from the outside, there were NO WINDOWS! This Floating black castle had only SOLID walls!

We then walked out to an outbuilding, it looked like a barn. There isn't one on the property in reality. Anyhow, I was standing speaking to my mom when I noticed a kitten come into this building. The kitten was a taupe/beige striped kitty and it made a beeline for me. I'm terribly allergic to them but just as this kitten got to my left side, it was followed by what seemed to be a fox. This "fox was VERY strange because it seemed to have adopted both the kitten AND me. However, when this fox only appeared as a fox when it's head was down. When it presented it's face, it was either a small wolf or a coyote. It seemed to love me and wouldn't leave my side and in fact, was doing a combination of "whimpering" and a high pitched, bird-like squeal to get my attention. It would wag it's tail like a puppy and present it's underbelly for scratching. It seemed to be a shapeshifter of some sort but it wasn't malevolent at all or at least, it didn't seem to be malevolent at all.

The thing is, I'm a little concerned about what this may mean because in my research trying to find out what it means to dream of a fox and a coyote/wolf, doesn't bode well for me. I am not known for being a denialist but I don't feel that either animal means ill tidings for me. If anyone knows anything about what this dream may mean, I'll be forever grateful. I've been doing a lot of prayer and burning ALOT of the incense for answers for my dilemma. Thank you in advance

[LaurenG]

1. This dream is too cool and so loaded with symbolism

Wow!

Kicking for the dream interpreters.

[NJCher]

2. ah, but what do fox, coyote and wolf mean to you?

It's not so much what the dream dictionaries say, but what you say. What is the essence of these animals to you?

I agree--very colorful dream. Would prob'ly take me all day to interpret it though!




Cher

[MorningGlow]

3. A challenge! I like it!

Sorry--MorningGlow Jr. is hooked on the kids' show "Make Way for Noddy" (which irritates me no end--the show, not the kid) and one of the characters' catchphrases is "A challenge! I like it!" Wouldn't be so bad except that they work it into most every episode whether it fits or not. Annoying!

SO on to the dream interp. You opened your message by saying things were really hectic in your life. Has the house building been causing you stress? If so, the fact that you dreamed of an ugly bedroom, a father you don't like, and a five-storey castle with no windows could reflect that.

All my life I've had dreams that take place in black marble edifices--I have come to learn that (for me, at least) that means I'm in the dreamscape or the astral plane. The fact that your black castle was floating, and perspective was foreshortened so you could see up close what's really miles away could reinforce that interpretation. (Plus the fact that you were visiting with your deceased mom.)

As for the fox/coyote and kitten, I'd investigate those animals more. They could very well be your totems. Not sure why you say they're bad for you, but if I were you I'd read up a bit more. At the very least, some traits of those animals could have good lessons for you.

Howzat? :)

[Helga Scow Stern]

4. I agree with the animals as totems...

especially in hard times, animals show up in dreams as helpers and guides. The fact that this one was shapeshifting reinforces this -- and animals as totems often come paired, and also in groups of three. For example, a young woman who had left a relationship that was falling apart had a dream that she was going into the underworld (place of change), and these three bugs were following her. A preying mantis, a beetle, and a spider. Wherever she went, there they were, like a shadow. That is like a totem or familiar, it never leaves your side when you need it.

In this young woman's dream, the beetle and preying mantis were sometimes paired, as if they were one. Sounds like your dream.

These are all sacred insects. These animals in your dream are also sacred. The fact that one is a baby, a kitten, shows perhaps that your "cat" in newly emerging, young, immature. Fox and coyote are two aspects of trickster, always a handy energy to have on your side, especially in times of difficulty. In myths of travail, animals -- often the trickster and shapeshifter animals -- show up as helpers.

The floating black castle reminds me of myths where the son of the Sun has to go and confront his scary father, usually about getting rid of a monster that is threatening the world. The pink room shows that you were not known as a daughter here, just as the image of
one, just like in the Sun myths.

One more thing that ties in, "cat" is an animal of the Sun. What is it you are doing in this black fortress? What is your mission there?

In the myths of going to the scary Sun father's house, something always has to be reclaimed, some power won.

Hope this makes some kind of sense...

[Why Syzygy]

5. I'll take on part ..

The floating of your home, the castle, in which your parent's are abiding may symbolize how, in your current efforts at building your new Earth home, are detaching from their influence. Also, given the fact that the bedroom you were shown was not to your liking, gives me the feeling that you are moving beyond the strictures they imposed on you. You have your own ideas about what suits you, and they don't always match their's.

My Totem book indicates the fox has quick-wittedness and canny wisdom. They can 'out-fox' their adversaries. They are survivors and will quicken your physical and mental responses to any problem you face and in your chosen lifepath quest.

It would be interesting to hear what you believe the dream symbols mean.

[Ecumenist]

6. I am happy to see that so many have waded in

and confirmed what I felt. I posted this after prayer last night or this morning. I only posted the first part because I was just this side of a coma from exhaustion. Here's the second part:

For some odd reason, I decided to walk down the street that leads to Interstate 5. It's about 8 miles from our home site. The name of the country road is Gyle Road, (pronounced guile, so help me God). There are culverts or ditches on each side of this road and it's lined by large properties on either side. Now, the weird thing is that evidently, there'd been a large flash flood, (not unknown in that area). There was so much water, at least 6 to 7 feet covering the interstate to the point where it had pushed tractor trailers and cars to the west of the side of the freeway. The trucks had actually rolled across the roadbed from the north bound lanes to the shoulder of the southbound lanes. I saw bodies floating face down, it was horrible.

Now as I was walking to the highway, eastbound, the animals, fox-coyote-wolf and kitten was walking with me. They ALWAYS stayed on my left side. Obviously, Gyle was also flooded but get this: the area IMMEDIATELY surrounded me wa BONE DRY!! It was as if there was some sort of force field that was keeping the water away to the point where the soil in the ditch was actually dusty and the grass was dry, brown and "crackley". There was a circle of dryness around me, bordered by 4 to 5 feet of hard flowing water, as if I was in a glass cylinder. I could see all the debris in the water. but I was dry as a bone and like my animal friends, VERY calm. The sky looked VERY angry, dark charcoal gray to nearly black to the east, toward the east/northeast, (the northern Sierra Nevada). I could see & hear the crying and chaos all around me but I was in a bubble of calm, like being in the eye of a hurricane. I worry about what this may signify because I was walking alone apart from my family. The fox/coyote/wolf was wagging it's tail every time I started getting nervous and would look up at me with the eyes of a wolf but morph back into a fox when it lowered it's head. the kitten was the closest to me and would bat at my leg as if it was a ball of yarn. They ALWAYS stayed on my left side, always.

[MorningGlow]

7. What great protection!

They have to be totem animals--are you right handed? If so, then yes, the left side is where you draw in energy. I think that's a great dream! Very reassuring.

I wouldn't worry too much about you not being with your family at that point in the dream--you and your totem animals were on YOUR journey and no one can travel that with you. That doesn't mean your family members were subject to the devastation you saw, though.

[Ecumenist]

9. Yes, MorningGlow...

I am right handed ... I sincerely hope that this is the case. I really felt protected and it was VERY weird to be able to see into the water that was flooding the area complete with the debris...yet, my path was bone dry for about a 3 to 4 foot circle around me.

[Cleita]

8. Not much to add here except my own personal experience

with home dreams. If the home I dream about is different than the one I have, even if I dream I am living there, it is actually the "home" of the people I am sharing a dream with. I have had realistic dreams of real homes and then fantasy dreams like the one you had about the black castle.

Don't worry about the fact that you have a room in that castle, the home is your parents not yours. The fact you have a room there even though you don't like it means you have a place in their hearts although you don't like the way it's decorated. None of us really like the image of ourselves that our parents hold in the hearts that you might become or how they decorate us. (My mother really wanted me to be Audrey Hepburn.)

Also, it may be a substitute set of parents you are dreaming about and you have appliqued your parents on. These substitute parents are relations or friends who have stepped into your affections in the same way your parents have your affections. I hope these answers gives you something to think about.