(Pascal - man, age 40)
"I am at my grandparent's place in the countryside. I used to spend a lot of time there when I was a kid but in a dream I am at my normal age. I am with some people standing outside of the house and we are discussing if during the advent everyone should be fasting. I agree with them despite the fact that I don't fast myself.
"Love of two is one Here but now they're gone Came the last night of sadness And it was clear she couldn't go on" - Donald Roeser
I see my grandmother on the way back to the house and I realise that I should be looking after my grandfather who is very ill. I'm going back inside and I rush to make my bedding before grandma will notice that I haven't done that either. Then me and her are going up the stairs to my grandpa's room. As we are getting closer to the room, I'm getting more anxious because I completely forgot to look after him and I have a bad feeling that he may even be dead. When we enter the room I'm relieved as he looks alright. He is in bed. He says that he was sleeping for a very long time and grandma replies that he is ill and he must sleep more to rest. When she talks, the tone of her voice is warm and I can tell that she truly cares about him. He is disappointed, he has hoped to spend time with her but says “yes dear” and goes back to sleep. She walks out and plays guitar and sings a song for him."
Dream interpretation:
Fasting from a purely physiological context is a practice to cleanse the body, but when seen in a dream, fasting can hint on the cleansing of the body or the mind in reality. Dreamer admits to the group that fasting is the right thing to do. At the same time he doesn't fast himself and this may point to some compulsiveness he possibly experiences in reality. The idea of his grandmother finding out that he hasn't done the bedding seems like too much of a concern for a man of his age. It's very likely that he may as well feel overwhelmed by the constant need to behave appropriately all the time because of strong controlling mechanisms of his ego. He also realises that he is supposed to be taking care of his ill grandfather. This triggers a load of guilt which accelerates with every step he takes while he goes along with his grandmother to the room to find out that actually nothing bad has happened. Grandfather symbolises an old part of the dreamer's psyche which is no more useful to him. It’s the time to let go of something in other words to change. But his ego is strongly attached to old matters. Thought of this could lead back to the first part of the dream and point to the situation when the dreamer denies himself to agree with a group of people because he may struggle with some compulsion or complex in his real life. But it may as well refer to something completely different. Surely the thought of letting go triggers feelings of guilt. Grandma is a projection of the dreamer's shadow; in a sense of his inner wisdom. Her presence triggers the need of vigilance in the dreamer but at the same time she frees him from guilt. The song at the end is the dreamer's inner parable of liberty.
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