(Nimue)
For years I've had recurring nightmares about the sea. They've featured flooding, tsunamis, and suddenly rising water that traps me or threatens me. The obvious interpretation would be fear around climate crisis. I had another one recently where I was walking a costal path and the sea came in - further and faster than it should have done, washing over my path. A dear friend appeared in the dream and while I was trying to get away from the water, my friend kept telling me that I needed to just brave the shallow floods and go back because I was getting lost.
Not all dreams seem significant to me, but this one certainly did, so I sat with it for a while. I don't think universal dream symbolism is a thing so I didn't look it up. I thought about what tise friend means to me and what my unconscious might use them to embody. What was I trying to say to myself?
This friend is an intensely emotional person who in the past signposted the way to me rethinking a lot about how I feel and deal with my feelings. So I considered what it would mean if the person in my dream was there to point to my emotional life. I have been afraid of my feelings for much of my life - afraid of my own intensity and how keenly I feel things. This hasn't always played out well with other people.
As an aside something I've encountered repeatedly is people who want to make use of what my passion, devotion and care will get done while not liking at all the there is passion, devotion and care involved. I've seldom been comfortable with my own emotions, nor with what they've left me open to.
I do not have to be afraid of my dream sea. I am not going to drown myself in my own emotions. One of the things I've learned this year is to see my own feelings as valid and reasonable. If I get a little out of my depth sometimes there are people around me who will guide me back, just as I would guide them back if needed. Feeling welcome and wanted as the person I am has made a lot of odds to me. I'm increasingly sure of who my people are and where I genuinely fit.
Having sat with the dream for a while, I decided that I don't need to have any more of these nightmares. I think that very likely means that they won't come up in the same way and that my brain will move on to something else.
If you are the sort of person who is fascinated by dreams doesn't get on with dream dictionaries, I have a book about dreaming that may be relevant. During January 2024, it's on sale as an ebook with the code JANSALE24 https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/pagan-dreaming
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