I'm not feeling well (in life I'm pretty depressed and sick right now) and my mom, sister, and brother are over, but don't realize I'm not well, even though I've told them. I keep asking them to run errands for me, just so they'll leave me alone and I can sleep. Well, they decide to go to a movie, and as their leaving, someone knocks on the door.
It's my ex-boyfriend from graduate school, which is a surprise yet somehow not really. He asks if his package was accidentally sent to me. I look in the mailbox, and discover it. Since he's there, and I know he can help, I ask him if he can get me some pot. It's the only thing I can think of to help me feel better. Even though I know it will only mask the illness, I still want some. He agrees to help, but has to make a phone call first.
I say, "Okay, that's great." And he leaves to get me drugs, but forgets his package, which doesn't matter since he's coming back. My family leaves to see the movie, planning to go home afterward. Finally alone, I take a nap.
I awaken to this horrible screaming sound and open the front door and see these Ravens tearing apart this other bird. Then this big brown bear comes over and eats the bird the Ravens tore to pieces.
Needless to say, this freaked me out.
Right then, my ex comes back, and sees my reaction to the bird being torn to pieces, and says, "Although it looks like a torturous death, in reality, it's all a part of nature. The bird torn to shreds, could've been torn to shreds anywhere. The only reason it's by your front door is because the delivery man left the package at the wrong address. The contents of the package attracted the first bird, who was being stalked by the Ravens, who was being followed by the bear."
So, I ask what's in the package, and my ex opens it. Inside is a plastic fish and a pair of goggles.
Then my ex says, "I spoke to my friend, and if you still want the pot, I can get it to you in about 3 hours." I agree and thank him for the help, and as I head toward the shower, he starts telling me about the other girls he dated and how they could all play the piano and sing.
I say, "That's nice." Then walk into the bathroom, close the door, and take a nice warm steamy shower.
Analysis . . .
Literal translation of dream:
Shadow aspects of yourself are tearing your spirit apart.
Birds are messengers of the spirit. Ravens are bad omens or messengers of bad import, and symbolize watchfulness for and recognition of spiritual falsehoods. Bears represent stress and fear of the unconscious and the shadow aspects of the self.
Note: Symbols of your shadow aspect continuously appear throughout your dream.
What's most interesting in your dream is the fact that a bird follows your package. A package represents material goods or a message you perceive as being important to your life. Birds are messengers of the spirit. And ex-boyfriends represent pieces of yourself that you have purposely crossed out or neglected. Once again the shadow aspect appears.
Your ex-boyfriend's package is mistakenly sent to your address, because he is you! The Bird (a messenger from your higher-self) outsmarted the bear and raven that were vigorously pursuing it in hopes of preventing it from relaying its truthful message. Ultimately, the bird used itself as bait to distract the ego from destroying the real message that was hidden inside the package from aspects of yourself that crave to stay in the dark.
And what is in this mysterious package?
Now this is where it gets really interesting. Inside the package is a pair of goggles and a plastic fish. Goggles are a tool to help you see clearer underwater. Water represents spirituality. And what have you sent yourself??? A plastic fish. Fish are another symbol of spirituality, the light inside us, Christ. Ironically, they swim in water. However, a plastic fish represents superficial / fake / false spirituality.
The package is a warning to steer clear of false spirituality masquerading itself as truth. The goggles are there to help you distinguish true spirituality from the superficial. And wouldn’t your ex (shadow self) really like you to think the bloody bird on your doorstep is just an act of nature? Not! It’s a message.
The ultimate issue this dream centers around is your request for drugs. Drugs are a plastic fish. They mask illness (like you said) instead of finding the underlying cause and rooting it out. Drugs numb the mind in a cage and block out the true voice of your soul, causing more dis-ease in the body. Your higher self is steering you away from medication. This is why the ex-boyfriend (your shadow aspect) is willing to supply you with pot. Medicating yourself avoids dealing with the problems created by your shadow-self that you ultimately fear and therefore repress. Everything you need is within you. False idols are simply that--false. There is no magic answer, no magic pill. Life change takes hard work and resolve. Most importantly, it requires taking responsibility for your problems and life choices.
Notice the reoccurring number in your dream -- 3. There are three steps leading down to your basement apartment (subconscious). There are three family members there to help drag you out of your depression: mother, brother, sister -- a triad. Your ex (shadow self) can get pot in three hours. The apartment is on 3rd S and 9th E in SLC. The acronym SLC is comprised of three letters. Add up the numbers in the address of your apartment and you get 12. 1+2 = 3. Once again you are back to three.
The most important message of this dream IS THE NUMBER 3.
Three is a sacred number in geometry. The triangle has three points. Three represents balance. Balancing is the answer to your problems. You are emotionally unbalanced. By refusing to acknowledge your darker aspects, you dim the light within.
You must face your darker aspects to achieve BALANCE. Your shadow-self can no longer remain neatly hidden because ignoring destructive tendencies is dangerous. Jung says three signifies something that’s not quite complete and what is lacking within you can be supplied only by some part of your unconscious self that you find too frightening to acknowledge and use. Even God says he is not complete without the Devil. Yin and yang, balancing light and dark, the number three symbolizes completeness, fulfillment, or anything that may contribute to your personal fulfillment.
For example, resolving conflict between two opposing forces.
You send your family on errands in your dream, because you want to sleep your problems away – a deceptive guise of depression. But your family is your triad, a balancing force sent to guide and protect you. They are aspects of you. Mothers offer shelter, comfort, life, guidance and protection. Your mother represents the nurturing aspect of your own character. Brothers and sisters have religious implication and thus represent spiritual issues. Your brother is the male (yang) balancing force, your sister the female (yin). That’s why the triad eventually go to the movies. In dreams, errands remind us of the importance of attending responsibilities, however small. Where as a movie theatre suggests the dreamer is seeking an unrealistic outlook on life, an escape.
In the end, trading your responsibilities for pot is not the answer. You realize the answer lies within the cleansing of your soul, representative of the hot, steamy shower. Your ex-boyfriend (shadow self) leaves you with one parting hint on how to heal when he tells you about the other girls he dated (note the past tense). He says . . .
“They could all play the piano and sing.” – representative of harmony.
Your shadow self lacks harmony with your lighter side and harmony is achieved only through balance.
Dream 1640325 
Submitted: February 10, 2008
Dear Gateway Dream Analysis Team,
First, I have to thank you for your last interpretation, it really opened my eyes to some serious problems I've been having in my life, and I have taken some great steps toward correcting them....all thanks to you!!
So, I had this really bizarre dream last night, never remember having anything quite like it. I don't remember how I got into this apartment, but somehow, I got into this apartment / condo that had at least 2 stories to it, it seemed like the style of home one sees in Brooklyn, or in London. Very long and narrow, but multi-leveled. You walk in through the front door, and there is a small living room, and then right behind it the kitchen, then a couple steps down to a larger living area, and then out through a sliding glass door to a patio. In the kitchen, (on the side, behind the counter and cupboards), there is a set of stairs going up. I don't know what's up there, in my dream I never see it.
Okay, so I'm in this apartment, and it belongs to an Asian lady, (not exactly sure which country she's from, but for some reason I think China) and her baby girl. Again, I have no idea how I got there, or what I'm doing there, but I think I'm supposed to be babysitting her daughter, and the lady's about to leave. All of a sudden an old friend I've had for years (and stopped speaking to about 9 months ago) comes into the apartment. We had some light talk about, I don't know - the weather or something, and I start to apologize for how I handled the situation with her, and I understand that she will never forgive me, but that I hope she knows I needed to do it for my own sanity...and she starts to get really mad. Then she puts on her "nice" face, and asks me how my job is, and if I reached the goal I'd been working so hard for (note- in my life I recently was given a huge bonus at work, which I have been slaving for for a year, and I got a pretty good raise...so it's the first time in a very long time where I am doing pretty good financially) and for some reason, even though in my dream I knew in my heart that I shouldn't tell her, in my head I thought it would be a good idea, and I told her that I had just gotten a $xx,xxx.00 dollar bonus at work.
Well, that pretty much sent her over the edge, and although I told her after the huge amount of taxes taken out and paying off my debt I'd it was less than 20K that I'd actually have left, she still went ballistic, and grabbed a blade (like a box cutter, only longer) and started swinging it at me, trying to kill me.
The next few steps, I have no idea what happened, but somehow, the Chinese lady was downstairs, we were all in the kitchen area, and I had gotten the blade away from my friend with no injury to me...and they were both trying to attack me. The Chinese lady had her baby in her arms. I warned them both that I would use the blade if they got too close, and I started swinging it, very close to myself so that they'd really have to get close to me to get cut. I had the blade held so the handle was in my right hand, and the non-cutting side was pressed along my right arm (kinda movie style - like Kill Bill), and was holding my arm as close to my own body as possible.
The Chinese lady took a step too close, and I backed up as far as I could and told her she needed to get away or I'd hurt her, and I didn't want to, but I would (I really didn't want to, she was holding the baby!!), but she charged at me, and I was terrified, so I did cut her....it was a cut on her arm, the non baby arm, because she came at me at a kind of an angle to protect the baby, so it would've been her left arm. There was a 3-4 inch slash on her upper arm. And she stopped attacking me. Then my friend really went crazy, screaming about having to bar-tend, and how she needed money, and what a horrible person I was, and just all these things...I don't remember them word for word, or I'd write them down, but it was just a lot of stuff, none of it was connected, all about how crappy her life was, and how mean and selfish I am, and her dad not being a good person, and then she just ran at me as hard as she good, and I screamed at her to stop, but she didn't, so I swung the blade as fast as I could, back and forth, and I got 1 cut on her arm, and then about 7-8 really bad cuts on her right leg. There were 2 cuts that looked like they had the potential to kill her, the rest were bad, but a layer of stitches would save them...but the 2 were really bad. She stopped, and looked at them, and looked at me and said something about how she couldn't afford to have them fixed unless she sued someone (note - her dad is a lawyer).
I told her that I would help her, I didn't want her to die afterall, but I didn't want to die either. She said that she had insurance, and I could call and see where the best place to take her would be...so I took her insurance card, and there were 2 clinics listed...one looked excellent, they had a great reputation, and I called and they said they'd get her in right away, and they'd have the emergency doctor, and a plastic surgeon there so it would be like nothing ever happened. I told them we were on our way, but my friend said "NO!! I want to go to the holistic clinic." So I called the other clinic, which was a combination of a spa and wellness center, and they said that they took walk ins...so my friend started walking to that clinic, and I followed her. Oh!! Before we left I asked the Chinese lady if she wanted to go with us, but she had already sewn up her own injury, and put a paste on it that had made it heal already with almost no scar.
So, my friend walks the few blocks to the holistic healing clinic, blood dripping down her leg the whole time, she kept a hand on the 2 major cuts so that nothing would fall out or off of her body. We get to the center, and they have us sit in the waiting area, there were lots of plants, and it was very open and inviting, Things like running water / fountains in the corners, and a coffee / tea stand in the middle, a little bookstore on one side, candles, hard wood...it was beautiful, very spa like.
They finally come out with a kit, and, while i"m looking around at everything else, they sew up her legs. My friend puts on a pair of white pants, which immediately start showing lines of blood leaking through them, and says, "well, now I have to go to work", and she heads out the door. From the time it takes her to walk from the lobby where she got stitched up, to the door, her white pants were completely red with her blood, except a small pocket size on the front rig ht of the pants. She looked at me and said something like I haven't heard the last, or I'd be hearing from her again...I don't remember exactly.
She left, and I looked around and I was now the only person in the place...but it wasn't scary, or threatening, it was just the way it was. and that's my dream.
Analysis . . . 
Once again we are dealing with a shadow aspect.
However, this dream had resolution at the end, whereas the other dream did not. So congratulations!!!!! This dream is a step forward for you.
First off, let's start with the most important symbol in your dream . . . the shadow aspect.
The Asian woman is your shadow aspect -- she is you. She is a foreigner; indicative of aspects of yourself, which are unfamiliar or strange to you. You may be neglecting or ignoring some important feelings. This indicates a message from your unconscious that you do not yet understand. She represents your voluntary choice to dramatically change your path and set of opportunities. This is backed up with the symbol of her baby, which you are supposed to baby-sit.
Principally the dream baby, suggests a new phase of life / birth of an idea and represents your own feelings and urges at that level of development when the change was made. The baby is the birth of a new idea. The dream now continues to show you what the new idea/phase centers around . . . your friend. A while back you made the decision to cut your friend out of your life completely. This decision was tantamount in your ability to move forward with your life and live healthily. However, you began to box in this idea with unacknowledged guilt feelings and other suppressed emotions.
Think on that for a bit while I move on to another important element in your dream . . . the location!
An apartment is a prime location for this subject matter, because apartments represent layers of the unconscious that center on ego life, or aspects of the ego self. An apartment is just one part of the whole self (i.e. building). Apartments are frequently used in dreams involving a financial or situational state. Also, apartments indicate a personal need to be around others, but only others who are good for you!!! Apartments illustrates self-confidence and independence through the support of others.
As we continue, you will see that the apartment represents key issues that you are dealing with in your life at present (i.e. lack of friends, work bonus, the ego feelings -- guilt, the need to apologize etc)
NOW . . .
Why are you going to the foreigner's house to baby-sit? Because to dream that you are babysitting, suggests that you need to care for the child within yourself, the Id, the ego. It also means taking a closer look at your original intentions when you first set out on your path of healing. Obviously, if you are consumed with thoughts of people you supposedly put in your past -- you are not healing. You are what we call dwelling . . . in the past. Which means subconsciously you are harboring and suppressing guilt emotions about your actions and choices. Possibly (though you may think you have) you have not completely forgiven these people. We call this GUNK. You're harboring LOTS of GUNK.
So essentially . . . this is a purge dream. You are purging, my dear. What we often cannot purge in real life, we must purge in our dreams. That is why there is so much blood. I'm sure you have heard of the term . . . blood letting? It was falsely used in the past to relieve bad humors from a person's body.
Now, onto the LITERAL MEANINGS in your dream, as it had many . . .
Every interaction with your friend in this dream is meant LITERALLY, except one -- the apology. This dream was a refresher course, if you will, into your friend's warped psyche. It also dealt with a lot of your misplaced guilt feelings and was used to show you why they are misplaced.
First . . .
You are allowed to finally apologize for what you had to do. This was needed on many levels. The apology in this dream is as much for your friend as it is you. It allows you to move on and truly forgive.
Second . . .
The apology is not meant to be acted upon literally, which is why the dream goes on showing you what your friend's obvious reaction will be to such a face-to-face encounter.
Now onto the key symbols used during the fight sequence of this dream.
THE BOX CUTTER.
This is a fabulous symbol, because it sums up where you are in your life right now to a tee. Box cutters symbolize a dislike for being boxed in and points to an individual with a tendency to think outside the box, which is why you chose this tool. Your friend boxes you in all the time. She makes fun of your supposedly new-age life philosophies (outside-the-box ideals), can never see your point of view (why you have hurt feelings), nor acknowledge any wrong doing on her part. This is why later in the dream she uses your work bonus as an excuse to blame you for all of her life problems. She is literally mentally unbalanced (later evidenced by the numerous cuts you make to her legs, which symbolize her foundation.
When the Asian Woman attacks you, it is easy to see why. She is a part of you and you are warring with yourself. Her anger towards you indicates your own inner turmoil. A foreign aspect of you is in conflict with other aspects of yourself. It is a part of you that you don’t acknowledge and it's fighting to be heard. This dream is also common when we feel like we’ve done something wrong, and feel guilty about it. That Asian woman wants you to quit backing away from your friend and cut back. She wants you to return to her, recognize and protect your original ideal (the baby). She feels boxed in as well by all your guilt and wants to be set free and healed. She does not like being a fragmented part of you. In your dream, there is this theme of neglectful care of a baby (i.e. your shadow self not caring that she's fighting with a baby. Why should she really, when you've neglected it?). This usually comes as a sign that we need to take care of, and/or be more aware of this baby and it what it represents. So this is a double symbol in one.
Let's get into further depth with more symbols . . .
Holistic:
Relates to health aspects, but usually refers to an advisement to stop fragmenting your thoughts, a need to think in terms of whole concepts or ideas.
Blood, bleeding:
Blood is a symbol of vitality. Seeing a blood in your dream comes as a warning to be careful of other people in different situations (i.e. your friend). If you see someone else bleeding, you are concerned about your friend. Dreaming about bleeding always points to the emotional wounds that you don't acknowledge.
Blood is the life-giving, vital part of our physiology and it may symbolize our strengths and weaknesses and our physical and mental health. If you are currently experiencing a very difficult time in your life, you may have dreams with bloody and frightening images. Don't worry; you may be venting your fears and repressed emotions!
Some believe that when you see blood in your dream, the distressing situation in your life, which is at the root of the dream, has come to an end, and the worst is over.
Shedding blood may also represent guilt. Bloodstained garments, indicate enemies who seek to tear down a successful career that is opening up before you.
CUT, CUTTING, KNIFE . . .
All of these symbols go hand in hand. In your dream, your friend wields a knife, signifying her anger, jealousy, aggression, and divisiveness towards you. But you brandish your box cutter for a different reason. The self-defense cuts you give your friend are symbolic of your attempts to cut her out of your life and sever this relationship. In particular, most of the cuts are on your friend's leg - symbolizing her imbalance, and lack of foundation. I believe it also refers to your unwitting guilt that maybe you never offered your friend an opportunity to stand up for herself.
However as the dream later shows, this guilt is misplaced. Your friend's excessive demands for you to take her to a Holistic clinic -- representative of becoming whole again -- are nothing more than a show as in the end your friend's white pants (truce flag, fresh outlook, purity, perfection, peace, innocence, dignity, cleanliness, awareness, and new beginning) are once again stained with blood.
Your dream proves your friend's real intent, by giving you a juvenile parting shot:
"She looked at me and said something like I haven't heard the last, or I'd be hearing from her again..."
Lucky for you, your dream says otherwise, negating your friend's nasty threat as you are able to stay behind in the Holistic clinic with complete peace, indicative of the fact that you are no longer fragmented in your thoughts; and have come full circle to your original idea and made peace with it.
You have in essence healed your fragmented shadow aspect. This is why the Asian woman does not require the services of the Holistic Clinic. Walla . . . she has stitched herself back together, healed right before your eyes. Stitches are a great symbol.
The Asian woman is no longer a foreign shadow aspect of you . . . for now.
You purged tons and tons and tons and tons of gunk with this dream.
Good for you!
Dream 41443
Submitted: February 28, 2008
My mother passed away on Jan 4 - this dream happened late in the week of Jan 14.
In real life, my brothers and I had started working on Estate stuff and one of my brothers wanted to handle our parent's personal possessions differently than the rest of us - he wanted to sell everything in the house and the rest of us wanted to divide it up to keep things in the family.
In my dream I was at the house where I grew up and where my mother lived for 43 years - she passed away in the house on Jan 4.
The house has 2 stories there are 3 bedrooms upstairs and 1 downstairs. When my brothers and I were growing up, our parents bedroom was downstairs and ours were upstairs. After we had all left home our folks moved upstairs into the room which had been mine.
In my dream I was at the end of the upstairs hall trying to get into my mother's bedroom but either the doorknob didn't work or there wasn't a door knob. I moved down the hall to the 2 bedrooms which had been my brothers' rooms, but there were no doors to these rooms.
In the dream I was not upset, just bewildered. I went downstairs and my mother was standing at the foot of the stairs. She had on a mint green nightgown and robe (she never wore geeen in real life - my dad didn't like it!). She had her hair up in pin curls and appeared to be 45-50 years old (she was 83 when she passed away). I told her I couldn't get into the bedrooms upstairs and she told me "those rooms are no one's responsibility now".
I woke up at that point and felt relieved.
Analysis . . .
This dream definitely feels like a contact dream to me. The background information you offered seems to confirm this. The dream is quite literal whereas most dreams tend to be more metaphorical. However there are metaphorical components mixed in. Your mother was literally telling you that her death was in no way the passing on of a torch. With her death, ended her responsibilities and there is no need for you to pick up her torch. This dream was meant to be a relief, to lessen your burdens so to speak, to remind you to concentrate on living in the moment and not in the past.
Hallways and doors seem to represent new/old phases in life. To dream about grabbing a doorknob to open a door, means you are feeling confident enough for whatever is next in your life, or it could mean that you're searching for information, answers, or greater understanding. Dreaming that the doorknob is missing or broken means you're feeling trapped, at a dead end, or unempowered in your life somehow. Obviously, to see your childhood home in your dream, signifies security, basic needs, and values. It also reflects aspects of yourself that were prominent or developed during the time that you lived in that home. You may have been experiencing some feelings or unfinished emotions during the time you had this dream, which were triggered by your waking situation (i.e., your mother's passing).
The hallway in your dream was most important to me as hallways symbolize the beginning of a new life path and a journey into the unknown, self exploration. This is confirmed by your mother's choice of apparel -- a nightgown and robe, indicative of night, which always represents your subconscious, because your subconscious comes out to play at night while your conscious mind and ego are at rest.
Side note: I find it interesting that your mother chooses to wear green in the afterlife after so many years of avoiding it in real life. I wonder what she was trying to tell you with this bold statement? In dreams, green often signifies a positive change, good health, growth, healing, hope, vigor, vitality, peace, and serenity. Green is also symbolic of one's strife to gain recognition and independence (interesting choice as your father did not like this color on her in real life). Green is affiliated with the heart chakra, Anahata, and is related to love, equilibrium, and well-being.
Thoughts are represented by hair in dreams. This is why many religions cover their hair -- to keep their thoughts sacred and viewable only to the eyes of God. So the symbolism behind your mother's hair being in pin curls is very important and is a vital clue as to what she is specifically seeking to address in your dream. To see curls in dreams, suggests circular reasoning, thinking. You may have been going over the same problem/situation again and again at that time without any conclusion and this is what your mother wanted to help you with. She didn't want you wasting your energy on trying to preserve the past, but to move into the future without strife.
