Cant get this strange dream out of nowhere .......

Hi - My name is XXXXX XXXXX I'm one of the Dream Interpretation Experts here at Just Answer. I'm sorry you had to wait for some help with your dream.

I always like to start with the idea that the best interpretation of the dream is the one that makes sense to you. There are many ways to consider dreams, as I'm sure you know, and I hope that what I offer will assist you in finding out the meaning of this very intense dream.

Let's look at the dream elements:

One is that it's mainly you and your four-year-old son in the action of the dream - well, except for the deceased townswoman. I'm not sure what your relationship is with your son (I'm sure it's very close of course) or whether it's closer than with any of your other children or other family members, but it seems he's as much a companion as anything.

Another aspect of having your son with you - he's quite young. "Young boy" energy as energy that is irrepressible, open and free. Little boys have LOTS of energy usually - they wear us out and keep on going. Of course, until they just plop down and fall asleep. Usually when there is a male in a dream, we consider it an "animus" figure - a fancy way of saying "the masculine aspect of a woman" - and in this case, it is a young boy, not a full grown man. And a boy full of energy, normally joyous and free. Masculine aspects of women frequently refer to your work or creativity - not your feeling state. Certainly having a young boy around could mean a new venture needing lots of energy - energy to burn.

Another element is the setting of the dream - a "strange, unknown town". Towns often symbolize social aspects of ourselves (our family, friends, "tribe"), just as a house often symbolizes our personality or body. So if you're in a town you don't recognize it could possibly mean that there are parts of yourself relating to other people that feel or seem odd or strange to you - for example, if you were at home with your child and then got a job or started a business and were dealing with new people, that could be a "new town" in your world. Everybody you would come in contact with would be new to you for awhile until you got to know them.

Another big element of this dream is water. Water often symbolizes the unconscious aspect of ourselves. For example, our dreams, fantasies, innermost desires - we use the term unconscious to refer to all the parts of ourselves that aren't necessarily as present to ourselves as other aspects. And that makes sense - because if we knew what they were - they wouldn't be "un" conscious - they'd be conscious. The unconscious isn't always a big scary place, but it is unknown to your waking self.

In this case a lot of the water is frozen which means that it's hard for you to accept some of your "hidden" dreams or fantasies or desires. What's interesting is that you "break through" the ice in certain parts of the dream which would indicate that these parts are trying to "break through" to your waking consciousness. I would suspect that you are semi-aware of these aspects, but they may feel like things you either can't have for yourself or that they are too threatening to the familiar town of your social structure. Which would then make sense that you have to go to a "strange" town to break through to the hidden parts of yourself.

You also say at least twice - "I don't know how to swim" and yet you are able to swim in your dream. Of course in dreams we have all sorts of unknown-to-us abilities that are now coming to light. In this case, swimming. The idea of swimming in this water, which is murky and deep, suggests that you are able to handle the content of your unconscious. It would be helpful, therefore, to consider spending some time with a journal or even recording device just writing or talking about all the things that come to you as parts of you (whether you have any experience with them or not) - like, "I'm a writer, explorer, mother, wife, interested in learning to skydive, love the color teal" - even if the words or phrases don't seem to connect, there will be a meaningful connection to you and what you've wanted for yourself or your family even.

The ability to swim even in the deep and murky water does seem to suggest not only an ability to handle whatever is in your unconsciousness, but also emotional serenity in the midst of chaos. If this fits, you should be aware that this is a skill that others greatly prize because it means you are often the cool head in the group.

Now onto the townswoman. First - she's a woman, not a man. Usually in dreams when there's a figure who is our same gender, we can see them as "shadow" figures which is a fancy way of again, saying, a part of us that is either unlived or rejected. I think that her being murdered by having her throat slit is important. Our throats are where our voiceboxes are - and to slit someone's throat is to silence them (not just to kill them - you could do that hundreds of different ways). In what ways are you either silenced in your life or do you, yourself, "silence" parts of yourself? Is there something about yourself that is unacceptable? Either to you - or to somebody else?

I remember years ago going to an English style pub, "The Silent Woman" and the symbol was a wooden figure of a woman without a head. Yeah, that's a silent woman, all right. Off with her head! Historically, we women have been told to sit down, be pretty, and shut up. And here you have a woman with her throat slit - so I'd invite you to consider some of my questions when considering her.

There's also a struggle with this woman at several points of the dream, and she chases you. Chase dreams are common for all of us, but especially common with younger folks who are starting out in new jobs, or with new roles. Since we're constantly growing throughout our lives, we are also entering new roles and identities, and being "chased" by our pasts, whether it's a past experience, or past rules or anything that doesn't work anymore - we may find it comes down to a conflict between the past and going forward into our futures - even if we have no idea what to do.

You make a big effort to escape this woman - and you get her blood all over you and your son. First, blood usually just means "life force" and also refers to your feelings. So blood is important for us to live and to feel. The fact that it's on you from this strange, unknown "silented" woman could just mean that there are parts of you that you are purposely repressing - in this case, feelings you don't want to feel. But you can't help getting some on you - just as you probably can't help but feel what you need to. The life force that has left this woman gets on you whether you like it or not.

Lastly, let's look at how air is in your dream - we need to breathe to live, that's obvious. And there's nothing worse than to feel like we're struggling to breathe. In your dream, you struggle to breathe when you've been chased and in another point, the townswoman takes your son out of the water to help him get some air - to breathe - to live.

I think it most probably means that you can "catch your breath" and it's safe to acknowledge the repressed parts of yourself - that the bloodied woman will not harm you and in fact, she wants to be accepted by you - she wants your young energetic "boy" to live.

This is an intense dream, as you said, and it's one that has meaning - it's trying to tell you something - something you either don't know about yourself or your life, or something you DO know but don't want to accept. Only you know what that might possibly be - and it makes sense to work with this dream to determine exactly what the "silent" woman is trying to tell you with her chasing you down, getting her blood (her life force and feelings) on you, but ultimately helping your boy to live by bringing him up for air. I don't think she is as "evil" a figure as she might seem at first, but actually a figure who wants you to accept her. Remember, this is all metaphor, so you're not accepting murder, you're accepting a "silenced" aspect - whether it's unlived or rejected by part of you. Often "shadow" elements are thought of as negative, but they really can be amazingly creative and wonderful, too. They may not be aspects that "fit" into your current life, though.

I wish you the best with this dream! The best advice I can give you is the following - work with the dream elements, let them sink into your consciousness and be open to the messages this silent woman has for you. If you do not, you may find yourself having a version of this dream now and again until you take the time and work with it. That's the beauty of dreams - they are always going to "pester" us until we pay proper amounts of attention to them.

Good luck - and if I can help you with anything again, just ask for me directly at "Heart and Mind Dreams".