Wow, Liese, what an awesome dream! It has such an optimistic and hopeful feel to it (at least to me reading about it it does, but what really matters is of course how the mood of the dream "felt" to you).

Don't shamrocks represent good luck? I could see that tying in with an elixir of youth theme as hope for the future. Maybe your 13 yo fits in with that as well. Kids that age kind of seem like a random assortment of possibilities, beginning to coalesce but it's still hard to say what they'll turn into.

Those are my best guesses off the top of my head at any rate. Will be interested to see what others come up with; I may post a dream of my own later.

Shamrocks?? Interesting sort of symbol to dream! Sounds like a bizarre sort of dream Liese, with probably really obvious meanings that will be obvious only to you. I love the idea that you found the fountain of youth!

So ok with dream interpretation, only you can know what meaning shamrocks have for you and what they are doing in this dream. Can you do a free association exercise and just list off the top of your head any and every thing that comes to you when you think of shamrocks, particularly relating them to things that have been going on in your life over the last few days (I find dreams nearly always pick up on things in the previous day or two, stuff I've not even been consciously aware of seeing or thinking or feeling, even when they also relate to stuff from the past). For instance, did you see or hear anything irish in the last few days, or see or hear of anything that reminded you of four leaf clovers, or luck...

The most important thing though is the feeling tone of the dream. How did you FEEL in the dream, about finding the elixir, about the shamrocks appearing on your skin, about not being able to get rid of them… however you felt in the dream is the key to what it means. Can you remember your feelings in it? And can you then match the feelings in the dream with how you’ve felt during the previous day or two? Dreams often tell us pictorially how we’re feeling about things in our waking lives that we don’t always pick up on or notice at the time, but which can be really interesting and enlightening.

Enough from Dr Dream here, let’s see what you think about what it means now

LL

p.s. wrote this before I read Held’s reply, she makes some interesting points. Shamrocks and luck for instance, and the role of your daughter in the dream...

((Liese))

Firstly, I have to say I am no expert on dream interpretation. The fact that you recall that shamrock leaves were important in the dream is interesting. I know that shamrock has a strong Irish connotation and I might be WAY off beam here; but I was just wondering if you had any irish ancestry in your family at all and if anything recently has given you cause to think about that.

As the others have said; it's how you felt in the dream that matters most and from what you've written it sounded quite peaceful and hopeful; so whatever the reason for dream I hope it means that you are making peace with whatever it was. I guess you could be right about the fountain of youth and your birthday being connected in some way though.

AV.

Ahhh my fav subject.. dreams...
well cant say for sure what the link may be between the shamrock and the fountain off youth but it may perhaps be linked to the idea off discovering the lost city off Atlantis which if folklore serves me correct is where the fountain is supposed to be.
Their is also some talk about the lost city supposebly been near the celtic belt of the coast of Europe [ireland]... hence maybe the shamrock... well maybe I am just dreaming myself...

Nigel-- that is the most epic dream interpretation yet! I love it.

Hi Liese,

what an interesting dream. Do you discuss dreams with your T? My T is psychoanalytical and dreams are always a hot topic. According to the psychoanalytical model, free association is the key to uncovering meaning in a dream... so the question is, what do shamrocks mean to *you*? What "springs" to mind immediately when you think of shamrocks? I'd be curious to know that... You'd start there and see where that leads.

Hope you're well,
effed

Oh I just noticed... Lamplighter already said it much better

Take care...

Effed!! I don't think we ever 'met' properly but I have to say I'm pleased to see you poking your head above the parapet (lol even if it is the fact that you mention my name that draws me back to Liese's thread to post, normally I wouldn't dream of hijacking like this .) I liked reading your posts, sad that you dropped off the radar.

I hope you're doing ok, maybe you'll stick around a while longer?

(((EFFED))))

I missed your post until LL brought it to my attention. Thank you for your help with my dream. I love this:

quote:

What "springs"

Do you remember the commercial for Irish spring soap? I am of Irish descent but can't imagine it was on my mind lately or that I'm having issues with it although I just thought of a possibility. My T is half IRish and half Turkish. He looks Irish but a bit darker, darker skin, brown eyes. I think he identifies with the Turkish half as opposed to the Irish half.

I've often thought he wouldn't be interested in me if we'd met outside the therapy room for a number of reasons but one that I've thought of is because I'm Irish and he's probably looking for a darker woman, more meditteranean.

And, since my youth is fading fast and I'm probably toying with the notion of, if I ever started to date again, would I be attractive to anyone? And so, finding the fountain of youth seemed to resolve the one problem but there is no way to get rid of my Irishness - hence the Shamrocks appearing everywhere.

That seems like as good an explanation as any. It makes more sense now, which is a relief because I hate when things appear in dreams that don't make sense. I wonder if your mind knows where it's going in a dream? Like, my brain knows I'm struggling with my aging skin and my fair skin. Lots of people around are are Italian and have gorgeous skin. So, somehow my brain worked both sets of problems into my dream. It never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks effed. You helped me solve the mystery.

Good to see you around.

I had a dream about my therapist last night. I just woke up and it's fresh on my mind so I thought I would type it up here now while it still seems real.

I was at the library, about to check out a big stack of books. I approached the counter and there was the librarian-- T! She smiled affectionately when she saw me, and as I drew nearer told me sympathetically that she had some unfortunate news to tell, sadly. I had accrued a rather large library fine, a hundred dollars, in fact.

I was shocked. I knew some time had passed since my last visit, but I didn't think it was a hundred dollars worth. I told her this, in some distress. I was embarrassed and told her I couldn't imagine how it had happened. She tried to be reassuring about it. She told me that it wasn't that so much time had passed, really, but that I had a lot of books out, and at a dime a book a day, that could add up quickly.

I briefly tried to mentally calculate this to see just how long it had been or how many books I must have had out, but it wasn't working so I gave up and turned my mind to another problem. My mom and brother were with me and I wanted to pay off the fine before they caught up and found out about it.

I told librarian T that I thought I had enough money with me to cover the fine, and I pulled out my wallet and began counting tens and twenties. To make it easier, I started laying them out on the counter, and when I ran out of these (I still had bills of smaller denominations in my wallet) I noticed that inside my purse I had all these dried seed pods collected from my backyard. I was relieved and thought it would be so much easier to count those and figure out how much money I still needed, rather than to keep counting bills. I am not sure why I thought this, but I started laying out seed pods of various shapes and sizes on the counter along with the tens and twenties, grouping them according to type. When I ran out of pods I glanced at the money again and realized the bills had changed denominations and become all crumpled while I was laying out the seed pods. I had no idea how much money was on the counter anymore. I started counting again and by this time my mother had arrived and started talking to me. At the sound of her voice everything changed denomination again, and moreover I lost the ability to count altogether. My mind just completely froze over. I looked at T apologetically and told her, "I'm afraid I need help counting these," and shoved the whole pile of crumbled bills and seed pods in her direction. She just smiled and began rapidly flipping through and counting them. Expertly, methodically. She also told me she was going to delete my old account so that even if I didn't have enough to pay the fine today, we could open a new account so I could check my books out anyway.

It was around this time I woke up. First feeling was a huge sense of relief that T is in fact my therapist and not my librarian. I felt it was less embarrassing for her to know all the things she knows about me as my T than it would be for her to know I had a hundred dollar library fine! Second feeling was realization that the fine was just in the dream, too, accompanied by the thought that I probably should check on the due date on the books I have out from the library now, just in case.

Then I became aware that I had lyrics from a song in my head. . . "What makes your eyes so blue? Is it something inside of you? And what makes you beautiful? I wish I knew."
It made me think of T and I smiled.

* * * *

Wow, sorry this dream got sooo long winded. If anyone has any interpretive guesses re the meaning of the fine, bills, seed pods, or anything else that would be fun. If not, no biggy.

Would love to see more people posting dreams here, btw! Liese, just wanted to make sure I am correct in thinking this was started as a general dream thread for anyone to post in and not just about the shamrock dream?

Hi Held,

Yes, I'd love for others to share their dreams. I loved reading about your dream. It was so rich. The mind is amazing. I can't even begin to guess what the seeds/pods might symbolize. Can you?

The fine: you did something "bad". T knows about it but you have to hide it from your mother and brother because they will not be compassionate.

T still loves you and is incredibly helpful even though you did something "bad".

quote:

She told me that it wasn't that so much time had passed, really, but that I had a lot of books out, and at a dime a book a day, that could add up quickly.

This part seems really significant. Do you have any idea what distinction your brain is trying to make?

A distinction between time vs. quantity?

Oh, do you think it has anything to do with what you talked about recently? Cutting back on your sessions? That the length of time bewtween sessions isn't as important as the quality of the sessions?

Just a thought.

Would love to hear if you have any more thoughts about your dream.

Held,

Just thought of something else. By you're own account, you've been "checking out" of therapy - getting busier and more distracted during the week. Maybe you are feeling conflicted that you are checking out for too long. But then T says, no, it hasn't been too long but too much????

Thought I'd throw that out there.

Hey Liese,

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. They are very relevant, lucid, and helpful. I just ran through the dream again mentally and re-read what I had written with your comments in mind, and I think I've gotten a few insights about parts of the dream.

It's true I've been engaged in a lot of different pursuits mentally, both in my internal and external worlds. Maybe this is symbolized by the books. I feel busy and like I'm working on things, even when I'm sitting still, lol. The brain is always going. T (a protective, more insightful part of me?) seems to be pointing out that all of this adds up and will have a cost. I'm distressed at the extent to which I've tapped my resources, and I don't want my mom and brother to know because I like them to think I have it together and don't make mistakes or need help. But my more vulnerable self (symbolized by me in the dream, I think) can't even seem to calculate what I owe without much confusion and need of help. When my mother arrives (I think she must represent internal stressors and critics-- sorry, Ma) my difficulty increases. I hand things over to T (my wise, protective self who can count!) and she promises that my account will be cleared and I can start over fresh, trying again with more books.

Interesting intra psychic transactions! I still wonder what the seed pods could mean.

Hi HIC -

I had to answer because I love this dream! I was thinking of the books as 'issues' - maybe you're getting depleted right now because you have a lot of current issues unresolved, rather than something major/longterm? And then you need help to take account of your resources, which gets confusing (especially when your mother is in the picture), because the value of these resources keeps changing. Some of your resources are things you have right now (money) and some are seeds, to be planted for future resources (a new money tree? ). There's a lovely sense that although your T knows there are issues that need to be resolved and seeds that can be planted, she knows how to order all this, and still thinks you can keep functioning, start something new, begin again, and - take books out. How do you feel about the books in the dream? Are they a source of pleasure, education, work, escape, connection?

Cool dream!

Jones

Hi Jones,

Thanks so much for commenting on my dream, and for your very insightful insights!

quote:

and some are seeds, to be planted for future resources

This helped. Whenever I think about this dream, I've been mentally stuck wanting to know the meaning of the seed pods, and this explanation seems to fit so well and be quite obvious now that you point it out. Thanks! I will have to do some pondering on what these potential future resources might be.

How did I feel about the books in the dream. . .hmm. I have a strong sense of curiosity and eagerness to read them. I'm dismayed when I think I may not be able to check them out and very relieved when T says she will make that possible.

I had a dream the other night. (my brother died 3 years ago and that is when I started seeing T)

In my dream, T came to my house, he interacted with H and the kids, my brother was there as well. I was wondering around the house a bit lost. Then T left and when he left he asked if anyone needed a lift and my brother said yes. My brother followed T and said to my brother, "hey what about my hug" but he just looked at me and got into Ts car and they drove away.

It made me sad, my ED nurse says it could be unfinished business with my brother. I watched him die and felt hopeless. T is not sure what his role is in the dream.

Abandonned yes but also T is safe and that is a nice thought that T took him away and he is safe. I like that.

I had two terribly sad dreams last night. First let me say I had the most intense t session on Friday. I was finally able to talk to t about something that I am so ashamed about. So that has my head spinning currently. I had been in therapy 20 years ago and have just returned about two months ago.

In my first dream my current t was telling me she was going to have to terminate me because she had to move away. I woke up so scared that I called her office phone just to hear her voice.

In the second dream, my t from 20 years ago had died. I was at a funeral for her but people kept asking me what I was doing there. They kept saying "you didn't know her." I kept saying I knew who she was to me and I missed her. I woke up sobbing.

I think in some way my ability to talk to my current t about such a difficult topic Friday has deepened my feelings for her. But that makes me sad and miss the relationship with my old t.

Sometimes I feel so screwed up!

Jillann