An example of making friends with an underdog in a nightmare occurred when I was being pursued one night (for the umpteenth time) by an enornous uncouth bruiser figure from the underground. I suddenly remembered my principle and turned around, not without some trepidation, and asked him what he wanted.

He immediately doffed his cap and invited me into a sleazy cafe for a talk, whereupon he explained he had been following me for some time because he found me beautiful in comparison with his ugliness and wanted very much to marry me.

I had the feeling he would turn nasty if I refused, and moreover I was beginning to feel sexually turned on by his brute physical strength but was worried about marriage because I thought we'd have nothing in common after the sexual attraction wore off. I woke up wondering what on earth to say to him.

This gave confirmation to what I had already suspected from working on earlier "bruiser" dreams, namely that he was an underdog representing my own brute strength and animal erotic energy, which my parental and spiritual topdogs had never really allowed me to accept in myself. (In Jungian terms I suppose he would be called a "shadow-contaminated animus figure.")

I was struck with the parallel to the story of Beauty and the Beast, and keeping my fingers crossed that he would eventually become a handsome prince (not the insipid fairytale type), I had a chat with him in waking fantasy and accepted his proposal.

I have never had these particular nightmares again and have felt much stronger ever since. I hope we shall live happily ever after.

SOURCE: The Dream Game, Ann Faraday, Harper & Row, 1976 ed.; pp 260-61. Passage untitled; 'Marry my Shadow' added to aid searches.

World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sh - Si-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites