Do you believe in dream symbols?

I do, I've gotten a lot of clarity, symbols and warnings thru my dreams.

I had a crazy intense dream last night, and asked chatgpt to analyze the symbols for me;

This is quite a vivid and intense nightmare, with many symbolic elements. Let's break it down and analyze some of the major themes and symbols that might be at play:

### 1. **Elevator Stopping and the Crowded Space**
- The elevator filling up with people and then stopping could represent feelings of being trapped or overwhelmed in your waking life. You might be facing situations or emotions where you feel stuck or unable to move forward.
- The wish that it wouldn’t stop could symbolize an urge to avoid confrontation with difficult emotions or situations.

### 2. **The "Dark" People with Roses and Crying**
- The "dark" figures in your dream, along with the crying and roses, suggest themes of sorrow, grief, or mourning. Roses can symbolize love or loss, and the act of crying indicates emotional pain. This might point to some unresolved grief or sadness, either from your past or something you're currently processing.
- The darkness surrounding them could represent feelings of the unknown or uncertainty, especially if they seem like they know something you don’t.

### 3. **The Gloomy Atmosphere and Walking in Circles**
- The gloomy vibe and walking in circles could symbolize feelings of confusion or being stuck in a situation where progress feels impossible. It might reflect a sense of being trapped in repetitive or negative patterns in your life, unable to break free or find a way out.
- The fact that everyone else seems to know what’s going on, but you don’t, might represent feelings of isolation, as if you're out of sync with the people around you or not fully understanding a situation you're involved in.

### 4. **Shooting and Death**
- The shooting and the bodies being moved on a conveyor belt are strong symbols of trauma, loss, and perhaps a fear of violence or instability. This could be a subconscious manifestation of feelings of insecurity, fear of danger, or even a metaphorical sense of losing control or a sense of safety.
- The idea of bodies being moved along the conveyor belt suggests a sense of inevitability or helplessness in the face of tragic events—perhaps even a feeling that certain things are out of your hands.

### 5. **The Subway and the Mysterious Woman**
- Subways often symbolize transitions or a journey, and the confusion about the right track could represent a fear of making the wrong choices in your life or missing opportunities.
- The woman who tells you to follow the "red line" might symbolize guidance, intuition, or a part of yourself trying to point you in the right direction. Her presence could indicate that there is a part of you seeking clarity, but you might feel unsure of how to trust it.

### 6. **Phone and Technology**
- Checking your phone and seeing different options for the subway lines could represent an overwhelming feeling of having too many choices or being faced with too much information. It also could symbolize a sense of time slipping away, as you mentioned feeling like time was running out. This could point to stress or pressure you're feeling in your waking life to make a decision or take action.

### 7. **Your Mom's Advice**
- The advice from your mom to ignore the offer for activities suggests a protective, perhaps cautious voice in your life, urging you not to take risks or make decisions that could lead to negative consequences. This could reflect your own internal hesitations or a voice of reason trying to protect you from potential harm.

### 8. **The Vendor and Forgetting**
- The street vendor and your forgetting the name of the item you wanted to buy could symbolize lost opportunities, missed chances, or the fear of forgetting something important. It might indicate a fear of not being prepared or being unable to act when needed.

### Overall Interpretation:
This nightmare seems to reflect feelings of being overwhelmed, confused, and trapped, possibly by situations in your life that feel out of your control. The themes of death, confusion, and fear of making mistakes are prominent, suggesting a period of uncertainty or emotional distress. The dream is rich with symbolism related to choices, guidance, and a desire to escape from something heavy or troubling. It also seems like you’re processing some form of grief or loss, whether literal or metaphorical, and the dream may be nudging you to confront and understand these emotions.

If you're dealing with any stressful situations, it might be helpful to reflect on what aspects of your life feel like they’re "stopping" or making you feel stuck, and whether you’re allowing yourself the space to process your emotions or take the necessary steps forward.

🥹

cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

I do but not by the lists. It’s something that will be revealed if you don’t try to figure it out beforehand. For example, when I was a teenager I had a dream of the word “death” written on a piece of orange paper. It was disturbing to me since I had a dream about a funeral a few hours before my mother died, the casket, clothing etc were in the dream but I couldn’t see the face. So this “death on orange paper” upset me. About a week later I found a note that was written on orange stationary paper and it was a suicide note my sister had written to her fiance. I confronted her and she said “it was a joke, I didn’t mean it”. And I made her tear it up. Later on after they were married she would do fake suicide attempts to control her husband.

Pfuzylogic · M

You are pursuing this in a very intelligent and systematic way. I keep it super simple for myself and I like your focus on emotions. I look at it like “brain cleaning” and the body is doing its best to get rid of destructive fear and anxiety by processing it through your dreams. Some very deep insight other the interpretation of symbols.
It reminds me of Freud and Jung.

DrWatson · 70-79, M

I do believe in dream symbols, in the sense that our conscious minds are not producing the dream, so everything that "happens" is a result of free association.

But I have come to the conclusion that symbolism in my dreams is not like symbolism in a work of literature , because the dream does not have an author with any coherent thought process.

So, when I think about the meaning of something that happened in a dream, I often find myself thinking about what happened the day beforehand, and why on that particular evening, for me and only for me, that particular dream event had a particular significance for me.

I often forget my dreams , even after thinking about them in the morning, so I can only give a hypothetical example here. Perhaps one day I am feeling anxious about a deadline coming up. I go to sleep. I free-associate with memories of childhood where I felt anxious going to bed when I had not completed my homework. One particular teacher for whom I often sluffed off was someone super-patriotic who had us learn four verses of the Star Spangled Banner.

So, maybe that night, I dream I am at a concert where the band is playing nothing but the Star Spangled Banner over and over again. When I wake up, the key to understanding the dream is recognizing that in the dream I felt a certain anxiety during the concert. "What would I have been anxious about?" And then my conscious mind can trace through the associations that led to the dream.