Dream #1

The dream:

I dreamt that mom, my sister, my aunt, and my grandmother went hiking. The forested mountain felt more like the ones in Korea, because it smelled deeply green. We decided to take a break when we found two perfectly round and clear ponds. There was not enough space around a pond for all five of us, so I had to sit alone, chilling my feet, while others sat together. Then suddenly a ferret, a raccoon, and a small bobcat emerged from the bushes and threatened us with their teeth. My grandmother shooed all of them away by screaming and hissing. The rest of us were rather scared, but when they were gone, we found a log house in which a lovely couple was living. They welcomed us and we were making ourselves at home, when my sister told me that the couple had a lovely baby. She told me that I should come and see it, so we were looking for this baby – but we couldn’t find it. We looked and looked and looked, but we couldn’t find it, which gave me chills even in the heat of the dream. So I decided to wake up.

Freudian interpretation:

Two pools of water I put my feet in probably represent the unconscious, the Dionysian, mother’s breasts (they were round and two) and femininity. I however feel isolated from my family members in my plunge into the unconscious, the Dionysian, mothers’ breasts and femininity. These ponds are attacked by these aggressive animals, (threats to my feminine spirituality), and my grandmother defends them like a warrior. Then I see a lovingly married couple, because unconsciously I want to get married, no matter how much I do not think so. The reason why I am looking for a baby is because I want to fulfill my maternal instincts, present in every creature of the female sex. I want to be a mom, but I can’t find the damn baby! Clearly, I am doubting my abilities as a mother.

My grandmother’s interpretation:

In Korean folklore, small aggressive animals like ferrets, raccoons, and bobcats represent intruders. For example, on the day Japan launched an attack on Korea – to occupy Korea for the next 35 years – it is legendarily said that there were ferrets and bobcats all over the city for an inexplicable reason. Although they are terrible animals to have appear in one’s dream, because they were chased away – grandmother chased them away – it’s okay.

Also, it is never a good thing to have a baby appear in one’s dream, because babies represent “burden” or “unwanted responsibility” – which works with the idea from Koreans’ impoverished past that a baby is “another mouth to feed”. Grandmother told me that the last thing you should do with a baby in a dream is holding it. No matter how cute the baby is, one should always refuse to touch it when asked to in a dream.

What we do in dreams matter in Korean folk dream interpretation, and the dreamer is an active participant in her dream, who can actually change things. I think it’s an interesting idea, to say the least. Grandmother claims that once she was asked in her dream to get on a train with this old friend of hers who died years ago, but she refused. Tearing the friend’s hand from her wrist, she said “I don’t want to. Go by yourself”. Then she woke up. She is convinced that if she had gotten on the train, she may never have woken up.

My interpretation:

I had a bad night, having had a little too much scotch and cigar smoke than I could handle. I was sick, and my sickness somehow magically transformed into this bizarre dream.