Bobcat

Dear Peregrin,

I have had recently 2 or 3 dreams on different nights. Each one there is a bobcat trying to attack me. One in my home and the other on a trip with friends. Each time I get away but it is very difficult. This last dream I was being chased then I got caught and was being dragged then I woke up and changed the dream while I was just laying there with my eyes closed. This time I overcame the bobcat while my friends got the car. I used skills I learned by watching crocodile hunter! I was still scratched but made it safely into the car.

If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. I am not very concerned but would like to sleep through the night without waking up feeling afraid and then having to fall back asleep.

Stacie

Good morning, Stacie.

A series of dreams like this, showing different responses to a situation with different outcomes, is a classic example of Senoi (a Malaysian tribe) dreaming.

The bobcat is your problem. It could be a reference to how you deal with problems in general, or it could represent a specific obstacle. Either way, you try to avoid the issue, represented by running away. You can get away, but only temporarily, at best. This method does not work.

The last time, you face your monster - this is the advice that the shaman gives, by the way. And you fight it, and get away. Bravo, you have learned that it is more effective to deal with the trouble directly, rather than run from it. Now you need to apply this lesson to your waking life. Confront whatever it is that is actually causing your fear, and overcome it.

But there's more to the Senoi way. Once you have defeated a dream enemy, you should demand a gift. This represents the philosophy that every problem is an opportunity in disguise, every trouble is gift-wrapping, every cloud has a silver lining...you get the idea. Yes, you should face your fears, but you should also learn from them. Fight the bobcat, but do not then run from it. Embrace what it has come to teach you.

Once this lesson has been learned and applied, the nightmares almost always stop.

Pleasant dreams,

Peregrin