Sleepwalking

Dear Peregrin,

Hi my name is Alfred and I'm twenty years old. Between ages of 10-14 I had the same nightmare every three months or something like that.

This is what the dream looks like:

It starts with me walking on a pavement along a fence in some kind of a ghetto (no other people around). At the side of the pavement it grows some tall grass, and I always pick the tallest strand of grass and when I pick it a cannonball launches towards earth from outer space (I don't know if that's a feeling or if I can see it in the dream).

Next up in the dream is me swimming in a swimming pool that shrinks and gets smaller and smaller. Claustrophobia sets in and I wake up sweating and start walking in my sleep.

My parents say that I always tell them the same thing when I'm walking in my sleep and that is that everything is in disorder or something like that. Then I can't walk over "thresholds" and my bed has to be completely free from wrinkles. Then I go back to sleep and everything is as usual.

I can remember the dream a bit blurry but since the dream kept coming back every three month or so I remember more and more each time... please help me figure this out, and help me understand the meaning of the dream.

Best regards,

Alfred

Good morning, Alfred.

I can give you my impressions, but from the sound of things you may want more professional advice.

Walking along a fence seems a bit like putting off a decision. You are completely alone in the ghetto - you may be feeling as if you have no one to turn to, or even somewhat abandoned. The surroundings are run-down, indicating feelings of desolation. So, not only do you have no outside help, you do not feel creative enough to deal with the decision on your own.

You always pick the tallest blade of grass. This is the blade that is most outstanding - perhaps you have a desire to stand above the crowd. But when you try, you always get "shot down." The cannonball coming from space makes it sound as if you feel that God is the one shooting you down - or at least, someone who assumes a godlike role in your life.

Your shrinking swimming pool may represent time and options running out. Water tends to represent emotional and/or spiritual issues, so you may be feeling as if you are losing either all your ability to feel, or you are losing your religion (your relationship with the Divine, whatever you choose to call it).

It's obvious that the events which spur these images are traumatic in nature, because the dreams occur with such regularity and also because they have the effect upon you that they do. Sleepwalking is a mixture of states of consciousness that normally do not exist at the same time - generally we do not have voluntary motor control while asleep and dreaming, at least not enough to go for a stroll. Your symptoms also remind me of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - the comments about everything being in disorder, plus the insistence that the bed be wrinkle-free.
This is why I reccommend professional counselling. You have, in effect, supressed some event which keeps trying to surface in your mind. The way to end the recurring dream is to uncover the source of the trauma, which in your case should probably be done with expert guidance.

Best of luck, Alfred, and pleasant dreams,

Peregrin.