Dream Decoding: Dreaming About Dreaming
Hello and welcome to the latest entry of Dream Decoding, my column dedicated to decoding your dreams!
This dream, submitted by Andrew (who gave me permission to use his name), includes something I don’t come across very often, and is an interesting and important event when it happens: it is known as a dream within a dream. So, it’s like getting two dreams decoded for the price of one!
Here is Andrew’s dream…
Andrew’s Dream: Dreaming About Dreaming
My friend M (full name omitted to protect privacy) and I are driving to Chicago. We’re in her old, beat-up blue Chevy Cavalier (she has a Jeep now). We’re on one of the highway overpasses that was built high up over the city (I’ve always liked them, ’cause it feels like flying.). M is driving (which isn’t unusual, because I don’t drive or have my license yet; and, we often go on road trips together).
M starts telling me about a dream she had. This is her dream:
“There is an ugly green blob man in front of my face. He looks angry, and he eats my nose! Then, he oozes through the opening, and I can feel him inside my head, like he’s looking through my eyes.”
While I’m still in the dream, I interpret her dream:
“M, this is a violation, like a disease. First, it eats your nose, then crawls inside your head. All of this is physical. It could be a brain tumor. Or, the blob man is controlling your senses.”
Then we both look ahead and see that we’re heading straight into the heart of the city.
Decoding Dreaming About Dreaming
Andrew’s dream begins with driving. Driving in a dream can represent striving toward a goal, or his path in life, and how he is progressing and moving forward. Andrew being the passenger can suggest that he may not be in a position in which he is control, and can say that he is “going along for the ride.” This position can suggest that Andrew might need to assume more control over a particular area of his life.
M being the driver is saying that she is an influence that Andrew is carrying with him in life. The car in the dream is a car that his friend M used to own. This can suggest something regarding the past that is once again at work in Andrew’s present life. Andrew may actually have to consider a time period when M actually owned the car as a reference point, as this might be some kind of trigger.
A different take on having a woman driving the car can be about another woman in Andrew’s life: his mother. It would make sense, in this context: his mother would be a controlling force in his life, influencing the direction his life takes.
Cars can also represent our careers. This might suggest that Andrew might be lacking “drive” as far as his working life is concerned.
Cars can also indicate the physical body. Here, the words used to describe the car stand-out: old, beat-up, and blue. I tend to believe that everything in a dream represents the dreamer, so in this sense, Andrew is the car. In some ways, he is seeing himself as “old;” he may be “beating himself up” in some way. I would question if Andrew is taking care of himself, in terms of his physical health, as the words “beat up” is saying his body is beat up, or suffering from some form of damage (lack of care) to it.
The car being blue, when viewed in this context, is saying “I am blue.” This could suggest Andrew being sad at the time of the dream, maybe in connection to a past event (again, the car being an old car of M’s). Blue is also indicative of one’s approach to life, as well as being the color connected to the throat chakra. This could be questioning Andrew as to whether he is saying the things he needs to say to people when he needs to say them (a possible sign of communication issues).
Also, the fact the car is a Cavalier can suggest Andrew might be “cavalier” in life (I looked up cavalier in the dictionary: chivalrous, arrogant, disdainful, haughty, and carefree). He might need to consider in what ways has he been, or is being, cavalier.
A highway could suggest there is a higher way (path) in life Andrew might need to consider taking. Blue, in connection to this, is a color that is connected to spirituality. This highway overpassing the city (the city can represent the mind) is suggesting Andrew raise his level of thinking (more spiritual than intellectual thinking). When Andrew comments that being on this road seems like flying, and that he likes it, says that, in life, Andrew has a strong mind, and that he may intellectualize a lot of things. Being above the city can then mean that he needs to rise above whatever problems he may be experiencing, and to see them from a different perspective (a spiritual perspective).
Now we get to the dream M has had. When you have a dream within a dream, the secondary dream is actually the real message. In Andrew’s case, he needs to couple this with the fact that he interprets the dream for M. This is telling him that he really needs to examine this part of the dream (both M’s dream and his interpretation of it).
First, interpreting M’s dream can suggest that Andrew, like myself, has a gift to interpret the dreams of others.
Having something in front of your face is basically saying that there is something in Andrew’s life that he is not willing to face or address. His subconscious mind is “in his face” about this because he needs to address this. M tells Andrew it is a man; in my decoding reference, men can represent our thoughts. He is being confronted, if you will, with a 
certain way he has been thinking. The man being green is suggesting a healing needs to take place here. Green is connected to the heart, and suggests there is an emotional component here as well. Andrew (as M) says the man is angry. That is the emotion Andrew needs to examine, in the sense of what is making him angry in his waking life.
Eating the nose…. The nose can be connected to our intuition (nose=knows). Anger, in this sense, is creating a block to the suggested use of Andrew’s intuition.
Being inside M’s head can say that, on an intellectual level, Andrew may be too much “in his head” (again, that he may be too analytical or logical). The phrase “looking through my eyes” can suggest seeing something the way someone else does. This can be twofold. Does someone get angry with Andrew for not seeing things the way s/he does? Or is it Andrew who gets angry when someone doesn’t see things from the same perspective as he? Sometimes we need to “get into other people’s heads” to understand (see) things from their viewpoint. If Andrew is experiencing this in his life as a challenge, he must first look at himself. There is a saying (and I am paraphrasing here): In order to be understood, we must first be understanding.
Now to Andrew’s interpretation. He first tells M that this man has “violated” her. Andrew must ask himself when he has experienced such a violation. This could suggest that he has been harmed with a sense of disregard for his feelings (M being female is symbolic of his feelings and emotions). Saying this is like a disease is saying that Andrew is in a state of “dis-ease” over this. Going further, and saying this is like a brain tumor is saying this is something that is eating away at Andrew, something he may be thinking about, in some form, constantly. This may be a strong urging for Andrew to consider changing the way he thinks/perceives/understands this situation.
Anger that is kept inside (the man inside M’s head), or repressed, can manifest itself as physical ailments. Andrew then suggests, in his interpretation, that the man is controlling M’s senses. Again, anger is taking over Andrew’s sensory perception (eyes and nose), which is an interesting way of saying it has the ability to control him, if he allows it.
Again, like being the passenger of the car, this part reinforces the sense of not being in control of some area of his life. He may rationalize this as saying something to the effect of “I can’t help it.”
The ending of the dream has Andrew and M looking ahead. This can be a reference to the future (what lies ahead). Going to the heart of the city, in my opinion, represents the unification of Andrew’s heart and mind.
In Closing…
I would like to thank Andrew for submitting such a great dream.
If you have a dream you’d like to submit to Dream Decoding, please e-mail your submissions to james@jameshimm with Dream Decoding and the title of the dream in the subject line.
Sweet dreams!
For more about working with me as your personal Dream Decoder, please visit my Dream Decoding page.