This dream is interesting in its symbology.

In the dream, I was at work.  I had completed whatever it was I had to do, and now needed to work on something else.   I stepped outside and looked to where I needed to go.  The area I was in didn’t look as it actually does in real life.  Instead, it seemed to be in the desert.  The land was open and flat but green with grass.  It seemed to be the area in which my father lives.  I needed to  actually travel to where my next assignment was located; through the open, green desert to a distant neighborhood.  It was dusk at this time.  There was a two-lane asphalt road.  I began but I did not walk.  I started on the shoulder of the road, crawling on my belly.  I pulled myself along with my arms, little bit by little bit.  I would stick my hands into crevasses in the road to help pull me along.  The surface of the road had an icy off-white look and the black of the asphalt could be seen through it.  I decided this was taking a lot of energy and switched to my hands and knees.  I did this for a little while.  This too was difficult, but not as much as crawling.  I was worried my knees would start hurting, though, and tried moving on my belly again.  I did this for a little while and then moved back to my hands and knees.  I realized my knees didn’t bother me as much as I thought they would and kept moving along.   I was vulnerable as I did this and worried someone would stop and harass me.  Thankfully, no one did.  I crawled into the neighborhood I needed to be in and stopped when my road intersected with another.  There were nice, modest,  middle-class homes on all sides.  I knew my destination was one of the homes close by.  I reached into my pocket to pull out the address of the home I needed to go to.  It was fully night now.

SIGNIFICANT SYMBOLS:

Work-generally corresponds to one’s present occupation, one’s duty, or obligation.

Desert-that which is not fertile, is bleak, or is abandoned.

Grass-associated with growth, healing, energy or vibrancy.

Father-represents authority, leadership, or power.  Can also represent what I think of my actual father.

Dusk-the ending of one period in one’s life, experience, or relationship.

Road-associated with the journey of life.  Direction one is pursuing.  One’s destiny.

Black-associated with the unknown, the unconsciousness, or the suppressed.

Crawling-something that just creeps along.  Could suggest humility or the need for it.

Belly-assimilation, digestion, or personal constitution.

Knees-flexibility, ability to bend, bowing to Divine Will.

Hands-service, participation, or work.

Ice-that which is frozen, impenetrable, or cold.  Separation between consciousness or physicality and spirit.

Neighborhood-sharing a similar psyche/attitude/consciousness with a group of people.

Home-one’s current situation or experience; one’s psyche as a person or in a situation; one’s state of consciousness.

Night-an ending, a completion, a dormancy, a closing.

I have completed some project/endeavor in my current occupation, duty or obligation (work) and now need to start something else (move on to new project/assignment for work). To do this, I must share a similar psyche/attitude/consciousness with a group of people (neighborhood) and I must move in a particular direction (road) to accomplish this. This work, what I have done and what I will do, is located in a state of consciousness which normally appears bleak or abandoned (desert) but which has produced growth, healing, energy and/or vibrancy (grass).  It is similar in some fashion to what my father does (father-his work, efforts, responsibilities).  This marks the ending of one period in my life (dusk).  This particular direction I travel in (road) is marked by becoming familiar, very slowly (crawling),  with the unknown or unconscious (black).  It is also marked by a separation between consciousness/physicality and spirit (ice) but which I seem to somewhat be able to see through (ice is opaque).  I must assimilate (belly) the unknown or unconscious (black), and learn to be flexible (knees) while providing service (hands).  In the process of doing this, I find it is not nearly as painful as I thought, to be flexible (knees), and determine to remain that way (continuing along on my knees).  I finally reach my destination and achieve a similar consciousness/attitude with a group of people (neighborhood).  I am still waiting to settle into my own consciousness and do what I need to do (new location of work in home in new neighborhood).  This marks a completion of my efforts (night) and the beginning of something else (eventual daybreak).

What the dream is saying, is that I have gone through a period of growth and development in the completion of one area of my life and will now start a new area with a different level of consciousness.  In this process of change, I have had to learn to be more flexible while providing service to others, become more familiar with those hidden truths I was not aware of, and be more aware of the tie between the physical world and the spiritual world.  The area of work I have been in might appear bleak or devoid of growth, but I find growth and healing there.  This is similar to what my actual father has experienced in his work.  This marks the ending of one period of my life, of a specific level of consciousness, and the movement of myself into a different level of consciousness which is similar to that of other people.  I still don’t know what this new level of consciousness feels and looks like, but I am moving into it and will know soon.

In this dream, I see something that seems obviously desirable to me but is ignored by others.

I was at a friend’s or relative’s home.  We were visiting in the living room in a very casual way.  The front door was open.  I happened to be sitting on the couch where I could see directly out the open door.  A Panda bear came into view just a few feet away.  He was young, perhaps half the size of an adult Panda bear.  He was very cute as Panda bears tend to be.  He ambled his way into the living room, curiously looking about, and began sniffing his way around the room.  I exclaimed happily, “There’s a Panda bear in the house!”  No one responded.  They ignored me and the bear and continued on with whatever they were doing.  I didn’t understand why they would ignore the bear.  I thought to myself I would like to take him home and keep him.  I wondered if my husband would let me do that.  The Panda Bear looked a little goofy, as if he might be a simple-minded.

Friend’s or Relative Home-A state of mind that is not my normal state, but one in which I temporarily visit as represented by “friends” or “relatives”.

Front Door-an opportunity, experience, or idea coming next

Bear-something or someone with two sides.  For example, gentle and kind but when angered, ferocious and mean

Panda-I have no meaning specifically for a Panda.  In this case, I need to apply what I observe about the Panda, meaning his colors and apparent state of mind.

Black-knowledge associated with the unknown, the unconscious, or the suppressed. Mystery

White-generally associated with purity, virginity, innocence and holiness.  The ideal of completeness.

Living Room-one’s state of mind or environment.  Could correspond to one’s daily activities or a more formal and public life.

Husband-my actual husband or what he represents to me

In this dream, I temporarily enter a different state of mind (friend’s or relative’s home).  As I enjoy this, I observe a new experience or idea coming.  It has two sides (bear), in that it is both knowledge which is unknown or suppressed (black) and it is knowledge which is pure, innocent and/or holy (white).  I think it is amazing and point it out to those I share this consciousness with, but they ignore me.  I would like to incorporate this new knowledge into my normal state of mind, but don’t know if my logic will allow me to.  Or if my actual husband will either. The knowledge seems simple-minded (how the bear appears to me) but I still like it.

There aren’t any clues here as to what the knowledge specifically addresses or comes from.  But generally, for me, if I dream something is black or white, those colors represent the knowledge of God in two different forms.  White is spiritual knowledge- those things that one can understand logically and believe to be true without having to experience personally.  Generally, these are values and morals taught by our parents, schools, and churches.  Black is mystery knowledge- those things that not everyone understands and which must be learned through experience.  Mystery Knowledge can be quite difficult to accept, especially if it contradicts beliefs we have held our whole lives. This is usually knowledge about ourselves-some failing or fault we have but have never acknowledged as a failure or fault.  It is easy to see these in others, but not so easy to see them in ourselves.

For example, I can understand logically that it is wrong to steal because it harms the person I steal from.  Basic spiritual knowledge (white).  On the other hand, what if something is stolen from me and this causes me great harm. My reaction is to hate the person who stole it.  Why shouldn’t I hate the person who harmed me, especially if the harm they caused was very damaging and even life-altering in a negative way?  The mystery knowledge (black) teaches us to not hate, even those who harm us. Why?  Because carrying hate in one’s heart, even if for good reason, causes more harm to yourself than it will ever cause to the person you hate.  This is because hate affects how we view other people, our relationships, our attitudes, our behaviors.  It permeates everything, even if we think we are only applying the hate towards the person who wronged us.

If I have hate and refuse to let go of it, then Spirit/God will step in to teach me why I should not hate.  This Mystery knowledge from God must be learned and accepted as true, through experience.  Upon acceptance of its truth, I am changed for the better. I am now less likely to cause harm to others, and myself, because I no longer hate.  If I do not accept the Mystery Knowledge, then I will suffer the consequences in my life, as my failing or fault negatively effects my relationships/behavior/work/etc.

Through acceptance and living of Truth from Mystery knowledge, we move closer to God, just as we move closer to God through acceptance and living of basic spiritual knowledge (white).