First Dream - My husband and I are supposed to pick up my dad from a city called "Cedarbrook" (no such place around here) from a business meeting. My dad is communicating with me over email but I drop my phone and the screen breaks. Glass shards are falling everywhere so I'm still trying to communicate with him but it is difficult. We also have difficulty finding the place so we never meet up.
Initial Interpretation
This was the first of two "father dreams" I had before waking. I knew the name of the town would be important so I made myself remember it (by repeating it several times before going back to sleep). It turns out that Cedarbrook is not a town but is actually a bakery in the area I live in that I go to sometimes. Also, important to note, that my dad is deceased, has been for 15 years. I have had dream visitations, as I call it, by him from time to time (see article Dreaming of the Dead). There are a couple of clues that suggest this might be him. First, that my dad used email to communicate instead of text. He passed away before texting was a thing so he would have used email and has used it to communicate in dreams before. Secondly, using the bakery "Cedarbrook" as a meeting place. My dad definitely had a sweet tooth and this would be him trying to inject some humour into the situation.
Broken Glass Symbol
I have written about glass before (see
Dreaming of a Glass Window). Literally and symbolically, glass is an object that enables you to look through to something, an item or a situation. If the glass is broken, that hinders your ability to see clearly. In the case of my dream, the broken phone screen affected the communication between me and my father.
Second dream - My husband and I are in Ireland. We are invited into the home of a friendly middle aged couple (I don't recognize them). As they show us around, I become aware that this is actually a very fancy castle! There are long corridors and winding stone stairways. I climb a stairway to go outside and above the castle where I see a swimming pool. It is a magnificent place. The man joins me and says, "I have to keep it up for you because one day you will inherit this." I am surprised but then realize that this man is actually my father!
Initial Interpretation
For background information, my husband and I are actually planning a trip to Ireland this summer so I don't think that the country of Ireland has an symbolic meaning in this dream besides just being a place I want to go. I would take this as a sign to go though! Also, the swimming pool in this dream might have a layered meaning (See
Dreaming of Water) because water in dreams often does, however, I really love swimming pools. Like I would feel that I made it in life if I had one. So, maybe the swimming pool is a symbol of wish fulfillment.
Image by HannahWrightDesigns
Dreaming of a Castle
Any sort of structure in dreams has a meaning. I have written about this in (
Dreaming of a House). In summary, the exterior of a building symbolizes your outer self, while the inside of the building and its various rooms, explore the inner self. Besides the fact that there will be lots of castles to see on my Ireland trip, a castle itself is a huge, imposing structure, however, I did not recognize it as such from the outside - I thought it was a family home.
Symbolism of a Father
Well, let’s start with Freud and his theories regarding “daddy issues”. First there is the Oedipus Complex - that children have unconscious feelings of rivalry with their same-sex parent and a desire for the attention of the opposite-sex parent. In this case the dream could reflect feelings related to this dynamic, such as competition, admiration, or identification. As well, fathers in Freud’s view symbolize authority figures. A dream about your father could relate to your feelings toward authority, rules, or societal expectations.
According to Jung, The Father Archetype represents authority, protection, structure, and tradition. In this case, the father symbol could speak to your relationship with these aspects of your life, such as how you handle authority or your connection to societal norms. The Father can also symbolize wisdom, guidance, and support. The father symbol in your dream could help you seek direction or assurance.
Then of course, if the dream is about your actual father, it may reflect your feelings, memories, or unresolved issues with him. The “shadow self” can show itself as parts of your parts of your self and feelings you keep hidden in waking life.
Final Interpretation
I felt that my first dream really was a kind of visitation by my father as it had elements of previous dreams about him, especially in regards to having difficulty connecting with him on the “other side”.
I see the second dream having more of the classic father archetype symbolism. The man offering wisdom, guidance and encouragement to me.
What are your father dreams? Comment below!
