I saw a wolf chasing me whilst I was walking barefoot. It wouldn't stop following me. Then it turned into a man with an orange shirt whom I didn't want to talk to. The sky turned darker, I was now sitting on the ground and he sitting very, very close to me. He said something like, “I’m not letting you leave me”. He was facing me and held a knife to my heart!
He threatened to kill me if I didn't stay with him. I said, “Please don't kill me. I won't leave you”. I felt upset and scared that he was going to kill me and that I’d lose everything. (I don’t know why on earth I agreed. It’s against my nature to give in to threats.) He wanted me to give him some blood and sign a contract or to seal a contract but then I was upset and didn’t want to. He said I should have been killed a long time ago. I am single, and avoiding a co-worker who seems to be taking an unusual interest in me.
Something that chases you in a dream represents something you are running away from, or not confronting, in waking life. Of course it seems sensible to run away from a frightening wolf in a dream, but it is not so sensible to run away from our waking life fears. The more we run away from things we don’t want to confront the more threatening they seem. Turning around and confronting a situation usually results in it diminishing. What we were afraid to face turns out to be nowhere near as fearful once we look it in the eye.
And so it is with your dream. As you said, you didn’t want to talk to the man, showing that you don’t want to ‘talk to’ this issue in waking life.
So what is it that the wolf and the orange-shirted man represent?
In the dream the man said he was not letting you leave him. What, in your life at the time of your dream, were you thinking of leaving – or – what were you feeling tied to? In the dream you said he was sitting very, very close. This is an issue that’s very close to you.
In the dream he threatens your heart. In your past or present, has a close tie felt threatening to you/ your heart/ your feelings? This could be a person or a situation. The blood contract sounds like a family tie – blood tie.
In the dream you are forced to face the wolf-turned-man, forced to face your fear. This fear seems to be the fear of moving on, of untying ties, of, as you said in the dream, “losing everything”.
What have you worked so hard to gain that you feel fearful of losing? This could even be related to a work issue as the same theme is coming up in the form of a work colleague at the moment. Do you feel too tied to your work to leave and move on?
Dialogue:
Your dialogue is between the wolf and you. Start with you saying, “Why are you chasing me?” and see what the wolf automatically answers. Keep it going for 20 minutes.
How to do this:
Give yourself no longer than 20 minutes. When you do this exercise do NOT think! Don’t plan ahead. Just let whatever happens happen. Let the two entities speak to each other on paper using whatever words come up. It’s a bit like writing a film script or play – but without the brain being involved.
How does this work?
By not thinking, by keeping the words flowing, you are letting your right brain and unconscious mind do most of the work. They created the original dream so they know what these symbols mean for you. They will reveal. You will be surprised.
More details on Dialogue as a Dream Alchemy Practice in: “Dream Alchemy” by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 321-4 and 333.
Jane Teresa Anderson
