Author

Subject: Snow White Kittens in Tree

Tom

10:40 01/04/2002 

On top of this really high telephone pole was a tree house that looked like it was built by kids or teenagers. We were looking at it because it was so unusual to see a tree house on a telephone pole. As we were examining it we noticed a cat looking down at us. It was too afraid to come down so I decided to rescue it.

I put on a special pair of pole climbing boots and shimmied up the telephone pole. Once I reached the crest, I discovered several beautiful snow-white kittens playing and running around. The mother cat had climbed the tree to give birth to the kittens and was too afraid to come down but they were alive and thriving in the abandoned tree house.

Dream edited for easier reading - JT, 2005

2004

Jane Teresa's View

Jane Teresa Anderson

Overview Interpretation & Dream Alchemy Practice suggestion

OVERVIEW INTERPRETATION

Hi Tom,

You described the tree house as abandoned and felt it had been built by kids or teenagers. Straight away this suggests that this dream is about something from your own childhood or teenage years that had been abandoned – until the recent discovery, reflected in your dream.

A tree house is a place to play make-believe or perhaps retreat from the adult world. Did you have special place, either physically or emotionally, when you were that age? Did you create that space because you felt abandoned or have you since abandoned or lost touch with that kind of space in your life?

The telephone pole may symbolise communication (phone wires) or a kind of artificial tree. As a child or teenager did you create a special space for yourself because of communication difficulties or, quite the opposite, in order to focus on communication? For example, did you create space to write, to compose music or to try to contact aliens?

A tree house at the top of a telephone pole is much higher than a conventional tree house and much harder to access, so there is a real sense of isolation here. Did you feel isolated as a child or did you seek isolation?

In this dream you, as an adult, go back to rescue something of yourself that you have abandoned. Of course the cat had gone ahead of you, but then she needed rescuing too.

Cats are very independent adventurers and many people regard them as symbols of intuition because they have a knack of following their noses and are associated in folklore with witches. But what do cats mean to you? What was the energy of this white cat? Animals in dreams reflect our own energies and instincts. In what sense do you carry the energy of a white cat?

I should reframe that question, as the white cat has been stuck in the abandoned tree house and you have only just rediscovered her in this dream. What is this energy or instinct that you have lost touch with (abandoned) and that you are ready to rescue?

Why is she white? White may symbolise purity or spirituality. You titled your dream ‘Snow white kittens in tree’. Snow white is a term of purity but it also has fairytale connotations. Interesting! Snow White kept house for dwarfs – a tiny house – as small as a tree house perhaps! Have a think about the story of Snow White and see if anything resonates from your childhood. Snow White was abandoned to the woods when the evil queen wanted her killed. She found sanctuary in the tiny dwarf house.

Can you relate to abandonment as a child or teenager, or to finding a communication sanctuary that you have since abandoned?

It seems you have an instinct (the cat) to hide away and be creative (give birth to ideas, kittens) but that you have a fear of bringing these new ideas out of the safe hiding place and into the world. Those creative ideas may be around communication or you may be feeling reticent to communicate them.

There is also a link with the tree house being a child’s place and the kittens being children. Play. A play house and kittens playing. Is it a sense of play that you have abandoned or that you are fearful of bringing into your world today?

The last line in your dream mentions how “alive and thriving” the kittens are in the “abandoned” tree house. These are opposites. It’s possible that you are looking for a balance between a thriving liveliness (or sense of play) and a sense of necessary retreat, peace or creativity.

The key is the fear of the mother cat. What is your fear in bringing lively, thriving, perhaps playful, communicative ideas out of hiding? In the dream you are ready to do this. Go for it!

DREAM ALCHEMY PRACTICE

Writing Exercise

Now, set a timer for 15 minutes and start writing or typing as fast as you can – with no room for thought – a story starting titled “Snow White and the Seven Kittens”. Just let the words flow – a kind of stream of consciousness. Stop when the timer sounds. Read over your story at leisure. You will be surprised how much you learn from this.

How does this work?

By working with dream elements and symbols in writing form you are communicating with your unconscious mind in its own language to create change, to explore your feelings and to resolve and heal past issues.

More details on various writing exercises as Dream Alchemy Practices in: “Dream Alchemy”, by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 337-338.

Jane Teresa Anderson

You can consult with Jane Teresa or her Dream Team and receive your interpretation by email within five working days.

ORIGINAL THREAD

Below is the original forum discussion on this dream, contributed before Jane Teresa's 2004 interpretation.

Star

20:56 01/04/2002 

Hi ya Tom - yes me again. The choice of title reminded me of a cross between Snow White & Pussin Boots.

I've copied what I recently posted in the Member's Forum re cats which may/may not assist, which follows.

However before you get into that as always looking at all the symbols and what they mean to you will give you the answer. Using Jane Teresa's Party Tricks which from memory was in the last Newsletter may also give you some clues.

Teenagers to my way of thinking take risks and have lots of fun, they don't have much fear of anything really. They are also at the stage of development where they are separating from parents, questioning authority and generally being rather rebellious in their boundary pushing.

Giving birth to something new - telephone - communication. Discovering something new about/within yourself that you've actually abandoned at some point in your life???

Something in yourself that needs rescuing perhaps??? Facing an uphill climb maybe???

Sheez... I could go on forever with this one.

As for Cats generally speaking hope you find this interesting and of some assistance.

KEYNOTE: Mystery, Magic & Independence CYCLE OF POWER: Night time.

Although a domesticated animal, it would be unjust not to at least touch upon the energies and essence of the cat as a totem. Cats in general - wild or domestic - have certain common qualities.

In myth and lore, the cat predominates. In ancient Egypt they held a position of special privilege. The goddess Bast was often depicted with a cat or with a cat's head. In Scandinavian lore, the cat was associated with the goddess of fertility, Freyja. In the Hindu tradition Shasthi, the goddess of childbirth, is depicted riding upon a cat. Cats appear frequently in the tales of the Brothers Grimm and many other folk stories from around the world.

To cats have been attributed a wide variety of traits - often contradictory. Curiosity, nine lives, independence, cleverness, unpredictability, and healing are but a few. A witch's pet cat was usually regarded as her familiar - a spirit in the form of a cat. It was often believed that witches could take the form of cats.

Cats are at home after dark, and yet most humans want them to be traditional pets during the day. When they do not respond in this manner, they are accredited with independence and unsociability. Because the dark is the home of fears and those things humans do not want to see and can't see, the cat has come to be associated with magic and mystery. The truth is that cats have more rods in the retinas of their eyes, which enhances light perception. It enables them to see effectively in the dark. The traditional prey of a cat is the mouse, but it is by no means limited to it. Cats still effectively hunt birds and rabbits.

The traditional enemy of the cat is the dog, but this is not its only enemy. For anyone with a cat totem, the study of the qualities of the mouse and the dog will be beneficial for helping you to understand the magic and the balance of energies with the cat.

Examine the colours, the character, the behaviours of your own cat. Everything about it will be significant. Many books exist on the lore and the character of cats. Whether domesticated or wild, anytime a cat becomes predominant, look for magic and mystery to come alive.

Star.

Star

06:22 02/04/2002 

Climbing to new heights of success, creativity and independence even???

Tom

14:11 10/04/2002 

Yes, you ahve shed some light on that one. I am getting back into live performances again. This is in essence a young fantasy. I am accustom to it but I have not done this for a few years. It is mischiefous. It involves fun and dancing and all other kinds of covorting. Maybe that is what it was about. The telephone reference was maybe the mass communication part of the live music? Thanx as usual.