TRAPPED

Example: ‘After our first baby was born I had such nightmares my doctor gave me a tranquilliser to take before going to sleep. I have taken one at bedtime for 36 years! I am too afraid not to take it. But I still have dreams’ (Margaret S-W). Although this is not a dream about being trapped, Mar­garet is trapped by fears which she never faces. Such fears can stay with us a lifetime, so it is much more economical and satisfying to meet the difficulties they represent. In a dream, Margaret’s fears might be represented by a trapped dream, such as the next example.

Example: I am trapped in a small brick room with no way out. I shout for someone to help me. Then either a huge bird or creature with arms tries to catch me and I scream myself awake’ (Karen S). Karen had lived through a divorce, an un­happy love affair, the loss of a baby. In the dream the figure who comes after she has called for help might save her, but her fears make her reject it. Perhaps Karen’s feelings about men paint them as monsters. Whatever her past males may have been like, with such feelings it is Karen herself who is the prisoner and suffers loneliness. Trapped dreams can also depict feelings we have about work, about lack of opportunity, and so on. It must be remembered that the dream puts into images one’s own feelings about the situation, not the external thing itself.

See imprisoned; cage; cell; wolj under animal; escape; holding.

This dream is probably expressing how you feel in real life. Perhaps, you are trapped by marriage, dependence on your parents, or in a job without future. In this case you need to reformulate some aspects of your own situation. On the other hand, you might be trapped on your own conservatism or obstinacy.

If you change the way you do things, you will surely experience a feeling of liberation.

Gypsy tradition says that if you dream that an animal is caught in a net you must act with caution. Otherwise, your plans will fail.

To be trapped in a dream suggests you feel trapped by your current circumstances. It means you feel unable to see a way of escaping your current problems.

• It reflects feelings of frustration perhaps due to being trapped in your job or a difficult relationship.

• If you are trapping something in a dream be aware of holding onto things too tightly.

• Sometimes dreams of being trapped relate to the paralysis mechanism that affects the large muscle groups during dream sleep to stop us acting out our dreams.