Dear Claire,
I had this dream where someone broke into my house. It was four people who I didn’t know. I ordered everyone in my family, my mom, my dad, and my little sister, to go to my bedroom. I grabbed the gun that we had in the house and took it with me to my room. My door was partly open, and I saw them passing by my room. As they passed my room, they saw me with the gun, but they weren’t bothered by it. Then, I shot and missed. After that, I shot at someone else, but it barely touched their shirt and then totally bounced off of their shirt. The bullet was so slow, and it looked like it was moving in slow motion. I kept shooting, but all of the bullets were really, really slow and wouldn’t hit anything. Every time I shot the gun, I could see the bullets moving so slowly through the air. There was no way that the bullets could hit anyone, but I still didn’t stop shooting. Not until I woke up. This dream really bothered me, and I thought about it constantly for days. Could you tell me what you think it meant?
It is pretty certain that the dream had to be tied to something extremely significant in the dreamer’s waking world if it bothered the dreamer for that many days. Furthermore, the two most notable features in the dream – one, the dreamer acting as the protector of the family and, two, the gun with the slow motion bullets, appear to hold the key to unlocking this dream’s meaning. The dreamer put herself in a leadership role in the dream- she made herself the one in charge, the one who has to protect the family- while the mother, sister, and father are notably quiet and inactive. This would indicate that the dreamer, for some reason, sees herself as the leader of the family unit. However, the fact that the bullets move in slow motion, have no impact, and even bounce off their intended targets would indicate that, while the dreamer may see herself as being placed in the role of protector, she still does not feel adequate or powerful enough to actually take on this role. By the same token, however, she does not view her mother, sister, or father as being qualified for the role of head of household, either, and sees herself as the most able and powerful of the group. The slow motion, ineffective bullets serve as a symbol in her dream for her perceived lack of ability to protect and lead the family.
When I questioned the dreamer about the family dynamic being portrayed in her dream, she stated that her father had recently experienced a serious health scare, which left him in poor health and unable to act as the head of the household. The dreamer stated, “It was so weird for me after my dad got sick, because my dad was always the head of the family. But then I had to be the head of the family. It was just so hard to accept that my dad wasn’t in charge anymore. I kind of felt lost and didn’t know what to do.” I then asked the dreamer who she would say was the next strongest in the family – after her father. The dreamer indicated that she would have to say that she, herself, would be the next strongest person in the family (and this belief is supported by the fact that she put herself in the leadership role in her dream). Because the number four was clearly mentioned and stood out in her dream, I then asked her if she could think of what the four intruders, or the number four, could signify – as in, four issues, people, or areas in her life that she might struggle with or be concerned about. The dreamer indicated that there were, indeed, four areas in her life that she was struggling to maintain and balance – her family, school, work, and her social circle. She also indicated that while she yearned to “just be young and carefree,” she knew that she was now the only one who could take over for her father – and so had to be in charge whether she felt ready for the responsibility or not.
Obviously, this dream was a means of working through her fear and angst over this changing of family roles due to her father’s illness. However, while the theme of powerlessness in this dream is undeniably strong, the fact that the dreamer continues to fight and refuses to give up – even though she shoots bouncing, slow motion, impotent bullets—is an extremely positive and inspirational symbol for her attitude in times of trouble. And it is this very attitude of perseverance in the face of difficulty which is going to get her through these extremely challenging periods in her life.
