Anyone up for interpreting my interesting dream?

[hihello]

It's one full of Christian imagery, so you'll need to take that on board. I am Christian so it is that quite of interpretation I'm primarily interested in but if you've any other perspective I'm interested too.

Anyway, the dream:

In the dream authority figures around me have arranged for Jesus to be crucified again to save everyone. I am unhappy about Christ having to suffer this but it has been agreed and will definitely go ahead so I have to accept this. Then I have a meal of reheated Shepherd's Pie and go to camp out with them at the bottoms of the cross. I know, in the dream, I am not required to do this but feel I want to be there in support. I can't bring myself to look at Him, though and am relieved their are blankets blocking my view as long as I don't look up.

My initial thoughts on this is that there are lessons I have learnt and don't need to learn again but am going through it again (reheated Shepherd's Pie) and have come back to the same place in support of others around who still need to learn. I am not speaking out but am there in support although Christ's suffering suggests whatever it is they need to learn, whilst they are ignorant, is harmful.

Any other takes on this?

Ah...it seems my dream is not that interesting to anyone else, then.

Never mind, I'll continue to mull it over myself.

I'd say your religious beliefs have put a ' spin' on this.
You feel obliged to go along with something (possibly work-related) that either scares you a little, or perhaps feels daunting. Those in authority have approved whatever it is, but you are not fully comfortable with the decision.
You might feel responsible for the outcome, even though you think those in authority might be protecting or shielding you a bit.
You feel that you have perhaps gone through a similar experience, or felt the same way before.
You are fairly confident that your faith will bolster you through whatever difficulties lie ahead, but perhaps you are not convinced that emotionally or spiritually you 'have what it takes'.

Thank you, Markle. I agree my religious beliefs undoubtedly affect my interpretation . It's difficult for them not to considering the subject matter! Interesting to see your interpretation.

Of course, it could just be that you've been reading your bible, contemplating sacrifice and had shepherd's pie for dinner this week too!

Afraid not done an awful lot of reading this week. And, alas no Shepherd's Pie this week either. I think it is definitely a meaningful sort of dream. I've had a few over the years, they always stand out. They usually give me insights concerning where I am at in my life at that point in time.

Your interpretation of the dream is probably accurate.

I must say I found it quite moving. Wow! What a dream to have.

It was pretty moving, Rebecca and unsettling. I felt pretty ashamed that Jesus had to be crucified again and cowardly for being unable to look up in the dream. It took all the strength I could muster to be at the foot of the cross. The comfort I took was that there is meaning in it and regardless of the repetition of Jesus' suffering in it I got the sense that He was willing and it had a purpose.

I have just reread Hebrews 6 which I had half remembered. I'm a bit freaked out. Relieved it wasn't me recrucifying Jesus but appalled I felt like I had to go along (not surprised I couldn't stomach it) and the authority figures in the dream claimed it had to happen. I'm wondering which situations in my life this applies to.

Interesting dream. Do you think it was God-sent or came from your subconscious? I can usually tell when a dream is God-sent, it feels different somehow.

A few thoughts - you were ashamed to look at Jesus but you camped out to give him support. Are you being called to be more bold in your expression of faith? Is there a situation where you need to put God first a bit more?

Alternatively Jesus could simply represent sacrifice if it is more of a subconscious dream. A sacrifice you know you need to make but can't quite force yourself to? Or a sacrifice someone else has made for you that you feel guilty about?

Interesting points, bathsh3ba. Tbh I’ve been questioning myself about those sort of things. I don’t like to think I’m compromising my faith but sometimes I do feel I cannot communicate the more bold aspects of it to the people around me.

I’m wondering if there is a situation in your life where you are feeling forced to choose between God’s way and The World’s? Or where you feel it is difficult to live out your Christian journey in a secular situation? Do you feel conflicted at work, or politically maybe?

Fluffy, no not at work. I've been undergoing cancer treatment. The whole process is one that is extremely challenging in terms of exercising faith versus being told what to expect. Equally, I'm very conscious of not upsetting those close to me especially as I've close relatives who've died from cancer.

Oh I’m sorry to hear you are undergoing cancer treatment, that must be tough

I just wondered if your dream was about a conflict - you didn’t want Christ to suffer but you let it happen, you didn’t want to look at Him but you wanted to be there. its tough sometimes to put our faith in Jesus and to be set apart from the world, sometimes we need to be in he world and of the world and this doesn’t always sit comfortably with what we feel called to do by God.
Could there be some (unnecessary) guilt from you about your strength of faith at this difficult time for you?

Maybe the reheated pie was a message from God - hey it might not always be your first choice but I promise I’ll look after you

Thanks, Fluffy, that is a comfort. I do remember liking the Shepherd's Pie.

Hihello I was interested in your dream because I too have had a crucifixion dream and it had a lasting effect on me. I’m an atheist so I suppose that makes it a rather curious subject for a dream in my case and, as it happens, I would not interpret my dream as I would yours.

But back to your dream – I see a link between Christ suffering again and you eating that Shepherd’s Pie again and considering the crucifixion again! The theme of your dream, for me, is then a revisiting of aspects of previously experienced reality. The revisiting takes place whilst you are in your current circumstances and in an uninhibited dream state, allowing you to reimagine the crucifixion scene in a fresh way.

The dictating authority figures might be symbolic of the limited influence we have over what happens in this world and how much we have to go with the flow of outside forces, yet doing what we can to preserve autonomy within that reality.

Why could you not look at Jesus? Why were you metaphorically pulling the blankets over your head?

I think that, given your own particular situation right now, you will have an acute awareness of what suffering is and you will be able to empathise strongly with the suffering of others, including Jesus. You are in deeper resonance with the narrative of the crucifixion, which makes it more unbearable to look at it directly. Yet still you want to be there to experience that resonance, to be present, mindful and alive, however difficult it is.

(Dreams often involve a reexamining of issues or parts of life that are unresolved because, for whatever reason, it has proved impossible to process them 'out in the daylight', so the thoughts occupy a subterranean part of the mind more accessible in the dream state.)

Thanks, Out, that is helpful.