Dream interpretation is a way to understand yourself better, find out what’s on your mind (underneath your ego), and tap into a level of humanity that’s endlessly mystifying.
I love armchair dream interpretation. Big disclaimer: I’m not an expert. I’m just a really big fan of dreams and read a lot about them. If you need expert advice, I recommend a Jungian therapist to help with dream analysis.
This is an interpretation of one of my dreams. It’s from a few months ago, but I don’t remember anything extraordinary happening in my life at the time so it didn’t feel related to any noticeable event or situation.
The dream summary
It’s a sunny afternoon. I’m walking on a gravel road. There’s no one around and I’m not in a hurry. There are wide open fields to each side of me and no town or destination in sight. I notice something on the side of the road. As I get closer, I see it’s a small coop made of chicken wire and a wood frame with chipped white paint. Inside are three monkeys sitting quietly. Each of them is holding an egg in their hand and looking back at me.
When I woke up from the dream, I was startled and awed by the monkeys. I worried about them in the cage, but they didn’t seem stressed and I wondered if the eggs were for me. I named the dream Caged Monkeys Holding Eggs and wrote it down in my journal shortly after I woke up to help me remember it.
The dream interpretation
When I’m interpreting a dream, I always start with personal definitions before I consult any dream archetypes or dictionaries.
I think of monkeys as playful and sweetly mischievous. Eggs make me think of potential but this is the same definition as the archetype so we’re aligned on that. The cage felt confining, which seemed like a straightforward definition. The monkeys were trapped inside but not trying to get out. I came across them on an empty road with no one around.
I took the dream to mean there was potential waiting for me if I could be more playful and break out of a cage. As I sat with that meaning, it felt right. If it didn’t, I would have explored other interpretations.
The dream helped me see what I needed. My ego was telling me to work harder and focus more, but my unconscious needed time off. Working harder isn’t always the answer.
