Trying to Fight Through Tangled Webs

Dear Cynthia: I am a 53-year-old male. I have this dream a lot.

I dream that I am in a house in which there are a lot of rooms, and when I open a door to the first room, the room is full of spider webs. I cannot go very far into the room because of the webs. (I really am scared of spider webs whether there are spiders in them or not.)

I try to break the webs down, but even when I use a board or an iron bar, they simply won’t break.

I leave the room to go to another, and that room is the same. Eventually I find some rooms that don’t have any webs at all. But I keep trying to go through the rooms with the spider webs.

Finally I give up. Then I wake up, and remember the dream, and feel weird all day.

--T.T., Rialto

Dear Reader: The house you visit in your dreams may be a metaphor for your being. The rooms represent parts of yourself.

The spider webs in some of the rooms seem to indicate that you have not explored or utilized these parts of yourself. Since you fear spider webs, your subconscious might be showing you that you fear trying new things or new ways of thinking or behaving.

Still, you try to break down the webs, only to find that they are very strong. Your fears may cause extreme resistance, but it could be that you are choosing the wrong tool and need to rethink what is required.

Spider webs can represent the sticky webs of manipulation that we weave in our lives. You may be a victim of deception--or the creator of it. Perhaps you realize that you could improve your life if you were willing to change certain aspects of your approach.

Since there are rooms that are not blocked by webs, it seems that just a few specific areas in your life need to be changed. I suggest an exercise:

Sit quietly and bring the dream image to mind. Ask yourself what resources in your life may be blocked by manipulative behavior.

If something comes to mind, ask what you can do to make a healthy change. Write down anything that comes to mind.

If nothing comes to mind immediately, repeat the exercise a few times, especially just before going to sleep. This may plant seeds that will change the actual dream and offer further illumination.

Fax your dreams to Cynthia Richmond at (213) 237-0732 or e-mail them to in.your.dreams@worldnet.att.net. Please include your hometown and a daytime phone number. “In Your Dreams” appears every Tuesday and should be read for entertainment purposes only.