Tidal Waves May Be Signal of Upheaval

Dear Cynthia: I love the beach. I have never had a traumatic experience in water and I’m not afraid of going in boats. But ever since I can remember, at least three times a year I dream about huge tidal waves.

Usually in my dream I’m at the beach and I have this strong feeling that a tidal wave is coming, so I try warning everyone. No one listens but when the wave starts coming at us, we all run. I seem to always run up this sand hill. I can’t seem to run fast enough and it feels like I am running in slow motion.

--VERONICA

Via e-mail

Dear Veronica: The ocean represents the unconscious mind and our emotions. Think of common phrases such as someone being a “surface person, not too deep.” This type of individual doesn’t share their feelings or emotions very much, they appear stoic. The ocean represents our deeper feelings below the surface. A tidal wave then is a huge, potentially destructive emotion or feeling that could be overpowering, even dangerous.

In your dream you intuitively have inner knowledge, a forewarning. You know that danger approaches, but others don’t feel it coming. When it becomes visible and everyone can see trouble headed their way, they all try to avoid getting swallowed up.

Perhaps in your waking state you can feel the tide changing before others do. In other words, you may be very intuitive. But you feel somewhat ineffective because you may not be persuasive with others.

Next, you have to run “uphill,” which is the hard way--made even tougher because running in sand is very difficult. So you could ask yourself: “At the time I have this dream, what deep feelings are getting out of control? Am I making this situation harder than it needs to be? Do I need to remove myself from an emotional or volatile situation?”

The answers should help you to identify what emotions are threatening you and your environment, then you can make necessary changes to calm the tides and protect yourself from future upheaval.

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Cynthia Richmond is the author of “Dream Power, How to Use Your Night Dreams to Change Your Life” (Simon & Schuster, 2000). Fax your dreams to Cynthia Richmond at (818) 783-3267 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.