Clarksburg, West Virginia as viewed from the east on Main Street (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Dream locales for me are almost always peculiar when I think back on them, but I typically will accept them while in the dream and even understand what these places represent geographically. Within the dream the places may not always seem quite right although they may seem very familiar for some reason.
A dream version of reality is created by the subconscious. Perhaps the setting is a symbolic representation of an idea, an emotion, or some other concept. But what exactly does that setting represent?
Here are three dream fragments where setting was specific at some point and seemed to be of particular significance:
In a dream that seems to be related to work, I begin in an industrialized type of location on the outskirts of an urban area. I am looking for something and am accompanied by my former boss and other people whom I can't remember. As we travel--mostly on foot, but perhaps at times in vehicles--we begin wandering in a more rural setting. It is a dusky looking time of day. There are many trees and hills around us, but there are also homes and perhaps some small businesses which seemed to be closed. I recall a railroad viaduct under which passes a winding road. The place reminds me of West Virginia or a similar looking area. Soon were are walking through a forested area in the hills. We come to a vast canyon that is immense in its depth. Sunlight shines upon the canyon which besides being deep is very long. I cannot see where it ends in either direction. I know that we need to get across, but I don't know how we can accomplish this. I am acutely aware that we are in Mexico.
I've forgotten the details of a more recent dream where at the end before waking up, I am aware that my wife and I are driving to a specific town in Ontario, Canada. After wakening I almost immediately forget the dream, but I puzzle over the geographical specificity of the dream.
When I was a senior in high school in 1969, I had a rather odd dream that I was watching television on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. In the dream, I am watching a very strange baseball game that is taking place on the deck of a large ship--perhaps an aircraft carrier. As I watch I seem to become transported to the actual location of the event. I seem to be hovering above the ship watching the game. It is night and there is a fierce storm with hard rain. Through the darkness I see the choppy waves and the rain pouring on the baseball players. I immediately am aware that the ship is off the coast of Alaska. With this awareness of place I again find myself in the living room of my parents' house watching this very strange sporting event on the television. As I drift into consciousness I hear the anguished voice of the television commentator announce, "Washington is taking a beating!"
Most of my dreams do not have any reference to actual places, which is why these three dreams stand out. I have no idea about why the dreams are so place specific.
Do you dream about specific places or uncertain dreamland amalgamates that seem familiar yet undetermined? Have you had a dream where a specific geographical location was named? Are any of your dream settings accurate representations of real places with which you are familiar?
A Subconscious Past Study (Photo credit: ssoosay)
