Ian Wallace Interpretation:
Dream: You are making your way through a deep dense forest or jungle trying to get through to a more open area on the other side. There is a path you are following but it seems to be getting narrower and fainter. Branches brush against your face and the undergrowth tugs at your clothing. The trees are really tall and some have fallen down, their trunks blocking your way. You hear mysterious rustlings coming from all around you and there seem to be dark shapes moving in the shadows. Although it is scary, you keep pushing deeper and deeper.
Meaning: When you dream of being deep in a forest or jungle, you are becoming aware of unfamiliar parts of your character and their potential for growth in waking life. A forest symbolizes all your unconscious and unseen aspects that grow and mature over the years. Although you have not consciously been aware of these areas, a situation in waking life has compelled you to enter and explore them in more depth. This is often triggered when you revisit events from the past and are investigating how they may have affected you. Making your way through this deep dark forest to a clearing shows that you are trying to clear up some confusion about these events. Although you think you had a definite issue to resolve when you began this self-exploration, it often becomes less and less defined as you explore further. The branches against your face and the undergrowth tugging at your clothing indicate that you may be having your attention drawn to your identity and who you really think you are. As you progress on your journey, you encounter habitual barriers and blockages, which you have to confront or make your way around. The rustling and the shapes are your instinctive impulses, which you fear may harm you in some way. Even though it is frightening, you get more confident the deeper you go and you finally start to realize what is at the root of the situation.
Action: The main insight from this dream is that you have access to a rich and varied collection of resources within your self. Although these areas may appear mysterious and uncontrollable they contain valuable information about your growth as a person. As you continue on your journey of self- exploration, it is important not to lose sight of where you have come from and where you want to go. Choose the path you want to follow and try not to be distracted by all the other routes that you are being advised to take.
Background: Our first encounters with mysterious forests are usually from children’s stories about enchanted woods. The fairy-tale forests often hold something of great value but it usually takes courage and persistence to find it and return with the prize. Forests and jungles are also sanctuaries for mysterious and powerful characters like Robin Hood or indigenous Amazonian tribes. Somewhere within all our inner landscapes is a wild wood where we can truly be ourselves. Like our dream forests, our unknown and unseen places are often a sanctuary where we can rest and recover in our waking lives.