Last night I dreamed that some friends and I were going for a swim in a waterhole. The waterhole was fringed by high cliffs (a crater lake I guess). I clambered over the lip of the crater before the rest of the group and clung to the rock, which was very steep. Looking down, I saw the water was quite a scary drop below, and an intense blue. But the wierdest thing was that on the surface of the water were floating lots and lots of squid, ranging from 1-6 feet in body length. I immediately decided that jumping from a great height into a lake full of large squid might not be such a great idea (although in retrospect it does sound like fun), and yelled at my friends to warn them. They ignored me and jumped, yelling and laughing into the lake. My fingers were getting tired with the effort of hanging on to the rock, and my feet were slipping. Just as I couldn't hold on any longer and started to fall, I woke up!!!

So, any budding dream interpreters out there who can tell me what this means? Anyone else having nocturnal cephalopodic encounters? :sleeping: :squid:

Hmmmm.........no idea what your dream means. I sure it does not have to have meaning! Quite amusing in a disturbing manner though.

I once dreamt that I threw up gallons of milk and dead baby octopuses into a porcelain wash basin in my old school changing room. :yuck:

Eeeeeewwwwww! That would be disturbing. Were the poor babies alive? Had you possibly taken a swig from a milk carton contaminated with octopus eggs? Perhaps you inadvertantly discovered a new species whose natural habitat is milk? This is linking uncannily into the "What kind of milk does cthulhu prefer" thread.

Oooops. You said they were dead. Sorry Phil. Monday morning here. Still a bit out of it.

:roflmao: :lol: :cthulhu:

Let's see now, Squid, what could that symbolize?

Long, narrow, rigid, muscular, flanked by two rounded flukes, moves in both directions, aggressive, a bit scary but fascinating....

Nope, doesn't remind me of anything in particular.

:squid: :roflmao:

"Sometimes a Ceph is just a Ceph." -- Squidmund Freud

I should have learned by now not to lay my subconscious down on the table for dissection. Often quite embarrassing. :oops: :lol:

I once dreamt that I threw up gallons of milk and dead baby octopuses into a porcelain wash basin in my old school changing room. :yuck:

:roflmao:

Apparently we birthday twins are more psychologically connected than we thought - but I'm glad I'm not the only one with dreams along these lines. Sometime within the past few months (you can confirm this with Steve, he laughed long and hard when I told him) I dreamt I had a baby lobster culture growing in my stomach, and I kept vomiting masses of squirming zoea. It was one of the most disgusting dreams I think I've ever had.

....I dreamt I had a baby lobster culture growing in my stomach, and I kept vomiting masses of squirming zoea. It was one of the most disgusting dreams I think I've ever had.

OMG. Kat, this is unbelievable -- you sure you haven't been reading any urban legends lately? Because several months ago I was browsing through the Snopes "Urban Legends" website (a topic that has always interested me) and came across the grossest, awfullest, most repulsive urban legend I've ever heard, and it bore a remarkable resemblance to your dream -- only much, much worse.

Good taste precludes my including herein a direct link to the story, but if you're morbidly curious about it, you can go to www.snopes.com, and type the words lobster brine shrimp into the search engine. But please note....

Reader Advisory: Rated NC-17 for adult content and EXTREME nausea factor! :yuck: :yuck: :yuck:

Since the legend has no basis in fact (thank Poseidon!), I can only conclude that the "crustacean-spewing" archetype is common to all western cultures. What does it mean? I have no idea, but something tells me I wouldn't want to know even if I could.

Still dreaming about Archis :wink: ,
Me

I've heard about that one too. Beggars the imagination. But I guess if you REALLY love lobster.... Derailing train of thought now before permanent damage done.

I actually know someone who insists that that one is true...I have tried to explain to her several times that is not possible for lobsters to hatch inside a female orifice, but she is adamant!
Its never happened to me. :lol:
Greg

I actually know someone who insists that that one is true...


Maybe she's the one it really happened to, except she didn't die.

:mrgreen: :confused: :yuck:

EEEWWWW! That is wrong on soooo many levels! Hmmm, come to think of it, I thought I saw naupli down there once...hehe :lol:
Greg

EEEWWWW! That is wrong on soooo many levels! Hmmm, come to think of it, I thought I saw naupli down there once...hehe :lol:
Greg

Well, this post sent me directly to a search engine and now I know what naupli are:

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/metamorphosis.html

Come to think of it, that's exactly what my friend's brother picked up at one of the local "recreational establishments" when the USAF stationed him in Bangkok.... :P

Aaaarrgh aaaarrgh!
Mr. Krabs

oh, he must have gotten them from the toilet seat, right??? :D

To take this thread back to its original topic and away from the purience it has drifted towards, as an amateur dream interpreter I have this to say about the original, which actually has its own level of passionate repose. In many different branches of psychology, water, and especially a body of water in which one would immerse oneself, has sexual connotations. This has more to do with the whole body experiance of floating or being submerged totally in another state than anything symbolic. The context of the body of water in your dream, its being surrounded by imposing cliffs, populated by an animal which causes you fear, would suggest that presently or in your future you are/will be faced by a romantic encounter to which you are not inclined, despite the approval and even encouragement of others. To put it bluntly, you may be invited to a liason with a person who many would find attractive, but you find distasteful for whatever reason. I say stick with your gut and stay out of the water!

To take this thread back to its original topic
Awww, thanks Lithograpgette. I was sure that someone out there would have dabbled in dream interpretation
To put it bluntly, you may be invited to a liason with a person who many would find attractive, but you find distasteful for whatever reason.
Interesting. A distasteful liaison. Someone with bad B.O, perhaps? Or clammy squid-like skin? I better stay away from that 3rd cousin from Innsmouth.
I say stick with your gut and stay out of the water!
Sure thing. My gut and I will stay nice and dry until a tasteful liaison comes along. Thanks again!

Drytail medication for hamsters works well on wet-gut too... :D
Oh hells bells...cool dreams are fun, and if I tried to understand all of mine, I would be in a mental hospital!
Wait. I am in a mental hospital!

"Nurse, nurse! Bring me my meds!"
Greg

Hi Tentacular,

Seriously, I think Lith is on the right track, but I see dreams as revelations of the unconscious mind rather than prophetic messages.

I have numerous dreams about water, many of which involve Cephs. In many of my water dreams, there is a distinctly spiritual "atmosphere". And in my Ceph dreams -- usually involving Archis, kidding aside -- there is an initial experience of fear followed by acceptance, reverence, and awe for the creatures. Of course, in ancient cultures and religions around the world, water is seen as a symbol of rebirth, initiation, and spirituality -- and it is often seen also as a Divine Feminine symbol, in contrast to fire which is similarly seen as a Divine Masculine one. The "feminine" fluidity of water, combined with the phallic shape of Squid, may also represent the fact that spirituality and sexuality are two sides of the same coin. Again, this is a very powerful and very universal archetype: At one point in the Catholic Easter Vigil Mass, a tall ritual candle is dipped three times in the water font; in Hinduism, water is poured over a phallic-shaped stone called a Shiva-Lingam as part of a puja or sacred ritual; and several other spiritual traditions have similar juxtaposition of solid, subtly or overtly phallic objects and water.

There is an air of both vitality and mystery about Cephalopods, and also about water -- which of course is a basic necessity of life for virtually every organism on this planet. Whether or not you have a particular spiritual orientation, the water you wish to enter in the dream may very likely represent your desire to enter a deeper level of self-knowledge, to delve into a part of your psyche (perhaps an early memory) that you have not examined before. Or, because water may also represent your intuitive/emotional life (as opposed to your rational/intellectual life), it may symbolize your desire to "let go" a little more and express your feelings more openly.

The presence of the Squid in this context could be seen either as what you perceive to be impediments to this goal, or perhaps as the necessity to integrate your "inner male" with your "inner female". (I don't know your gender, but I believe that every emotionally healthy person has elements of both in their psyche, whether or not they acknowledge the fact.)

Please take this with a grain of (sea) salt, of course -- since I don't know your personal background, I cannot give an adequate explanation of what this dream might mean to you. While there are many archetypes that we as a species share, more specific meanings are unique to the individual, and ultimately can only be interpreted by him/her -- sometimes aided by the guidance of a therapist or the personal study of psychology, folklore, and symbolism.

At any rate, it's great that you remember your dreams so vividly. You might want to start keeping a Dream Journal to record those you remember, because a recurrent pattern in one's dreams is a message from the subconscious saying, in effect, "Pay attention, I'm trying to tell you something helpful about your life, your relationships, or yourself!"

Enjoy your nightly explorations!

Sweet dreams,
Tani

PS: You might enjoy checking out the following fascinating essay on the Octopus as erotic symbol (I posted this link earlier on one of the TONMO Supporters threads):

(READER ADVISORY: Some adult content and images)

http://www.sandplay.org/octoarticle/octopus.html

(Apparently, "sandplay" is a psychotherapeutic practice involving the patient molding shapes and setting up scenes in a small sandbox.)

Tani

Thanks for such a detailed response Tani. Interesting stuff. I try to remember my dreams, some are of course more vivid than others. Don’t know whether you saw the animated film “Waking Life”. Aside from being an amazing compilation of philosophical treatises on the meaning of existence etc etc, it also offers some instructions on how empower your dream self – how to actually control and manipulate your dreamscape. The film profoundly affected me, and since seeing it I’ve tried to take a more active, experimental approach to dreaming. Its hard work though. My dream self is fairly lazy.
:lol: :sleeping:

Will mull over this, and perhaps another dream will come along to make things clearer, or murkier!

BTW, I have previously seen the Japanese woodcuts cited in the article you mention, and I really love them. Japan of course has a long and honourable erotic woodcut tradition, of which these form a tiny but fascinating subcategory. Would love to get framed copies but would probably get odd reactions from anyone who happened to see them. :wink:

Woah, this thread turned into Frued vs Jung. I would like to think of myself as more jungian, but I don't share Tani's deep knowledge of archetypical history. Although this was not my dream, I feel enlightened!

I haven't had any dreams involving squids or octopuses, but I have had a number involving Cthulhu. :shock:

I haven't had any dreams involving squids or octopuses, but I have had a number involving Cthulhu. :shock:

Hi and :welcome: , Anomalocaris! I would love to hear your :cthulhu: dreams, and I'll bet Lith would too -- if this trend keeps up, I think she and I could start a thread called "TONMO Amateur Shrinks' Dream Analysis Clinic (Participate at Your Own Risk)". :mrgreen:

So, tell already -- we're listening!

Freud Reich and Egg Foo Jung

Hi Tani and thanks for the welcome!


So, tell already -- we're listening!


Well, at the risk of sounding like poor Henry Wilcox...
(or just some poor geek who reads way too much HP Lovecraft...)

You mentioned the feelings of initial fear, followed by acceptance, reverence, and awe in your ceph dreams and that is a good description of many of my Cthulhu dreams. In one dream, I don't recall how, I came upon R'lyeh once more risen from the sea. It was initially quite strange, huge, and terrifying with horrible geometries, but as I explored it more it became quite beautiful (but still very alien). At the end of my dream Cthulhu appeared and I was stunned and unable to move and was completely awe-struck even though I knew it was time to kiss human civilization goodbye :lol:

A little more disturbing was the dream in which I was a high-priestess (those are pink ribbons on my mouth-parts ;) ) of the Cthulhu cult and was in charge of, urm, 'collecting' suitable sacrifices. Apparently being dead but dreaming doesn't stop one's hunger. I'm not sure if I want to hear interpretations of dreaming of dimensional portals opening and tentacles coming out to grab the sacrifices :oops: :)

There are others, often just an appearance of Cthulhu near the end of the dream, but sometimes I'm involved consciously or unconsciously with the discovery and/or return of Cthulhu. Hmmmm....maybe it's time to move that Cthulhu statue out of the bedroom...

I generally have pretty vivid dreams and they often have a Lovecraftian slant to them. Some might term them nightmares but I quite enjoy them.

Hey Anomalocaris.

Of course you know that Cthulhu is said to use dreams as his/her/its primary means of communication with worshipers. Sounds like you’ve been identified as a potential convert. Just as long as the sacrifices are dream people, no problem.... :goofysca: :D

I think she and I could start a thread called "TONMO Amateur Shrinks' Dream Analysis Clinic (Participate at Your Own Risk)
Great idea Tani. Reserve a space on the virtual couch for me.

Of course you know that Cthulhu is said to use dreams as his/her/its primary means of communication with worshipers.

I know! That's just what's so troubling about finding Cthulhu in one's dreams! :shock: :lol:

So I had a cephish dream last night too! It involved some blah blah about my exboyfriend, which was all obvious references and no need to bring it up here. However, the ceph was a very different sort than the ones others have described here - he was a waiter at a restaurant. Only he, being out of water, could not stand up so was moving himself along on a white plate with wheels on it. The ceph was completely translucent, with some brown red spotting and very big perfectly clear eyes - he looked sort of like a clear gob of jello or something on the plate and spoke with the voice of stephen hawking when he took our order. He was a very effective waiter and also got security to kick my ex out after I threw all my food at him. What does it all mean? I have no idea.

I didn't have a ceph dream last night, but I did have a moose nightmare... :shock:

So last night in this nightmare a moose mauled a friend from college with his antlers. It was absolutely horrendous. Then, while I was trying to dial 911, it came after me, and I ran into the woods with the hope I could get behind a tree so the same thing wouldn't happen to me... I then woke up and didn't sleep well (i.e., at all) after that...

Doctors??? :goofysca:

What does it all mean? I have no idea.
I think I can help here... It means that you should always tip at least 20% to an effective octopus waiter with a speech impediment.

Duly noted. Next time I'm at that dream restaurant I will be sure to give him un grande propina.

So I had a cephish dream last night too!
I knew when I started this thread that I wouldn't be the only one with ceph dreams to offload!
he was a waiter at a restaurant
I trust this wasn't a seafood restaurant. What a cool dream! He sounds better than many a waiter I've had dealings with.

I had another one! This one was even better as my ex was nowhere to be seen. I was in the coolest fish store EVER, it was like an aquarium it was so big and the majority of the dream was spent looking at all the different types of water animals, trying to decide which one I wanted to take home for my tank. There was a oblong tank in the middle of the store, sort of like an O in that it was open in the middle and this is where the lights were. This tank had all the saltwater animals, who shared the same water, but had plexiglas dividers between the sections for each of them so they would not eat each other. There was an octo vulgaris in one of these sections, about the size of a normal persons fist (I have small hands, so both my fists) and we had a total mind-meld, where the octo was changing color corrosponding to my thoughts and came right up to the glass to get a look at me. I put my hand against the glass and the octo put one tentacle up against my hand, then that one tentacle split on the end into five fingers, so it looked just like a little hand. I was amazed. I hung out with this octo for a while, but I knew I could not have him because I did nt have the knowledge or resources to keep him, so I ended up getting a bright purple blennie instead. Next thing ya know I am skateboarding on a rainy day in the Zocalo and the dream goes on from there...

That is so cool! Very positive. The octopus could be a familiar or spirit guide, obviously an entity with which you communicate on a profound level. It may be that its just saying a little hello to you now, letting you know that it will be waiting when you are ready for it. I hope so, because it must have been sad having this incredible communion with the creature, only to have to leave it. The fish store sounds very very cool. Maybe you'll be able to get there again. Try meditating on the setting before you go to sleep & maybe you can turn it into a sort of dream-base.

8:45am for me right now. Trying to clean out the cobwebs of unremembered dreams from last night with esspresso before gritting my teeth and starting the working day.

Trying to clean out the cobwebs of unremembered dreams from last night with esspresso before gritting my teeth and starting the working day.


I like that sentence, very poetic. Although my dream last night did not have any cephs in it, I did have another ocean animal encounter, this time with a large seaturtle, of the type I got to pet while in Mexico (I'm looking at her picture on my desk right now) this one talked, but it was sad about things, however as it left after our conversation I got the distinct impression I was to raise the baby turtles from the eggs it has just lain.

Maybe tonight I'll run into a giant squid who wants to play baseball or something.

....There was an octo vulgaris in one of these sections, about the size of a normal persons fist (I have small hands, so both my fists) and we had a total mind-meld, where the octo was changing color corrosponding to my thoughts and came right up to the glass to get a look at me. I put my hand against the glass and the octo put one tentacle up against my hand, then that one tentacle split on the end into five fingers, so it looked just like a little hand....

Hiya Lith!

By any chance, did you ever read an anecdote I posted to this site about a little Octo at the Coney Island Aquarium? Your dream image sounds almost identical to the actual incident, when the cutie was shyly hiding in a rock crevice at the back of the exhibit, and I placed my palm against the glass to see what it would do. At that point, still lodged in its little hidey-hole, it reached out one arm and placed it on the glass right up against my palm, as if to shake hands with me. Of course, its arm didn't split into five fingers :D , but otherwise it sounds like you had my post in the back of your mind and it surfaced in your dream.

Either that, or it is one hell of a co-inky-dinky! :octopus:

Squidly salutations,
Me

Now that you remind me of the post I do recall reading it, but it was some time ago. I think the dream was also fueled in part by all the cable I watched while indulging in room service during my stay in Las Vegas last weekend, I don't have a telly of my own, so I made a point of watching lots of the nature channel, which rewarded me with several docs on cephs and other ocean animals. No more ceph dreams recently, but still lots with water and traveling.....

I had a strange ceph dream last night were I had an octo for a head.

IA! IA!!!!

:cthulhu: :heart: :beer:

Huh?

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! IÃ! IÃ! Cthulhu fhtagn!

and you can quote me on that.

I will.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! IÃ! IÃ! Cthulhu fhtagn!

and you can quote me on that.

And I did.

Still, huh?

Of course you know that Cthulhu is said to use dreams as his/her/its primary means of communication with worshipers.

That being the case, I believe I was contacted last night... had a dream in which a friend of mine wrote a lengthy, somewhat rambling but excellent poem, the final stanza of which described Cthulhu rampaging down the streets of some large hapless city, wreaking havoc (fire and brimstone, apocalypse, all that) and then the final line was something fantastic along the lines of "As Faulkner said, 'You won't need it in the afterlife'. "
... OK, maybe this only sounded brilliant to me in the wee hours of the morning (as dream inspirations tend to do) but I do wish I could remember the rest. It was great.
Even though I can't stand Faulkner (may :cthulhu: consume him and his entire body of literature). And I doubt he ever said that.

Iä!

Even though I can't stand Faulkner (may :cthulhu: consume him and his entire body of literature). And I doubt he ever said that.

Iä!

Hey, I liked LIGHT IN AUGUST! Of course, that's the only thing I ever read by him, and that was back in college around the time of the Peloponnesian Wars. Anyway, if he did say that, it would have been in Deep South rural dialect stream of consciousness with lots and lots of stark red earth bleak fertile rainy black white green grassy searing hot sweaty cornbreadscented adjectives....

it would have been in Deep South rural dialect stream of consciousness

for the sound and fury, i hope hes being tormented somewhere for a long while....

very odd... had a dream a few nights ago where my family somehow how come into possession of lovecraft's house.... they were going to give it to me because no one else wanted it.... it was one of those realistic seeming dreams.... i only realized it was in a dream when i agreed to move to RI

Well, last night I had a dream, My mom bought me a black vampyroteuthis and it was about 20cm swimming in my 2 foot freshwater tank. I gave it a crab but it didn't eat it, The next day it was ok then the dream moved to something else.

Another dream I had sometime last week: I dreamt that I went to my usual marine LFS and they had tons of cuttles, I also saw cuttlefish with the colour of metasepia and the stalky eyes of a mimic octopus.

I don't really care for the meaning but just to share.

I had a dream a week or two ago where I went to my LFS and in the cichlid tank were a bunch of cichlid sized, cichlid colored cuttlefish, so I but some and put them in with Pudge but he ate them.