I had this awful dream that I really need to find out what it means because now I’m super paranoid. The dream starts out with me and my three younger siblings living in a huge two story house with a man that we all call step dad but we’ve never seen him before. He treats us awfully and freaks us all out. In the dream I have to give my youngest sister a bath. I have to leave the room for a moment but when I come back the lights are off in the bathroom and my sister has wide eyes of fear. I slowly make my way into the bathroom and I see that she is looking at something behind me. I turn around and there is a huge shadow that reaches from the ceiling to the floor that just consumes me. Everything turns to black and start to panic and I feel like I’ve never been more scared about something. I felt there was a figure in the darkness but I don’t know. The worst part is that it repeats. As soon as I am consumed by darkness, seconds pass and I’m in the beginning of the dream forced to relive it again. I can’t control myself from not going into that bathroom. In the dream I note that it’s all fake and it’s just a dream but over time I start to feel like I’ll never wake up. The dreams scared me so much I can’t even enter the bathroom in my own house without freaking out.

Hi,
It's been my own experience that dreams scaring me the most are often the most instructive upon reflection.  So, before I get started, take heart from this.

I also want to say I believe we are the producers, writers, directors and main actors in most of our dreams.  If you concur, then it's you who's creating this dream with important messages for yourself.  

So, come with me on a journey, as I interpret your dream as if it was my own.  Push the emotions and fear you felt, temporarily to the side.  There's lots to learn from this dream.  So, if this was my dream...

My take on dreams is different than many others.  I've learnt that each room, with the walls, ceiling and floor, all representing different beliefs we use to create our personality.  The beliefs effectively wall us off from being able to view our greater reality, i.e. outside.

Houses are symbols of a variety of rooms.  Thus, our personality is composed of literally hundreds of different beliefs, filtering our reality for us.

i could have created my dream in any reality, anywhere at anytime.  So, why have I selected this two story house for my dream location?  It's because it's time I began to focus on the beliefs the house is a symbol of, limiting my own ability to spiritually grow.

So, why are my siblings with me in this dream?  They too share some of the same beliefs.  In each room where they appear, I'm letting myself know they too are working on the underlying beliefs.  However, keep in mind, it's my dream about me.  

Who is my step-dad?  He's another life.  If you'd like to learn more about this go to learningfrommydreams.com where I describe other lives et al.  

Why is he in my dream?  We both share the same underlying beliefs.  Let's see what some of the beliefs do regarding what I call surface level effects....

First, he treats us awfully.  In my dreams,  effects like this come from a group of beliefs I call "command/control".  In many of my other lives, I have lived the part of a controller or, a controllee. These beliefs are what i call "masculine based" and they result in my being afraid of my feminine.  Deep within us is compassion.  So, I'm showing myself some of the effects of the command/control beliefs, i.e. a lack of compassion.

Next i leave one of the belief compartments, i.e. the room, and then come back into the bathroom and the lights are off.  There's a few things to learn from this.

First, a bathroom is a place we go to defecate and also to clean ourselves up.  I've learnt from my dreams that when I'm in a bathroom, it's a good sign.  Why?  It means I'm not ready to begin addressing the underlying beliefs the room is a symbol of and spiritually begin releasing them.

Next the room is dark.  I've found this is a way of letting myself know I haven't been ready to deal with the beliefs before, i.e. I am un-lightened.  As I being to address the beliefs, I've found the room lighting improves, walls begin to disappear and finally the beliefs are now no longer required.  So, from this, I'm sowing myself I'm at the beginning of a journey to release the beliefs.

My sister sharing the same belief compartment as I am, is also ready to begin addressing this, in her own way and in her own time.

And now we come to the central theme of the dream, i.e. fear.  Recall again that it's me creating the dream scene.  I slowly walk in and see a huge shadow behind me.  I am laughing at myself as I write this.  Why?

It's my fears consuming me!  Now I'm out of the dream, reflecting on it , I can see how this fear consumes me, preventing myself from spiritually growing.  It's only me I am afraid of!!

And now the message is driven home.  How?  The dream keeps repeating.  I am letting myself know it's time I spiritually wake up and choose to address it.  It's always my choice in life.  I can choose to learn to listen to myself or not.  If I don't choose to put in what I call the spiritual heavy lifting, I am letting myself know the fear, driven by the underlying beliefs the bathroom is a symbol of, will keep right on coming back to me.

What I've learnt from my dreams is that when our inner self wants to get a message through to the conscious level, it does so using vivid emotions.  We recall the dream and, often, we literally interpret it.  Thus, when I walk into a bathroom I am reminding myself it's time to address the beliefs.

I'll end by repeating what I said at the beginning.  Take heart.  This dream could change you substantially if you learn to listen to yourself.

i hope that some of what I've said resonates deep within you.

Regards,
Guy