TODAY, TWO VERSIONS OF DREAMS including images of infants offer insights into this powerful metaphor. Note the similarities between them as the babies evoke inspiration and creation of something fresh and new. Also note how each dreamer’s interaction with the infant in her dreams illustrates markedly different meanings.

Dear Carolyn,

I always dream of a beautiful baby girl, like an infant. I like to have the baby laughing and I carry her. This baby appears in my dreams from the beginning of this year. Sometimes I am pregnant; then I dreamed again it was born, a baby, an infant. Then last night I dreamed again of a baby. Maybe she’s growing because she’s beautiful. Last night she was 4 months old.
Hope you can tell me what’s the meaning of that.

Signed,

Loving Babies

Dear Carolyn,

I dreamed that a neighbor entrusted me to look after her baby for the afternoon. I’m holding the infant in my arms as we make our way down a crowded urban sidewalk, possibly New York City. There’s so much noisy commotion and bustling activity that I get distracted and lose my focus now and then. I look down and there’s no baby. I panic. Oh, I left it on the ledge over there. We’re okay now. I walk along and then remember to check on the baby and discover it’s a cat instead. I’m shaken, but think — my memory isn’t so great; I guess the cat’s welfare is my job now. On we go, lost in the chaotic city scene for a few minutes. I look and it’s a baby again. Is the baby okay? How will I find my way back to the mother? Then I realize — all that remains in my hand is a small speck of flesh! Unspeakable shame and guilt engulf me.

Signed,

Bad Babysitter

Dear Loving Babies and Bad Babysitter,

Babies in our dreams often signify new beginnings, a new life or a fresh start of some sort. In both your cases this is most likely the case. For Loving Babies, the dream seems to suggest that you are carrying a secret, a happy sense of anticipation of something new and wonderful. Perhaps you have been nurturing a new idea that is progressing within you as your dream suggests by the stages of growth of your ‘brainchild.’

You don’t offer details from your waking life, but perhaps now is the time to unveil your ideas and bring them to fruition. Glad tidings for you, Dear Dreamer!

In contrast, Bad Babysitter, you appear to have taken on someone else’s concept and agreed to carry it through distracting and hectic circumstances. Your lack of commitment to the obligation shows as you misplace the baby and at times even fail to recognize it. In the end, when there is barely a speck remaining of the original thought, the guilt and shame that engulf you must be endured. Confess to your true lack of interest in what was not your ‘baby’ from the start.

Sweet Dreams to You Both!

Carolyn Plath, M.Ed., is a Benicia resident and member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Reach her at sendmeyourdreams@yahoo.com.

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