Dream
I fly with my buddies from Newark Airport to Anchorage, Alaska for salmon fishing season. It is the beginning of winter and the day is beautiful . We are fishing on a small lake. It is the shape of a perfect circle. There are so many fish, they are jumping out of the water. I feel I can almost grab one with my hands. I fish all day. I see nearby fisherman catching lots and lots of fish, but I don’t even get a bite. I begin to get depressed. “Why can’t I catch any fish?”
Suddenly, I feel a tug on my line. I can see it is a huge fish. I struggle for what feels like hours but I am finally able to pull the fish out of the water and onto the boat. It must be 20 to 30 pounds. I feel great! My determination has paid off. I bring the fish back to camp and we roast it for dinner that night.
Understanding the dream
The initial orientation of this dream is salmon fishing in Alaska. You begin to understand the dream by examining the intrinsic nature of fishing. Fishing is an activity in which an individual takes an implement such as a fishing pole, net, or spear and tries to remove a fish from the water. Originally this was for the purpose of eating it. This is an activity of survival. One needs to eat to live. In order to understand the implications of this situation one has to know the time frame that constitutes salmon fishing in Alaska in today’s world. If this is not known, it can easily be researched. Salmon fishing in Alaska begins in May and ends in August. The Salmon return from the ocean to the lakes and streams where they originated to begin the spawning process. Adult salmon die before the beginning of winter. It is highly unlikely that a fisherman will find salmon in a lake in Alaska that is not connected to a tributary leading to the sea. There is no projection here. This is verifiable information.
The dream is trying to tell the dreamer that he is attempting to do something at a time that it will not occur. The fact that the dreamer is not initially successful is hopeful, it points to the fact that the dreamer is not in total alignment with non-life supporting behavior, but the dreamer is currently continuing to seek nourishment where there is none.
With no subjective associations, much can be inferred about the dreamer. The dream states that he looks for fulfillment where it does not exist. Much like magnetic poles, the dream and the dreamer are not separate but different ends of the same magnet. The dreamer most likely chooses work that is not nourishing or satisfying and in romantic and interpersonal relationships he will tend to choose married or narcissistic individuals.
If the dream path is followed in the other direction we can begin to explore the dreamer’s early familial relationships. How did the dreamer get to be fishing for salmon with salmon couldn’t be found? What kind of person has this dream? What road led him here? The dreamer and the dictates of the dream images, cannot be separated but are frequently divided for the purposes of discussion. Nourishment is originally sought from the mother, the initial nurturer. It is reasonable to speculate that the dreamer’s initial nurturing experiences were insufficient. Instinct is the material end of archetypal expression; it leaves a child to the mother’s breast to suck for nourishment and survival. The probability is good that the dreamer did not have his maternal needs met as a child. One might further speculate that for some unknown factor or situation in the mother’s life stimulated the collective unconscious. This unknown factor caused the negative mother-archetype to be activated and manifest in the dreamer’s life. The dream’s great difficulty or inability to catch fish is actually encouraging. It reflects the dream’s capacity to fish in waters other than those which are empty of what would be appropriate to metabolize and gives substance in his life. This is a promising sign, indicating his ability to engage in a new and healing life style.
