Drowning in deep water suggests floundering in the depths of the unconscious. As with dreams of pursuit or being chased, this dream alerts you to areas of your unconscious that are creating conflict and need to be examined with care.
Falling and jumping in an attempt to escape from hostile pursuers in a dream is a desperate escape mechanism and suggests that you might have more success if you turn at the last minute to face your enemies, having found the strength to confront them. Dreams in which you are trying to run from something or someone but find you cannot—perhaps because your feet are weighed down or stuck in the mud—can be interpreted in much the same way.
Crawling through a narrow space, tunnel or small enclosure, or trying to squeeze through a tiny corridor or hall points to your creative energies struggling to find expression; these are, however, also common-place dreams expressing anxiety about a challenging and imminent event such as a review at work, an examination or even the birth of a new baby. Being chased, not knowing who or what is out there in the darkness, or vainly trying to push through the crowds in a busy bar, street or department store also suggest that certain repressed aspects of your personality, or unexamined aspects of the self, demand to be dealt with. To be trapped in a dream signifies that you feel you are trapped by outside circumstances. To be aware of trapping something or someone is to try to hold onto them, and if you trap a butterfly or animal, you are trying to capture your inner self. Feeling trapped in dreams also suggests an inability to break free from old patterns of thought and behavior without outside help.
See Also: NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.
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