It's a Tight Race . . . In My Dreams

Times I dreamed of 2008 presidential candidates so far this year:

Barack Obama: 4
John McCain: 4
Sarah Palin: 1
Hillary Clinton: 1
Joe Biden: 0


The first dream I had of Obama also involved Hillary Clinton. This was back in May. While sledding near the border of Ireland and talking about the Pennsylvania primary, a poet friend (who often stands for a 'feeling' animus figure) asked me if I was for Hillary or Obama. I can't remember if I said that I'd be happy "with both" or "either." It is unfortunate that I don't remember, because that's a very important distinction. This was a dream about gender.

My second Obama dream was in August. I was at a grocery store buying bread, milk and cheese for Howard Stern (my inner asshole?). The constituents in this store complained Obama hadn't made the effort to woo them. He was still listed as the "vegetarian Democrat" and needed to do more campaigning. Following my associations that Obama is the candidate for "change" perhaps this symbolizes parts of myself that can't see the value in changes I'm making in my own life. Part of myself still needed to be convinced. Vegetarian=no meat, substance?

The third Obama dream was just a few days ago. Chris (my logos animus figure) was presented as the "Huge Candidate" and I had no idea where Obama stood. I'm still thinking on that one -- this logos energy has been causing me quite a bit of strife (this ultra critical, masculine part of myself, not the husband). Maybe "huge candidate" implies still a big deal? Maybe it's an obstacle to "change." Being excessively critical is a hinderance?

Last night I dreamed that I was an undercover police officer (secret authority?) sitting very closely to Obama while we read from the same magazine. It was an open display of nuzzling in front of John McCain who was also in the room. This dream gave me the sense that I made my choice and was being open about it. What choice? Well, I'm not gonna get into that here. Let's just say I'm glad the dream didn't show me nuzzling McCain, OK?

Speaking of McCain. I first dreamed of him in July. He was wearing a paper hat that said "John McCain" and took his pro-choice friend's nail clippers. I asked him if he was stealing from his friends. His response "Friends?!? More like masters!" I associate nail clippers with grooming and appearance and McCain with an antiquated, out-of-touchness, prone to fits of anger. So this stodgy, stubborn part of myself that is clearly resentful is trying to work on its outer appearance by taking something from a more permissive part of myself.

In September I dreamed that Chris and I were the running mates of McCain and Sarah Palin and on our way to Pittsburgh to campaign. Palin called my cell phone. I told her that we arrived and told voters that if we don't win, we're moving to Canada. Palin was silent and annoyed, she didn't get the joke. Then there's was a celebration. John Kerry selected a woman running mate and now he finally had a chance to win the election. If McCain is a stubborn, out-dated, masculine part of myself, Palin would likely stand for an unqualified, not developed, stunted, not ready feminine part of myself. Telling voters that we'll move to to Canada if we don't win is reactionary, immature and not an effective strategy--Palin doesn't get that. Perhaps Kerry stands for a failed masculine part of myself -- but the good news is that now that he selected a female running male, two opposite joining to create a whole, they have a chance to "win" together. This seems to be a dream about balance.

A couple days after that I dreamed I was in the car with John McCain and a bunch of other government types on our way to Iraq. I often dream I'm being sent to Iraq and I'm always depressed at this predicament. We got into a car accident and the women changed into men and everyone argued needlessly, telling each other how important they were and oh were they gonna be sorry. All while I sat in the back seat and sulked. This dream shows more internal conflict and clearly I'm tired of it. My dream ego is in the back seat, clearly not "driving" the situation, but being driven by it. McCain is in the front passenger seat. The death seat? Iraq clearly stands for a place where I don't want to go -- whether or not I need to go there, well I'm not sure. Is (dream) Iraq my duty to my country (myself)? Or the wrong place at the wrong time for the wrong reasons? I'm leaning towards the latter. But I'm not sure, maybe it's a place I need to go nurse the wounded?

Since these are my dreams, it's my associations that matter. They speak to things going on in my own life. My psyche assigned them to represent different aspects of myself, symbols that communicate directly to me. I anticipate I'll have many more dreams of presidential candidates throughout the year -- there's a lot of fertile symbolism and meaning to draw from this current race.

Your dreams of presidential candidates, current events, etc., will quite likely mean something very different. Use your own associations and apply them to your own circumstances. You might be surprised.