Sunday, November 11, 2001		Dream theme

Dreaming of a doctor
Vinaya Katoch Manhas

— B.Rush.

SEEING a doctor in your dreams is not uncommon. Yet the importance of this symbol is that its literal meaning is rarely its actual meaning. The term doctor used here includes all other facets of the medical world such as nurses, medicines, injections, ambulances etc.

According to the ancient Indian texts to dream of a doctor is a good omen. If you see a doctor checking you with his stethoscope or any other instrument it means that you will do some praiseworthy act which shall win you goodwill of friends and relatives. To see a nurse in a clean uniform working actively shall bring you new means of earning your livelihood. Should an ill person see this dream it means that he will soon be hail and hearty.

To see a surgeon operate upon you portends an unfortunate period on financial and health grounds. Should an ill woman see herself as a midwife it means that bad times are ahead.

As per western thought to see a doctor in your dream is auspicious should you see him as a friend and not as a patient. It denotes good health and general prosperity. Should you meet the doctor on a professional basis then beware of illness and disagreement with members of your family.

If you see him make a bloodless cut on your body it denotes that you shall be tormented and injured by an enemy. Should blood flow out then beware of loosing money through transactions.

Psychologically speaking, dreaming of a doctor would mean the desire to rely or depend on someone else, the desire to be taken care of by others. But it could also have to do with particular aspects of your life. Should you see a surgeon in your dream it would suggest a desire to do away with a particular aspect of our life.You may want to finish off a relationship or leave a particular job. It could also represent a fear of castration.

A physician would indicate that you may need to carefully consider a particular action or a proposal. A psychiatrist seen in a dream signifies the need to reconsider your attitudes and behavior. If you see a person you know as a doctor in your dream then that person may be an authority figure. Seeing a nurse or a midwife in your dream empahsises the compassionate and nurturing aspect of the person's personality. To see your limb being amputated denotes your fear of losing something.

This is probably the loss of something you value. To see yourself being anaesthetised highlights the fact that you are trying to avoid painful emotions. You are trying to avoid something that you do not want to face.

A 17-year-old boy often dreamt that he was unconscious or sedated and was being taken to a doctor's clinic. The doctor is, at first, masked. But when the doctor removes his mask the boy always sees his father as the doctor, who, in actual life, is a businessman. The doctor then tries to wake him up by slapping gently him on the face but he does not wake up. Although he can hear the doctor's voice, he keeps his eyes shut.

The dream portrays the over-dependence of the boy on his father. The father is trying to wake him up which denotes the father's effort to try and make him more self-dependent. The sedation and the unwillingness on the part of the boy to open his eyes denote his unwillingness to face the reality.