Warfare In Dreams Can Be A Sign Of Internal Conflict Says Dream Analyst David Rivinus

Dream analyst David Rivinus, who is the author of the book “Always Dreaming,” from Ozark Mountain Publishing, says that dreams are a reflection of the dreamer’s own state of mind. Thus a dream about warfare can often imply an internal conflict. “Quite possibly, the dreamer is at war with himself,” says Rivinus.

“Dreams often use dramatic imagery because one of their jobs is to be remembered,” he explains. Bringing a dream from deepest sleep to full wakefulness is not always easy. Most dreams are lost in the twilight period of semi-wakefulness. But dreams with particularly poignant imagery, or disturbing, even shocking images are more likely to be remembered.

“Suppose a dreamer, after many years, has finally made the decision to give up his habit of smoking cigarettes,” he says. The dreamer starts off with the best of intentions, but entrenched habits are not so easily set aside. Soon he finds himself struggling with conflicting impulses—on the one hand wishing to take the course of action that he knows he should, and on the other, craving the need to satisfy a long-held addiction. “Internal struggles like this are often expressed in dreams, and the dream imagery might well be depicted as a battle or a war of some kind.”

Such a struggle would be obvious. But Rivinus says that many of our conflicts are more subliminal, and that is where dreams can be the most useful. “What if the dreamer is approaching retirement age and begins to feel ambivalence between wishing to stay at her job to support her colleagues and wanting the relatively stress-free life of retirement.” Often these kinds of dilemmas creep up on us gradually he says, and we don’t even know that they are bothering us. He feels that it would not only be possible, but likely that such a conflict would be expressed through dreams. And the metaphoric imagery of the dream would reflect the ambivalence in the dreamer’s life. “It is certainly a battle that is going on inside the dreamer, and this could well be expressed through the images of war.”

David Rivinus is a dream analyst with more than three decades of international experience. He has taught, lectured and held workshops throughout the United States, Western Europe and Central America. For more information, go to www.teacherofdreams.com.