Don’t kill the wicked witch

You might wake from a dream of a weapon-wielding alien invader, a murderer in the shadows, a Sabretooth tiger poised to pounce, or a wicked witch casting evil spells, and, knowing a little about dream alchemy and the power of reimagining your dream with a positive ending, decide to kill or vanish the dark force.

It seems logical, and it’s what a parent, in less enlightened times, might have advised a child waking from a nightmare. Superhero your way to a happy ending, draw your weapon, strike or banish the enemy, go confidently and securely into your waking life day.

But stop right there. Killing the wicked witch puts your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health at risk.

There is a better way.

Everything and everyone in a dream represents something about the dreamer, and the courageous heroic journey is not to kill, attack, or banish, but to explore the insight and wisdom these dark and scary dream symbols and dramas offer. To communicate with them, to reach new understanding, to find light, to heal: to transform the symbol and the dream drama, and, in doing so, transform your self, your life.

That wicked witch represents something about you, so to kill her is to create a hole or void in your psyche, to risk emotional, mental, or spiritual numbness in the shape of depression, reduced vitality, or, more subtly, a sense that something is missing.

What might the wicked witch represent? There’s no one-symbol-fits-all approach to meaningful dream analysis. Any dream symbol needs to be read in the context of the dream story – the dream drama – and to be understood in relation to the dreamer’s conscious and unconscious life experiences.

To give some ideas:

If she’s casting evil spells, she might represent the dreamer’s unconscious drive toward self-sabotage, the spells perhaps being the patterns the dreamer blindly follows – as if spellbound – to defeat success.

She might represent the dreamer’s conscious or unconscious tendency to see the worst in situations and people (to judge, predict, or create negative ‘evil’ outcomes).

The wicked witch might represent a fabulous quality – innovative creative vision, or strong persuasive communication skills perhaps – that the dreamer judges as negative or too powerful to risk using in her life.

Whatever the wicked witch, alien invader, murderer, or Sabretooth tiger represent, there is always light to be found in the darkness once your eyes and mind adjust to the shadows.

In dream alchemy, the secret is to transform the wicked witch.

Dream alchemy is a process that involves working with a symbol or drama from your dream to rewire your brain or reprogram your unconscious mind. Once you’ve explored and interpreted your dream, you choose a symbol or drama that represents an unconscious aspect of your mindset that you’d like to change (perhaps a limiting belief or pattern, an unresolved issue, a stuck emotion needing healing), and apply the process. Since the dream symbols and dramas were expressed by your unconscious mind, when you work with them in dream alchemy you are effectively communicating with your unconscious mind in its own language.

You are powerfully placed to mediate rewiring, reprogramming, transformation.

There’s much to learn about the art of creating powerful, effective dream alchemy, but one of the top key rules to follow is Don’t kill the wicked witch! Now you know why. The aim is to keep, reclaim, or build, a whole and healthy psyche.

When you reimagine your dream, transform the wicked witch into a good witch, a good fairy, a wise elder, a loving light, or whatever encapsulates the essence of the change you want to bring. Your unconscious mind will take the cue and follow through. You’ll begin to see your waking life transforming – as if by magic – as all the light that had been locked up in the dark is released to shine upon your world.

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