Dreams: Shadow Pool

  Dreaming has always been very important to me. I pay very close attention to the symbols and recurring themes, and I try to learn whatever lesson is being taught to me. Some dreams fade upon waking and I only get snippets. Others stay with me for years. Then there are specific places or symbols that I keep returning to.

     One of the symbols that keeps recurring is what I like to call the Shadow Pool. The pool as no specific shape or size but there are aspects that are always the same. The pool is always a little dirty. There are either leaves floating on top or algae spots on the bottom. The reason the pool is never completely clean is that nobody has swam in it for a long time, until me. No matter what the pool looks like, dream me always wants to go swimming. Once I get into the pool I realize I am not alone. I begin to see shadows swimming under the water or out of the corner of my eye. In one dream they became sharks. After the shadows appear, I understand why no one wants to go swimming.

  I have researched the meaning of swimming pools and I agree that it is a symbol for my feelings. I have always had a difficult time with my feelings, expressing them and trying to understand them. When the Shadow Pool appears it's usually because I need to acknowledge my feelings. This leads to why the pool has not been used in awhile, because I have not explored my feelings for a long time. Because of my neglect, negative feelings (symbolized by the leaves and algae) have entered the pool and need to be dealt with. 

  The shadows seem pretty unique to me, as far as I can find, but I think I know what they represent. They are the much darker deeper negative feelings. The feelings that I pushed deep down inside, since I was much to young to know how to handle them. Dark, ugly, shadow feelings. These feelings scared me when I was younger and still scare me now. Yet if I am ever able to have the crisp clean water in that pool I must handle them now, at a time when I finally have the tools and a little more wisdom.

  While understanding the negative aspects of the Shadow Pool I must also recognize the positive aspects. The pool has never been empty. The water may not be clean and perfect but it has always been there.  I don't think I have every truly felt empty, and I am thankful for this. Even after I stopped being a Christian I had expected there to be an emptiness, like I was told there would be if I left the faith. But the emptiness didn't come. I may have felt lost for awhile but never empty. I finally found a path that felt true to me.  I now I have been able to feel the peace and connection with the spirit I never found with organized religion.

 Another positive aspect is the dream me is always willing to go swimming. Eager in fact. That no matter the condition of the pool, I at least try to overcome my fear of the shadows. I know this means that I am ready to take on these dark shadow feelings when I'm in the waking world.

 I haven't had a Shadow Pool dream in awhile, but I did have a "pool" dream last week. I was in my bathing suit and anxious to head out to a pool to go swimming, but something kept stopping me. I remember getting frustrated since it was such a beautiful day and I heard that the pool water was clean, crisp, and blue. I never saw the pool, so I can't say for sure if the Shadow Pool is really gone yet. All I know now is that there is a promise of clean water, and I am dealing with my feelings on a more regular basis. Taking care of the pool, so to speak.