Dream Symbols

Ask the Dream Doctor
by Charles McPhee

(Page 2 of 2)

Airplane

Airplanes: Because of their associations with big trips, airplanes frequently symbolize significant transitions and attempts to reach new destinations in our lives. Common destinations include career goals — a new job position with "elevated" responsibility, recognition, or financial reward — or a change in social status, such as marriage or a committed relationship.

Plane crashes, losses of power, and trouble in flight are common dreams that reflect anxiety about our ability to reach a destination. If a dreamer has a fear of flying, the dreams may reflect literal anxieties prior to a trip, or may occur when a child is traveling. Plane crash dreams should not be interpreted as precognitive.

Interpretation Tip: If you dream about flying in a plane (or of watching them fall from the sky), ask yourself what goal — career or social — is weighing on your mind?

The dreams that follow illustrate different aspects of airplane dreams. In the first, a dreamer's life is turned "Upside Down" by an illness in the family. In "Falling Plane," a hopeful young woman wonders if a romantic reunion will lead to a committed relationship. "Plane Crash" instructs us that flying dreams can also represent the routine stresses of everyday living; major issues are not always indicated. In yet another romance dream, "Boyfriend Dies" reveals a deeper fear camouflaged as concern about air travel. Finally, "Crash Landing" shows us a woman in transition, nervous about her ability to achieve the "lofty" career goals she has set for herself. Will she survive her big debut?

Airplane Dreams

"Upside Down"

Last night I had a dream that was quite disturbing. I boarded an airplane, but it was a small, older plane with approximately ten seats and no roof. I was nervous getting on because of the plane's appearance, but I went anyway even though I knew it was odd.

As soon as the plane took off I was dangling upside down and hanging on by wrapping my knees around a bar above me. I had to hold on to another bar below my head with my hands. There were other people doing the same thing but I have no idea who these people were. The pilot's back was turned to me because he was flying this plane and he never turned around or uttered a word — but he did have a scarf flying in the wind like an old-time pilot in an army movie.

We landed and I remember thinking, "Wow, we made it." But I knew I had to go back the same way I had come, and I was planning to do that even though the ride was horrible.

The next thing I knew I was standing in what was supposed to be my bathroom (but the colors were different and the dimensions too) but the toilet was smashed in four pieces and it appeared my ex had done this.

Let me tell you what has been going on in my life recently; this may help. I am trying to leave a five-year failed relationship that has been mostly unhappy. My mother passed away five years ago of a stroke and my father had a severe stroke this year. I am currently moving into my father's home to help care for him because he cannot be left alone. I am also a single parent of a fifteen-year-old and I work full-time. Perhaps this dream signifies the turbulence in my life. But I do not quite understand the toilet part.

— Lauren, Age 35, Single, USA

Given the background Lauren provides, this dream is not difficult to understand. Lauren's life has been turned "upside down" by a stroke in her family. Because Lauren is the primary caregiver for her father, her life will be impacted the most.

Lauren's airplane dream functions as a metaphor for the change in her life caused by her father's illness. The pilot of the plane — now determining the course of her "life path" — is almost certainly her father. In the dream, Lauren notes his age, lack of movement, and absence of speech — all characteristics associated with stroke.

Even though the ride is "horrible," Lauren plans to return the same way. This segment of the dream reflects Lauren's resolve to complete the trip (take care of her father), despite the fact that the "journey," right now, is rough. Her father is fortunate to have such a loving daughter.

The toilet in Lauren's dream appears incongruous, until we recognize toilets as common symbols for the "release" and "elimination" of private and "pent-up" emotions. Lauren reflects that the toilet, which no longer operates, appears to have been smashed by her ex. Is it a coincidence that Lauren also tells us she is trying to leave a five-year failed relationship? The toilet (that no longer functions) reflects Lauren's difficulty "eliminating" this relationship from her life.

Lauren's dream reflects her concerns about two primary relationships in her life: her father, and her ex. The dream confirms Lauren's commitment to her father, whose life has been thrown into chaos by illness, and it identifies an area of lingering emotional irresolution with her ex. What is the message of her dream? The journey that lies ahead will not be easy. If Lauren wishes to arrive safely, and turn her life "right-side up," she needs emotional strength and clarity. Lauren will lighten her load considerably if she can resolve her relationship with her ex.

"Falling Plane"

I had a boyfriend my freshman year of high school who I went out with for several months before he had to move to Georgia. We didn't talk for five years, but in May of my freshman year in college, I found his E-mail address and we've been talking via E-mail for eight months now. We are going to be seeing each other for the first time in years over my winter break (he goes to school in Florida, and I go to the University of California). Although we are three thousand miles apart and haven't seen each other in years, I have always thought he was "the one," and my feelings have never changed.

I had two of the same dreams — one was a few weeks ago, the other occurred last night. I was dancing with him and having an incredible time. But then suddenly the dream flipped around, and I was in an airplane flying to meet him. However, the airplane started having trouble, and the engines went out. The plane began drifting aimlessly through the air, but it never crashed. All I could think about was him as I was sitting in the falling plane, but I wasn't scared or anything.

In the first dream I had, the airplane made an emergency landing and I was all right. But in the second one, the plane never landed, but also never crashed.

I woke up before I could finish the dream, but when I awoke, I wasn't in a panic or anything. Is there anything significant to this? — Kayla, Age 19, Single, USA

Kayla's airplane dream, like Lauren's "upside-down" dream, functions as a metaphor for a big change in her life. Kayla is excited, and nervous, about reuniting with an old boyfriend — a boyfriend whom she secretly has considered "the one" for many years. Will Kayla arrive at her hoped-for destination — a committed relationship?

Kayla's dream begins by reflecting her excitement and anticipation of great times ahead. She and her crush dance together and have "an incredible time." Soon, however, a shadow of uncertainty enters her dream. Will this romance really "get off the ground"?

The dream shifts suddenly. Kayla is now flying on a plane, alone, en route to meet her old boyfriend. At this point in the dream, the airplane functions both as a literal allusion to her upcoming plane flight (she will fly home to see him over winter break) and it symbolizes her fears for the relationship. The engines soon quit, and the plane enters a free fall. Falling in dreams symbolizes insecurity (lack of support) and uncertainty about the future. (We don't know where we are "going to land.") Significantly, though, Kayla does not panic, and her plane never crashes. Indeed, Kayla's response appears to be one of levelheaded coolness in the face of an honestly recognized unknown. Kayla has no reason to panic, and she has every reason to be hopeful.

Copyright © 2002 by Charles McPhee. Excerpted by permission of Dell, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About the Author

Charles Lambert McPhee is the former director of the Sleep Apnea Patient Treatment Program at the Sleep Disorders Center of Santa Barbara, California. He is also the author of Stop Sleeping Through Your Dreams and founder and president of Ask the Dream Doctor. His radio show, The Dream Doctor, airs nightly in Santa Barbara.