If you’re in any way a normal person with a healthy level of compassion and empathy, you probably would wake up quickly from a dream of watching someone being attacked.
There’s a lot of emotions that go into such a dream image.
Maybe it happened really quickly and you feel that you really can’t do much about it. It’s like being stuck watching a car wreck play out in front of you. In your mind, you keep playing the scene back again and again.
At first, you are horrified, surprised, panicked, possibly even angry, upset, or sad.
But eventually, certain themes come to mind when you dream of this type of image.
Emotionally Gripping Dreams Are Usually Meaningful
This is so powerful that it shows a lot of important truths about your waking life that you may be overlooking or actively suppressing.
You have to understand that our dream life is simply a way for our subconscious to comment on and interact with our perception of our real life. Our real life, of course, is the things that we are conscious of in our day-to-day waking reality.
I’m talking about the 16 hours or so that you are conscious of on any given day. Your subconscious has the rest of that time, and I’m talking about that 8 hours you are asleep.
Dreams can point to very important truths that you haven’t been picking up all along in your waking life, but for whatever reason cannot articulate, describe, or even come to grips with.
You’d be surprised as to how many things in your waking life don’t connect with the things you see in your dream life. There seems to be a big collection, if you will, of dream imagery that somehow, someway just doesn’t get through to your day-to-day consciousness.
But be that as it may, these dreams mean something. Otherwise, they wouldn’t happen and you wouldn’t remember them. And believe me, seeing someone being attacked makes for a memorable dream.
Looking Beyond the Violence
The first and almost instinctual dream interpretation of seeing someone being attacked is violence. We automatically believe that since you saw this in your dream, that somehow it could mean that somebody will be attacked in reality.
But 9 times out of 10, as traumatic as these dream imagery and symbols may be, they’re not predictive. The typical dream is not a prophecy.
This is good news because if you’ve ever had a dream of The Devil or being raped or witches and witchcraft, you may be so traumatized that you become fearful.
Fear starts to hang over you and you’re thinking about what could possibly be around the corner in your life because you’ve just had this traumatic dream imagery.
The good news is that such horrible dream imagery rarely makes its way to reality. But what you should pay attention to is why your subconscious use such strong symbology?
Obviously, it’s trying to get you to pay close attention to certain things happening in your life. So, you have to unpack what violence means.
Violence as a Metaphor for Control and Possibility
What makes life worth living?
I don’t throw it out there as some sort of philosophical bate. I really want you to think about that question because most people don’t even think about it.
They automatically assume they know what it means. And that’s why they go about their day-to-day life with all its feelings, challenges, and opportunities and stress, and they end up eating their own tails.
I’m talking about people just basically going around in circles. They may feel frustrated; they may feel like it doesn’t really matter.
But in reality, if they’re only aware of this pattern, they can understand that their dreams could mean certain realizations that can lead to heightened awareness of the control that they actually have over their lives.
Do you have this perception? Do you get the impression that one day just blurs into the next day and there’s really no rhyme, no reason to your daily existence?
Sure, you may have goals but after you achieve them, you don’t really see the meaning beyond that.
You keep saying to yourself: “Okay. I have more and there’s the next deadline and the one after that, but what does it really mean?”
And, before you know it, you get so stuck in your ways that you end up where you began.
Welcome to the club!
When you see violence in your dream, your subconscious is trying to talk to you in terms of your ability to make changes in your life. It is using a psycho-spiritual glossary that indicates issues of control and the ability to map out your personal meaning.
A lot of people are very eager to let this go. They say to themselves: “Well, I’m just a small person. I’m just another face in the crowd. When I die and it all dies with me, it wouldn’t really matter.”
And that’s precisely the problem. Your subconscious, using violent, vivid, and attention-grabbing images, is trying to reach out to you to get to the core of your willingness to control your life.
Are You in Control of Your Life?
Violence in the real world has a direct effect on your immediate reality. You can bet the bank that when you harm somebody else, there will be a response.
At the most basic level, the person will get hurt. Their autonomy will be violated.
You have no right to push them. You have no right to break into their personal space. You have no right to enter their life on a physical and emotional level past their permission.
And then once that happens, we have this intricate dance called law, culture, and tradition.
And people start to change the way they look at you. You might even find yourself in front of a judge and pretty soon behind bars.
But that’s just the surface. That is just the tip of the iceberg.
Your action and the emotional state before it triggered a series of reactions that changed the direction of your life. That’s how violence works.
And your mind is using this mental symbology to get to the heart of your existence.
You are waking up spiritually to the fact that you are in more control of your life than you give yourself credit for. You actually have a bigger say in how things play out in your day-to-day reality than you choose to be aware of.
And It All Boils Down to Cause and Effect
It sounds so basic. In fact, it rolls off the tongue.
How many times have you heard older people, maybe an uncle or an aunt, telling you to be careful about your decision? How many times have somebody you respected pulled you aside and told you: “Watch what you say!”
They’re not wasting their time. They’re not grinding their wheels however it may look. They’re not just reciting some age-worn script passed on from generation to generation.
No!
They’re Giving You the Truth
Sadly, when we’re younger — and in many cases, even if we’re trapped in old and wrinkled bodies, we’re still young deep down inside — we refuse to hear.
We don’t want to listen. Deep down inside, we think we have it all figured out, and this is the problem.
We resign ourselves into a world that we feel that we didn’t make. We feel that we have no voice in it so we feel trapped.
One day just blurs into the next, and before we know it, it’s time to get burned up and put into an urn or alternatively get put into a box and buried six feet under.
How sad!
Every second has an infinite number of possibilities. It contains the seed of many different existences you could live and countless realizations you can come up with which can trigger many wonderful emotional states that can propel you to a wide range of realities.
And it all boils down to your willingness to accept the power of cause and effect.
You Are Always Sending Vibrations to the Universe
Believe it or not, every single thought you have has an effect. There is no such thing as an action — whether seen or unseen, felt or unfelt, perceived or unperceived — that doesn’t have an effect.
If you don’t believe me, think about the first person you fell in love with. How does it make you feel?
Now, think about that point in time where you’re no longer in love with that person or they’re no longer in love with you. How does that make you feel?
Now, be honest with yourself, how many times have you experienced that feeling, and what happened when you had those strong feelings?
Chances are, you were deciding on something. Chances are, you were referencing that emotional state with something else that you’re going through at that point in your life.
In other words, this is real. This is not just a fanciful notion floating in the ether of your mind with absolutely no connection to things that you can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.
Ideas have a way of triggering emotions. They’re never neutral.
Once our emotions are triggered, we tend to make decisions a certain way. And once that happens, we change our reality.
Are you fully aware of how this works? Most importantly, do you take ownership of it?
Understand that whatever people can see in your life ultimately begins with your mindset.
Take Ownership of Your Mindset
When you have a dream of watching someone being attacked violently or abusively, your subconscious is telling you that you have power over your reality.
The violence is a metaphor for this power, but for you to unleash this personal potency, you have to first take responsibility. In other words, you own it.
Are you unhappy in any way with your life? Do you feel you’re not making enough money? Do you feel that you have a few extra pounds?
Do you feel that your relationships tend to suck? Do you feel like people aren’t really paying attention to you? You’re not getting the kind of respect and attention you feel you deserve.
Maybe you feel that, up to this point, you’ve been hit with one disappointment after another. Maybe your childhood is less than stellar or you feel uncomfortable with certain past memories from your childhood or our past friendships.
Whatever form it may take, take ownership of it.
I know it sounds harsh because a lot of people are really going to have a tough time with what I’m about to say.
But you did this to yourself. You chose it.
Now, you’re probably thinking:
“How did I choose to be abused? How did I choose to be poor? To be born in a poor country? To be born in a struggling neighborhood? To be trapped in this area of the United States or elsewhere.
Are you kidding me? I’m not gonna choose this in a million years.”
But you have a lot more choice than you give yourself credit for because you may not be able to choose the objective signals that the world throws you away, but you can choose how you respond.
Time to Kill the Past
Violence is a strong image precisely because it wakes us up. When you see someone attacking or being attacked, you wake up. You pay attention because you know what will come next.
Somebody may be sliced and diced by a knife or getting shot through or beat to a pulp by a flurry of fists. Anything can happen, and that’s why you are sharp as a tack. You’re paying attention.
Since you’re so focused at that point in time, seeing violence in all its horrific glory and emotional intensity can be a wonderful thing just as anger is a gift.
It can be the wake-up call you need because your subconscious is telling you:
“Whatever it is you’re struggling within your life, you have to wake up.
You have to take ownership, and you have to admit ‘I did this to myself.'”
Now, at this point, people can come up with a million and one excuses.
They could say: “Well, I lost out in the great lottery of life. I was born in this country or I was born in that class. I was born with this type of parents.”
The list goes on and on. You don’t need me to remind you.
But at the end of the day, if you are an adult and if you have really decided to change and you’re sick and tired of the same results, over and over again, you have to take ownership.
What Exactly Are You Taking Ownership of?
You’re taking ownership of the fact that the Universe may throw you all sorts of stuff and let’s stipulate that a lot of it is unfair.
Okay? Let’s just get that out of the way. Nobody can change that.
But You Can Control How Respond
And here’s the worst part: People are already born at the bottom of the heap. People are already born to bear the brunt of other people’s disapproving stares and insults and jeers.
But what do they do? They choose to make it worse.
How?
They choose to believe in luck. They choose to believe that the world is just one grand lottery. Sure, at some basic level, it is.
But it isn’t a lottery when you take ownership of how you choose to respond. And by doing so, you take the first step to not make things worse.
You refuse to become a victim. You celebrate whatever choices you make no matter how faint the result may be.
Why?
Because you’ve actively chosen to take steps that eventually will lead to a different outcome.
Sure, your family may be in a slum right now. But you chose to save a little bit of money.
That’s a victory!
Instead of eating it up, wasting it on smokes, or doing what you normally do with it, you save it. It’s not much, and then the next day you repeat that again.
And the day after that, again you go through that choice.
And the more you do it, the stronger your resolve becomes, and then you can have the will to invest, take risks, and grow.
Poverty, just like victimhood, oppression, is a mindset. You’re not a victim and you know it.
It’s Okay to Be Scared but Do Not Let Your Fear Get the Better of You
People remain defeated in their relationships and their personal reality because they give in to their fear.
When you see that dream of people being attacked, it’s as if you are stuck in your chair and the only thing you can do is look at that person as they get their brains bashed in.
You feel passive and the more you see that person suffer and they let out a bloodcurdling scream, your helplessness grows. Seeing this person suffer through the attack, you sense your passivity attacking your very soul.
So, you’re trapped in a loop.
Your dream is telling you that you don’t have to be in this loop. You can choose to face your fears.
Believe it or not, this is where lucid dreaming comes in.
Have You Ever Had a Lucid Dream?
Things seem so real in your dream until a small detail gives it all away. At the back of your mind, you start getting this growing suspicion that this is all a dream.
And what happens?
You’re not as emotionally traumatized. Instead, you start to look for interpretation. You try to relate one symbol after another to things that worry you.
For example, you start to look for an animal symbol or signs from your dream world to somehow relate to your emotions or someone you know or things that you’re going through.
Instead of a sensory world that you are experiencing much like your waking life, you look for conflict. You analyze this world in terms of one symbol after another and try to fit it all into your emotions, memories, possibly looking for one warning after another.
You might even look for implications regarding your health. That’s how lucid dreaming works.
You get a sense of freedom once you realize I’m watching a dream. This is not real because I don’t see this as reality and I take ownership of it.
And guess what!
That sense of empowerment that you get doesn’t end when you wake up. Instead, it can carry over to your waking life.
If you feel that you’re emotionally awake and empowered once you pick apart your dream situation and realize that you’re seeing night visions, you start using your subconscious the right way.
You start overcoming your fear stop breaking apart. You’re no longer fighting with deep, unexplained forces that manifest themselves in emotional ways in your consciousness.
Pay Close Attention to Details to Pick Up Context
Dreaming of someone being attacked is very contextual. You have to pay close attention to the little details.
Where did it happen? Who else was there? What is it supposedly about?
Is it about somebody being robbed? Is it about a person owing money to the other person?
Does the attacker even know the victim? Are they in a relationship? Is it some scene of domestic violence?
And once you have picked apart the identities and the proper details, try to look at the big picture and what context it forms.
The Context Is Always You
Here’s the cheat sheet for this type of dream.
9 times out of 10, when you see somebody being attacked, the point of the dream is for your subconscious to wake you up. So, it’s all about you at some point or another.
At some level or other, it’s about challenges that you’re facing or opportunities that you choose to habitually ignore.
Issues in Romantic Relationships
So, when you see some sort of a hint of a domestic violence issue, pay close attention to your romantic relationships.
Do you choose to be in control? Are you attracting the kind of person you want to be with?
Or, do you find yourself settling?
If you’re in a relationship, do you feel that you’re being valued? Is your voice equally valid?
Or, do you think you have to play along to get along?
This applies to your romantic relationships as it does to your family and your friendships.
Work-Related Issues
If the violence takes place in some sort of work environment or a factory floor, pay attention to work issues.
Are you doing something that makes you feel fulfilled? Does your work reflect the universal value of your existence?
I know that sounds very grandiose, but deep down inside, that’s what work should be. Everything that we choose to do has to have an impact. Otherwise, we’re just wasting our time.
Sure, you’re doing it for money. This is of course money that you need to get from day-to-day, but eventually, you cannot escape the fact that there are other options out there.
Are you doing something that makes you feel alive? Are you doing something that you feel contributes to other people?
Is it in line with who you want to become?
This is how you break the sense of passivity that most normal people have bought into at some level or other.
Stop Watching Your Life Like a Distant Movie
The typical Hollywood movie has a lot of thrills, chills, and spills. It can be verbal and emotional in nature, or it can be like the typical movie by The Rock: lots of actions and jokes here and there.
It’s a good time.
But beyond the entertainment is a void. It’s a calm and deadening feeling as you see your life flash before you into the screen, and there’s really not much you do about it because it’s a one-way conversation.
Is that what you really want?
If that’s not what you want and you’re looking for something more interactive — something that’s more responsive to who you choose to be today, which may be different from tomorrow — then read what I have written above.
That dream of violence directed at someone is really your subconscious trying to wake you up to your power of choice.
You can change your life. You can change your relationships.
They don’t have to suck. Life doesn’t have to be passive.
You have a lot more control than you give yourself credit for. Start small!
As Dr. Jordan Peterson says, “You can start by cleaning your room.” In other words, start with what you can control. Start with what you can access right here, right now.
And once you are able to do that, maybe move a few books here and there, clean a few shelves, the change is obvious.
And this physical change correlates with internal emotional change, which is more important because it turns out that there are some cobwebs in your mind that you thought you’re stuck with for all this time.
It turns out that you just need to get off your ass and decide to make that change because there is no excuse to be unhappy and frustrated unless you choose to.
You are always in control and that is what we’re convicted to.
Dream Example #1
The night was cold and wet with a brisk wind sweeping across the land, the sky was covered with ominous black clouds and the howling of wind frightened me.
However, I held on to my fright and rested my head on the window firmly. I could hear a faded voice from the back someone was asking me for help, someone was shouting out loud “Help me! Help me! “.
I was confused as to where the voice was coming from. I looked out of my window and As soon as I trained my eyes down, I just couldn’t believe what I was sighting.
A tall man dressed in a black long coat with a flat cap was standing beside a poll, face covered with a veil.
He looked suspicious. He trailed his eyes all over the street to make sure no one was watching him. I crouched down and covered myself when he looked in my direction. After waiting for a while, I stood back again.
The sight I saw next was unbelievable. He had a gun in his hand and in a matter of seconds, I heard a Boom! The guy shot the child right at its legs. The child was trembling in pain and shouting for help.
The blood was pouring out from the wound like a river of water. The boy with a lot of effort tried to cover up his wound with his t-shirt but he couldn’t do it.
He was meek and couldn’t stand or fight the tall man. I was unable to hold the tears that rolled down my cheeks.
The guy ran towards the child and tied him with a blue car parked there than he went in front and sat on the passenger’s seat and started to drive. The child was bleeding and shivering with pain and I tried to scream but my voice was inaudible.
In a reflex action I noted the car’s number and called my dad in a flash, he answered the call and I told him the whole story.
It was horrible and terrifying to describe the whole scene. I had goosebumps all over me. My hands were sweaty and shivering. Sweat rolled down my forehead, the ac was on but still, my body was burning with fear.
My dad tried to console me and asked me to sleep. He said he will be there if I needed anything and made sure and promised that he will see what he can do. I hung up the call.
The alarm rang and so did my eyes opened. I woke up in confusion and lifted the alarm clock to see the time, it was 5:30 a.m. I leaned against the wall, felt relieved by the fact that it was a nightmare.
Dream Example #2
In a broad daylight at a place that looked like a ghost town, I saw an old woman being attacked by a man, but I couldn’t tell if he was young or old because he was wearing a hat that partly covered his face.
The man had a knife in his hand and the other hand was holding a rope. I suspected that the old woman knew him because she was crying and asking for forgiveness.
Until I heard her clearly called him a son. “My son, stop that, son. Forgive me. Don’t forget that I am your mother!”
From where I was standing, I could see that the old woman was in her 50s and she was crying helplessly clasping her hands in front of her.
Then suddenly, the man lifted the knife he was holding and aimed to stab the old woman. I shouted at the man and came out from where I was hiding.
His hand stopped midway in the air and quickly looked at me. There, I saw his face and even saw his eyes glaring with fury.
He was so angered that I felt afraid at first that he would kill me instead. I ran as fast as I could toward the man and when I was almost near him, he lifted his hand again quickly stabbed the old woman.
I stopped and froze at my feet. I saw blood gushed from the old woman and the road was instantly covered with her blood.
I cried and attacked the man. I did not have any weapon but I was so brave that I thought of using only my bare hands to fight with him.
When finally, I grabbed his collar, I was stunned and I abruptly stopped.
The man was my father. I couldn’t help but cry when I saw that I knew the man who stabbed the old woman. I talked to him and he seemed to know me as well.
“Why did you do that, father? You’re already dead! Why are you here?” My father didn’t answer and immediately fled from the scene. I turned to look at the old woman and was shocked seeing that she was no longer in pain and that there was no blood at all. Huh?
What the hell was happening? I kept asking myself but I couldn’t figure out the answer.
Then I looked at the old woman again and I saw her smiling at me. It crept me to the bones then I hugged myself.
After a while, I turned around and thought of running away. Then from out of nowhere, the man who was my father appeared again and took out his knife and rope.
He attacked the old woman again and this time he made sure that he stabbed her on the neck and then tied her hands so she wouldn’t run again when she woke up.
I was wondering who that old woman was. I asked my father but he wouldn’t talk. He just stared at me with those smokey eyes full of love and concern.
I suddenly felt warmth from his gaze so I ran towards him to give him a hug. But when I spread my arms and smiled at him brightly, ready to cover him in my warm embrace, he suddenly disappeared.
Then I woke up. I was crying and thought that I miss my dad. Maybe he was just trying to protect me.
Dream interpretation and symbology have fascinated me ever since I read Freud’s classic, “The Interpretation of Dreams.” Ever since, I have explored Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist as well as Jungian psychological ideas about the meaning of dreams. Thanks for joining me in my exploration of the amazing intersection between our conscious waking world and the rich expanse of our subconscious-the home of our intuition, instincts, and hidden potential.