Dream: I arrived at a bay, where a large L shaped jetty was anchored just off the coast a bit, probably about 15m from land. I left my son (who's 18 months old) sitting on a seat on the shore with a woman (who in real life, I don't know) and I swam to the jetty. The water in-between the jetty and the shore was really calm and clear. When I was just about at the jetty a man shouted from the jetty "get out of the water, don't let the seals get you" There were quite a few people swimming in the water and there were seals swimming in and out of everyone. I got out of the water and remember thinking, "how can the seals be dangerous, the water is so beautiful." I walked along the jetty towards two men, dressed in black suits. They were the best looking men I had ever seen and I started talking to them, making jokes and laughing. I looked towards my son and a seal was sitting next to him, talking to him and the woman. It was a really large seal and he had gray hair and a long gray beard. I ran to the end of the jetty, to the closest point to the shore and started shouting, "don't talk to the seals, get him away"
The woman was just sitting there next to Jacob (my son) but doing nothing, they all sat there talking to the seal. Then, I was back on the shore and the baby and I walked to this big old house. The baby, even though a small child was actually my brother (who's 28 years old). He was an adult trapped in a toddlers body. He could speak and think like an adult. We went into this house, where we were supposed to be on a guided tour around the house. We walked into a large old room, the ceiling was really high and in one corner there was a black liquid dripping onto the floor. I knew that the liquid was a ghost, a spirit of a lady. But nobody else knew that. We kept moving around the house on the tour and the guide took us into one room but my brother (still the toddler) and I didn't fully enter through the door, we were standing in the doorway. A woman with a really pale white face wearing a short black wig walked past and straight away I knew she was the ghost. We (my brother and I) confronted her and I said, I knew who she was. She denied everything but I was insistent that I knew. Eventually, she admitted she was the spirit but asked us not to tell anyone. She told us her story and we kept her secret.
Then I remember my brother and I walking to a hotel where we were staying. We walked into the bar where we were meeting my mother. My brother was smoking a cigarette and I thought it was quite funny that a toddler was smoking a cigarette. I told him to hurry up and put it out before our mother saw him. We walked through the bar, walking around all these tables looking for the ramp down to the bottom level where my mother was going to be. We had to find the ramp, even though we walked past lots of steps.
Quentin's Diagnosis: The large L-shaped jetty is a place to get a detached view of your emotional state. You leave your son with an unknown woman. You can trust the woman enough. Your higher self is telling you to put trust in the things that make sense in your life. You need space from the baby to get your emotions calm and clear. Then in your dream, a man shouts 'get out of the water, don't let the seals get you'. It's trying to show you what fear you've picked up from men. The two men in black suits - men of authority, power suits...were they wearing red ties ? The dark suits are your male anima. (see anima/animus on our web site). The way you dealt with these men was by talking, joking and laughing.
The seal is the ancient guide - the wise male aspect of your son. You think the seals are dangerous and you're afraid to let him connect to that. Don't talk to the seals you say. Your son has integrity and knows who he can trust in this life. Who are these authority figures ? The house is the symbol of you soul. The child is your brother. Maybe your child was your brother in a past life. This is a journey into the inner self. In the corner the black liquid was the spirit of a woman, a female ghost who spent time in the life with your brother. Past ghosts are hanging around. A hotel is a transitory place so this next situation pertains to how you are for a time in your life but not forever. With the toddler, the past is coming into the present. You walking around all those tables looking for the ramp down etc. is you following the patterns of the parents. Passing on what your mother said to you. What's good and what's not so good. The steps down are those leading to your sub-conscious. Weed out the good and bad habits in your life, keeping the good stuff about yourself and that which you don't wish to pass on to future generations. Ask yourself: My mother used to do........and I never do, and you'll get your answer