Have you ever dreamed you were in prison? Then some part of you is imprisoned. There are many ways in which this metaphor can apply to our lives. We explored some of them in a recent prison dream that was discussed in a telephone group, "TeleDream." Here is how the dream began:

"I am in a prison(1). Inside, the grounds are like a university campus(2), with green lawns(3) and benches(4) next to old buildings(5). The whole place is surrounded by a thick-barred black metal fence(6). I have just arrived(7). We take turns going to get groceries(8) escorted by a prison guard(9)..."

Every dream speaks to anyone who investigates it, since dreams originate in the Universal realms of the Unconscious. The group exploring this dream discovered dozens of layers of meaning, some unique to each individual. See if any of the nine universal themes we found apply to you:

1. "I am in a prison." And so is everyone in some manner: To the degree that your job or family confines and restrains you, they imprison you. If your body is wounded, disowned, or a burden to you, your spirit may be imprisoned by the physical. If you long to follow some dream which is prohibited by others,

you may be imprisoned by society. If your dreams seem hopeless or ridiculous, you may be imprisoned by your own attitudes. Most of us are imprisoned by fears, by doubt, by ignorance.

2. "Inside, the grounds are like a university campus": Inside us the "ground" of our existence is the "Universe" itself. Our individual identity is alternately a prison and a portal: "Every man is a doorway through which the Infinite passes into the finite" (Emerson) The human personality consists of a spark of divinity imprisoned in materiality.

3. "green lawns": One group member noted that green is the color of growth and spring; to the extent that our growth and blossoming is restricted, we are in prison. Any "failure to thrive" imprisons some potential. Another dreamer mentioned that green is the color of the heart chakra; if our feelings, hopes and dreams were not imprisoned within us, would we need so many reminders to "follow our dreams" or to "know thyself." A third group member playfully commented that "the grass always looks greener on the other side of the razor-wire fence."

4. "Benches": are for waiting, for sitting it out and they can be a valuable respite or the symbol of failing to "take a stand." Being "put on the bench" in sports is to be taken out of the game. How are we "sitting on the bench" in our own lives, the dream invites us to ask.

5. The grass of the "green lawns" is part of nature, while the bench, the buildings and the fence are man-made. Often our natural tendencies are surrounded by that which has been built up by culture, family rules and traditions, religious beliefs and external authority. There are many built environments like schools and factories which educate and employ but simultaneously imprison. In the movie "Cousin Cousine" a character attends an outdoor wedding but skips the church reception that follows, saying "I don't trust God when you get him indoors."

6. The "whole place" might be that place within us all, in which we are whole. Every being carries the imprint of wholeness, like the oak tree implicit in the acorn. Each gender has within, the qualities of its opposite. Each child brings into this world a potential for full being and expression which is only rarely fulfilled. Whatever prevents our wholeness is the "black metal fence" of shadow and restriction and resistance. Poverty is a prison. Prejudice is a prison. Partiality is a prison; gated communities are the prison of privilege.

7. This dream came to a devoted student of dream work whose past efforts had activated and liberated parts of her psyche that had been stored in the "protective custody" of the unconscious since childhood. The release of fresh consciousness that has "just arrived" is the hallmark of ongoing growth. Dreams release unrealized potentials into the adult psyche whenever we are ready to do the work of reclamation. It is our own innocent consciousness that recognizes our over-adapted adult attitudes as a prison. This fresh energy is just what helps to release us from the prison of habit and limitation. Prisons are secure, and sometimes, security is a prison.

8. The dreamer noted that many of the important projects she began had to "take turns" and could not be consistently maintained. Thus there were cycles of meditation and phases of healthy exercise and periodic returns to creative writing. The dream shows these as activities that bring nourishment, the "groceries" that feed the soul. Such activities must often take turns when much of our psyche is imprisoned.

9. Not only do we all contain hopes and abilities that are imprisoned within, but we are all both the prisoner and the prison guard. Our own attitudes and habits imprison us. Our guardedness is our prison's guard. One becomes a prisoner only after being judged. Within the mind it may be our own judgemental views that bar us from authenticity and freedom, imprisoning us without just cause.

Is not each human ego is a prison of the spirit? Our every fear imprisons and limits our willingness to dare and our ability to love. Our current identity is always the prison of our future self and our full potential. How much "time do you have to do" before you earn your freedom? Prison dreams challenge us to discover how we are confined and how we could break out and be free.