THE DREAM I was with my grandmother and she was behaving unusually. She was being confrontational.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION The previous day a friend who was normally very supportive suddenly started to say how pathetic the dreamer was. This sudden criticism had shocked the dreamer who would never have expected this friend to turn on him.

DREAM ANALYSIS: Dreams will often be about big events from the previous day and this can be a helpful way of understanding dreams. This dreamer had been shocked the day before when a friend had turned on him and said some very cruel and confrontational things. His mind was focused on this one incident and so any dream was certainly just linked to that situation and the resulting emotions.

This dream quite clearly links to this situation as it mirrors reality. The dream features the dreamers grandmother who "behaves unusually" in confronting the dreamer. In real life the dreamers friend "behaves unusually" and confronts the dreamer. The dream probably has a simple meaning capturing the dreamers shock at his friend confronting him and noting how unusual this behaviour was. It simply captures this feeling "I really would not have expected my friend to behave like that!"

But there is one clear difference here in that it is the dreamers grandmother who was confrontational rather than his friend. What is the symbolism of this?

Grandmothers have several stereotypes. Most grandmothers are non threatening. They never say anything nasty towards you. They always praise you. Unlike parents they never tell you off. Many grandparents are a soft touch and you associate them with sweets and pocket money. A grandparent who fits into this stereotype will never confront you. Its a clear metaphor capturing this thought "I really did not expect my friend to turn on me like that. I cannot think of anyone less likely to confront me other than my grandmother".