5.30.2015

jaws tooth dreams

Source: Miranda Cosgrove Art
Many months ago, I used to have a bizarre recurring dream about sharks. I'd be swimming with them and pretty nervous about it, but they ignored me and we all just swam together. There was that one. And the other one was that I'd be swimming--sometimes alone, sometimes with the sharks--but I'd know underneath me was a really BIG shark, like a JAWS kind of shark, and it was there and any moment it could just....swim up, from the depths, and chomp me. There was that one. That one usually woke me up. (Amy fact: my two greatest death fears are dying in a fiery plane crash and getting eaten by JAWS. People tell me these are THE two most unlikely causes of death, on a probability/statistical level. Most people die of heart attacks or cancer or falling down stairs. But I don't know...I contend I'm going to die in a fiery plane wreck--it will catch on fire, crash into the ocean. Which I will survive...until JAWS shows up to eat me.)

Last night, I dreamt I was in Texas. My mom (hi mom!) was there, reading a Bible in the bushes (seems like something you'd do in Texas, yes?). And there was a Rabbi. I don't know why but there was a Rabbi. Watching my mom read a Bible in the bushes. In Texas. But also, my teeth were falling out. Not many of them, just two--one on the bottom, one on top. And I pulled them out, like kids do when their teeth come out. I wasn't upset about it at first, because I figured they'd grow back. Until right before I woke up, when I was standing (in Texas, with my mom and a Rabbi and a Bible in the bushes) with one of my incisors in my fingers, studying the bloody roots on it and realized: oh god, this is a GROWN UP tooth; those don't grow back! And then I woke up. And now my mouth feels weird.

So I did what I did with the shark dreams and everything else that interests me intensely and/or freaks me out: I went spelunking online (I personally like to start with Google, but I hear there are other mouths of caves to start in). Here's what I found:

First, the sharks (just in case you, too, ever have recurring shark dreams):

Sharks represent anger/hostility. If they show up in your dreams, you're in a long, difficult emotional period. You might be struggling with asserting your independence or individuality somewhere, particularly in a relationship. (Sounds about right, for me, given the time period I was having those shark-y dreams.) That, or you know a greedy, unscrupulous person who gets what she or he wants with little regard to the feelings of others...or YOU. YOU are greedy and unscrupulous, getting your needs met without regard for others. And if this is true, I hope JAWS finds you and eats you this summer.

Next, the teeth (and Texas and my mom and the rabbi and bushes):

The Chinese think falling out teeth dreams mean you're a liar. I am, but only to myself. To other people, I am horrible at this. I find telling the truth just makes life less complicated...and also my fuzzy brain can't remember a lot of different stories or who I told them to. So, sorry China, you're wrong.

And Greek and Latin American people think falling out teeth mean someone's dying. Hmm. Maybe? Maybe this is true for me right now...but only in sort of a very thematic sense, not literally.

Freud and his penis cigar.
Source: Ham & High 
But mostly, teeth falling out dreams mean transition. Sigmund Freud thought dreaming about losing your teeth meant you had sexual repression. But then, Sigmund Freud thought everything was about sexual repression. Also, Sigmund Freud liked to smoke really big, long, phallic-shaped cigars. Just FYI.

Other dream psychoanalyzers say tooth loss dreaming happens during major life changes: they represent insecurity or vulnerability...changing jobs, ending/beginning relationships, moving, or just breaking bad habits. Abrupt or gradual changes. Also, for women, it could mean you're in menopause. I'm not in menopause, but if this means I AM going into menopause, then I hope the hot flashes hold off til winter when they'll be more useful.

But they could also represent an inability to make a decision, or you're making too many costly compromises about something, you're worried about your image (to self or others), or (if you like to smoke phallic-shaped cigars and speak with a German accent), you need a few good orgasms. Or you're a man who's worried about his pee pee. (Dr. Freud had some issues, no?)

At any rate, my dreams are turning weird. I know it's because of where I'm at right now. But tomorrow night, if I dream about swimming with a Rabbi and my mom while she's reading the Bible and my teeth are falling out right before JAWS chomps us to bloody bits, I'm going to have a serious chat with my bizarre brain. (Or turn it into an Academy-award winning screenplay or Pulitzer-nominated novel.)


My 70s actor crush Roy Scheider feeds toothy JAWS (and my dreams!)

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