In one of my last posts I wrote about the four elements, earth, wind, fire, and water as they relate to dreams.  In this post the focus is on transportation.   The purpose of the four elements is to give you an indication of what kinds of qualities that you can be working on to improve your character and hence, have a much stronger true identity.   Traveling in a dream gives you some indications about how to move from the place you are at now to the destination that your true self desires.     It is important to emphasize, before discussing the symbols of travel, that there is a difference between having a destination set by your ego versus a goal that originates from your true self.    If you don’t get the distinction, you miss the whole point of dream study.    If you are from North America,  the cultural thought of submitting to a higher self or higher authority may just be something that you really resist.   US culture was founded on the idea that you can’t trust people who have a lot of power because they tend to use it for their own selfish purposes.  What this translates to in personal development is that you should be able to have the freedom to go after whatever goal you are seeking as long as it doesn’t harm anyone.     So a large percentage of the population pursue goals that have almost nothing to do with what their true selves want.  Sex becomes more important than relationships and money is more important than service, for instance.   The difficult concept for those of us of American origin is the idea of submission.   In spiritual terms this is known as surrendering the will of your ego to the will of the Creator, and in personal transformation work it is about pursuing goals of your true or higher self instead of abasing yourself with egomania.

Having grown up American, I have to say that when I learned how to do this process it was a huge turning point in being able to do my own changework because it helped me to have a lot more clarity about which direction my dreams were pointing to.    The symbols around traveling help to clarify the difference between the ego and the true self very elegantly so they are worth attending to.   If you have read my other postings, you might have already learned that when you have negative emotions in a dream, it gives you information about your ego, whereas positive ones point you in the direction of your true self.    Here are some of the common symbols people have around transportation.

Cars:  In most cultures cars are the chief means of transport to get you to your destinations in your daily life.  There are exceptions, but generally we use cars to get us to work, to shop, to transport our children to their activities, and to do recreation.   It is a symbol connected closely to our daily experiences.  There are exceptions because we also use cars for holidays, but they are more likely to come into play when you have an issue around getting somewhere on a day to day basis.   A car is closer to home than, for instance, traveling in a plane so when a car is in your dream, it often brings up issues of getting to short term progress rather than long term.    Often people, who might be driving, are in the passenger seat when a car is out of control.   This  is an indicator that they need to take more control in their lives.   A crash can signify either trying to get somewhere too fast, not showing enough care, or that someone else is leading you in a dangerous way.

Planes:  Planes travel in the air which in symbolic terms have more to do with going after a longer term goal because they are further away from home.   Oftentimes the issue with a plane is that of running out of gas. This is because when you start a project you may have a great deal of enthusiasm, but then burn out after awhile.  You need a way to sustain enthusiasm despite setbacks and difficulties.  Not being able to get off the ground is a problem of not having enthusiasm in the first place, whereas a mid air crash might be having too much enthusiasm that is not balanced with wisdom and care.    Flying on your own is different than flying on a plane and has a more to do with the benefits of freedom as opposed to getting from one place to another in your life.

Boats:   Being in water on a boat shows you issues related to working together as a group to reach a goal as in the metaphor we are all in the same boat.   If you are rowing a boat alone, but it is a positive experience it can mean that you are doing your part to make the group function and reach the goal.   A sinking ship may signify that something is wrong with the way the group is being lead.

Bicycles:  Bicycles differ from cars in that you get to where you want to go through your own efforts, so if you have a positive dream on a bike it could mean that the dream is asking you to make stronger daily efforts.   Racing down a mountain on a bike out of control means that you probably need to develop skills along with your courage.

Motorcycle:  A motorcycle is a vehicle that manuevers a lot easier than a car and has a lot more openness to it so a dream with a motorcycle may be that you need to have a free feeling while dealing with your goals and also the able to manuever much quicker.

Trekking:  Taking a trek has a lot to do with the quality of determination and the wilingness to commit over the long term to reach a goal.    The general rule is that the longer the journey the more determination is needed, while a short journey needs a lot of enthusiasm and courage.