The Same Road...

The worst dreaming for me is a reoccuring nitemare that I have had since my college years. It is a dream that is in black and white (the only black and white dream/nitemare I can recall). I am running down a dirt road, being followed by an unseen man (seen as only a silouhette). I run.. and run.. and run.. and finally I wake up with my heart thumping uncontrollably and my mind racing, trying to figure out why I had the same dam nitemare again. I have talked to a therapist about this dream, but to no avail. All she said to me was 'hopefully it won't haunt you in the future'. What??? What????? What kind of advice is that? I could have told myself that free of charge.

Any insights on reocurring dreams or dreaming in black and white versus colors?

Hi Moody,

Chase dreams are one of several common dream themes, stemming from feelings of anxiety in your waking life. Flee and flight is an instinctive response to a physical threat in the environment. In these dreams, the scenario features you being pursued by an attacker, an animal, a monster or an unknown figure, who wants to hurt or possibly kill you. Consequently, you run, you hide or you try to outwit your pursuer. Your actions in the dream parallel how you would respond to pressure and cope with fears, stress or various situations in your waking life. Instead of confronting the situation, your dream indicates that you have a tendency to run away and avoid the issue. Ask yourself who is chasing you, so that you can gain an understanding and insight of the source of your fears and anxieties.

The pursuer or attacker who is chasing you in your dream may also represent an aspect of yourself. Your own feelings of anger, jealousy, fear, and possibly love, can manifest itself as the threatening figure. Or the shadowy figure can also symbolize rejected characteristics of your self. You may be projecting these feelings onto the unknown chaser. Next time you a dream of being chased, turn around and confront your pursuer. Ask them why they are chasing you. Perhaps you are running away from something. What are you trying to run from?

Consider the distance or gap between you and your pursuer. This indicates your closeness to the issue. If the pursuer is gaining on you, then it suggests that the problem is not going to go away. The problem will surround you until you confront and address it. However, if you are able to widen the gap between your pursuer, then you are able to successful distance yourself from the problem. In essence, the problem is fading away.

Hope this helps, best of wishes.

If this is the only black and white nightmare you can recall, this fact could have some significance. Usually something in black and white would imply something being seen very factually. Thus the dream itself may reflect a situation that you can only see as being factual – one without any grey areas or any alternate way of seeing things being possible.

The dirt road would indicate following a course of action that is very natural, one such as God designed yet you are following this course of action in a losing direction. (down a dirt road)

The running would indicate making fast progress, in this case when trying to distance yourself from an idea (the man) that you may be having difficulty shaking off. (followed by an unseen man). In this scene you appear to be running in fear from an idea, but in relation to God’s path (a dirt road) this is taking you in a losing direction.

The man represents a mental aspect of yourself, one reflecting a particular idea you have. A man seen in silhouette form represents an idea that has been presented in its most simple form or with simplicity as it is just a shape or form without details.[As this nightmare began in your college years could the fear have related to having only a rough outline of what you wanted to study or accomplish?]

A silhouette usually refers to a view of only one side and thus can represent the idea of looking at things with a one-sided, or limited view. While the silhouette is usually a dark image suggesting some unenlightened or unintelligent thinking, one only sees a silhouette when there is light backing it, that is, what seems to be unenlightened actually has the backing of intelligence. [Did you feel pressured at college to be more broadminded. This would easily take you off God’s path.]
Based upon the original source of the word silhouette, the word came to be used for anything skimped.

Hope one of these ideas might bring you some thoughts to stop this nightmare.

I don't know why it's black and white. But, you should turn around and kick that guy's ass.