THE DREAM The scene took place somewhere like Arizona, where there was miles of desert sand. He saw a tan coloured rattlesnake. It was trying to attack him but instead he stomped on it and squished its head. He said he walked away and the rattle will still trying to shake but then fizzled down to silence. There was also a male figure in this dream but I do not remember who it was.

THE REALITY In reality, the day before the dreamer a lot on his mind about a decision to go back to work at one company or start his own business. This decision process had been quite time consuming to him.

THE INTERPRETATION In this case the dreamer had a thought on his mind which, through experience, we know might have triggered this dream e.g. "I hate my boss. I want to quit and set up my own business." How could these symbols be consistent with this thought process? Can we build some evidence to link this thought with the dream?

The snake, as a metaphor, seems to be just like his annoying and lying boss. The bite of a snake could be a symbol for anyone who lies and cheats. So the snake could be symbol directly representing his boss.

Dreams are like short plays which in many ways seem completely irrelevant to real life yet capture important emotions. Notice here that the snake is stamped on yet its still there. Yet it fizzles down to silence. That could be a symbol for a thought like "My boss winds me up. I keep trying to forget it but I cannot get him out of my head."

Often deserts have particular significance during dreams. They are symbolic of things which are lifeless and without meaning. So a job which holds no meaning could be consistent with this symbolism. The job is completely uninspiring and lifeless just like the surroundings in the desert.

Of course we do not know exactly what a dream means. In this case its very difficult because the snake could easily represent something else. The snake could be a symbol for the dangers linked to setting up a new business. Setting up a new business is fraught with danger, just like rattle snakes.

All we can do is suggest possible symbolic meanings. Indeed, you can argue that the snake represents the boss and the dangers of setting up a new business. It could represent the thought "I could quit my job and set my own business up. But I would still get work pressures. Having your own business doesn't get rid of work stress."