People fail to see the relevance of an alligator to real life (most people have never even seen an alligator). Try to think of related concepts and emotions such as "fear" "overwhelming threat" and "too much to handle."

ALLIGATORS IN DREAMS:Understanding dreams is not so difficult. In practice dream symbols translate into certain words within the English language. For instance an "alligator" dream may simply translate into an everyday word such as "trouble" and the dream capture the feeling that "doing that would be asking for trouble". One dream in our database featured an alligator. In real life the dreamers thoughts had been dominated by his worries about a much younger woman who was wanting a relationship with him. He felt that she was too hot to handle and involving himself with her would be asking for trouble.

FULL LIST OF KEYWORDS LINKED TO ALLIGATOR DREAMS
In practice alligators have several symbolic meanings. Here is the full list. Try to think which of these words and phrases are relevant in your life right now. Then try to weave these into sentences which capture your key feelings right now.
An alligator is highly associated with the phrase "no mercy" because an alligator shows no mercy.

- "too much" (was something too much to handle yesterday? An alligator is something we know is more than we can cope with. In a dream it may symbolise a situation we know we could not cope with)
- "ruthless economic reality" (Were you thinking about some harsh economic truth yesterday? Is someone in danger of going bust or losing their job? Have you been subjected to government cuts? An alligator may symbolise the harsh reality of the world we live in. It could be your minds way of saying "I am just starting to realise that my father could lose his job!")
- "avoid" (We should obviously avoid an alligator. A dream like this could symbolise anything we wish to avoid? Were you wanting to avoid someone yesterday? )
- "no mercy" (an alligator is a symbol for the things going on in your life. We associate them with ruthless behaviour and so an alligator might be your minds way of saying "he showed no mercy" or "I need to show no mercy".)
- "not caring about the consequences" (did you wake up not caring what people think? Did you do something without caring what the consequences would be yesterday? If that's the case the dream of an alligator symbolised your dare devil attitude and willingness to risk all.)
- "devastated" (Were you devastated by the events of yesterday? )
- "intimidated" (Alligators scare the life out of us and they can represent any situation where we feel intimidated. Were you scared witless by something yesterday? Were you worried about a meeting which you will find intimidating tomorrow?)
- "rejection" (If we are rejected by someone we are attracted to then we feel savaged. Emotionally the effect is the same. We feel shocked and dejected.)
- "real trouble " (Do you feel some situation is causing you real trouble? Are you wary of doing something because it would be asking for trouble?)
- "losing something" (Do you feel as if you have lost something? Has something been taken away from you?)
- "shut your mouth" (The huge mouth of the alligator maybe a symbol for something that you have said. It maybe a good way of saying "you need to keep your mouth closed" )
- "ex boyfriend/girlfriend" (Sometimes dreams link to very specific things and these tend to crop up a lot. Sometimes we can be very upset meeting an ex boyfriend or girlfriend, especially if we still have feelings for them. We can feel as much tension with them as we would with someone threatening us. Seeing an ex can stir up all the feelings we had and leave us upset all day.)

Its a fallacy that dreams capture unconscious thoughts - dreams represent thoughts that we are all too aware of. A typical dream would translate into the types of thoughts that we might write down in a diary or tell a best friend. Dreams represent your key thoughts which pinpoint the problems right now. Try to write down some quotes which capture your feelings right now and try to include the words and phrases above. For instance a dream about being chased by an alligator took place the day after the dreamer was disrespected by a friend. So obviously the savage attack of the alligator represented this savage criticism.

Dreams can represent very sophisticated thoughts. You can build up the meanings of the different symbols and deduce very complex thought processes. For instance one dreamer had a dream of alligators at a crossroads. The day before it had struck him that some friends who worked in a local community centre may lose their jobs in government cuts. The alligators therefore symbolised the ruthless economic reality of life. The crossroads had its own symbolism - it represented the change that was about to take place (we often use the phrase "we are at a crossroads" to signify a change in our lives). If we put these two symbols together we can deduce that the dream translates into this exact thought - "quite soon things will be very different. Some of the people that work at the community centre will lose their jobs. Its a harsh economic world we live in".

Now consider this dream - "I dreamt a dog turned into an alligator". The dreamer had been trying to get along with a group of people but he felt intimidated by them. He was worried that he did not have the same abilities as them and felt out of place with people who were used to achieving. The day before he had been thinking that eventually he would break from this group because he felt out of place with them. So this dream portrays this transformation which he fears will take place. The dog turning into an alligator symbolises this exact thought - "I get along with them now but I feel that I am out of place with them. I worry that I will be pushed out because I am not the same as them". He felt that the feelings of intimidation would eventually overwhelm him. The dog symbolises the good feelings now - a group of friends who were loyal and friendly whilst the alligator symbolises him feeling "out of place and intimidated by them".