I had this dream when I was 7-8. It would start with me and my family sleeping. Suddenly I would wake up to the sound of someone entering. There I would find the soldier from the general insurance company with a gun. He doesn’t notice me and my siblings were still sleeping so they were fine. He suddenly goes over and shoots my dad in the head. I start crying and my mom is awake and he kills her. My dream ends there. I would wake up crying and panicked. The general soldier was a common thing in all of my nightmares when I was that age.
Dreams, especially those we experience as children, can often be quite vivid and emotionally charged, and they may be influenced by a range of factors including our environment, fears, and subconscious thoughts. Your dream seems to contain several potent symbols and themes that can offer insights into your psyche at that age.
Premonition of Danger: The presence of the soldier with a gun is a highly charged symbol. Soldiers typically represent authority, power, and conflict. In your dream, the soldier appears in a context where he is causing harm to your family, which could symbolize a fear of external threats or a sense of vulnerability. At the age of 7-8, a child may internalize various forms of aggression or conflict they observe in the media or their surroundings, leading to fears of violence coming into their safe spaces.
Family Dynamics: The fact that the shooting occurs in your home—a space usually associated with safety and comfort—could indicate feelings of anxiety about your family’s safety and well-being. Children often have fears related to their parents’ safety or well-being, and this might stem from an unconscious awareness of societal issues, media portrayals, or even familial stress.
Parental Figures: Your father and mother are central figures in your dream, and their violent deaths could represent a fear of losing security or guidance from these parental figures. This aspect of the dream might also reflect an internal struggle with authority or protection, as parents are usually seen as the ultimate protectors in a child's life.
Feeling Helpless: Your position as a witness to these events, unable to intervene, highlights feelings of helplessness and fear. This helplessness in the face of danger is a common sentiment among children when they feel unable to control situations that impact their safety.
Emotional Release: Waking up crying and panicked indicates that the dream was a release of built-up anxieties and fears. Nightmares often serve as a way for the subconscious to process distressing emotions that the conscious mind may not be fully addressing.
Recurring Nightmares: The fact that the soldier appeared in multiple nightmares suggests a persistent source of anxiety or fear in your subconscious. This could have been a manifestation of a broader theme in your life—a feeling of anxiety or a sense of instability.
To summarize, your dream reflects a deep psychological landscape, where fears about safety, parental figures, and external threats converge. It's important to understand that such dreams, while disturbing, are a natural part of childhood and often serve a purpose in processing fears and anxieties. If these types of dreams continue to resurface into your later years, or if you find that they’re significantly impacting your well-being, it may be helpful to speak with a mental health professional for deeper exploration and guidance.