A Mother Archetype Tells the Future

Dear Cynthia: When I was pregnant with my first child, I had a dream that I was walking down a dark alley. There was a set of about three stairs that led down to an open door. In the doorway stood a gypsy woman holding an infant. I walked down the stairs toward the woman. She handed me the baby; it was a girl. I turned to walk away with the baby in my arms and the dream ended.

As it turned out, my child was a girl--something I hadn’t known prior to her birth. Two years later, I had the same dream while pregnant with my second child, only this time my 2-year-old daughter was at my side. I met the gypsy woman again and she handed me another baby girl. I turned to walk away with the second baby in my arms. When my second child was born, it was a girl.

Could it be that my body was trying to tell me the gender of each child? I find it interesting that I had essentially the same dream with each pregnancy. What do you think?

ROBIN BUMPASS

El Segundo

Dear Reader: Pregnant women often have a bond through their dreams to their unborn children. It may be a natural protective form of communication, falling under the heading of “maternal instinct.”

The gypsy woman in your dreams certainly was symbolic of a fortuneteller: She predicted the future for you. She also may have represented what Swiss psychologist Carl Jung referred to as the Great Mother Archetype, an image that can take many forms and often appears in the dreams of pregnant women as a symbol of fertility, nurturing and maternal love. The gypsy also brings to mind another archetype, the Wise Old Woman, who represents wisdom, knowledge and strength of conviction. (Dreams containing archetypes are often vivid and can be recalled long after they were experienced.)

By the way, there were three steps to the door where you were presented with your baby each time. Are you planning to have another child? In any case, if you see a gypsy woman in your dreams again, I suggest you start clipping diaper coupons!

* Fax your dreams to Cynthia Richmond at (213) 237-0732 or e-mail them to [email protected]. Please include your hometown and a daytime phone number. “In Your Dreams” appears every Tuesday and should be read for entertainment purposes only.

* Cynthia Richmond explains children’s dreams on our Kids’ Reading Room page every Wednesday.