I can see, feel, and smell my blood, spraying loose in wild jets that attack the far-reaching walls, painting them in a crazed parody of art...I come awake, and realize it was all a nightmare, and not some other dimension where I am at once a cat and a zen, dispassionate, up-and-out-of-body sort of 'watcher'-presence....

I've been thinking about this one a long time, and all I can find are negative connotations. I figured the cat attacked your VISION because that's your best asset, or at least most needed... maybe it's one of those nightmares that targets one of your most vulnerable fears, just because it knows that will freak you out, wake you up

How about this: you are Way too too much "in your head" [in waking ego life] ... maybe a case of "animus possession" in Jungian terms, and way too..., or relatively..., insecure (repressed/distanced) about your sensuous/sensual emotional/vital/instinctual (feline) life; yr 'dark/wild cat' is tired of the 'pretense' of that...

... "puttin on airs/smartass/ knowitall" Silver tip... ... orrr: some such inner split or separation... {trying not to be an opinion from outside 'dreamfacts', jus tryin A 'read' o the elements as given.......} The 'blood art' seems portentous of untapped potential of a Soul Much larger than currently self-allowing. ntmr/ntdmnsn??

Many thanx/both ur comments r xtremely helpful, n 4 the most part, ring true...Kitkat, u're spot on with 'Vision'...there were 3 main/separate 'characters'/entities in the dream: i felt 100% 'silver-tipped cat', in the sense of m own direct n immediate existential n sensory experience, n as That Cat, i identified w/ m eyes/Vision;

when my eyes 'got savaged', i became a 'Goner'/ shrunk int2 a crude blend of indescribable pain, hopeless struggle, n pure animal instinct...but i was also/ simultaneously 100% 'sthg Other'/ ' sthg not cat'...(this is xtremely hard 4 me to xplain/ can only try to do so very awkwardly)...like an 'unbound', immaterial, unquantifiable

'Presence/ Witness'...an xtra-sensory 'measure'/ quality of 'Knowin' n 'Seein'...very much 'there'( ie in n of the parts of the whole 'picture'), n yet 'uninvolved'...the 3rd character is the 'Unexpected Attacker'- 'Unknown Predator' to my 'silver-tipped cat'; 'seen n acknowledged' by my 'Unbound Self' as resemblin me/

sumwhat similar in shape n form, n yet for all that distinct in its color tone( 2 shades darker), in the fur that covers it( shorter n coarser), n in the way it moves( sleeker n faster)...i've since come t 'recognize'(?) the 3 characters respectively as: 'unbound'/ 'unfettered'/ SOUL; eyes/ vision/ HEART; shadow/ predator/ MIND...

=>84/ 'way too much in yr head'- bingo!...'maybe a case of animus possession'- double bingo?!...'too...or relatively distanced from vital/instinctual life'- uhuh yeh yeh ahem... as to 'Silver tip', when y put it way y did(...) brings t mind an 'unlikely'( but possible;) blend/fusion of 2 animals, namely the silvertip( grizzly) bear

n the silvertip shark...that's o.c in addition to/ together with the 'silver tip/ tongue' (??!..) ...oh boy, bitter bitter medicine...havin t take 1 sip @ a time...'blood art/ untapped potential of a Soul'...definitely felt like it/ a poor n yet, in hindsight, morbidly fascinatin imitation of the 'real thg'...

also 2 days after i had the dream, on m way back from a walk, i was unexpectedly n viciously attacked by a dog...no matter how hard i fought n kicked back, i couldn't get it to let go of me. It only gave up n broke away when 3 ppl, armed w/ various handy 'weapons, rushed in to help...it later struck me that the mindless fear i felt

then n there was not so far removed from that which i had experienced as a 'dreamcat' ...the violent rush of adrenaline...danger, reflex, struggle...it all seemed like a strange coincidence...

OMG are you ok? Where did that dog get hold of you? The dream seems more like an omen now... this was the negative 'warnings' I was talking about

is ok, m fine/ no 'lastin' effects...all in the past now ;)...got me '@ m doorstep', so to speak...as to 'omen'/ premonition- dunno, v hard to tell...maybe different interwoven levels/ layers of meanin?...esp seein as i've come to realize since, that this dream 'image' is how i probably view the world we live in/ 'Global Village'

...broken up/ fragmented...livin under the 'Rule of Mind' on the 1 hand/ material, predominantly 'rational' n relatively 'heartless', n on the other, subject to the 'Whims of the Heart'/ child-like, capricious, petty n 'mindless'...in the meantime , the 'Soul of the World' is in a recession...( could be projectin mind u ;)...

always harder to see thgs 'clearly', up close...

rcntly rviewn cgjung: his trtise on 'transcndntl funct': wakn egolife tends t b 1-sided/ unambguus. distrbncs frm 'within' are unconscs tryin t bring balnce/other-side. this's not a 'nightmare' (smplstcly: unxact term). drms/uncnscs eruptns are 'news'; + or -- jdgmnts are unhlpfl. Oedips 'blindd hmslf' t dvlp 'inner sight' ...

..yr dark cat (uncnscs) wants y t ease up on 'seeing' in sens o 'conceptual clarity' whch cn b a defns vs. ..mor drct prcption /feeln /intution (?) .. look for less intllctul / mor 'subtl' pattrns in, say, 'blood spatters'.. these 2 cats are ultmtly 1, manysided

.. 2 eyed (dualistc) sight bcms 1/'single' (innr;clairvoynt)eyed sight. ego typicly calls uncnscs dstrbnces 'alien'/frightnn'; yr Thing s not a tHiNg; it's 'lettin' yr 'blood' >out<; yr walls can now have some new 'drip-murals'; dimensions o creatvty (which y apparntly 'saw', evn w/ claws in yr 2eyes...

..do not undrstand yr distinction==>> "it was all a nightmare, and not some other dimension where I am at once a cat and a zen, dispassionate, up-and-out-of-body sort of 'watcher'-presence.."<== ... these don't seem ultmtly 2 dffrnt things/ realms... O: yrsayin y wr rlly 'there', in th xprience; not a lucd drm; So?

.. 1 tho't rel t that: t'wd seem being IN experience >and< having observer faculties at same time, whthr in a nightmare or awake, wd b the point/ desirable.. but...if y had had >no< observer y wdnt remmbr the dream, anyway

O. O. re readin' 'bout yr 'third party' element::: sounds like this one is positioned very like Jung's transcendent function, but w/o much 'content'. the content for this 'mediator' perspective would be what I'm trying to get at above: bridge vs the conscious ego and the dark volcano of the unconsciuos; interpret tween/ integratem

@#17- funny( or not!) that u shld say that/ hav mself been immersed in Jung's 'treatments' of t 'transcendent function'...hence 'Oedipus blindin himself t devlp inner sight' hits >>!!OUTCH!!<< uncomfortably close t 'home'/ 'heart o the matter'...hav definitely been strugglin( in 'ego life') to 'create proactiv intercourse'

btwix 'conceptual clarity' n its 'intuitiv counterpart'...'blood spatters' did in fact look like 'drip murals'...a 'forest'/perspectiv of 'free standing'/ 'floatin' 'terracotta-red' stalactites, or 'stylized funnels', not sharply defined/ 'precisely executed' but rather w/ rounded sides/borders n edges...

#20- suppose the distinction is 1 i 'spontaneously manufactured out of fear'...right after i awoke from the dream, the very 1st thg that came to me was 'strange how all it takes is the blink of an eye, for reality to become other than what it is'/ meanin the dream stuck me as so 'solidly real', as equally 'solid' as 'wakin reality'

in fact, that the only curtain/divider seemed to be in the almost imperceptible mvmnt/ flutter of m eyelids...was badly shaken @ the time/ not ready yet, 'stable' enuf, to 'digest' it for what i 'knew' it to be, hence tryin to brush it off as 'it was all a nightmre n not etc...'.....

...sorta pathetic when you think about it...n vaguely embarrassin...not to mention that it now feels like an exercise in futility...hmmm...

( ref t settin up defenses/ tryin t 'protect', 'distance' or delude 1self...only goes so far...).....

nay, nay, hay; don't waste time being embarrassed. the 'disturbance' / derangement (Socrates) is absolutely necessary for the transformation, complementation, etc. etc. [is Soc right ref?: "madness" is necessary for sanity, as is chaos for order.. etc.... 'defens/protec' also valid ... whatz exrciz in futlty? ALL 'human pssbltz'

..r valid and aspects of exprience. Let go of "I ShOuLd have figured out this ~all by myself~"... whic is jus' mor a the same. TSE: "... humility is endless..."

not to worry, embarr>ASS<ment, altho em>BADASS<in, not an unwelcome guest- can happen t be an ^^Excellent Teacher^^, manna/ 'mana' for the Soul ;), aand a good exercise in Humility TSE tsk...'i should hav figured all by mself'- nah not part of the equation/ potentially more productive n balancin t have a 3rd 'EYE(s)', as per QED :P

thanx again/ u guys were of great help...