The Dream

Recently someone was asking me if I knew about interpreting symbols in dreams.  Of course I don't, but the internet sure does, so I decided to look up some symbols from my own dreams.  I'm not convinced that I dream often, but I'm quite sure that I remember very little.  But there is one dream that took place some twenty years ago, that after the second or third time, stuck in my memory.  

I find myself on the deck of a pirate ship, near the bow.  Lined up across the deck are all the pirates.  At the cabin door is the captain, complete with a peg for a leg, a hook for a hand, and patch over his eye (seems a little over the top, but he was like a super-pirate).  The entire crew is laughing at me as the captain opens the door.  Out of the door comes a herd of buffalo, stampeding toward me.  The next thing I know, I'm treading water next to the ship, surrounded by buffalo, swimming around me.  These giant buffalo, having just imitated tiny lemmings, are circling like sharks, but are no longer threatening, but probably circle because they cannot tread water.  Perhaps if they were water buffalo, they would be more adept in the water, but they are American Bison--plains animals.

With the help from a quick Google search, I learn that pirates can either represent chaos in one's emotional life, or may symbolize freedom and defiance of authority.  A herd of buffalo signifies tranquility and plentitude.  Neither of these seem to have any particular significance to a happy ten year old, but with these symbols having about as much reliability as the horoscope in the local paper, I have decided to forgo any further research, and just enjoy the memory as an amusing conversation piece.