A man in his early 70’s dreamed:
I’m in a convenience store going to fill my coffee mug when I notice flakes of gold forming in a cup that collects water from coffee dregs. The flakes are circular and spiked like small snowflakes. I start to collect them, thinking I will weigh them, but then I feel conspicuous, so I put them back and go up to the cashier. I ask how much time I have left to get a free refill. She says, four hours. In front of me at the register is a woman with a bunch of rolled and ribboned mining claims. I look at them and imagine mining the area of the claims before she does. Then a short, squat man is there, older. He’s the owner of the claims. I say, gold claims huh? Yeah, he says, nothing special. A lot of work, I say. He says, yeah. I tried it once, thinking of an old gold mine I owned and was going to mine but never did. Lot of dirt to move. Lot of work.
The dreamer, having thrown out an earlier refill of coffee is told that he only has four more hours to cash in on another. Coffee is a stimulant and so is sometimes used as a symbol of consciousness. Is the dream suggesting that the dreamer wasted an opportunity for greater consciousness? Or is it a warning that time is running out for growing consciousness? Perhaps the message is that he still has time if he doesn’t waste it? The number four is a symbol of wholeness. Wholeness squandered or wholeness gained: that is the question.
Round gold flakes resembling snowflakes coalesce from the liquid that drains from the discarded coffee grounds. Snowflakes, because each is unique, can symbolize individuality. Like the gold, they reflect that which is most preciousness within each person—your unique potential. But often it is our uniqueness that we discard in our efforts to fit in with society or the expectations of family or peers. The dreamer shared a time in grade school when he stole an apparent pouch of gold from a classmate only to find out it was fool’s gold. How often we mistake fool’s gold for real gold in our lives. How often do we leave behind or fail to develop our inner gifts and talents?
At the counter the dreamer sees a woman with mining claims. He toys with the idea of harvesting the gold before she does. Then he reflects on a claim he once owned but never developed. When we haven’t mined the gold of our own soul, we may look with jealousy or resentment towards those who are trying to mine theirs. We may even try to steal or simulate theirs as if it could ever be a suitable substitute for our own.
He reflects on the work involved in trying to profitably extract precious metals from the ground. To unearth and develop what is most valuable and precious in yourself takes effort, sacrifice, and patience. We all must decide how valuable that is to us.