DreamCast: Her Roommate’s Changing Hair

I live with a guy who was a really good friend, but lately we aren’t getting along well – it’s been very up and down. Recently I had a nightmare about him, where I told him I knew he was moving out and said “It’s okay with me, just make sure to give me 30 days notice so I can find someone else.”

He wouldn’t look at me and said he was moving out next week, and wasn’t going to pay the rent. I thought he was kidding and pressed him to tell the truth. He got really mean and said that he had no obligation to do so. I started crying and asked why he hated me and what I did to him. He wouldn’t give any straight answers – he just kept repeating that he was leaving.

The whole time we were talking his hair kept changing. First he was wearing a hat, then he had really thick curly hair, and then in the last and scariest part of the dream, he had something like a Mohawk. I was really upset and ran out of the house, but he became this demon presence who wasn’t physically there, but I felt him following me and could hear him laughing and repeating that he was leaving. I was trying to call my friends for help but my cell phone wasn’t working. The demon chased me down a really dark street with lots of trees.

Then I ran into a friend I haven’t seen since high school. She gave me a dollar, saying that I had contributed to a charity for her but she had found out the charity was really pocketing the money. I told her I couldn’t talk, that I was having a crisis, and she disappeared. Then the demon chased me into a house. What does this dream mean?

Linda in Hollywood

Hello Linda,

I think your roommate’s changing hair represents changing/disruptive ideas surfacing inside him (hair often symbolizes thinking). I wonder if he’s going through some kind of crisis. Has he been unusually unpredictable lately? The demon episode may be the dream’s way of getting your attention about his unreliability and telling you that he could indeed threaten your security. The scenario about the charity’s deception could represent some “charitable” feelings you have for your roommate that are misplaced. As for your attempts to call for help, is there something going on now that reminds you of some time in the past (high school, perhaps?) when you felt alone, with no help from others? You’re running from a feeling of being threatened, which has probably resurfaced because of your roommate’s possible departure (abandonment issue here?) – and perhaps by his changing feelings toward you. I think it’s time to have a heart-to-heart talk with him about his plans. Hope that helps!

Sweet dreams,
Cortney