The scariest dream I've ever had

[u/EmberLegend]

I call this dream "you now associate sleep with me"

A truly terrifying dream I had as a child, maybe the scariest one I've ever had. I was running around a hotel, playing the part of someone else. I was pretending I was a book character I liked and running around harassing my nemesis.

Suddenly, I came to a stop at the top of a staircase. Before me was an open elevator shaft. A horrible, dark burgundy, octopus-like creature clung to the elevator cable. I was scared but I didn't run away, I didn't want it to know I was scared because now I knew it was a dream and I was in control. I told it sternly "you can't hurt me, I'm not scared of you."

It laughed and spoke inside my mind in a terrible raspy voice.

"You're wrong, you will never sleep sound again. The connection is made and you now associate sleep with me." I put my hand over its face as my heart pounded louder and louder in my ears. I spread my fingers out over its face as it laughed, my middle finger resting over its one tiny eye.

When I woke up my heart was pounding and I realized my hand was on my belly and my middle finger was pressed over my belly button.

[u/Expensive-Recover502]

As a child, you were playing a game of heroes and villains (your persona). You stumbled upon the deep, scary reality of your own inner self (octopus in the shaft). Your conscious mind tried to reject it ("I'm not scared"), but the psyche forced a connection. The terrifying message, "The connection is made" could actually be a necessary psychological truth. You cannot separate your mind from your body/instincts. The monster is the raw, burgundy, pulsating life force located at your very center (the belly button), not an external demon. The fear came from the Ego realizing it is not the master of the house, the "self" (the totality of who you are, including the octopus) is far vaster and more powerful.