Dreaming Lens: Did you have a stroke? Did someone else have a stroke in your dream? What was the end result of the stroke? Was it painful? Where did the stroke take place?
Personal Focus: A stroke is caused by some sort of disturbance in the integrity of the brain. Caused by a blood clot or the eruption of a blood vessel, the damage that results can leave the victim of a stroke with a range of symptoms from innocuous discomfort to death. The brain is the symbolic center of the intellect and thoughts. When thoughts are compromised by some sudden challenge, a symbolic dream stroke may occur if the cause is severe enough.
There are two basic types of strokes. One form of stroke results from the buildup of pressure within the brain; as a result, a blood vessel breaks and a stroke occurs. The other type starts with a blood clot from somewhere else in the body traveling into the brain, causing damage or death. Even if your dream doesn’t clearly indicate which cause created the stroke, it may be a helpful piece of dream work to consider the distinctions of each.
The first type, where the damage is a result of pressure within the brain connects symbolically to some specific, repeating thought or pattern of thinking that causes enough stress or tension to eventually explode, shutting down all thought and functioning. This may indicate that the thoughts or ideas in question have been present and building up for a long time, though probably below the level of consciousness. Ignored for too long, they burst into consciousness in a way that is damaging and stops anything else from taking place till they are dealt with. What nagging thoughts have you been ignoring?
When the culprit is a clot that starts elsewhere in the body, the initial cause of the shutdown is more likely in the realm of action than thought. Look to where in your life something is causing repeated stress that you have been overlooking or ignoring altogether.
If you are the one having a stroke in your dream, then look to where your thoughts might be hurting you on a deep level. If someone else in your dream is the victim, then use that person as a Character Aspect of the part of your personality that is suffering due to misaligned thoughts.