Dream: The Rodent Infestation
Monday, November 22nd, 2021 3:04pm

I had a dream today, which was somewhat brief, but I remember walking in the back entrance of the old church I went to while growing up.  As I walked in, I noticed that the place was full of mice, rats and rodents of various sizes.  Some had young babies, some not.  Upon walking in one of them, who had babies in her mouth, spotted me, and ran away to safety in the basement.  Ascending to the main floor where the gym was, I noticed that the room was filled with more rodents of various sizes.  From what I could see there were field mice, rats, chipmunks and and squirrels.  Elsewhere in the room there was my cat, my mom, and a janitor.

Upon seeing all the mice, I shouted to the others, "We need to deal with these rodents!  Get out the traps!  Stomp on them!  Get them out of here.  To my surprise, the janitor did nothing.  He merely swept up the dead rodents and disposed of them, but did nothing to stop or remove the live ones.  My mom, however, just sat nearby saying, "Don't hurt them.  They're just cute little animals."  My cat, Hemi, at the very least, made an attempt at catching some mice.  However, he had no front claws, so he couldn't hold onto them, or if he caught them, they'd get away.  He also didn't take the finishing blow to kill them once he'd trapped them.  He just catch one, it'd squirm for a bit, then slip away.

Myself, I was catching the little field mice and throwing them against walls to kill them.  But the durable little suckers just wouldn't die.  They'd just bounce off the walls and keep going.  Some I would stomp on, and they would escape unharmed.  I did manage to crush a few under foot and kill them, but most I couldn't kill.  I didn't try my hand with the rats, nor the chipmunks, nor the squirrels as they would bite, and scratch, and fight back, and I didn't have the protection, nor tools, to properly off them.  The dream ends there.

My Interpretation:

I see the four types of rodents representing 4 types of "pests" or vermin in the church itself, ranging from small, weak, and flighty, to large and dangerous (well, as large and dangerous as small animals can get).  The four people I saw, myself included, are the four types of people who typically deal with this.  There's the apathetic janitor who doesn't want to get involved, and is only willing to clean up after someone else who deals with them, and removes the 'bodies' to get rid of them.  My mom (rather unfortunately) represents those who treat this vermin infestation as something cute and demure, and don't want to hurt the "cute little animals", allowing them to continue to grow, multiply, and infest the church.

My cat Hemi represents those who "play" with the vermin, but never go in for the kill, and instead allow the infestation to continue.  So kind of a cross between Mom and the janitor, but with some action to go with it.  Then there's me, who sees the infestation, realizes the danger of it, and tries to stomp it out, but lacks the tools, abilities, and equipment to do a proper job of it.  What the infestation of vermin represents, I don't know, but it seems to lean towards the idea of wheat and tares, with the rodents being the tares that are infesting, and contaminating/polluting the church.  Mice are also symbols of detestible things, so it might symbolize sin that's in the church and running around poluting things like mice do.  Anyhow, that's my take on this.  Your 2c is welcome.  Thanks.