In The Universal Dream Key (2001), psychologist
Patricia Garfield presents, "the 12 most common
dream themes around the world."

Garfield believes that these themes are "universal"
in the sense that they have a general form that
varies only slightly from culture to culture and
from era to era.

Chase or Attack is among the twelve; here's
how Garfield defines it,

"You dream of being pursued or attacked by
a wild animal, evil person, monster, or other
threat. The villain may catch, harm, eat, or
kill you."

According to Garfield, the issue here is threat,
threat may reflect:

- the surfacing of the repressed memory of a
traumatic event;

- an awareness of an unacceptable impulse or
emotion;

- concern about a waking life conflict with
another; or

- anxiety about such things as health, finances,
relationships ...


The underlying assumption of Garfield's
The Universal Dream Key is that learning
to identify the themes of our dreams leads
to greater awareness -

awareness of the waking life issues and
concerns that we take to bed and that
shape our dreams.