Dream analysis: My mouth opened in utter shock... the hair on my head stood up straight

Psychoanalyst Michael Murphy examines the deeper meaning of your dreams

What's in a dream? Our resident expert has the answers. Picture: iStock

Q. The room was furnished ornately like an 18th-century French palace. The plasterwork had exquisite moulds of leaves and ivy. On the left was a tall vase with green shoots. One wall of the room was entirely covered by an enormous mirror. The frame was decorated with golden ivy and leaves.

A ballerina began to pirouette across the floor. As she danced, I could see no reflection of either of us in the mirror. Her appearance began to alter. She changed from a young, graceful ballerina to a hideously decomposed mummy wrapped in the cerements of the grave.