The Roman trickster god Mercury (the Greek Hermes) “was looked upon as the patron of good luck and fortune, the patron of merchants and thieves,” And the volatile world of of commerce – derives its language “mercantile” merchandise” “market” from the god’s Roman name embedded in the Latin “mercatus” . Approximately thirty three of these dream-narratives focus on the impact of the Trumpist era on their ability to negotiate and fare for themselves in the national marketplace.

I had a dream Donald trump was at the piggly wiggly last night[i]

Some seem to feel themselves profoundly negatively impacted – commerce becomes a battle ground:

I just had a dream that I had a fist fight w Trump outside of a supermarket[ii]

Others make their unhappiness known through boycott:

Had a dream last night that all the lotion in Walmart had “we support trump” stickers on the bottles. Guess who had dry skin for the rest of her dream.[iii]

But no matter the nature of the response – many are dreaming about the Trump effect as it emerges in the marketplace – often represented in dreamtime by Walmart, the nation’s largest employer and retail market:

Last night I had a dream that Trump went on a rampage in a Walmart and a guy had to tackle him down until the police got there. He was a huge Trump supporter but was like, “I’m not taking this shit anymore”. I really hope this dream is prophetic and literal.[iv]

Had a dream where I saw Trump at a Wal Mart trying to return something to Customer Service and he had shit on his nose. I don’t know how you work, brain, but keep doing your thing.[v]

I dreamt that me and Donald Trump had to sit across from each other at a random table in the middle of a Walmart to attend a presentation. I went off on the guy and he gave half assed rebuttals[vi]

I had a dream I met President Trump in Walmart. He was holding a package and exclaiming, “this package is package-sized.” I pointed out his redundancy and wished him luck on his space trip that was scheduled later that day[vii].

Other dreamers experience Trumpism impinging upon their “daily bread” as they try to feed themselves.

had a dream Donald Trump bought me a breakfast sandwich and the sandwich sucked[viii]

Had a dream I went to McDonald’s and Donald Trump was making the burgers[ix]

Now my unconscious has gone political — I finally had my first Donald Trump dream! I met the president at a McDonalds and we had a really awkward handshake.[x]

And Trump sometimes appears possessed by trickster god himself, in his guise as patron of thieves:

Had a dream Donald Trump stole a cheeseburger off my tray at McDonalds, spent the rest of my dream trying to remember my twitter password so I could call him President Hamburgerlar [xi]

One time, I had a dream we were eating McDonald’s with Trump. Trump took one bite out of all the chicken nuggets so that no one else could have them. It was so petty and it’s probably some shit he’d do in real life.[xii]

The president’s known preference for fast-food, combined with an insatiable hunger is also a collective dream theme:

I had the weirdest dream. I dreamt that I went for my interview with the department of education and Donald Trump was there arguing with people over McDonald’s & KFC fries superiority. He was just shoveling fries into his mouth by the handful and abusing people. [xiii]

Holy shit I just remembered that I had a dream this morning that Trump bought all the shares to Wendy’s (is that how the stock market works? Idk) and I had to rush to tell my fiancé to never eat there again[xiv].

 I had a dream that Donald trump owned chicken express and it caused me to roll over in bed over my own glasses breaking them and ruining my sleep[xv]

I had a dream Trump’s tantrums is caused when he find out the ice cream Machine is down at McDonalds &still doesn’t work despite who he is.[xvi]

Many dream of Trump obstructing their ability to feed themselves.

I had a dream that Donald Trump put a wall between me and my fridge once[xvii]

I had a dream that Donald Trump made olives illegal because he thought they were “weird”.[xviii]

I had a dream that the community I lived in was poverty stricken, it was a Dickenson scene. There was a hopeful feeling and everyone was lined up. Apparently Donald Trump was kind and caring. He was handing out food himself on this day. When I got to the front of the line he handed me two grocery bags stuffed full with cold jo-jos. (fried potatoes) That’s what everyone was eating. That was all there was to eat. He was bragging about his philanthropy ~ Anonymous

Some find the president eating off their plates or taking food out of their mouths:

 I had a dream that I was on one of Trump’s advisory teams and we were all out to dinner and Trump just starts digging into my plate of spaghetti with my fork so I woke up pissed off[xix]

I had a dream I heated up my food and set it on a table. I come back and Donald Trump was eating my food! He took a bite out of everything so I wouldn’t eat it. He didn’t want the food he did it to be spiteful.[xx]

I had a dream I was having dinner at the white house, there more people than forks on the table and trump and I fought over the last fork (I woke up before there was a clear winner sadly)[xxi]

If an individual in a psychotherapeutic session presented me a dream about eating or being fed, (or not fed) by another, I might explore ideas around nurturance and nutrients – how does the relationship support or prevent them from feeding themselves emotionally, psychologically, intellectually, spiritually? Who or what type of relationship might the provider or the obstacle to food represent? How well are the dreamer’s essential needs met? Are the food stuffs and supplies in the dream inadequate, toxic, contaminated, or nutritious, healthy and abundant?

Keeping our national larder stocked, our bellies full and our household’s managed rests upon our economic policies and the choices we make collectively between investing in guns or butter. The next two dreams explicitly connect the dreamer’s concerns about putting food on the table to Trump’s economic policies :

I had a dream last night about Trump raising the food tax and THAT was the time people went ‘Okay, that’s enough, he’s out.’ I don’t even think ‘food tax’ is a thing[xxii]

Just woke up from a dream where trump won his 3rd term unopposed, we were

scrounging for matches and food, yet everyone’s lawn had gov’t paid palm trees in their yards….jfc![xxiii]

We seem to be dreaming of a marketplace, governed by a mercurial leader, as unreliable and unstable as quicksilver. As we shall see in the next section, our economic circumstance is not the only aspect of every day living that has been changed profoundly.

___________________

[i] @commit2theC

[ii] @tylerisburning

[iii] @alijhoff_

[iv] @PinkberryFTW

[v] @Ivebendirty

[vi] @AhaThisGuy

[vii] @davidthebennett

[viii] @ryleemccue

[ix] @jumairaahmed1

[x] @Ben_Koltun

[xi] @GavosRancheros

[xii] @PerriFoster

[xiii] @miniestmini

[xiv] @beckashleablog

[xv] @Josh_Be_Nimble

[xvi] @Kamifaine

[xvii] @MeghanWMcCarthy

[xviii] @lunarthelion

[xix] @C_GOMPhairs

[xx] @BasedMoonie

[xxi] @baguettehon

[xxii] @Dragon_Shivers

[xxiii] @dmbfanforlife41