If you have memories of feeling relaxed and happy in the country, your dream may recreate this with images of freedom and openness, urging you to clarify your own feelings about the way you are leading your life.
If country lanes appear in your dream, this indicates a meeting with what is natural in you; in some cases, what you encounter on the path can be disturbing, such as a wolf.
In countryside dreams, hills, mountains and slopes are images of problems you may be encountering in your waking life; the dream will indicate how confident you are in dealing with them. Are you climbing confidently or with fear? Remember, too, that the higher the mountain in your dream, the more difficult the challenge ahead. Are you gripped by a fear of falling as you climb? This would reflect your waking fear of losing your position or your reputation.
Or did you reach the highest pinnacle of the mountain or cliff and bask in your sense of achievement? If you dreamed of descending a mountain, this could indicate your desire to come down to earth or your exhaustion with your continual upwards struggle. It could also indicate a sense of regret.
If you fell down a mountain, this mirrors fears in waking life that you are losing control of your career.
Dream impediments such as chasms, gorges, ditches or hurdles also indicate difficulties you need to leap or surmount. For Freudians, climbing over a stile, like straddling a horse, is a common dream image of sexual intercourse. A dream featuring a boundary or frontier may suggest challenge and criticism, or the ability to overcome problems. Dream fences and gates also imply restrictions of some kind, but they can also indicate a need for security in waking life. Open plains, prairies or moorland evoke the endless possibilities of the unconscious, both exciting and frightening at the same time.
See also ELEMENTS and NATURE AND THE SEASONS for more information on natural dreamscapes.