A machine may well represent the machinations of life, which would be interpreted as The ?Life Process?. In Chinese medicine ch?i or spiritual energy flows in certain ways around the body and the life process aids in that flow. In dreams, machines represent the brain and the logical thinking processes, so psychologically it is the actual process of thinking that is important in this context, rather than what we are thinking about. If a machine seems large and overpowering, we perhaps need to reassess the effect our actions are having, both on us and those around us. When a machine of any sort particularly one that operates automatically like a robot appears in a dream, it is often highlighting the body's automatic functions. These are the ordinary everyday actions that take place, such as breathing, heartbeat, elimination those mechanical drives towards life that help us to survive. The ?mechanics? of the body are an important part of our well-being and often when we perceive a machine breaking down in dreams, it warns us that we need to take care, that perhaps we are over-stressing a particular part of our body, such as the lungs or the intestines. You might also like to consult the entries for Body and Engine.