WHAT DO DREAMS MEAN?
What do our dreams mean? They seem so nonsensical in their nonlinear logic, with characters and places that would never usually show up in real life. The idea that dreams actually have a practical application may be surprising to some people, but they do. One thing they do is help us to solve the problems of life. How many times have you gone to bed puzzling over some problem or another and had a solution to your problem when you woke up?
The dreaming mind speaks in ways that transcend words. The subconscious is juggling your worries, desires, fears and unresolved issues and painting them as imagery that is often very personal and unique to the dreamer. Much of what we dream is actually a pun. A woman recently shared a dream with me where she was standing next to her boyfriend but when she looked into a mirror they happened to be in front of, she could only see his reflection. She realized when she woke up that the message was she couldn’t see herself with him!
Dream interpretation has always intrigued mankind. Some people are quite good at dream interpretation, but the best person to interpret your dreams is you. That’s because it’s partly understanding and relating to the symbolism, but it must be understood through the lens of your own personal context. There are general concepts that can apply about dream imagery, but only you can put your own personal spin on it. For example, a dream about a house or a building can represent a state of consciousness, while the condition may suggest your point of view. Are the rooms deteriorating? Are they fresh and clean? A dream about a very specific house might bring back childhood memories that only you can understand.
I’ve been working with my dreams since I was a teenager. It’s actually a fairly simple thing to do; it just takes patience. You need a notebook and a pen by your bedside and a good dream dictionary. These days you can find lots of information in your phone – just type ‘dream interpretation’ into your browser and add a word or phrase that describes your dream, like ‘dream interpretation – ballerina’ to see what the internet has to say. The time to capture dreams is the minute you wake up or they are usually gone, unless they are exceptionally vivid.
After you have been doing it for a while, you’ll begin to get the hang of it. I like to record the dream first, then go back in with a different color of ink (because I’m a geek) and record what it might symbolize. If you have been working with other forms of divination, you’ll probably have an easier time of it. Many of the meanings that we work with are from what Jung referred to as the Collective Unconscious; symbols known to mankind as a whole.
Ultimately, dream interpretation can serve as a great tool for self-reflection, offering us opportunities to gain insights into our subconscious and to better navigate our waking lives. Here’s to you and your dreams!
