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I have had so many emails from students asking about dreams, and their meanings, that I decided to create a course about Dreams. I have only little knowledge about what dreams mean, so I will share the little that I know. For more information you can yourself do more research from friends, psychics and from the multitude of resources that are widely available. I hope that by the end of this introductory course, you will be able to understand your dreams a little better, and that you may do further research on them. I myself, keep a personal dream journal, of my most remarkable dreams, the ones that to me - seem to be more real than others. This is a good practice to keep, especially if you feel “enlightened” when you wake from your dream. You will begin to see a pattern in your dreams, and that they will begin to give you a clearer glimpse of your inner-self. They may even give you a solid understanding of your connection with Spirit. Prophetic dreams are a common part of witch mythology. In Ancient Greece the priestess of the Temple of Apollo would use herb-lore to induce dream-like states during sacred festivals. During these altered states the priestess-witches would tell of their visions, containing weird imagery, puzzles and ciphers. During rituals, modern witches use the same kind of guided dreaming to impart knowledge, excite purpose or free the imaginations of other coven members. A witch can also use this guided dreaming on her own. Guided dreaming is known by many names:
Creative visualization
Conscious meditation
Daydreaming
But it is all the same, and witches have long used the force of the gently led conscious to obtain knowledge, wisdom and information about the future. There are many common dream themes and it is interesting to note that many of us dream alike. The difference is what we dream, means different things, to each individual. You are the only person who can interpret your own dream. Yet it will help if you have some basic guidelines to adopt and to help you interpret what happened in your dreams last night. There are many, many dream themes, subjects and topics that play the major roles in your dreams. Some of the most common dream themes are; death, money, water, and so on. Some of these most common themes, of course, we will be discussing a little later in another section. We dream while we are asleep, because our subconscious is trying to give us messages. And our sleep is to restore our energy. Up until the late 1940’s it was believed that when we sleep our brains “shut up shop”. And in 1951, it was discovered that the eye movements were very rapid in certain stages of sleep, and this phenomenon is known as R.E.M, or Rapid Eye Movement. For some people dreaming is the only creative thing that they ever do in their lives, and it is thought that the brain works harder while we sleep than when we are awake. Even though some say they never dream, everyone dreams. This is often because that they are not interested in dreaming, it is just that some chose not to acknowledge that they do, but if they were awakened during their REM sleep then they will be able to recall their dream. Some people who have highly creative, and/or highly stressed related jobs seem to totally shut off, totally when they sleep. Many dreams show that the incidents that happen to us the day of the dream. It seems that the subconscious loves to pick up and picture these simple daily movements. To dream is to receive messages from yourself, learn to listen to yourself, your psyche, your subconscious, and your inner-self will help guide you in your ordinary outer life. Everything in a dream is symbolic, and to interpret the dream, it is necessary to know and feel the emotion of the dream, be it sadness, happiness, sensuality etc. Real events can seemingly be replayed in a dream. But their importance for us goes far beyond the limits of what they literally seem to be. Thus the emotion of the dream dictates the inner meaning of the dream. Dreams throw out pictures of our childhood self. With images that we have created - they do not lie. Often in dreams unwelcome fantasies are to due to our waking fantasies which we have carefully suppressed. Yes. Dreams can come true. Predictive dreams and telepathic dreams are very rare, but they do occur. To see something happen in your dreams that actually does happen, can be quite scary, yet if your dream is dealing with an unresolved problem it does not come true. If the problem is a real life situation, then you have truth. Families often have the same dream, and this is due their close emotional ties. Telepathic dreams depict a dreamers’ account of knowledge of something that the dreamer has no possible way of knowing. Did you kiss a frog in your dream? Or was money falling from trees? They are, as previously discussed some of the more common dream themes, check them out for clues to the real meanings of your dreams. For symbols that I have not listed here, try to research more about dreams from resources at your local library, maybe on the internet, or even try a psychic, or dream analyst. Here I have chosen the “Top 12” dream symbols.
1. Kisses
Kisses represent acceptance and release. A passionate lip lock that lasts for a long time indicates that you are letting go of old problems. A passionate frontal kiss also signifies new beginnings. A dream of “unseen kisses”, when you can feel a phantom lover kissing your body, is your subconscious alerting you to trust your intuition as concerns day-to-day situations.
2. Money
Money in your dreams indicates that good luck is coming your way. Your subconscious is alerting you to have a more positive attitude so that all types of fortune can more easily find you. The amount of money and how it comes to you are the most significant factors. Dreaming of finding money indicates that you will soon benefit from a friendship. A dream that includes picking up a penny off the ground could indicate that friends or family are about to disappoint you. Big bills, winning the lottery and large amounts of gold coins are all indicators of good luck in the near future. A small amount of money in most situations usually means that you are being given less than you deserve by someone close to you.
3. Water
Water can symbolize many things in dreams. A pool of water can represent your emotional nature, or the maternal womb. Still water represents a calm state of mind. Deep water represents emotional maturity. A running river in a dream represents the “Stream of Life” and then to see tidal waves or waves crashing on shore may represent power beyond your control or strong sexual urges. Moving through water represents an acceptance of changes in your emotional attitude. If you panic in your dream, because you are swimming but not getting anywhere, this may represent the consequences of your internal stubbornness. The desire to get to the edge of a pool is the mind’s need for the security of logic over emotion. Water also symbolizes our moral state, as well as terrestrial and natural life, but not the metaphysical. Many cultures and religions have powerful gods, or semi-divine figures associated with water, and these represent the “life giving force”. For example, the Chinese consider water the specific abode of the Dragon, and believe that all life comes from the waters. The association of the Dragon and Water is very common in Archaic Chinese texts, for which reason the dragon becomes the connecting link between Water and Earth. In the general sense, the symbol of water in your dream stands for fluidity, and change or the element in which creation occurs. Water, out of all the elements is the most transitional, as it is between Fire and Air. It is a mediator between life and death.
4. Nudity
Nudity in dreams represents vulnerability. Without the barrier of clothes your inner self and true feelings are exposed to those whom you would prefer didn’t know the real you. When someone else is naked in your dreams, it represents your psyche undergoing changes. If it is an older man or authority figure, your decision-making ability is under severe assault. If a child or other vulnerable person is disrobed indicates that a crossroads is approaching and you may be forced to speak up and demand that your rights and feelings be considered.
5. Loss of a valuable object
Lost or misplaced items indicate frustration with a current situation that won’t change without drastic action. The actual lost item explains your frustration. Something that holds sentimental value may indicate frustration in a family or love relationship. Lost money indicates frustration with financial issues or frustration with a friendship dominated by the other person. A missing person means you’re losing touch with part of yourself. A common object represents the everyday world. Not being able to find it, an object illustrates increasing frustration about the situation.
6. Colors
Colors have very deep meaning in dreams. They represent the immediate future and their significance increases based on the amount of a color in a particular dream. For example, receiving a green box may mean that you will be going on a short trip. Walking into a green room means a much longer vacation is headed your way.
Blue indicates that a new friend will come into your life.
Black means solitude or loneliness is ahead.
Brown symbolizes safety and security.
White represents authority and absolutes.
Red means your devotion to someone is about to be challenged.
Green represents travel.
Yellow is the color of illness, alerting you to take better care of yourself.
Purple represents aloofness or one-on-one time with your mate. It also represents your connection to spiritual matters.
Orange indicates sexual tension; a reminder to remember your sexual needs.
7. Flying
Flying is extremely common in dreams and usually represents frustration or unhappiness. It also can represent a lack of control over your life or indicate that your own inflated ego is causing unhappiness, sending a strong message that you should take control of your life. Flying can also signify exhibitionist wishes, sexual pleasure, and the desire to recapture childhood.
8. Running
Running in dreams illustrates that your goals are out of reach if you stay on your current path. Usually, running means drastic change in your life is required. If you dream of running from someone, it indicates a relationship from the past has some loose ends that need tying up. If you are running to meet someone in a dream, you should reconsider your current relationship. If you are running in a marathon or parade, you might consider changes in your employment situation.
9. Sex
Though a sexual dream may be about pleasure, it doesn’t signal physical intimacy with the person in your dream. Sex in a dream is not a prediction of things to come. But it could be about power, success, sexual potency, manipulation or even your subconscious rewarding you for a job well done. Your sex partner in a dream represents a side of your personality that is developing. Dreaming of sex with a friend means you are becoming a better friend to all of your friends. A dream of sex with a relative can be a stressful thought, but actually means you are on better terms with your family. Sex with someone from your school indicates that you are becoming a better student.
10. Fear
Being frightened in a dream can often be the dreamers’ other side or the shadow of himself lashing out at itself in a dream, this side usually frightens so that the dream can be remembered. By remembering the emotion of a dream you have the opportunity to understand what you subconsciously fear. This understanding of that fear will help you to face that fear and to move forward in your everyday life. Check yourself for the feeling that your dream left you with when you wake, it may be a feeling of loss, of embarrassment, of weakness, of anger, or of fear. During your waking hours, you may be trying to avoid a side of yourself which leads to such feelings, look at this side, and decide what you can do to try to change it.
11. House
The subconscious has chosen the image of the house as a symbol of our physical body, and its healthy or unhealthy state. You may have never given a thought about the importance of this symbol. Our inner-selves should be cared for as much as our outer-selves. The bedrooms represent our privacy, and emotional areas and the need for rest and renewal. The basement is the subconscious parts of ourselves. The kitchen represents sharing and the bathroom represents cleanliness and elimination. The living-room, or sitting room represents our abilities to communicate and to socialize. The hallway represents the roads within which leads us to grow and discover. The steps represent the essential ideas of ascension and of graduation and again communication and of different levels of consciousness. The house in a dream represents our physical body. The actual state of the house, represent the overall condition of our bodies, therefore, the more rundown of the house seems in a dream the more the body is in need or repair or how rundown the body is due to age, illness, debilitation and so on. The different levels of the house represent the two different aspects of our higher or lower aspects of our spiritual selves. The roof and upper levels of the house, represents the head, the mind and spiritual connections. The basement and lower floors of the house represents the more physical, practical aspects.
12. Death
Dreaming of death can be traumatic but it is actually an indicator of life events. Witnessing a death in your dream usually coincides with major changes in life, like starting a new year of school or moving to a new apartment. Death can illustrate endings as well as beginnings. What can seem unbearably sad as a dream may actually signal positive change.
No two dreams are ever exactly the same. You may dream of the same thing, but each repeated dream is unique in its own way. The dreaming state is a place for us to relax and a place for us to receive messages. It is also a state of being where the real self, known as the subconscious, is able to reveal and relate to the conscious mind. Even for those who experience recurring dreams are being sent subconscious messages. Your mind uses these recurring dreams to solve problems, which are an indicator that you are nearing a major breakthrough and your mind is rehearsing for the changes on the horizon. In ancient times, dreams were used as a method of focusing on present and future situations. The people that took the warnings that their dreams were foretelling, would make changes in their state of affairs to avoid possible disaster, or if they where good dreams would continue to strive, anticipating good things to come. By knowing the correct interpretation of a dream, only then can we change our approach or thought pattern, to improve and to change some aspect of our life! Detailed in the next few pages, are general questions that are asked concerning common dreams to help you decipher your dream and its meaning. Just as each piece of a puzzle are placed together to make an entire picture, all parts of the dream should be placed together to get the full meaning. Many people wonder how the symbols seen in their dreams can be interpreted into something that makes actual sense. This is much harder than it actually sounds, but it can be done. Each individual is unique and their dream messages are also unique to them. Two people can have the exact same dream, but their individual meanings can be totally different in their meanings to each of those people, as we have already discussed.
Here are a few variations and steps to consider when you try to interpret your dreams.
How then can I learn to interpret a dream?
I can give you some popular ways to interpret the meaning of a dream - that I have found in my further researches - but be sure to realize that different approaches and techniques produce a variety of different answers. Test all the answers and interpretations out against your own sense of truth. Dreams are personal, so decipher what they mean to YOU.
How do I test the truth of an interpretation?
One way is to use a set of test questions and not rely on just one:
1. Does the answer feel right?
2. Does the interpretation make sense?
3. Is there something useful I can do with this interpretation?
4. What would my mom or a truck driver have to say about this answer if I were to tell them?
How do I interpret my dream?
The two most popular techniques are to take the dream as being subjective (about yourself) and that it is speaking metaphorically. Say you have this dream: "I had a dream that I was with my mother in a house, and we decided to go to church... "Subjectively it would read: I had a dream that I was with my mother (-part of me) in a house (-part of me/my physical body) and we decided to go to church (-part of me/my spirit)... Now let's look at the parts metaphorically. In this example we can use a metaphorical technique I call functional generalization. Change those parts of your to something functional, what they DO such as: mother - A maternal figure, a feminine part of myself that is closely related to me and helps in the family, or plays a maternal role either at home or work, a Matriarch. house - A receptacle, one that holds physical and spiritual parts of myself, a collective part of myself. going to church - Going to a religious or organized or mystical or meaningful part of myself. Now re-write the whole dream using the translations and make a story out of the parts. Feel free to embellish and add new associations and thoughts that come to you.
Here is one re-write:
I had a dream that I was with the feminine party that has been with me since childhood. We entered a part of myself that, looked upon me or my physical well being. I go with the feminine part of myself, to the place where I create meaning and value in life.
Naturally, when you do, do your own re-write, the meanings and associations will be quite different. But this will give you some idea on how the symbols can be used to translate the dream into a meaningful message, memory, experience or even enlightenment. How can they change and make my life more productive and creative? You can test this by watching the reactions of your body. Get a whole sense of emotion from the dream. Notice where in your body your are feeling the most as you read and re-write the dream. After finding where you are feeling the most, ask "What is this feeling?" Don't go into it, just hang out at the edge and try out various handles or names, "Sad?" then listen and see if there is much of a reaction. "Happy?" Again, wait, listen to the place that feels the most. If you say something that resonates a little with the feeling’s place, it will move or shift. Watch for shifts and the "Ah ha!" reactions. Once you find the right word, say it again, then listen to that place and note what happens. This is your feeling or emotional connection to the meaning and hence, to the value of the dream. What resources do I have that will allow me to help the parts of the dream to change, mutate and become what it most essentially is? What is the dream showing me that I don't already know? We want to be careful that we don't just use the dream for our purposes and life. That would be like making friends so we can use them. Rather, make it a counterpart interaction. Make a friend of your dreams. Like all friends, they have nice and ugly sides and moods, good and bad days, and needs that may not be our own. We may not be able to answer to all their needs, but we can be sensitive to them. I know that this may sound really silly to some, to be sensitive to what the dream wants. But it is essential for a deeper understanding and meaningful relationship to any part of life. This sensitivity to objects can be practiced at the level of dream. See the dream as a subject to befriend, even if it holds up a mirror to yourself that is hard to look into. The more nightmarish the dream, the more it has to offer you and your relationship with the universe. Just like a friend who you share the innermost secrets about yourself to, accepting the willingness of the friend, is an overall benefit of that friendship. If you feel the lesson of the dream for you is too harsh or critical, then the interpretation is simply wrong. Any interpretation that doesn't offer you a gift, a way of being more than yourself before encountering the dream, is simply diminishing both you and the dream. Keep the dream and its interpretations and the feelings, the senses, and the emotions with you throughout the day and notice where they apply in events during the day and what changes or different reactions and actions you can make with this new knowledge. Try to stick with the dream image, which includes the feelings, the senses, and the emotions of the dream. I think in a sense all dreams have a vision aspect to them. If there was a unique or special feeling to the dream, be sure to keep that alive however you can, telling the dream, drawing it, painting, sculpture, or whatever you do to keep special feelings alive. From that point, the points of feeling expression, my guess is that something unknown will occur, a chance meeting, something you read, a conversation, that will further develop the feeling and allow the spirit of the dream to flow. In order to recollect your dream, it is essential to set up a peaceful time before sleep. Don’t watch news or read newspapers before going to bed; they are full of tragedy and violence which could easily affect your dream sphere. Read quietly, meditate, be quiet and reflect. If possible, make your bedtime the same hour each night. A routine will help you have a refreshing sleep as well as induce the dreaming state. Alcohol and drugs may seem to create wild, amazing dreams, but they will actually interfere with your own personal dream process. It is best to refrain from excessive drinking before bedtime (and of course, at any time) as it will simply make your sleep shallow, less restful and less peaceful, which will make you more stressed and will show up in your dreams, and later in health. Keep your personal dream journal either with you in bed or close by your bed for quick and easy access, with your special pen always within easily reach. Burn some incense, choosing from frankincense, marjoram, lavender or even some essential oils that will not excite you, but that will help you to drift off into a peaceful, relaxed sleep. If you like, you can scratch runes into your headboard or dream journal. This need not be blatant – you don’t need people prying into your personal realms. This is a personal and private practice, especially when you are still and initiate. Upon wakening, either during the night or in the morning, immediately record any impressions from your dreams into your journal. Keep a special section of your journal free for these scribbles, which will just about always seem, and will always look, incoherent, but they are extremely important, as they are the symbols with which you can begin to interpret your dreams. Pay particular attentions to the following:
Colors, images, landscapes, numbers, people, temperatures and physical sensations. Where are you? What feelings were you left with? Write down as much information that you can remember from your dream. Be honest, and whatever you do, don’t embellish the dreams. Don’t change details to make them seem more understandable, the important thing is to write exactly what you saw in your dream, whether is seems mundane or wild. Every one of your dreams is unique and every one of your dreams is significant. This lesson would not be complete if I did not mention the “tools” that aid and stimulate the themes and the actual occurrences of your dreams. You can create beautiful stimuli to enrich your dream life, such as dream-catchers, and dream-arrows. Take your dream tool and suspend it above your bed. You can also suspend them above the entrance of a door or window to your bedroom. The tool will help focus your energies on dreaming and create greater lucidity, recall and attract more meaningful dreams into your life.
Creative visualization
Conscious meditation
Daydreaming
But it is all the same, and witches have long used the force of the gently led conscious to obtain knowledge, wisdom and information about the future. There are many common dream themes and it is interesting to note that many of us dream alike. The difference is what we dream, means different things, to each individual. You are the only person who can interpret your own dream. Yet it will help if you have some basic guidelines to adopt and to help you interpret what happened in your dreams last night. There are many, many dream themes, subjects and topics that play the major roles in your dreams. Some of the most common dream themes are; death, money, water, and so on. Some of these most common themes, of course, we will be discussing a little later in another section. We dream while we are asleep, because our subconscious is trying to give us messages. And our sleep is to restore our energy. Up until the late 1940’s it was believed that when we sleep our brains “shut up shop”. And in 1951, it was discovered that the eye movements were very rapid in certain stages of sleep, and this phenomenon is known as R.E.M, or Rapid Eye Movement. For some people dreaming is the only creative thing that they ever do in their lives, and it is thought that the brain works harder while we sleep than when we are awake. Even though some say they never dream, everyone dreams. This is often because that they are not interested in dreaming, it is just that some chose not to acknowledge that they do, but if they were awakened during their REM sleep then they will be able to recall their dream. Some people who have highly creative, and/or highly stressed related jobs seem to totally shut off, totally when they sleep. Many dreams show that the incidents that happen to us the day of the dream. It seems that the subconscious loves to pick up and picture these simple daily movements. To dream is to receive messages from yourself, learn to listen to yourself, your psyche, your subconscious, and your inner-self will help guide you in your ordinary outer life. Everything in a dream is symbolic, and to interpret the dream, it is necessary to know and feel the emotion of the dream, be it sadness, happiness, sensuality etc. Real events can seemingly be replayed in a dream. But their importance for us goes far beyond the limits of what they literally seem to be. Thus the emotion of the dream dictates the inner meaning of the dream. Dreams throw out pictures of our childhood self. With images that we have created - they do not lie. Often in dreams unwelcome fantasies are to due to our waking fantasies which we have carefully suppressed. Yes. Dreams can come true. Predictive dreams and telepathic dreams are very rare, but they do occur. To see something happen in your dreams that actually does happen, can be quite scary, yet if your dream is dealing with an unresolved problem it does not come true. If the problem is a real life situation, then you have truth. Families often have the same dream, and this is due their close emotional ties. Telepathic dreams depict a dreamers’ account of knowledge of something that the dreamer has no possible way of knowing. Did you kiss a frog in your dream? Or was money falling from trees? They are, as previously discussed some of the more common dream themes, check them out for clues to the real meanings of your dreams. For symbols that I have not listed here, try to research more about dreams from resources at your local library, maybe on the internet, or even try a psychic, or dream analyst. Here I have chosen the “Top 12” dream symbols.
1. Kisses
Kisses represent acceptance and release. A passionate lip lock that lasts for a long time indicates that you are letting go of old problems. A passionate frontal kiss also signifies new beginnings. A dream of “unseen kisses”, when you can feel a phantom lover kissing your body, is your subconscious alerting you to trust your intuition as concerns day-to-day situations.
2. Money
Money in your dreams indicates that good luck is coming your way. Your subconscious is alerting you to have a more positive attitude so that all types of fortune can more easily find you. The amount of money and how it comes to you are the most significant factors. Dreaming of finding money indicates that you will soon benefit from a friendship. A dream that includes picking up a penny off the ground could indicate that friends or family are about to disappoint you. Big bills, winning the lottery and large amounts of gold coins are all indicators of good luck in the near future. A small amount of money in most situations usually means that you are being given less than you deserve by someone close to you.
3. Water
Water can symbolize many things in dreams. A pool of water can represent your emotional nature, or the maternal womb. Still water represents a calm state of mind. Deep water represents emotional maturity. A running river in a dream represents the “Stream of Life” and then to see tidal waves or waves crashing on shore may represent power beyond your control or strong sexual urges. Moving through water represents an acceptance of changes in your emotional attitude. If you panic in your dream, because you are swimming but not getting anywhere, this may represent the consequences of your internal stubbornness. The desire to get to the edge of a pool is the mind’s need for the security of logic over emotion. Water also symbolizes our moral state, as well as terrestrial and natural life, but not the metaphysical. Many cultures and religions have powerful gods, or semi-divine figures associated with water, and these represent the “life giving force”. For example, the Chinese consider water the specific abode of the Dragon, and believe that all life comes from the waters. The association of the Dragon and Water is very common in Archaic Chinese texts, for which reason the dragon becomes the connecting link between Water and Earth. In the general sense, the symbol of water in your dream stands for fluidity, and change or the element in which creation occurs. Water, out of all the elements is the most transitional, as it is between Fire and Air. It is a mediator between life and death.
4. Nudity
Nudity in dreams represents vulnerability. Without the barrier of clothes your inner self and true feelings are exposed to those whom you would prefer didn’t know the real you. When someone else is naked in your dreams, it represents your psyche undergoing changes. If it is an older man or authority figure, your decision-making ability is under severe assault. If a child or other vulnerable person is disrobed indicates that a crossroads is approaching and you may be forced to speak up and demand that your rights and feelings be considered.
5. Loss of a valuable object
Lost or misplaced items indicate frustration with a current situation that won’t change without drastic action. The actual lost item explains your frustration. Something that holds sentimental value may indicate frustration in a family or love relationship. Lost money indicates frustration with financial issues or frustration with a friendship dominated by the other person. A missing person means you’re losing touch with part of yourself. A common object represents the everyday world. Not being able to find it, an object illustrates increasing frustration about the situation.
6. Colors
Colors have very deep meaning in dreams. They represent the immediate future and their significance increases based on the amount of a color in a particular dream. For example, receiving a green box may mean that you will be going on a short trip. Walking into a green room means a much longer vacation is headed your way.
Blue indicates that a new friend will come into your life.
Black means solitude or loneliness is ahead.
Brown symbolizes safety and security.
White represents authority and absolutes.
Red means your devotion to someone is about to be challenged.
Green represents travel.
Yellow is the color of illness, alerting you to take better care of yourself.
Purple represents aloofness or one-on-one time with your mate. It also represents your connection to spiritual matters.
Orange indicates sexual tension; a reminder to remember your sexual needs.
7. Flying
Flying is extremely common in dreams and usually represents frustration or unhappiness. It also can represent a lack of control over your life or indicate that your own inflated ego is causing unhappiness, sending a strong message that you should take control of your life. Flying can also signify exhibitionist wishes, sexual pleasure, and the desire to recapture childhood.
8. Running
Running in dreams illustrates that your goals are out of reach if you stay on your current path. Usually, running means drastic change in your life is required. If you dream of running from someone, it indicates a relationship from the past has some loose ends that need tying up. If you are running to meet someone in a dream, you should reconsider your current relationship. If you are running in a marathon or parade, you might consider changes in your employment situation.
9. Sex
Though a sexual dream may be about pleasure, it doesn’t signal physical intimacy with the person in your dream. Sex in a dream is not a prediction of things to come. But it could be about power, success, sexual potency, manipulation or even your subconscious rewarding you for a job well done. Your sex partner in a dream represents a side of your personality that is developing. Dreaming of sex with a friend means you are becoming a better friend to all of your friends. A dream of sex with a relative can be a stressful thought, but actually means you are on better terms with your family. Sex with someone from your school indicates that you are becoming a better student.
10. Fear
Being frightened in a dream can often be the dreamers’ other side or the shadow of himself lashing out at itself in a dream, this side usually frightens so that the dream can be remembered. By remembering the emotion of a dream you have the opportunity to understand what you subconsciously fear. This understanding of that fear will help you to face that fear and to move forward in your everyday life. Check yourself for the feeling that your dream left you with when you wake, it may be a feeling of loss, of embarrassment, of weakness, of anger, or of fear. During your waking hours, you may be trying to avoid a side of yourself which leads to such feelings, look at this side, and decide what you can do to try to change it.
11. House
The subconscious has chosen the image of the house as a symbol of our physical body, and its healthy or unhealthy state. You may have never given a thought about the importance of this symbol. Our inner-selves should be cared for as much as our outer-selves. The bedrooms represent our privacy, and emotional areas and the need for rest and renewal. The basement is the subconscious parts of ourselves. The kitchen represents sharing and the bathroom represents cleanliness and elimination. The living-room, or sitting room represents our abilities to communicate and to socialize. The hallway represents the roads within which leads us to grow and discover. The steps represent the essential ideas of ascension and of graduation and again communication and of different levels of consciousness. The house in a dream represents our physical body. The actual state of the house, represent the overall condition of our bodies, therefore, the more rundown of the house seems in a dream the more the body is in need or repair or how rundown the body is due to age, illness, debilitation and so on. The different levels of the house represent the two different aspects of our higher or lower aspects of our spiritual selves. The roof and upper levels of the house, represents the head, the mind and spiritual connections. The basement and lower floors of the house represents the more physical, practical aspects.
12. Death
Dreaming of death can be traumatic but it is actually an indicator of life events. Witnessing a death in your dream usually coincides with major changes in life, like starting a new year of school or moving to a new apartment. Death can illustrate endings as well as beginnings. What can seem unbearably sad as a dream may actually signal positive change.
No two dreams are ever exactly the same. You may dream of the same thing, but each repeated dream is unique in its own way. The dreaming state is a place for us to relax and a place for us to receive messages. It is also a state of being where the real self, known as the subconscious, is able to reveal and relate to the conscious mind. Even for those who experience recurring dreams are being sent subconscious messages. Your mind uses these recurring dreams to solve problems, which are an indicator that you are nearing a major breakthrough and your mind is rehearsing for the changes on the horizon. In ancient times, dreams were used as a method of focusing on present and future situations. The people that took the warnings that their dreams were foretelling, would make changes in their state of affairs to avoid possible disaster, or if they where good dreams would continue to strive, anticipating good things to come. By knowing the correct interpretation of a dream, only then can we change our approach or thought pattern, to improve and to change some aspect of our life! Detailed in the next few pages, are general questions that are asked concerning common dreams to help you decipher your dream and its meaning. Just as each piece of a puzzle are placed together to make an entire picture, all parts of the dream should be placed together to get the full meaning. Many people wonder how the symbols seen in their dreams can be interpreted into something that makes actual sense. This is much harder than it actually sounds, but it can be done. Each individual is unique and their dream messages are also unique to them. Two people can have the exact same dream, but their individual meanings can be totally different in their meanings to each of those people, as we have already discussed.
Here are a few variations and steps to consider when you try to interpret your dreams.
How then can I learn to interpret a dream?
I can give you some popular ways to interpret the meaning of a dream - that I have found in my further researches - but be sure to realize that different approaches and techniques produce a variety of different answers. Test all the answers and interpretations out against your own sense of truth. Dreams are personal, so decipher what they mean to YOU.
How do I test the truth of an interpretation?
One way is to use a set of test questions and not rely on just one:
1. Does the answer feel right?
2. Does the interpretation make sense?
3. Is there something useful I can do with this interpretation?
4. What would my mom or a truck driver have to say about this answer if I were to tell them?
How do I interpret my dream?
The two most popular techniques are to take the dream as being subjective (about yourself) and that it is speaking metaphorically. Say you have this dream: "I had a dream that I was with my mother in a house, and we decided to go to church... "Subjectively it would read: I had a dream that I was with my mother (-part of me) in a house (-part of me/my physical body) and we decided to go to church (-part of me/my spirit)... Now let's look at the parts metaphorically. In this example we can use a metaphorical technique I call functional generalization. Change those parts of your to something functional, what they DO such as: mother - A maternal figure, a feminine part of myself that is closely related to me and helps in the family, or plays a maternal role either at home or work, a Matriarch. house - A receptacle, one that holds physical and spiritual parts of myself, a collective part of myself. going to church - Going to a religious or organized or mystical or meaningful part of myself. Now re-write the whole dream using the translations and make a story out of the parts. Feel free to embellish and add new associations and thoughts that come to you.
Here is one re-write:
I had a dream that I was with the feminine party that has been with me since childhood. We entered a part of myself that, looked upon me or my physical well being. I go with the feminine part of myself, to the place where I create meaning and value in life.
Naturally, when you do, do your own re-write, the meanings and associations will be quite different. But this will give you some idea on how the symbols can be used to translate the dream into a meaningful message, memory, experience or even enlightenment. How can they change and make my life more productive and creative? You can test this by watching the reactions of your body. Get a whole sense of emotion from the dream. Notice where in your body your are feeling the most as you read and re-write the dream. After finding where you are feeling the most, ask "What is this feeling?" Don't go into it, just hang out at the edge and try out various handles or names, "Sad?" then listen and see if there is much of a reaction. "Happy?" Again, wait, listen to the place that feels the most. If you say something that resonates a little with the feeling’s place, it will move or shift. Watch for shifts and the "Ah ha!" reactions. Once you find the right word, say it again, then listen to that place and note what happens. This is your feeling or emotional connection to the meaning and hence, to the value of the dream. What resources do I have that will allow me to help the parts of the dream to change, mutate and become what it most essentially is? What is the dream showing me that I don't already know? We want to be careful that we don't just use the dream for our purposes and life. That would be like making friends so we can use them. Rather, make it a counterpart interaction. Make a friend of your dreams. Like all friends, they have nice and ugly sides and moods, good and bad days, and needs that may not be our own. We may not be able to answer to all their needs, but we can be sensitive to them. I know that this may sound really silly to some, to be sensitive to what the dream wants. But it is essential for a deeper understanding and meaningful relationship to any part of life. This sensitivity to objects can be practiced at the level of dream. See the dream as a subject to befriend, even if it holds up a mirror to yourself that is hard to look into. The more nightmarish the dream, the more it has to offer you and your relationship with the universe. Just like a friend who you share the innermost secrets about yourself to, accepting the willingness of the friend, is an overall benefit of that friendship. If you feel the lesson of the dream for you is too harsh or critical, then the interpretation is simply wrong. Any interpretation that doesn't offer you a gift, a way of being more than yourself before encountering the dream, is simply diminishing both you and the dream. Keep the dream and its interpretations and the feelings, the senses, and the emotions with you throughout the day and notice where they apply in events during the day and what changes or different reactions and actions you can make with this new knowledge. Try to stick with the dream image, which includes the feelings, the senses, and the emotions of the dream. I think in a sense all dreams have a vision aspect to them. If there was a unique or special feeling to the dream, be sure to keep that alive however you can, telling the dream, drawing it, painting, sculpture, or whatever you do to keep special feelings alive. From that point, the points of feeling expression, my guess is that something unknown will occur, a chance meeting, something you read, a conversation, that will further develop the feeling and allow the spirit of the dream to flow. In order to recollect your dream, it is essential to set up a peaceful time before sleep. Don’t watch news or read newspapers before going to bed; they are full of tragedy and violence which could easily affect your dream sphere. Read quietly, meditate, be quiet and reflect. If possible, make your bedtime the same hour each night. A routine will help you have a refreshing sleep as well as induce the dreaming state. Alcohol and drugs may seem to create wild, amazing dreams, but they will actually interfere with your own personal dream process. It is best to refrain from excessive drinking before bedtime (and of course, at any time) as it will simply make your sleep shallow, less restful and less peaceful, which will make you more stressed and will show up in your dreams, and later in health. Keep your personal dream journal either with you in bed or close by your bed for quick and easy access, with your special pen always within easily reach. Burn some incense, choosing from frankincense, marjoram, lavender or even some essential oils that will not excite you, but that will help you to drift off into a peaceful, relaxed sleep. If you like, you can scratch runes into your headboard or dream journal. This need not be blatant – you don’t need people prying into your personal realms. This is a personal and private practice, especially when you are still and initiate. Upon wakening, either during the night or in the morning, immediately record any impressions from your dreams into your journal. Keep a special section of your journal free for these scribbles, which will just about always seem, and will always look, incoherent, but they are extremely important, as they are the symbols with which you can begin to interpret your dreams. Pay particular attentions to the following:
Colors, images, landscapes, numbers, people, temperatures and physical sensations. Where are you? What feelings were you left with? Write down as much information that you can remember from your dream. Be honest, and whatever you do, don’t embellish the dreams. Don’t change details to make them seem more understandable, the important thing is to write exactly what you saw in your dream, whether is seems mundane or wild. Every one of your dreams is unique and every one of your dreams is significant. This lesson would not be complete if I did not mention the “tools” that aid and stimulate the themes and the actual occurrences of your dreams. You can create beautiful stimuli to enrich your dream life, such as dream-catchers, and dream-arrows. Take your dream tool and suspend it above your bed. You can also suspend them above the entrance of a door or window to your bedroom. The tool will help focus your energies on dreaming and create greater lucidity, recall and attract more meaningful dreams into your life.
