Dream Analysis
How to Interpret Your Dreams
Jun 27, 2007 Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman
Interpreting your own dreams is something that anyone can master without extensive schooling, years of study or books - primarily because the main criteria to accurate interpretation depends on the dreamer rather than any one school of thought or formal methodology.
'Dream Symbol' Dictionaries Are Mostly Bunk. Mostly.
Dream dictionaries can be helpful for generally understood, universal meanings,as well as inspiration and insight, but the relationship of a thing to its dreamer is infinitely more important than anything a book can advise.
Example. Suppose you dream of a white dove flying into your house and then gently lighting on your shoulder. If you are spiritual, you may immediately make an association between the dove and the Spirit,. You might further reflect on how you had been striving to form a closer relationship to the Divine. The dream then would feel like something of an acknowledgement visiting in etheric form, and a good sign.
However, if you are terrified of birds, and especially birds landing on your person, you might wake up feeling distraught and not wanting to go back to sleep. Further reflection might lead you to contemplating that you were worried about finding a job or leaving a bad relationship earlier that day. You would conclude the dream as having an entirely different meaning.
Consulting a Dream Dictionary - in either event - won't effectively provide a meaningful interpretation. The factors that cause you to dream, daily events, worries, hopes and fears, are unknown variables to books about symbology. As reference points, they can prove insightful, but one should never take them too literally.
Dream Interpretation Keys
Experts generally agree on these fundamental points:
- Do take into account the preceding events of the day and use that as a guidepoint to establish a clearer understanding of what the dream is revealing.
- Do write your dreams down or say them aloud, preferably as soon as you are able to. Often the mind literally translates common idioms and expressions such as 'Crying my eyes out" and "He makes me so sick." Dreaming about crying and your eyes popping from your head might not become evident until you attempt to express it thus unifying the right-brain symbolism of the dream to more logical thinking left-brain communication.
- Do note how you felt when you woke up from the dream. This is the key to the lesson or message of the dream itself.
- Do categorize when appropriate. Was the Dream spiritual in tone? Sensual? Reality-driven?
- Do ask for clarification and guidance in the form of a prayer to the Deity, Angels or Higher Power of your choice. Opening your will and consciousness to a higher wisdom can provide far greater insight and clarity.
- Do consider sketching or painting the dream as a flat, one-dimensional portrait. Hidden meanings and forgotten aspects can often appear when language is absent.
- Don't assume any book about dreams is more 'right' then what you believe the dream means. Remember, as the author, creator, star and director, you have more inherent ability to interpret it than anyone else.
Further Articles and References:
Dreams
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