Dreams provide important insights into ourselves and our problems. I personally believe that there are many types of dreams. I have dreams that are obviously influenced by events of the day; and may or may not have a message. I have dreams about people I’ve never met or places that I’ve never been, and things I’ve never done, to find later that these are actually dreams of the future. I think some dreams are merely a release for stress. Then there are those that tell us important things about ourselves that will help us solve problems or move through obstacles in our path.
I often hear people asking for help with dream interpretation. What most people don’t realize (including me at one time), is that you are the best person to interpret your dreams. Not only that, you don’t need a book of stock symbol meanings to help you. While sometimes it helps to get another person’s perspective, the meanings of our dream symbols are unique too us and may not represent the same thing to someone else.
The first step is to write your dream down right away. It’s good if you can do this regularly, but don’t worry about it for now. We’re going on the premise that you have a dream you remember, and want to interpret.
Next here are some things you can do to start figuring out what your dream means:
1. Pick put any symbols, colors, people, etc. that stand out, and (one at a time) think about what they mean to you. Not what you think they represent in your dream, but what comes to mind for you when you think about them. Free associate if you have to. Write it down.
2. Ask yourself questions:
Are you watching or participating in the dream?
How do you feel about what’s happening?
How do you deal with issues that arise in your dream?
Write this down, along with anything that comes to mind as a result.
3. Remember that objects, animals, and people that appear in your dreams, may or may not be taken literally, since they can actually represent aspects of yourself.
4. Can you relate any of this information to current events or issues in your life?
5. When you’re finished, you still might not have an answer. Just let it go for awhile and the answer will often come to you. Sometimes your brain needs time to process everything.
A book that I found very helpful in learning to analyze my own dreams is called “Awakening A Dream Journal”, by Ellen Foreman. The book explains how to work on analysing your dreams and has a blank glossary at the end for recording your own personal dream symbols. There is also a companion dream journal. Mine came as a set, many years ago from a book club. I checked on amazon.com, and only found one new one available, I’m not sure if it’s out if print. the journal was called “Awakening Workbook”.
I hope this gives you a good start. Pleasant dreams and wonderful adventures!