Beginner's Guide to Dream Interpretation
Over many years and after analyzing literally thousands of dreams for people from all over the world, I have observed a common language of symbols that appear regardless of where we live in the world. In fact, the differences in our dream life has more to do with our age-group, rather than our culture.
Understanding the language of dreams can become a powerful tool to access self-knowledge, achieve health and wellness, and actualize lasting success. When faced with a difficult transition, dream symbols can provide clues about how we get stuck and how we might find a way through the crisis. Monitored and deciphered over time, dreams demonstrate a different time sense. They reveal an understanding of who we are and where we are going, as if some part of the psyche knows us better than we know ourselves. In many ways, dreams help us to become self-actualized, and guide us to fulfill our life purpose.
Interpreting dreams is a bit like learning a new language because nothing is what it appears to be on the surface. The ABCs of dream analysis is simple if you keep in mind these basic ideas in approaching your dreams for guidance:
(A) All symbols, characters, even the landscape and lighting are actually a mirror of your inner world. Dreaming is like the Mind’s Mirror, because everything is a reflection of the dreamer. The landscape and symbols reflect your ‘inner architecture’ or current mindset as you move through life. Dream symbols can best be understood if you approach them the way you might interpret the metaphors in a poem. In poetry, the metaphor or symbolic language captures the deeper ‘flavor’ or 'essence' of an unspoken idea or feeling. In the same way, we tend to dream of what we are not facing, using symbols that best capture those aspects. If you can use this "All reflects Me" perspective, you can begin to decipher how dreams attempt to wake you to your potential. For example, teeth fall out at monumental times of our lives and are also associated with communication, credibility and chewing on something. If your teeth fall out in a dream, ask yourself: am I not making a necessary change or transition that would better reflect my growth? Or, is my credibility and way of expressing myself to others an issue right now?
(B) Before analyzing anything, it is important that you write down as much information as you can remember. In some cases, you may only be left with a feeling. Dreaming moves us in the same unspoken way as a movie would, so the feeling we are left with becomes important in understanding how it may currently remain unexpressed. Be open to the guidance, no matter how bizarre. Dreams use cryptic symbols as a way of tricking consciousness into exploring the unknown. They are cryptic because it is the only way that emerging information might reach you. Often, these bizarre symbols can teach you the most about your unknown potential. It is not important to remember all of the symbols because the message is often repeated. Using various scenarios, the dream often describes the same situation in different landscapes. Exploring only one dream sequence can become a snapshot of possible pathways through conflict and resolution. In this way, dreams illuminate the pathway before you.
(C) Clues come forward in dreams that reveal emerging sides of you, often through other characters. Upon waking, you may wonder why this person was in your dream. Explore the adjective that best describes the person, and how that quality may currently be active/inactive in your approach. Inspiration for our dreams manifests from a side of the psyche that developed before language and therefore speaks in symbols. Dreams draw on memory but also describe future events with a type of omniscient perspective. Cherish your dreams as a compass point and map. If you can take the time to begin deciphering your dreams you can fast forward your growth to achieve lasting wellness and success.
Visit our free online dream dictionary.
By Kari Hohne, Dream Expert
Author of The Mythology of Sleep: The Waking Power of Dreams, a book that explores the hero’s journey through the dreamscape and The Mind’s Mirror: Dream Dictionary. Her Iphone App: Way of Dreams -Dream Interpretation Tool is also available at Itunes.
