Why Dreams are Bizarre
People often wonder: if dreams are trying to teach me something, why are they so bizarre or different from ordinary experience? As another sensory organ or way of taking in experience, dreaming allows us to explore conflict and rehash events so we can make necessary changes.
Anything is possible in the dreamscape and by providing an objective playground to explore potential, dreaming offers more freedom of thought than we would normally experience in daily life.
Like the hero of our ancient myths, we embark on an adventure through a strange landscape to discover bizarre clues about our real identity and therefore, our destiny. Dreaming is a journey of empowerment in this way, where we are initiated into an adventure of self discovery. Just as the hero is often presented with a paradox or puzzle to solve, the bizarre nature of our dreams becomes an important aspect in understanding how dreams help us to move beyond our walls.
Whether we look at the human body with all of its intricate systems, or the mind's ability to classify experience, we are highly predisposed to order seeking tendencies. We prefer the tried and proven and shy away from exploring the unknown. At some point in our development, we began closing our minds to ideas that went against the beliefs we adopted about who we are or who we might become.
Dreaming allows new information beyond the defense mechanisms erected by the ego. We generally dream of feelings and ideas that we would rather not face. The cryptic nature of dreams has a way of taking conflict and allowing us to explore it in a way that is non-threatening. Whether the ego sleeps or is duped by the paradoxes, the freedom of growth is achieved.
Picture a fortress erected by the mind with a gatekeeper that specifically bars access to anything that might topple our inner kingdom. If life is trying to break us free to help us grow, yet we reject new experiences, how can innovative and evolving ideas manifest? When we sleep, the gatekeeper or subconscious net is inactive, and information makes it past the walls of consciousness through dreaming. However, it is usually the bizarre imagery that becomes the most powerful ‘food for thought’ in effecting lasting changes within us.
Remember the soldiers of Troy and how they allowed the Greek’s wooden horse beyond their walls simply because it was not viewed as a threat? In the same way that we dismiss some symbols as nonsense, something profound has cleverly devised a way to fertilize the psyche by condensing a difficult and complex idea into often humorous symbolism. We may even wake up and ponder the strange symbol specifically because it was so weird. In this way, something profound has begun to take root in the psyche.
When I work with clients, I find that they immediately want to dismiss these bizarre symbols as if they are meaningless. I focus on them specifically because I see it as a red flag, calling the hero to a type of exploration. Eventually the client too, will come to appreciate the kernel of wisdom hidden in the rich complexity and bizarre symbols in their dreams.
We spend one third of our lives in a condition of sleep that allows us to explore our potential in a topsy turvy world of symbols. Just as the body is continually healing itself, dreams heal the psyche, tilling the soil of a hardened inner landscape to keep us growing in a changing world. Whether or not we remember our dreams, they are helping us to sort through outworn ways of thought so we can remain well.
Trust the power of your dreams to guide you and no matter how bizarre the symbol, explore the way in which it might be trying to teach you something about yourself.
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.
