"Dreaming is the inner language of the soul through which wisdom is transmitted to our conscious minds." -Arthur Bernard
Dreaming is like simultaneously producing and watching a movie, and our minds are like amazing, one-stop production companies! We are at once the writers, lead actors, directors, producers and enthralled audiences of our own dream-movies. It's a shame few of us take the time to remember, record and decipher our dreams. Like Hollywood movies, most dreams have a "moral of the story," a valuable message with wisdom we could apply to our lives. Our conscious minds are usually too busy with mundane matters to listen to what our deeper selves have to say, to hear our inner wisdom. So dreaming is a wonderful tool, a technology of the soul that, as Bernard stated, transmits this wisdom to our conscious, waking selves. So many of the dreams we dream are created by us, for us.
We have, on the one hand, the outer language we speak day to day, with which we communicate our (perceived) needs and wants. But our dream-movies consist of the subjective, amazingly creative inner language of our souls. It isn't uncommon that our private dream messages often directly contradict our public words and actions. While we may grin and bear a certain situation by day, by night our dreaming minds may freely express our turbulent dissatisfaction about such, holding nothing back ...and they in no uncertain terms "advise" us as to what we should do about it!
No two persons' dream-imagery associations are completely identical. "Shopping mall" means one thing to me, another thing to you, and a completely different thing to the next person, based on our respective life experiences. That's why "dream dictionaries," including books and websites, are for the most part a waste of time. Their definitions are derived from statistical information taken from "studies" (in which we didn't even participate!), and don't apply to us personally.
In other words, out of a group of say 500 people, 70% might think that shopping mall means thus, so that's the definition presented in XYZ Dream Dictionary. But what if the reader is part of the 30% that believes it means something else, or nothing at all?
Pre-packaged dream imagery definitions don't reflect the unique life experiences of the dreamer. It is precisely these experiences which serve as the impetus behind why we have assigned a certain meaning to a certain dream image. In the end, the dreamer is the best person to interpret his or her own dreams, to process and understand their messages. This is done through what's popularly called "dreamwork." I will write more about dreamworking in future articles.
Today there are many individuals, groups and organizations that teach dreamworking. You might find a workshop near you. I like the "ethics statement" of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), which states that it supports an approach to dreamwork and dream sharing that respects the dreamer's dignity and integrity, and which recognizes the dreamer as the decision-maker regarding the significance of the dream. Systems of dreamwork that assign authority or knowledge of the dream's meanings to someone other than the dreamer can be misleading, incorrect, and harmful."
"Ethical dreamwork helps the dreamer work with his/her own dream images, feelings, and associations, and guides the dreamer to more fully experience, appreciate, and understand the dream. Every dream may have multiple meanings, and different techniques may be reasonably employed to touch these multiple layers of significance...Dreamwork outside a clinical setting is not a substitute for psychotherapy, or other professional treatment, and should not be used as such.
From my own work with dreams (mine and others') I would say that IASD's approach is an excellent one. I have kept careful journals of my dreams over the years. Through applying dreamwork techniques, I have unlocked their messages and uncovered fragments of my soul's personal wisdom. Even while growing up I had a knack for helping people interpret their dreams (I still get calls from family and friends). When I assist in this capacity, I find the process very similar to performing psychic readings. It seems to come from the same "place" in my awareness, like it's just another application of clairvoyant ability. I'm "seeing" the meaning behind the images of one's dream-movie, getting straight to the "moral of the story," the wisdom one's soul wants to share about a particular person or situation.
Still, as the IASD points out, "the dreamer [really is] the ultimate decision-maker regarding the significance of the dream" and all its components (interestingly, this principle also applies to any psychic reading as well, be it mediumship, psychometry, aura reading, etc.; information has to "resonate" with the sitter, otherwise it's of no use). I like that the IASD's statement says dreamworking only "helps" and "guides" the dreamer to arrive at his or her own interpretation, nothing more. So while it's great to work with someone like me, who could help and guide one through the message one's soul is trying to express through the medium of a dream, the person who truly understands it more than anyone else will ultimately be the dreamer.
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| Sometimes before I go to bed, I pause and wonder with delight, "What will I dream of next? What will be tonight's special feature?" |
The Inner Language of the Soul
No two persons' dream-imagery associations are completely identical. "Shopping mall" means one thing to me, another thing to you, and a completely different thing to the next person, based on our respective life experiences. That's why "dream dictionaries," including books and websites, are for the most part a waste of time. Their definitions are derived from statistical information taken from "studies" (in which we didn't even participate!), and don't apply to us personally.
In other words, out of a group of say 500 people, 70% might think that shopping mall means thus, so that's the definition presented in XYZ Dream Dictionary. But what if the reader is part of the 30% that believes it means something else, or nothing at all?
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| I learned many of my dream- working skills from Ann Faraday's ground-breaking book written in the 70s, The Dream Game. |
Interpreting the Inner Language
"Ethical dreamwork helps the dreamer work with his/her own dream images, feelings, and associations, and guides the dreamer to more fully experience, appreciate, and understand the dream. Every dream may have multiple meanings, and different techniques may be reasonably employed to touch these multiple layers of significance...Dreamwork outside a clinical setting is not a substitute for psychotherapy, or other professional treatment, and should not be used as such.
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| Flying is a common dream theme. |
Still, as the IASD points out, "the dreamer [really is] the ultimate decision-maker regarding the significance of the dream" and all its components (interestingly, this principle also applies to any psychic reading as well, be it mediumship, psychometry, aura reading, etc.; information has to "resonate" with the sitter, otherwise it's of no use). I like that the IASD's statement says dreamworking only "helps" and "guides" the dreamer to arrive at his or her own interpretation, nothing more. So while it's great to work with someone like me, who could help and guide one through the message one's soul is trying to express through the medium of a dream, the person who truly understands it more than anyone else will ultimately be the dreamer.
A Couple Considerations
As I mentioned, the process of deamworking is too complicated for me to get into here. But here are some basic considerations about dreams I could mention:
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While it's understandable to want to
"protect" children from the effects of
disturbing dreams, as adults we are
much better off confronting and
learning from, rather than
avoiding, our nightmares.
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Nightmares
Rather than buying a "dreamcatcher" or other "remedy" hoping to prevent nightmares, learn to instead dreamwork your troubling dreams. In this way, you honor, rather than hide from, the messages your soul is trying to tell you, and you take the first vital step toward healing what's been imbalanced in your life. Nightmares are not evil, they are not sent by wicked spirits, etc. They are dreams that had to escalate to a red-alert level in our consciousnesses because we ignored the message when it was previously presented to us in a "nice" dream or two. In essence, we create our own nightmares, for our own good.
It's like when a parent resorts to spanking because the verbal warnings didn't work. The message might be about something we've been in denial about, or for whatever reason just want to altogether avoid confronting and resolving. So in order to get our attentions, our dreaming minds resort to employing increasingly disconcerting images. It's not uncommon to find that a series of seemingly disconnected "bad" dreams, upon deeper examination, revolve around the very same subject.
It's like when a parent resorts to spanking because the verbal warnings didn't work. The message might be about something we've been in denial about, or for whatever reason just want to altogether avoid confronting and resolving. So in order to get our attentions, our dreaming minds resort to employing increasingly disconcerting images. It's not uncommon to find that a series of seemingly disconnected "bad" dreams, upon deeper examination, revolve around the very same subject.
Literal or Figurative?
Another common feature of our dreams is that the screenwriters in our minds love using puns and metaphors! During the process of dreamworking we have to mindfully sort through our dream images and determine what's literal and what's figurative. Is my dream about a shopping mall due to the fact that I visited one earlier in the day, and my dream was just a means of processing the experience? Or does "shopping mall" trigger some deeper emotional meaning within my consciousness, a certain feeling or attitude?
When my son was an adventurous toddler, he liked climbing on furniture in order to look out of windows. I dreamed once that my second floor bedroom window's screen, over my desk, was unattached at the lower right corner. I checked the window, and sure enough, that was the case. My conscious mind hadn't caught it, but my subconscious mind did, and presented the information to me in a dream. This is an example of a useful literal dream image.
At this point in my life, whenever the setting of a dream I have is a shopping mall, I know it indicates that I feel guilty about something. In the past, I used to visit shopping malls specifically to buy things whenever I felt stressed over some issue. It made me feel better. However, I rarely go to shopping malls anymore, don't even think about them. In fact, my tolerance for their cacophony of sounds has grown very low. So for me, this is a figurative dream image.
Have a journal and pen on your nightstand, and prepare to write down the next thrilling installment of your dream-movies! And then learn to dicipher and apply that wonderful information in your life through dreamworking.
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