A Concise Guide to Dream Interpretation
Most of us dream. But only a very small percentage of us understand that dreams have great importance and opportunity for our growth, improvement and personal discovery. But many mystics of Eastern and Western origin are aware of the fact that dreams contain a great deal of untapped knowledge. Due to their inherently vague nature, dreams and the art of interpreting them never entered the mainstream sciences. Jungian psychology is the closest mainstream science that took dreams seriously.
This article is a concise description of the dream interpretation method that I use. There are several points / guidelines to note.
1. Dreams are often symbolic representations of what we are experiencing or are about to experience in the near future. I have found that my dreams often convey messages of events that are likely to happen in a month or so.
2. Usually the people we meet in the dream symbolize the different aspects / characteristics of ourselves. For example: a woman can represent a feminine aspect of herself even when one is a man in waking hours. Many of our repressed tendencies also tend to manifest as characters in dreams.
Have you ever wondered why we sometimes appear and behave so differently in our dreams? Well, my opinion is that dreaming offers us an outlet to be ‘someone else’ that we never had the opportunity to be during our waking hours.
3. Often how we feel and the emotion we feel during the dream reveals and conveys a lot about the meaning of the symbols.
Intuition and the willingness to examine ourselves with brutal honesty are two very important factors for a successful analysis.
Below is a list of the most common symbols. In my opinion, we should always take into account the fact that symbols have certain semantics and meanings that are specific to individuals. Therefore, the interpretations of the symbols are not generic and therefore there can be no hard and fast rules regarding the analysis of dreams.
Common dream symbolism
Water: associated with emotion.
Ocean or any large body of water – often represents the subconscious mind. The state of the sea is often also an indication of the emotional state.
Eating / digesting: trying to understand a problem / situation
Walking- associated with learning and assimilation.
Path, path or pavement: symbolizes life or spiritual path / journey
House- symbolizes our self. Inside the house, the different rooms could represent the various aspects of oneself.
Snake: symbolizes knowledge.
Tree and forest: subconscious feelings that govern our emotions
Bridge: a phase of transition or period of transformation / change
Below is an example of a dream and its interpretation.
Sleep
Miss A was visiting a foreign country. He boarded a train that stops at a shopping complex that winds through mountains and terrain. He remembered telling the train conductor that he wanted to get off at the mall so he could find his way home.
Instead of landing on the intended destination, it landed in a strange place. He had difficulty reaching his destination. He got in touch with his partner (boyfriend). Although they communicated through the phone, she was still trapped and lost in that unknown place. By then, he was starting to get depressed. At the time of the depression, he woke up from the dream.
Symbolism involved
Foreign country: unknown knowledge, new experience
Training – Accelerated Learning and Understanding
Through mountains and terrain, ups and downs.
Find your way home – spiritual path
Train in charge – guiding aspect
Your partner – male / mental aspect
Queen Mall Station – An intermediate stage to be reached.
Interpretation
Miss A is experimenting and / or learning something that she does not yet know. It is something that is quite difficult for him to understand and apply. She is experiencing some high and low feelings. However, if understood, the newly acquired understanding and knowledge could significantly accelerate your personal growth and discovery. However, at the moment, it is something that is not yet within your experience (as symbolized by perching in a strange place instead of the designated station). When she tried to contact her male partner (symbolizing the use of her mental reasoning), she was still confused and thus became depressed.
Well that’s it for a quick lesson on dream interpretation. I hope it is informative and beneficial.
Happy dream.