What Do Your Dreams Mean?

Interpreting dreams, a fun and frustrating endeavor for just about everyone I know. Even I struggle to remember dreams at times while some around me have vivid and rich imagery to work with. But when you do have them, how do you interpret them?

Two general schools of thought; never use a dream dictionary and use a dream dictionary. Most would agree that each dream is unique to each person and a book won’t interpret the dream 100% for you but I am one who likes to use the dictionaries to give me a flavor or why I may be processing what I am. As always, one should look at the symbols and decide what they mean to them because each person will be a little bit different. Using the books should be as a guide to help prime the pumps.

Steps to Help You Interpret:

1. Sleep with a journal and pen next to your bed, when you awake at any time and think you had a dream, write it out and just expect it to look odd from your sleepy prose.
2. Simply say “I’m going to remember my dreams in the morning and write them down”
3. If you have still having trouble, I use acupuncture to open things up and help me dream.
4. Write as much as you can when you remember a dream. Symbols, settings, people, colors, feelings, etc.
5. Look over your journal several times a week to look for patterns; same people in each dream, same animal, same setting, etc.
6. What do these patterns mean to you? Certain people mean certain things to me so when they come up in a dream I now know what it’s being worked on or conveyed in the dream to interpret.
7. Now is a good time to use a dream dictionary, like the one I recommend in the Beyond Zen Store, what are common themes to the symbols you see in your dreams? Remember to take this information with a grain of salt, dreams are yours and books only give a base place to work from.

Often I find it useful to group dreams over a month in what’s called a “mind map”, in fact I use the mind map idea to create notes at work and brainstorm new ideas. It’s an organic way to let ideas flood out and create links to each other. I’ve read that mind mapping is very good for those writing books, it creates that great flow.

Wikipedia on Mind Mapping

Note on my Dream Interpretation Philosophy:

I am of the Jung camp of dream interpretation: dreaming is the result of a complex collective and personal unconscious mind, regulating itself like it’s own entity, bringing archetypes in as representations of people and attitudes. Although, Jung believed more in the “dream is the shadow or opposite of the conscious mind”, I don’t see it as the opposite but I do see archetypes representing themselves.

From Wikipedia: “He cautioned against blindly ascribing meaning to dream symbols without a clear understanding of the client’s personal situation. Although he acknowledged the universality of archetypal symbols, he contrasted this with the concept of a sign — images having a one to one connotation with their meaning. His approach was to recognize the dynamism and fluidity that existed between symbols and their ascribed meaning. Symbols must be explored for their personal significance to the patient, instead of having the dream conform to some predetermined idea.”

But, there are times when one has trouble with the interpretation, like this weekends dreams.

Scenario

In the real world I spend the weekend rafting in Central Oregon, where they naturally have snakes and other things my mind keeps and eye out for, this alone could be the most simple reason for this dream:

I’m meditating in the Central Oregon desert, against a cottonwood tree, I notice that there are 12 black snakes circling me, eventually the snakes and crawling up to me and one after another they start to bite me, their fangs get stuck in my skin and I can’t pull them out, eventually all 12 are stuck in me and I am telling people I have one hour to get to the hospital (more like 5 minutes with 12 snakes). Sadly, this is the only bit I can remember and the theme of snakes isn’t one I have often so I really don’t see a pattern yet.

But to start interpreting I assign personal meaning to the symbols:

• Central Oregon and rivers are places of great recharging for me
• Meditating under a tree is very connecting, almost Buddhaesque
• Snakes are something I have feared but with Spontaneous Qigong I’m not sure I do anymore, now I think of them as pathways to open, like Kundalini
• Number 12 doesn’t bring meaning

Now if I were to use a dream dictionary to bring some universal light on things, maybe some more meaning will be pieced together:

• A flowing river could mean peace and prosperity
• Deserts are also symbolic of barrenness, loneliness and feelings of isolation and hopelessness. (doesn’t feel right as an explanation)
• As a positive symbol, snakes represent transformation, knowledge and wisdom. It is indicative of self-renewal and positive changes.
• The number 12 denotes spiritual strength

When you piece it all together it can start to make a bit more sense, couple it with what you have been thinking about lately or working out in your mind and you might just have a better idea of what you ought to do or not. Being a time of spiritual change and growth, this makes a bit more sense. The Central Oregon desert is a very positive place for me and being on a river in this space is very grounding and calming, a place I should visit and relax in more often. To me a desert like this one isn’t one of hopelessness but if I was wandering through the Gobi desert I can see how it might be. Several people have told me about the transformational (skin shedding) and wisdom aspect of snakes and when you couple that with the number 12, a number of spiritual strength, you can start to see a slight pattern. Maybe.

This is a weak dream sequence at this point, my hope will be to watch it and see if I see more. Hopefully this post has helped you to see your dreams better.

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