Dreams have been objects of boundless fascination and mystery for humankind since the beginning of time. These nocturnal vivid images seem to arise from some source other than our ordinary conscious mind. They contain a mixture of elements from our own personal identity which we recognize as familiar along with a quality of "otherness" in the dream images that carries a sense of the strange and eerie. The bizarre and nonsensical characters and plots in dreams point to deeper meanings and contain rational and insightful comments on our waking situations and emotional experiences. The ancients thought that dreams were messages from the gods. Today we know that they are messages from a deep source of wisdom and understanding within ourselves. Every dream is a message from some deeper unconscious part of myself to the more conscious everyday part of myself expressed in a language that needs to be learned and understood. The dream has been called the royal road to the unconscious. A modern way of saying that would be that the dream is the window to the soul.
There are many different ways of approaching dreams as their meaning is often on many different simultaneous levels. On the most superficial level we can look at the dream as a commentary on some ordinary everyday experience or situation that the dreamer is dealing with. On a deeper level we can explore the drama taking place in the dream with each image and symbol in the dream representing some psychological aspect of the dreamer. It can be looked at as a dialogue among the characters and feelings that inhabit our inner world. Dreams can be extraordinarily elusive like trying to catch a butterfly just always out of reach. Our conscious mind seems to be reluctant to allow us full recollection or understanding of our dreams. Because dreams talk to us in a strange and foreign language of symbols and images they disturb our conscious preconceptions of who we are and what we are about. Dreams are like looking down into a deep chasm into our souls. We sometimes are afraid we will fall into the abyss if we look too long or too deeply into ourselves.
It is often helpful to make a conscious reminder to oneself before retiring for bed by saying I will remember a dream tonight. It is important to lie still for a few moments when awakening from a dream and to stay with the feelings and images of the dream. Then record in a notebook by the bedside a few key words from the most vivid images or symbols that appear in the dream. Later that day when convenient one can fill out the plot and action of the dream in more detail. It is very difficult to try and hold a dream in memory if it is not first written down. Dreams tend to evaporate quickly with the light of day just like the morning dew. It may be useful too to write down any immediate associations or reactions to the dream. Start to reflect on the separate images in the dream and see what comes to mind. Take note of the feelings and associations that flood your mind as you pay attention to the images. Examine action that takes place in the dream which is often like a play or movie with a plot and sub-plots. It is important to remember too that the images in the dream are not to be taken literally. The dream will often exaggerate images and feelings in grotesque and bizarre ways to try and get our attention. Understanding dreams is more like reading poetry than prose. It is a world of imagination and fantasy that can show us aspects of ourselves that are like long buried treasures waiting to be discovered.
I would like to explore some of the possible meanings and associations to some common dream images and symbols that most people will have experienced at one time or another. One caveat is that each dream is the unique personal experience and possession of the dreamer and that the same image may have different meanings for different people based on their own individual experiences and the context of the lives and the context of the dream in which it occurs. Only the dreamer can ultimately know the correctness of any particular interpretation of an image or symbol that occurs in a dream as to the meaning for that particular dreamer. We can look at some of the universal images that commonly occur in dreams and reflect on the possibilities that the image suggests. This can be a way of amplifying the image to enrich and deepen its significance and to present deeper layers of meaning.
The number of images or symbols in dreams is countless. Anything that can be 'dreamedı of can carry a deeper psychological and emotional significance for us than what may be first apparent on the surface. An example might be a dream about a house. This is a very common dream motif as often the action in a dream will take place in a particular setting. A dream of a house may be about a particular place we know or have lived in or may be a fantasized unreal place that we might never have imagined in waking life. The meaning of a house often suggests either the psychological or physical place that we inhabit. The house and what is going on in it may suggest something of what is occurring in our body or our mind during our waking life. The house may remind us of our childhood home with its attendant feelings of belonging and alienation, security and insecurity, conflict and harmony. The house is a psychological extension of our identity and physical being in the world.
The different areas of the house may represent different areas of our inner psyche. Sometimes the house or some of its rooms may be unfamiliar representing unexplored areas of potential within the personality. Exploring an unfamiliar house may represent a new journey of exploration into our own personalities or to work out some psychological problem that resides within our emotional living space. It is fairly common to dream of returning to a house that you knew in childhood. It may represent a return to a familiar situation but with new possibilities. The feelings and reaction to the house and its inhabitants or contents is crucial to understanding the significance of the house in the dream. It may represent a wish to return to a time of childhood innocence or of a need to move on and leave home by getting on with some unfinished part of one's life.
Nightmares are a universal occurrence that we all experience at some time in our lives. Some people may experience nightmares often. Nightmares are disturbing dreams which may follow us for years worrying us with their persistence and their vividness. Nightmares in ancient times were thought to be caused by evil spirits that would haunt and suffocate people while they slept. The nightmare is often accompanied by feelings of oppression and helplessness. Nightmares make a more lasting impression upon us and the feelings from the dream will often linger on into our waking life the following day. The nightmare serves to get our attention to something that is psychologically important to us often something that has been seriously neglected in our waking life.
Sometimes it is possible to deal with the nightmare by coming to terms with it and understanding what our fears are about. Recurrent nightmares indicate a particularly serious problem in our waking life that needs to be confronted. We may wake from these dreams with feelings of acute distress or worry or even panic. These fears may arise from our deepest frustrations, repressions and inner conflicts. They may also be a form of self-punishment for unacceptable parts of ourself that we need to to come to terms with.
A frequent theme is of being chased or pursued by a monster or demon of some kind. This may indicate some aspect of our emotional life that we are trying to run away from.
Monsters in mythology often guard the treasure sought by the hero. They often guard sacred or holy places. We are the hero in our dreams just as we are the hero in our daily waking lives. We must confront and understand the monster in the dream which represents some unwanted part of ourself that we need to confront and integrate in order to recover the treasure which is a deeper psychological understanding of ourself. Often if we can turn around and face what it is that we fear it will transform itself in the dream and will cease to be horrifying once its nature is identified.
We sometimes dream of someone trying to break into our home. This is often an inner psychological figure who may represent some shameful or unwanted part of ourself who is breaking into our consciousness. It is about to break into our awareness and then we will have to confront this unwanted aspect of ourself. The purpose of this figure seems to be to reflect all the worst aspects of our character so that we may become more fully conscious of those traits and accept these unwanted but vitally necessary parts of ourself. These aspects are often quite evident to those whom we live with or know us well but are hidden from our own conscious opinion of ourself and thus will appear alien and scary to us in our dreams. The intruder in the dream may represent some awareness or insight that is about to break through into our consciousness. It appears scary because it is unknown what demands it will make on us, but it actually should be welcomed into our psychological house because it brings with it a gift of self awareness.
Every aspect of the dream represents some part of ourself. The intruder in the dream represents some part of ourself that we have kept outside our awareness for too long and now needs to be let in. It may represent a feeling or attitude that we need to be more conscious of.
Another nightmare is the disaster dream. These are often extremely vivid and we may awaken terrified and apprehensive. These dreams should not be ignored nor taken literally. The disaster may indicate some emotional upheaval that is taking place or about to take place in our life. The disaster may involve an earthquake, our world is being shaken up; or an avalanche, feeling overwhelmed and buried by some situation we find ourself in or perhaps the thawing out of some frozen emotions; or a flood, being caught up in the currents of everyday life and not feeling on solid ground; or a fire, being consumed by passion or rage or some other strong feeling that may feel out of control. The disaster may be a positive image indicating a significant change tearing down old patterns of behavior and a turning point of opportunity or it may be a warning of something valuable in our life thatıs falling apart or being swept away. Sometimes it may represent both aspects since change and crisis often carry both positive and negative feelings with them.
The nightmare is a dream that needs to be taken seriously. They are urgent psychological messages that something in our emotional psyche needs to be paid attention to and can no longer be ignored or we do so at our own peril.