WHAT IS A DREAM? Is it somewhere we go to escape life’s ups and downs? Is it a prophecy of what is to come in the future? Or perhaps a message from the past, a long-deceased loved one reaching out from the misty depths of the spirit world? Or could it be the spirit world trying to warn or tell us something that we need at that moment for clarity? Might it be our subconscious mind, clarifying a problem in our lives or giving us a glimpse of future events to come? Or is it simply that pickle that we ate before bed?
The answer to all these questions is “yes.” In our waking lives, our brains subconsciously store information, events, and feelings as we go through our days and years. At the same time, we have a spiritual subconscious that is operating full-bore below the surface of our conscious, material life. The combined power of these dual consciousnesses emerges in our dreams. We may dream of a solution to a problem that has eluded us when awake. Or we might come up with a predictive vision, dreaming of an upcoming birth or death, celebration or sadness. We can even receive numbers to play games of chance. Sometimes there is no such voice behind the vision, and our dreams have no obvious rhythm or reason—which could be our “pickle before bed” dreams.
For most of us, dreams materialize in the form of a story. And, as with any story, there are components that together make up the whole, whether or not they make sense individually. A person, a house, a certain food, a strong feeling or emotion—these are some of the pieces of the whole. And though, while dreaming, we are immersed in this whole, often upon waking we can only recall a single item or fleeting feeling from a dream, our waking lives haunted by the ghosts of our night wanderings.
Sometimes it is not our days but our nights that are haunted by hazy visions of past events. Or certain dreams may recur night after night, telling us the same confusing story.
Though it may seem counterintuitive, such dreams can act as a kind of Band-Aid to keep our minds balanced. Some components of a such a dream are things we’d like to forget but may need to bring up again and again, so that we can use the lesson in our waking lives in order to move on.
Sometimes people we don’t know play starring roles in our dreams. Sometimes we see deceased loved ones, or friends, or even celebrities. These people could be really present in our dreams, visiting us or giving us messages. More often than not, though, they are spirit guides—ethereal mentors or angels there to help us, giving us information and guidance that we cannot receive in our waking, skeptical state.
That’s where this book comes in. This dictionary has some twelve thousand definitions to help you interpret your dreams. With a little practice, interpreting a dream can be easy and enjoyable. Over time, you will find that you can interpret your dreams on an intuitive level, using this guide as a reference only when needed.
HOW TO DREAM
Everyone dreams. It is one thing that all human beings have in common. It’s just that some of us can’t remember our dreams upon waking, and so our waking perceptions tell us (wrongly) that we don’t dream. Since dreams are not merely amusing fantasies, but can serve as strong tools to help you work out problems in your life, we suggest that you learn how to immerse yourself in your dreams and remember them.
Prior to falling asleep, try to clear your mind as much as you can. If you have a problem in your life, this is the time to think about it. You are not trying to solve it; just think about it and analyze some of the aspects of your dilemma. What are the elements of the problem, and how is it making you feel? Who is involved, and why? Consider these questions from an objective point of view, removing yourself from the issue, or you may very well find yourself obsessing about your problem instead of falling asleep. View the problem as if from a distance; you are merely observing what is going on. Don’t think too hard or too long, and remember to keep the goal of solving it through your sleep foremost in your mind.
As you settle the pieces in place mentally, assure yourself: I will have clarity through my sleep. Then allow yourself to fall into sleep. You may have to do this several nights in a row, but eventually your dreaming mind will provide a solution to the problem. If you don’t have a specific problem but are looking to see farther into your future, you can do the same exercise; just focus on what it is you want to know before you slumber. Your subconscious is taking in and processing tiny particles of information about the world around you all the time, without your even realizing it, and it can see the hidden connections and subtle indicators that your waking mind cannot. If you calmly and repeatedly direct your mind toward this purpose, your dreams will show you more than your eyes can see of what is to come.
TYPES OF DREAMS
Professional dream interpreters divide dreams into the following categories:
NIGHTMARES
The definition of a nightmare is in the mind of the dreamer. If you wake up frightened, then it’s a nightmare. While once believed to be the exclusive bailiwick of young children, nightmares are very real—and very terrifying—to many, many people. But most of us focus on the feeling of fear we’re left with, rather than the details of the dream that created it. Understanding the components of the nightmare will give valuable insight into the underlying fears that give rise to these dream monsters. Indeed, many people who suffer from chronic nightmares are plagued by very real traumas in their waking lives, whether present-day or remembered. Uncovering and addressing these problems and getting help is the best way to banish nightmares, particularly those that make repeat visits.
RECURRING DREAMS
Many of us have had the same dream over and over again. A dream may visit you every night for several weeks, or resurface only occasionally over the course of many years. These may be dreams of fears that you need to address in your waking life. These dreams are worth noting and keeping track of. They can have a profound meaning and, if examined closely, usually offer much-needed assistance with a part of your personality that you would benefit from looking at more closely, a fear you’ve been mastered by, or a trauma that seeks healing. Sometimes recurring dreams will visit for years until finally what they have represented is clear to you. Interpreting these dreams can help to solve the riddle they represent; then they will stop coming.
HEALING DREAMS
Healing dreams are indeed message dreams. They include messages that are meant to motivate you to take some specific action in regard to your health or a possible medical problem. The body has a natural ability to make problems known to us. Always heed the warnings dreams offer.
PROPHETIC DREAMS
These dreams are also called precognitive dreams, in that they usually predict or foretell some aspect of your future. Some people do not believe that prophetic dreams exist, which is why these dreams are often referred to as psychic dreams. However, those who have them are adamant that they offer accurate direction.
EPIC DREAMS
As the name implies, epic dreams are unforgettable to those who experience them, not just in length but also in vivid detail. These dreams are also known as cosmic dreams, because of the symbology and meaning they contain. If interpreted accurately, epic dreams have the power to change your life, especially because they usually reveal some profound inner clarity.
LUCID DREAMS
A lucid dream occurs when you are in a state of knowing that you are dreaming. Though you remain asleep, you actively tell yourself that this is only a dream and you remain dimly or completely aware that this is so. Some people have developed the ability to take control of a lucid dream once they recognize that they’re dreaming. If you can do this, you can become an active participant in your dream and can control where it is going and what you do in it. In a sense, you are scripting your own dream.
DAYDREAMS
Researchers are still trying to determine where daydreams fit into the spectrum of dreaming, since daydreams happen somewhere between the wakeful state and a sound sleep. These “half dreams” often take on the tone of a fantasy or surreal experience. Research indicates that most of us can daydream for more than an hour a day. Some daydreamers use the fuzzy boundaries of the wakeful dream to shape their visions and visualize positive outcomes in their waking lives.
HOW TO INTERPRET YOUR DREAMS
We suggest that you keep a pen and pad by your bed so that you can make a list of all the elements of your dream immediately upon waking. Dreams are quick to flee from the memory, and every element of a dream can add to its successful interpretation. Write as much down as you can remember. In this case, more is better; you can never have too much information.
We cycle through several dreams in the course of a night’s sleep, so if you awaken during the night, try to jot down your impressions. Once you’ve passed through the dreaming state into a deeper, less active stage of sleep, you can no longer access the visions you had while dreaming. Thus, when sleeping soundly, we remember only those dreams that came immediately before our alarm jolted us awake. Some people actually wake themselves up so they can accurately remember the mid-sleep-cycle dreams that they normally would forget if they slept through until the morning.
Once you have written down everything you can remember, then you can uncover the real meaning of the words or elements that appeared in your dream. Start with one word at a time, probing your memory for any half-recalled associations or related elements. Record any additional aspects that occur to you; then look up in this dream dictionary the meaning of each element you’ve noted on your pad. Continue with this exercise until you have gathered information on everything you feel was pertinent in your dream.
Now the fun begins. As you go through the definitions you’ve discovered, most likely you will see a theme emerging. Do all the meanings point to an answer to a problem? Is there a birth or death coming in your life? Do you need to reconnect or reevaluate your friendships? Are there references to monetary loss or gain? If most of what you dreamed points in a certain direction, watch for and address these issues in your waking life.
There may be several themes within a dream. Divide up the dream into those themes that you perceive. Problems often have many layers, and so, too, will the dreams that untangle them. You may find that the dream is actually drawing a map of how several parts of your life will ultimately come together.
However, not everything is as it may first appear. As you will discover, some dream elements signify their own opposites. For instance, dreaming of death almost universally means a birth of some sort, either an actual birth of a person or the death of one aspect of your life and the birth of another. While unusual references to certain parts of the body in a dream can indicate an unknown ailment, dreaming explicitly of sickness often suggests good health. As you piece together all the symbols and emotions in a dream, you will see how it fits together to give you your dream story. And through the story of your dreams, you will uncover the story of your life.
We hope this book gives you the guidance you need to see your dreams more clearly, helping you to unlock their hidden meanings and understand the true messages of your subconscious.