Word analysis of dreams

Having written a dream down, by using highlighting pens to make all matching words the same colour you can immediately see the main issues in some dreams.

‘We walk around, go upstairs, and I notice a staircase leading to a room or rooms. It goes up square, about eight steps in a flight, but round and round – spiral. I am scared by them, don’t want to go up, but am curious. We move in and nobody but myself has really taken any notice of the stairs. Nobody has been up. In one dream I try to go up but the children are scared for me. They plead, ‘Don’t go up Mum, just forget them.’ Then I wake. In the next dream I wait till they are asleep. Half way up I am terrified but have to go on. Then I wake. Next dream I got up there. Then I woke.’ Ann H.

Marking special words in dream descriptions highlights their meaning

Ann’s dream theme recurs, so is important to her. In marking just some of the words we see that the ‘up’ or ‘go up’ is important. Her children, meaning her childhood fears, hold Ann back for a while, but she dares to climb. If we look at the entries for climb and stairs, we see they depict taking steps toward exploring the unknown, daring to explore your potential or opportunities.

By marking the words in this way we might also highlight certain statements otherwise hidden in the dream. Particularly watch out for the connections with the word ‘I’, such as I want; I do; I will; I have; I know; I cannot; etc.

Example: ‘I want to withdraw’ – ‘I was full of sadness but was trying not to show it.’ – ‘I felt keyed up and ready to fight.’

Taking such statements out of context and looking for connections with everyday feelings or situations often throws considerable light on the dream. If what you realise is then considered in connection with the plot of the dream, the viewpoint your unconscious has on the situation might become evident. For instance, the statement ‘I felt keyed up’ occurred within a classroom situation, and helped the dreamer understand the anger generated at school. See: Dream visualisation.