Dream Understanding
An example will be used to show how to arrive at a dream’s meaning from use of the Dream Dictionary entries. It is important to first write the dream down as fully as possible. Don’t stint on the use of words. Be descriptive. Then take the very opening scene of the dream and look it up in the appropriate entry.
Example: I was standing in the back garden of a house – one of a row of terraced houses. Each garden was fenced and ran down to a large drainage ditch. It seemed to be raining and water was filling the drainage ditch. The water was backing up into the gardens because something was blocking the ditch. It started rising up my legs. It was quite hot. I realised this was because hot water was running out of the baths and sinks in the houses. I felt I must get out of the gardens. Not only because of the water, but because of how people might feel if they saw me in their garden. I managed to find a way into a farm yard where I felt relaxed.’ Ted F.
The first scene here is Garden. On a piece of paper separate to the dream, write Garden, with space for notes to be put beside it. The entry on Garden in the Dictionary says – Your garden dream often reveals what you are doing with your latent possibilities. It is pointing out whether you have cultivated your abilities, or buried them. A garden is sometimes a place of love in a dream. In which case it can denote what is growing or dying in your relationship. Another garden theme is connected with activities we do in the garden, like pets we keep, or work done.
The words Houses – Raining – Hot water – Fences – Farmyard need to be looked up and relevant comments written down next to each word. In doing this with his dream, Ted ended up with the following. But it is important for you to see what you feelings are and whether any of what is said applies to you. It doesn’t matter if the entry on garden doesn’t contain what is said in your dream. Instead you can say, ‘None of those things apply, but the entry has made me remember my dream garden is a place of pain where a terrible incident happened to me.’
But Ted had other associations and wrote:
GARDEN – The growth and changes occurring in my life at present.
ROW OF HOUSES – Other people.
RAINING – Depressed feelings or difficulties; emotions which take away enthusiasm and act as a barrier to action; tears and emotional release – an outpouring; other peoples emotions ‘raining’ on me.
HOT WATER – Emotions. In the Idioms is ‘hot water’ suggesting I have got myself in trouble.
FENCES – Social boundaries.
FARMYARD – Where my natural drives such as sexuality, parenthood, love or fellowship, are cared for or expressed.
When Ted added his own associations to this the dream became fully understandable to him and read like this:
I am going through a lot of changes at the moment – the garden. These are to do with allowing myself to have a warm but non sexual relationship with women. I have always been too dragged along by my sexuality in the past. Just a few days before the dream I was in a ‘growth’ group. I had made friends with a woman there, Susan, who I was warm with, but not sexually. The group work required some close physical contact, and I and another man worked with Susan. It seemed to me to go without complications. A while afterwards a woman in the group came to me and with evident emotion, said I had made love publicly to my lover, meaning Susan. I had certainly been physically close to her and had felt at ease, but the viewpoint and feelings of the woman’s accusations, coupled with her threat to expose me to the authority figure in the group, bowled me over. This is the hot water in the dream. The fences are the boundaries people erect between their personal life and what is socially acceptable. For some days, up until understanding the dream, I felt really blocked up emotionally – the blocked drainage ditch. I cut off any friendship toward Susan. When I realised that in the Farmyard – the acceptance of natural feelings without neat little boundaries – I could feel at peace, I was able to allow my natural warmth again.
After writing the comments next to each dream image or setting, add any personal memories, feelings or associations, as Ted has. Put down anything which amplifies what has been dreamt. For instance a car is said to be ones drive and motivation in the entry on car. But it is helpful to add what personal feelings one has about ones car. Try imagining what the absence in ones life of the car, or house, etc., would mean.
A friend recently told me the absence of her car would mean loss of independence. So this was her personal association.
See Techniques for Exploring your Dreams
Comments
My daughter had a bad dream and saw a bunch of writing in latin on the wall but could only remember the word elo with a smile in front of it.what could they mean
My dream was
Disscussing a spot to perform my aerial hammok act , with an advertiser, asking where they wanted it.
1 high rise buildings and a crane,
Hieght over 1000 metres above the gound. They wanted to see me from the main highway.
I was in the bubble falling from the crane, I slowed down and landed soflty and safely no impact laughing fun crowd cheering.
Next in a car park, all the cars were burnt and old, and doorless.
I was in the back of one floating in a pool of blood,
Not drowning but scared shitless
There was a male in the next car opposite me. Also in the blood.
He opened his mouth and he ejected a cd?
I swam out of the car, and started running to escape the bloody water (it was only in that section) , but i was wet. All the cars were old and burnt.
I was escaping i felt i needed to get out of the car park, i found a small green bush trail leading away from it so i did get out.
What the heck???
Cassandra – You start by being involved in an advertising stunt/act. It suggests that you desire to be different and noticed, and you probably mange this by developing skills that can be demonstrated.
But this seems to be a cover for great anxiety. This because your main power of motivation, the cars, is no longer in good order. Dreams tend to dramatise our inner condition, but are trying to get you attention because something needs to be done.
The guy ejecting a CD probably means that what come out of his mouth – speaking – is simply old recorded ideas, nothing original or creative. The man may represent your inner male. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/archetype-of-the-animus-jungs-view-of-the-male-in-the-female/
He probably is your more outgoing self what you deal with the job in hand with. It helps if you realise that whenever we dream its images are not like real life, because a dream is nothing like outer life where things could hurt you, but is an image like on a cinema screen that even if a gun is pointed at you and fired it can do no damage – except if you run in fear; so all the things that scare you are simply your own fears projected onto the screen of your sleeping mind.
You then swam out of the car, showing person effort to deal with the emotions you were coping with. The green bush path was a real break. For you were now in your natural feelings, not the advertising mind set you had at the beginning of your dream. It also shows personal effort, but suggests an explorative state of mind, because I take it the path is new to you.
It might help to read http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/lifes-little-secrets/ – – http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/ and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/integration-meeting-oneself
Tony
Hello guys. I have this really weird dream last night, and I’m really eager to know what it’s meant. I dreamt that something, possibly a stick or a string?, was at the center of my forehead, particularly at the center of my brain. It was sticked through my head, from the front to back of my head. My dream started that way, I didn’t even know why that happened in my dream. But in my dream, people around me, my parents aren’t bothered at all. And it seems like I’m not that bothered too. All I’m asking is that they take it off of me. There’s no blood or anything in my head but I can feel the pain, even after I woke up, I still have an headache. It gave me goosebumps, really. I don’t usually have dreams, but when I do, it always as bizzare as this. Please, please help me interpret my dream last night. I’m kinda bothered. Thanks
Dear Marjorie – – I can share with you what I see in your dream when I explore it; it is good to realise though that you are the creator of your dream(s) and so the one who can truly explore and (learn to) understand it (them).
See http://dreamhawk.com/news/summing-up/
and
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/processing-dreams/
It could be that your dream is caused because you had a headache already.
If you read through the functions of dreams – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/function-of-dreaming/ – you can see that a dream could be a link between the sleeping mind and what is occurring “externally”; and so in your physical body.
Now this dream could give you some clue about how you got your headache in the first place.
Do you know the expression “to get someone or something out of one’s head”? It means to
stop thinking about or wanting someone or something.
If you can relate to that you could ask yourself how you can spend less time “in your head”.
http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/water-wonderland/
Anna 🙂
Hi there I just had a dream where I was dressed in a beautiful ball gown at a large formal 18th century party and this man who I cant really see the face of stares at me and smiles and for some reason I just keep running away around this giant house changing my disguise so that he can’t find me. I run to this outside lobby with akot of servants playing music and cover myself in a blanket and run towards a carriage to get away and he’s in front of me in the crowd and smiles and grabs my hand and tries to walk me away but I run away again in to the gardens slowly ripping my dress to make me less noticeable
Why am I running and why can’t I see his face? I am currently in a relationship that I don’t know how I feel about and I want to know if this is some sign please.
Beth – I think the large formal 18th century party is a symbol of deep seated feelings you have about the parts of yourself that you still haven’t brought to awareness. The symbol of not being able to see the face of this man carries the same meaning, for “no face” is probably what is called a shadow figure if you see it on another person – parts of your nature or behaviour that you usually keep hidden or do not admit to.
Running away is also merely a symbol for your unwillingness to face what you have repressed in yourself.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-archetype-of-the-shadow/
The Shadow is any part of ourselves that we reject, and so do not allow sufficient expression in our life. We may so dislike aspects of our nature we fail to recognise them altogether and instead see them in other people and criticise them.
Perhaps that is why you feel uncertain about the relationship you are currently in, because you still do not like to “meet parts of yourself”?
Perhaps this relationship can therefore also serve the purpose to look at and integrate those rejected aspects of yourself which will make you feel more whole?
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/whole-2/
Anna 🙂
In my dream I was asleep and my Ex-husband brought me a block of gold. I ask Why and he said keep it
🙂 Veronica
It will be helpful to you to know what you associate with your ex husband:
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/association-of-ideas-with-dreams/#Working
Although he is not with you in your waking life anymore, in your inner life you carry a lot of what you took into you from him and from the relationship with him.
See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/boyfriend-ex/
and
http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/ex/
It will be helpful to you to integrate into your inner being what you perceive as valuable – symbolized by the gold.
Anna 🙂
In my dream I was walking into the room and saw a couple having sex and an ex-boyfriend watching them I left the room upset at them in the living room there was another friend I asked why did you let them do that so I left walking out of the house and my ex-boyfriend followed me with another which I didn’t know who it was we ended up at a pool swimming he got me by my arms pulled me out and say me by him and kissed me on my forehead.
I been having the same dream but I don’t know what it means. I’m running from something but every time I look back I don’t see anything but when I look forward I see a building with lights and as I get closer there are two kids calling me mommy but I can’t see their faces.