Dream Meanings

Albert Einstein admitted that the earliest intimations of his Theory of Relativity occurred to him in a dream he experienced during adolescence. In his dream he was riding on a sledge.  As the sledge accelerated faster and faster it approached the speed of light and the stars began to distort. They changed their pattern and colours, dazzling him with the beauty and power of their transformation.  He said that in many ways his entire scientific career was an extended meditation on that dream.

The meaning Einstein extracted from his dream has helped shape the quality of our life today. But Einstein is not alone in having meaningful dreams. Each dream you have enshrines some facet of yourself or life. But if you fail to ‘meditate’ upon its truth, the creative impulse of your dream-genius may be lost. See – Techniques for Exploring your Dreams

True, some dreams hardly need much thought to be understood.  Mary, who suffered a chronic vaginal yeast infection following the use of antibiotics, had been advised to try folic acid (one of the B vitamins). As the prescribed medical treatment had not helped she followed the advice.  After a few days she experienced unusual cramping and dreamt she was in her kitchen wondering what to do with bowls and bowls of acid. A raggedy kitten came to her and she fed it brown bread with yeast and strawberries.  The kitten gobbled it up.

She looked to her dreams

She habitually looked to her dreams for helpful information and considered the bowls as referring to the folic acid.  Because the kitten (her pussy) looked a bit poorly, she felt it represented her physical health.  So she stopped taking the folic acid and added yeast tablets and more vitamin C (the strawberries) to her diet.  The cramps disappeared and within a few days the infection was on its way out too.

In most cases, however, our dreams are more obscure.  We might unwrap them from their enigma if we ignore the symbols for a while and consider what feelings are experienced.  Neal, for instance, was in his early forties and worked as a builder/decorator, a job he disliked.  His real love was writing, but he had never made enough money from this to support himself and family, and felt depressed as he saw his fifties approaching. He was- considering moving to where he might find less demanding work, and dreamt he was in a bicycle rally.  Each participant started from their home.  In the dream Neal lived near the bottom of a huge hill.  It took him till midday to cycle to the top.  Then the way was flat, and he realised he would cover much more ground in the afternoon and evening.

Stripping away the symbols, the first feeling is of a long uphill struggle.  This was exactly how Neal felt about his life.  It had been a long struggle, and even though he hadn’t given up, he didn’t feel he was getting anywhere.  The second half of the dream felt satisfying though, and this led Neal to see the dream as saying the first half of his life – the morning – had been an up hill struggle, but he would cover a lot more ground in the ‘afternoon’.  He gave up his plans to move, and within three months was offered work with a newspaper.

The Theme Is …

When the connections between the feelings experienced or suggested in the dream, and our everyday life are found, it can help understand the dream further if we consider its theme, or setting.  Neal’s cycle rally, for example, has the theme of trying to get somewhere in relationship with other people.  It is interesting that Neal is not in a race but a rally. This shows he does not feel in competition with the rest of the world.

This technique helps us understand the dream of a woman whose thirteen year old son was sneaking out when he thought his parents were asleep, to meet the girl next door.  “I dreamt my son is assembling a new bike in his bedroom.  His dad is very proud of his workmanship, but I unintentionally carry the handlebars downstairs.  His older brother carries them back though.”

The overall theme is about how the family relates to the younger son’s independent creativity.  The bedroom suggests his private sexuality, and the mother realised she was not helping him guide – the handlebars – his new sexual drive.

These two techniques – finding the underlying feeling, and defining the theme – will help understand most dreams.  We must not forget, however, that some of our dreams express a sense of humour and a love of playing with words.  Dr. Hadfield tells the story of an amorous young woman who had spent all day serving ice cream at a fete.  That night while dreaming, she talked in her sleep, ‘No, I have no more cornets,’ she said, ‘but I can let you have a trombone!’ The in and out movement of the instrument suggests what may have been on her mind.

One woman on holiday dreamt a baby pig in a dress ran to her as she sat at a table.  She recognised it as her pet, and wanted to take it home.  But she realised it would grow into a big fat pig if kept.  Her comment on the dream was that while one can safely be a ‘little piggy’ on holiday, if continued at home it could develop into a big fat problem.

10,000 Dreams Defined

Calvin Hall, who studied the content of. 10,000 dreams, is certain they reveal a truer image of ourselves than we can usually admit consciously. They also show us which habits or attitudes stand in the way of fuller relationships and creativity.  If we give our dreams a small measure of the attention we lavish on television entertainment, undoubtedly our own life would be enriched.  Perhaps, like Einstein, we might also enrich the lives of others from our dreams. See Dream Journal