The importance of dream meanings
I never remembered my dreams
I used to be one of those people who never remembered my dreams. Very, very occasionally I would wake up in the middle of a dream, usually because of an alarm clock or some other external event, and only then would I remember the dream. They never made any sense though. They were just a confusing jumble of images with a strange story line. I just figured my brain was trying to make sense of my everyday problems and left it at that.
Now, though, things are different. I regularly have very clear dreams, often just before I wake up. Although they appear confusing at first, I’m getting better and better at learning my own dream language and understanding what my dreams are trying to say.
Why is it important to take note of your dreams?
We all know that dreams are our way of working things out, of problem solving or working things through from our subconscious that have not come into our consciousness yet. So why can’t we just leave it at that? Well, we could - and most of us do. But we are missing out on important messages that are trying to get through to our consciousness. We are missing the point of dreaming.
Dreaming is a way to become aware of blockages in our system, beliefs that are holding us back, situations we want to encounter or want to avoid, and a myriad of other scenarios. By taking note, we can begin to understand what our subconscious is trying to tell us, what it’s trying to bring to our attention.
The secret language of dreams
There are countless books and websites that detangle dream meanings, and they are a great place to start. If you are struggling to identify what various symbols mean in your dreams, these books and sites will give you several different meanings. And therein lies some of the problem. There are so many meanings it can be quite confusing. One site is telling you the polar bear you saw in your dream was positive, and another tells you it’s not good at all. Which one do you believe?
Where do you start?
The best way, I’ve found, is to record your dreams and start paying attention to the feelings in the dream. This is a great place to start. If you are feeling anxious or powerless, it will raise a torch to the fact that there may be areas in your life where you feel like you don’t have control which is making you anxious. Once you know this, you can look for those areas and see what changes you can make to take back control and feel empowered.
You can then start to look at other symbols in your dreams. What elements were in the dream? If you are in or on water, this can relate to your emotions. Fire might relate to passion. Wind can suggest change to a greater or lesser degree. Earth can suggest being grounded, safety, security and prosperity.
Look at the colours. Yellow often suggests happiness, joy and positivity. Blue is traditionally a calming colour so maybe this is how it feels in your dream. Pink can suggest love or intimacy. Green might be lushness, growth or jealousy. Violet may indicate more spiritual connections or meanings. Again, consider how you were feeling in the dream and how the symbols build into that.
Other symbols can include locations and animals. Animals in particular have a great deal of meaning and it’s always worth looking this up as you interpret your dream.
The most important part in all of this is what the symbol means to you. A dog might mean companionship and love to one person, whereas to another it could mean aggression and fear. So dream meaning sites and books are important to a certain extent, but it’s really what the imagery means to you that is so important. And that’s why understanding your own dream language is the best way to go.
Recording your dreams
You can do this in any style you like. Some people like to quickly record the dream into the voice app on their phone, as soon as they’ve woken up. This is great if you wake at 3.00 am and want to record your dream without turning on the light, but it’s not so great for you partner! It does allow you to revisit the dream at a more reasonable hour and reminds you what took place in the dream, as we all know we quickly forget lots of details once we wake.
The most common form of recording your dreams is to keep a dream diary. This is the method I use. I have a book by my bed that is dedicated to recording my dreams and if I wake from a dream, I pretty much write it down as soon as possible. I find this is a great way of beginning to understand the meaning. As I’m writing it down I’m remembering the feeling, the symbols, the action etc and I’m starting to figure what the dream was trying to tell me. It also gives me the chance to write down what I think the meaning is and any elements of special note.
Record the date and moon cycle
I’ve always recorded the date, but I’ve recently started added the moon cycle in as well, and it’s very interesting to note that I tend to dream more around the full moon. If there’s something significant occurring in your life at the time of the dream, recording the date and the event (e.g. a wedding) can help you understand the meaning of the dream, particularly at a later date when the event has been and gone.
Review your dreams
Over time, you can go back and review your dreams to see what patterns are emerging. I find it best to name your dream - nothing major, just something like “Roller coaster house” to remind you of what the dream was about. When I go to review the dream, I often find the title triggers the memory of the dream. Re-reading the dream often provides new insight, particularly following more recent dreams.
Recurring dreams
I used to get these as a child, usually a lion chasing me up the garden path and not being able to scream, but many people have these regularly. Identifying the meaning of the dream may well, but not always, mean the dream no longer needs to act as a messenger for your subconscious. Once you have the meaning, it’s more likely that you’ll be able to move on because the message has been brought to your consciousness and you’ll be able to take action.
Dreams as answers to your questions
If there is something you really want an answer to, it is possible to ask the question before you go to sleep and it may well be answered in your dreams. The best idea is to keep the question in your mind throughout the day, then ask the question just before you go to sleep. Keep your dream diary by your bed and note down any dreams that you remember the next morning. As you build up your dream language, you’ll be able to interpret what the answer was to your question.
If you are really stuck, and can’t figure out what your dream’s mean, I recently found out there is such a thing as a dream oracle. This is a person who will interpret your dreams for you or, better yet, ask a question for you and receive dreams on your behalf. If you are curious about this, I’d suggest you visit https://hollyemmerson.com/ to find out more about what a dream oracle does and how it might work for you.
Understanding comes with time
Like any new language, learning to understand your dreams will take a bit of time. You’ll probably start off very unclear but will quickly build up some key meanings and themes that will help you understand what your subconscious is trying to tell you. Keep taking notes, keep reviewing previous dreams and slowly but surely things will start to fall in to place. This is such an untapped resource for us, but if we can just get our heads around it, it’s also one that can be so incredibly helpful. Let me know how you go.
Happy dreaming!
Karen
