What is dream interpretation? Dream interpretation is the art of analyzing dream images for symbols and applying the significance of those symbols to one's everyday life. Interpreting one's dreams provides guidance on how to live, how to face one's fears and how to eliminate stress or blockages in one's life. The idea behind dream interpretation is that people express only a portion of the emotions they feel in life. Dreams allow any repressed feelings (positive and negative) to be expressed in a safe way. To interpret one's dreams, means to look for clues, or symbols, that represent the repressed feelings. In this way, one can become aware of issues and release them during waking life.
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How does dream interpretation work?  Dream interpretation is based on a conversation between the dreamer and the interpreter. The dreamer presents the dream and the interpreter listens and looks for symbols and themes within the dream. There are many ways to interpret the same dream and it is really up to the dreamer to get that "aha" feeling when you read one of the symbolic meanings- it should sort of dawn on you or click when we hit on the right meaning. Dream interpretation usually turns out to be deeper than people expect, but it also is an easy way to deal with those deep issues. To work with them in a dream is an indirect way of approaching the issue. It makes the issue a little less scary and the dreamer a little less defensive; in essence, it takes the edge off of the issue.
What are dreams? No one knows for sure what are dreams are, though there are many theories. Some people believe that dreams are messages from the spirit world; some believe that dreams are random electrical impulses of the brain and one's mind simply interprets them as dreams; while still others believe that dreams are messages from your unsconsious mind that help you process emotions and situations that plague you on an unconscious level. What matters is not what dreams are, by definition, but what you believe about your dreams. The reason we do not know for sure what dreams are, is that they are experienced solely be the dreamer. Until science and technology can figure out a way to see the images in someone's head, we will not be able to know for sure what someone sees in his dream.

Can I interpret my own dreams?  Yes, in fact, dream interpretation requires the participation of the dreamer. Since dreams are created by your mind and sent to you, you are the only one who can know their true interpretation! Others can help you by giving you ideas and suggestions about the symbolic significance of an image in a dream, but you get to decide which suggestion to take. Usually, though it takes some practice and research to find the symbolic significance in a dream and it helps to have an outside perspective. If you choose not to use my interpretation services, then I suggest using the dream dictionary.

Can every dream be interpreted? Yes, every dream can be interpreted. Dreams are symbolic representations of one’s thoughts, emotions, memories, experiences, and much more. However, some dreams carry more emotional significance than others. It is best to begin dream interpretation by choosing only those dreams that feel particularly significant, like a recurring dream or a dream that “sticks with you” for a long time, as these dreams are more clearly remembered upon waking.

What if I can’t remember my dreams? Try these tips to help you remember your dreams: 1) set an intention to dream at night: Simply wanting to remember your dreams can sometimes trigger your conscious mind to hold on to the dream images from the night before. 2) Plan to record your dreams: set a pen and paper beside your bed at night, then when you wake up in the morning, roll over and immediately try to write down everything you remember. 3) As you’re falling asleep, focus your thoughts around a particular issue/concern or worry that you’d like some guidance on. Try not to come up with a solution, just think about the issue and ask that your dreams provide some insight for you. 4) Sleep well: set the mood for dreaming by getting a great night’s sleep (at least 6 hours) which can provide plenty of time for several sleep/dream cycles throughout the night. The more you sleep, the more you dream and the better rested you are, the more likely you are to be able to access dream memories. 5) Wake yourself up during a dream cycle. Dreams most often occur during REM sleep so set an alarm (or get a partner) to wake you up about every 45 minutes or when your eyes are showing REM activity.

*How do our daily activities affect dreaming? I believe that our daily activities create emotional responses which are then partially processed as we dream. A specific example would be traumatic events. People who experience traumatic events often report frequent nightmares relating to the emotions they experienced in the trauma. Each daily experience carries with it a different level of emotional significance to us; therefore, the higher the level of emotional response, the more likely it is it appear to us in a dream. I recently finished the book Dreams and Nightmares:The Origin and Meaning of Dreams  by Ernest Hartman, M.D. In the book, Hartman studies all the scientific research that has been conducted over the years on dreams, including some of his own. His conclusion is that dreams serve the purpose of helping us "normalize" spikes in our emotional responses. So, when something happens that spikes our emotions (something scares us more than normal or something excites us more than normal), our dreams help us connect those incidents with other events in our memory- therefore making them seem more normal and less emotionally significant.

*Do you believe that our dreams are related to predestination? This is a fascinating question. The idea that dreams are related to fate is a very subjective one. It depends entirely on whether you believe in predestination or not. I personally believe that dreams allow us to tap into the wisdom from our unconscious mind. I do believe that there is a higher power, that we have a purpose in our lives, and that the higher power helps to guide us towards achieving that purpose in this lifetime. So, I believe that dreams help us communicate with that higher power (sometimes called our "inner knowing") to give us guidance towards fulfilling our life's purpose.

*Is dreaming our way of experimenting with possibilities/cravings we are not aware of consciously? Sigmund Freud theorized that dreams serve the purpose of realizing our fantasies. The dreams that have been reported for scientific study sometimes show evidence to suggest that dreams are for "wish fulfillment" purposes. But, no one has been able to conclude definitively that this is the purpose dreams serve. It is one theory. Another theory that rests along the same lines says that dreams help us practice reacting to certain scenarios for our survival. For example, when we were still in a predator/prey relationship with our environment (in ancient times), nightmares of being chased or being attacked could serve the purpose of giving us a practice run for real life. They would elevate our heart rate and wake us up with thoughts and images that forced us to consciously consider what we would do if the dream scenario were real. So, we practiced surviving in our dreams.
I believe that dreams are sometimes "wish fulfillment" dreams, though not always. Dreams are complex and layered with meaning. The same way that a novel or movie can be read/viewed several times with new insights (or connections to life) gained each time it is read/viewed; dreams serve many purposes. In my opinion, no one purpose is less important than the other. Dreams connect many memories, experiences, thoughts, fantasies, and emotions together at once. Therefore dreams can serve to fulfill wishes, guide us towards our  predestination AND to help us sort through our daily experiences all at the same time. This is what fascinates me about dreams. Science can't nail it down because it seems to be a melting pot of emotions, thoughts, memories, experiences and more.

*Do dreams serve as a means of ordering our experiences as to their importance in our own personal survival or are dreams just a way of presenting random scenarios to us to gauge our reactions and to order our memories accordingly? Dreams serve as a survival tool. There was a recent study that showed that mice in a maze had both nonREM and REM sleep dreams that indicated they were practicing the maze in their sleep. The study looked at brain images while the animals were awake and asleep, and showed that the same areas of the brain were being used during the actual maze activity and the dream state. I cannot recall the show that I saw that had this example on it; but I'm working on getting it. I'll send it along as soon as I figure out what it was. It was a documentary on dream studies. Anyway, this proves, I believe that dreams help us practice survival.
They also serve the purpose of ordering our experiences as to their importance. Theories exist that suggest that dreams help us weed through the stimuli that we encounter daily into things we need to remember and things we can "let go of". Carl G. Jung has suggested (in his book Man and His Symbols) that a critical question in dream recall and dream interpretation is "why did that image appear in the dream?" We get images from our everyday life popping up into our dreams all the time. People tend to dismiss them by saying for example, "oh, I saw that movie yesterday and that's why the car from the movie came into my dream." But, it's important to consider why that car came into the dream. Why not the car you drove to the movie or why not the cars you saw at the red light or in the parking lot? Why did that particular car appear in your dream? This helps us sort through the important images from our day.

*- Questions submitted by A.Hixon



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