Dreams-The Secret Language of Sleep

The definition of a dream 

Dreams are emotional expressions of our inner most selves. Formerly thought of as visions. Dreams incorporate all the senses and reflect on our lives, helping us to understand and solve problems or just pass comment from the subconscious.

Description of the two basic types of dreams.

The two basic types of dreams are literal and symbolic. Literal dreams incorporate logically scenes and solutions. Because we are taught to think clearly and logically from childhood, many of our dreams reflect this tendency. The literal dreams should be taken at face value, as there is little symbolism or creativity involved. These literal dreams may recall past events, probable events or even future events. Reliving the past can be a valuable tool for acceptance or getting another chance to assess a situation.

Symbolic dreams reflect our inner world of intuition and creativity; an expression of feelings and emotion. They can be expressions of frustrations or bad experiences, but can also be matters of intuition, inspirations or messages of the Divine. The symbolism of these dreams often reflects the symbolism used in the everyday world.

How psychological dreams help

Psychological dreams act as a means to expose inner personal problems. Personal problems can be shown safely by this means, without these problems being exposed or judged by others. Ones private thoughts, feelings, failures, fears, loves and hopes can all be illustrated in the psychological dream for a person to review and clarify the problems at hand.

The roles of shape and colors in dreams

Shape and colors act as signs or symbols in dreams, being an elementary part of our lives, these also play a distinct role in our dreams. When colored shapes appear in a dream they usually symbolize matters relating to health. Every symptom, fear or pain in our lives can be translated into the imagery of shape and color. Shapes and colors can also indicate principles, energies and moods. The symbolism of color plays a large part in our lives, such as “seeing red”, “green with envy”, etc., these are also reflected and played upon in our dreams.

Explain dream telepathy

Dreams can act as channels for the communication between two people, person and spirit or another higher source. The thoughts transferred during the telepathic dreams may be meaningful as in normal conversation or less discernible. Being as we connect to the collective unconscious when dreaming, we can easily pick up thoughts of others as well as dreams of others. The dream environment can be viewed as a link to the collective unconscious.

Can you explain the phrase incubation of a dream?

In the past, people prayed for assistance while dreaming, this is the original form of dream incubation. The definition of dream incubation is any request for help and healing from dreams. The universal archetypes are the usual candidates for help during dreaming, these are gods, goddesses of old, angels and God’s messengers in whatever form that the person believes. In essence the dreamer is asking the dreaming mind to help. This mind is in connection with the collective unconscious and thus God and godlike messengers.

Who should interpret dreams?

Dreams work wholly for the individual dreamer. Dreams are messages to ourselves by ourselves, so it stands to reason that the dreamer is the best one to interpret the dreams.

The dreamer is the person who has the memories, experiences and associations that the dreaming mind draws upon to create the dream. The circumstances within which the dreamer exists also play an important role in the dreamer, and who better to know the circumstances than the dreamer himself.

How symbols are used by the dreaming mind

Symbols used by the dreaming mind represent principles and ideas, and they always stand for something more than their face value. The symbols usually refer to metaphors and phrases from the dreamer’s outer worldly environment. Some examples include “fiery temper”, “a lion’s share”, a key stands to unlock, a policeman stands for authority or law and order, etc.

The meaning of houses or buildings in a dream

The house is symbolically the mansion of the soul of the dreamer, usually representing the dreamer himself. The house is the physical body of the dreamer and the occupant is the dreamer’s soul. The higher in the house, the attic, the dream involves intuition, intellectual matters, high hopes and ideals. The basement holds the dark recesses of the person or the unconscious. The condition of the house reveals physical and mental states of the dreamer. The house contains doors of opportunity, some locked and needing a key. Stairs may be difficult to climb, but worth the effort. Fires in hearth may need enthusiasm to keep burning. Windows represent the eyes of the soul and he looks out on the dreamer’s world as he sees it. The state of the outside, what happens outside and who is there gives the dreamer an indication of his world and his view of it. Symbolically the dealings and people outside the house can represent characteristics and aspects of the dreamer. The outside of the house represents the dreamer’s appearance as well as the personality the dreamer displays to the world.

What do water themes represent in a dream?

Dreams with an underlying theme of water represent states of feelings and emotion. The depths and dangers of the currents symbolize the emotional undercurrents found in ourselves, other people around us and in situations as a whole. The depth, clearness and turbulence of the water reveal complications of our problems. A theme with complete inundation by water illustrates being completely over-powered by a great wave of emotion or a premonition of a natural disaster of similar proportions. Symbolically water can also represent energy or even spiritual rejuvenation. It can have a calming effect or even produce turbulence in the dreamer upon awaking. Water can have countless images, many of which have personal associations for the dreamer only. Overall dreams of water bring to light our emotions, emotional problems, and emotional undercurrents.

What do birth and death themes represent in a dream?

Often the dream of a birth means a death and the dream of a death is of a birth. These dreams are often telepathic impressions from those about to be born and those about to depart, so that the dreamer may be prepared for the event. Some dreams of babies symbolize the personal potential of the dreamer, telling the dreamer that he has all that is needed within himself to reach a lifelong ambition.

The dream of a death may also be a prophetic dream in which a death is actually viewed, but acts as a warning of the impending dome. The circumstances usually can not be avoided, despite the dream giving details of the event. The dream acts as a means to prepare the dreamer for the shock. Usually the dreams about death are symbolic and not prophetic. Symbolically death can stand for the death of love between the dreamer and the person, the facing of a crisis in the victim’s life, the end of a phase of one life as in the end of the old self and birth of a new self. Dreams of death by those dying often bring comfort, peace and reassurance by bringing them closer to the other side (the source of our existence that we touch on every time we sleep and dream).

Additional credit goes to Kamille Smith of the Mystical Dragonfly.