One of the things we all have in common is that we all dream, some more than others and some speculate that they know what their dreams are trying to tell them.
It makes sense that we’re all very curious about what our dreams mean; the context behind the subterfuge – psychic revelations, subconscious expression, adventurous instinct, and various other “purposes” have been assigned to dreams.
As I’ve stated in a previous, related article, I believe that dreams are a primarily subconscious expression and that less than 5% of our remembered dreams are purely our adventurous instinct going for a run.
The problem comes in with understanding what they mean, what are these images and contextual relevancies trying to tell our conscious minds? What is the difference between a blue bird and a yellow bird eating the same worm?
Many opportunists have written books on speculative theory to try and turn a profit off of people’s very justifiable intrigue in this topic, but I am here to warn you all to be very careful of dream analysis.
Sometimes, the purpose of our dreams seems perpetually obvious. For instance, a recent nightmare I faced was in a specific setting, my work, with a specific emotion, fear. The fear was manifested in the form of a fear of the dark, where light switches no longer worked and enhanced by the responsibility faced with being alone.
As a grown man these fears are not viable, so my dream-state justified it by “casting” me as a young girl in this dream. The primary endeavor and basis behind my actions were trying to get help from someone whom I knew was in the shop, but I could not be heard no matter how loud I screamed.
It seems obvious that this dream means that I am desperately trying to show those who work for me how much I do for them and for the company in which I am employed and that none of them can see what I deal with, and, therefore, can’t (or won’t) assist me with it.
However, subjectively, I may have come to this conclusion upon reflection of the circumstances because it is what my conscious mind wanted me to believe the dream meant – and that, friends, is where the complication lies: my conscious mind perceives the relevance as perpetually obvious, but what did I miss?
If my dream were regarding a significantly more life-changing event that I am trying to find the appropriate course of action to deal with, and I misread it and acted accordingly, I could severely hurt myself or people around me (not physically, obviously).
I had mentioned the opportunists who have attempted to capitalize on humanity’s intrigue in this by writing dream analysis books. I have personally looked through a few of these books, and it seems very concerning how obvious all of the symbols’ purposes seem.
Like my previous example regarding the relevance of color of a specific animal; a red bird means impending doom swooping down in the near future whereas a green bird might signify a lust for adventure; both examples seem plausible at first glance, but, really, I’m just making stuff up. I could sit down and write an entire book, or 7, making up such “facts” just based on what makes sense psychologically.
What needs to be understood is that each one of us has a different relationship with each thing we have interacted with. Some of us might see the color red as that of hatred and anger whereas others may perceive it as lively and healthy. The same holds true to objects, ages, and settings. Where one person may love the Yellowstone national park, others may fear the overdue volcano beneath it.
A large part of what needs to be considered in dream analysis is WHO YOU ARE.
The third most important thing to pay attention to is what stands out. The second most important thing to look at is what is going on in your life at the time of the dream. The most important thing to keep in mind, though, is to NOT act on your analysis, whether it was provided by a professional or not.
A single missed detail could be highly significant and change the entire purpose behind what your subconscious was trying to tell you; the professional you have analyzing your dream doesn’t know your past and wasn’t there to see the context of the imagery which is being analyzed. If you are analyzing your dream, it’s almost a guarantee that your untrained conscious mind will look for what it wants to see.
In summary – yes, I believe our dreams are our subconscious mind showing us truths in reality which we may be overlooking or have missed altogether, but, one should not consciously act on their perception of what these dreams mean.
The same holds very true for energy and chakra analysis.
So what would be the solution? How shall one interpret or read dreams?
Good question, Sandra, unfortunately I haven’t figured that one out. In the closing paragraph I mentioned a few things that should be looked out for. My personal opinion is that accurate dream analysis is beyond our comprehension as far as we understand the reality of our world. If you need a dream analyzed, seek a professional and strongly avoid analyzing it yourself – make sure to give a LOT of thought before basing actions on the provided analysis – and lots of good luck to you 🙂 .