The Art of Dream Interpretation
involves three steps:
Step one: Pay attention.
Listen, remember and record your dreams. Some people say, “I don’t dream.” Some have dreams, but say “I don’t want to remember them.” And some say, “I know I dream, but I can never remember my dreams.” Just remembering is important, even if you don’t do anything else. Remembering is a big step because, simply by remembering, you are bringing your night world into the light of day. You have made a connection between your hidden desires and the reality of your daily life.
Step two: Engage
with your dream material. Ask yourself a question: “I wonder why I was flying on a magic carpet? I wonder why my old friend Joe (who I haven’t thought about in years) was serving me dinner?” Tell your dream to a friend. Draw a picture. The dress you were wearing was amazing: draw it. Sometimes I draw the layout of the dream: the river was over there; I was standing here. You can also draw the perspective from which you saw the dream: were you above the action? In the middle of it? Or far away? And the feeling is also important. Was it ominous? Was the light dull or bright? Were you terrified? Excited? Blissful? Confused and hesitant? Feeling lost? Or like “the King of the Realm”? Engage by writing (journal reflection, a poem or fairytale, etc.), drawing or sculpture, through movement, sharing your dream with a friend or analyst, or participating in a Dream Interpretation Workshop.
Step three: Answer the Call.
If you listen closely and engage, after a while you will find that you are being asked to make some kind of response. Perhaps a change in your living patterns. You are doing something that is destructive to yourself, that closes doors and cuts off opportunities. Perhaps you are afraid of moving forward in some way, or having trouble letting go. Maybe it is time for you to leave your parents’ home and take full responsibility for your own life. Maybe you need to retire from your career and put aside the important role you have been fulfilling in society. Perhaps you are ignoring your own approaching death and your dreams are saying that time is running out and there are things that still need to be done. The essence of life is change. To form a partnership with your own dreams is to broaden and deepen your own perspective. You become a bigger person, welcoming your own deepest wisdom which is always calling you to the unfinished tasks of life, urging you to reach your own greatest potential.