Should You Analyze Your Dreams? If So, What Is the Best Way to Do it?
People often have questions like these in their minds, after waking up from an especially vivid or impactful dream:
1) That was quite a dream! I wonder if I should try to understand what it means?
Answer: All dreams are not created equal! Most are simply subconsciously-stored memories, being brought up and restructured into a dream for your nightly entertainment. However, a few dreams come to us from our superconscious minds and definitely should be considered important for us to understand their meanings. How can we know the difference? Read about this in The Meaning of Dreaming, Chapter Seven, “Ordinary Dreams vs. Superconscious Visions.”
2) Should I look at some sort of an ‘Understanding-Symbols-in-Dreams’ type book or website to help me figure out the meaning of my dream in general or perhaps some of the symbols in the dream?”
Answer: No! It is your dream, unique to you alone; it is no one else’s dream! There is no better person, book, or source of any kind to interpret it than you. The symbols in your dream may mean something entirely different from the same symbols occurring in another person’s dream. The best person to analyze or interpret your dream is YOU!
3) Is there a good ‘dream expert’ person somewhere, with whom I could consult and ask for a correct interpretation of this dream?
Answer: Same answer as #2.
Now, if you still feel that you’ve had an important or superconscious dream—a dream which may have a deep meaning or a prediction that you understand more about, here are a few simple steps to take, in order to analyze the dream successfully for yourself.
The more quickly after you wake up that you describe your dream in writing (or perhaps record it), the better this process will work for you. Dreams sometimes have a way of fading from your memory in a short amount of time. So preserve it somehow—and the sooner the better.
Then take a few minutes to isolate three or four “stand-out” elements from the dream—things which seem to have special importance to the contents of the dream, and jot down a of these things, persons, situations, etc.
When you’ve finished your list, sit down and meditate, keeping what you have written or recorded close at hand.
Pray deeply for help and guidance.
Let go of all questions or concerns about your dream (and everything else too!) and go into your regular mediation practices.
When you come to the end of your mediation, stay inward and quiet. Consult your list and ask yourself this important question. “What part of myself do the things, persons, or situations that I’ve listed as elements of my dream represent?” Once again, pray for help and guidance.
Sit quietly, with your eyes closed, and wait for the answers to come. If this process doesn’t work for you in a few minutes, wait and try it again at your next meditation. But remember that often the answers will come later in the day. They may even unexpectedly, when you are not even thinking about your dream. This is a good sign that they are correct. Don’t over-think it. Relax and trust the process.
Do you have questions about the dream interpretation process as described in this blog or discussed in more detail in The Meaning of Dreaming? Let me know, and I’ll try to help you.
Blessings and joy to you always,
Savitri
Next week’s blog:
What if I don’t dream or remember any of my dreams?
