Category Archives: Dream Interpretation

Dream Interpretation, Meditations, Song of The Awakened Heart

How to Cure Nightmares

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Okay here we are.

What my theory was:  When we have nightmarish experiences, what is actually happening is, our own power, our greatest power, our greatest untapped potential is actually seeking to be integrated with us.

And so, my good friend here and I, she entertained my theory by allowing me to walk her through an experience of accepting the nightmarish experience by allowing it to transform her and integrate with her – and that certainly happened – as an experience of greater power, better sense of being able to breathe, a sense of integration.

Was there any other way of explaining how the shift felt or how it feels now?

Peaceful and strong in my body, in my backbone, which also translates to my lungs and heart.

So the actual imagery that was used in this scenario, was taking the opportunity to work with something she volunteered to me after we passed a rattlesnake on our path.  What she volunteered was that she often has a fear that when she comes into or out of her home, that a snake would – or might – wrap itself around her leg.

So I invited her to – as we were walking – to be still for a moment and close her eyes.   I created a space for her that I was on the other side of that door, and here comes the snake wrapping around her leg and just allow it to happen:  whether the snake wanted to wrap and hold her leg down, or whether the snake wanted to wrap and bite, injecting something into her, or whether the snake wanted to climb her leg – to just allow it to happen.

The experience happened that, in her dream, her waking dream, that the snake climbed up her leg, then wrapped around the midsection, and then came up right in her eyesight and said:  YESSS  YESSSS YESSSSS.  It was a very encouraging snake.  YESSS YOU CAN.  It was not a political snake, that is a very political slogan these days, but it was very encouraging, an energy of encouragement.

So right away, from the experience of accepting, something that was nightmarish became something that was creative and encouraging – RIGHT OFF THE BAT.

The next step of my theory is that this power that is integrating with us through these nightmarish experiences is actually ourselves, it is our true self. And our True Self is divine, so I’d even go as far to say that this nightmarish element, characterized also by the great beast in scripture, called Behemoth (Job 40:15-24), the great beast, the devouring beast, whatever the nightmare is, whatever it is that is we run away from in the experience of nightmares, is actually God. It is actually our true self and the power of our true self seeking to integrate into our identities and into our bodies.

The next step on this person’s exercise, once the snake’s words were complete “YESSS YOU CAN,” I invited the energy of Caroline’s true self, to reunite with her body. First it was felt in the chest, giving greater power to breathe and finally, it rested in its true home which is the spine.

The power of the spine: there is no greater power in our body than in our spine. This is the place of the tree of life. This is the place that is connected to all of the cosmos. The light that is in our spine and in our crown is the same light that is in the sun, and the same light that is in the throne of true beingness.

The spine is the tree of life, and its power is infinite.  Its power is the power of God, and the vibrations that emanate down the crown and through the spine are the voice of God.  Every word that proceedeth from the mouth of the Father proceedeth in the crown, to the neck and throughout the body as the tree of life.

Now one might say, “Wouldn’t we allowing some foreign substance into our body by integrating with nightmarish symbols?  Are we letting unclean spirits into our body?”  The answer is NO.

There is no need to fear such a thing, because the things that we experience as nightmares, the things that we fear are actually within us.  The often-quoted quote of Marianne Williamson in “Return to Love” makes an excellent point: we don’t fear how weak and small we are, we fear how great we are.  The things we experience in the dream state, the things we experience within ourselves are actually elements of our own consciousness.

If we have rebelled against ourselves, if we have rebelled against God, that power seeks to reclaim us, to reclaim our identity as God.

When I invited Caroline into this experience, I specifically invited the snake to reunite and to speak this little girl, the little girl, the child, “Do you have anything else to say to this little girl?”

This energy that is seeking to reunite with us is our greatest self, it is our highest self, it is God.  We are God!   When we are rebelling against God, the greatness that lies within seeks to reclaim us, to be integrated in full wholeness, spiritual wholeness.

That reintegration process feels fearful to someone who is accustomed to rebelling against God.  It feels fearful, and yet, by the graces of divine law, our consciousness can make a story about it – to give it a face and an image.  In this case it was a snake.

Everybody’s nightmares are different, everybody’s power takes on different symbols, and yet – in almost every case – we reject it.  We run away!  But we can’t!!

Everybody has had a dream that they are running from something that they cannot get away from.  Why?  BECAUSE IT IS YOU!  That which you are, you can only escape to a certain degree.  But you will never get completely away from it!

We are so accustomed to rebelling against the presence of God within.

So this wonderful woman and I stand together, in a place of wholeness, a place of integration, in a place of reclaiming our power in our spines, in our chest, IN OUR VOICE.

We are able to awaken the untapped potential!!!  Stop resisting it!!  You are the snake trying to come into your own body!  You are the power trying to enter into your own life!!  Stop fighting it!!

When that power is fully integrated, the ability to spontaneously express enlightenment and wisdom, the ability to fully be present for the people in your world, the ability to truly own who you are,  all becomes possible, at that exact moment when you stop fighting it!

Take it into your body, hear what it has to say, and feel its power.

Carolyn:  I think also that part wants to express, and it can only express through you!

Ah, such profound truth.

That powerful part of us has a message for the world, and it can only express that message through you.

Dream Interpretation

Dream Interpretation

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The following are my opinion based on thirty years of active dreaming:

1. Dreams are best interpreted by the dreamer. To me, dreams are a message or code from the soul or superconscious mind to the conscious awareness of ego or self operating in relationship to a perceived world. The symbols and storyline are chosen by the superconscious precisely based on what will trigger the semi-conscious emotions, memories, issues, beliefs, m.o., etc according to the soul’s intentions. Thus the symbols are meant to “filter” through your mind and give you the intended message. Therefore, even when you study someone else’s dream and give advise keep in mind that the symbols and storyline are interacting with your own “filters.”

Dr. Jeremy Taylor has an amazing approach to dreamwork that expands greatly on this theme: Projective Dreamwork. In essence, it is hearing every dream “as though it were my dream.” What a powerful way to help another and own one’s projections in the process.

2. Since they originate from the superconscious or the soul, dreams are always true or meaningful. This means that no matter how a dream is interpreted, there are endless and multi-faceted “layers” of truth embedded in them. The deeper the reflection or conscious process upon a dream the more powerful the impact it can have on our lives. Dreams can be continued or resolved in a waking state no matter whether one is physiologically awake or not.

3. Dreams are candid or most valuable for a certain period of time after it is received. The higher or more spiritual the dream the longer it will be valid to assisting you in your life. The higher the spiritual quality of your dream, the more impossible it is to forget throughout your life. I find that the most valuable application period for most dreams expire at around sundown the following day. So if you write in your dream journal first thing in the morning, then you have about 12 hours to apply the lesson of the dream to your life. Of course, the dream itself is still valuable as a story or ideas for paintings, music, poetry etc. and the lesson is still valuable as a future reference. But the dream you have in the morning is directly linked to your immediate future in an extremely mysterious and powerful way. Dreams are the voice of creation operating in your life, laying a bridge across the sky before you one stone at a time.

Dream Interpretation

Dream Interpretation Part II

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In the first part of this discussion I mainly focused on the purpose of dreams, the importance of dreamer as interpreter, and the most valuable time to apply the wisdom of a dream based my experiences.

Now I’d like to offer my method of dream interpretation, which is a simple four-step process. You can even fold a sheet of paper into four columns for each of the four steps.

Aristotle said ‘A dream that is not interpreted is like a letter that is not opened.’ This shows us that dream recall is only the first step. After recording the text or ‘plot’ of the dream, getting to the deeper meaning requires 3 more steps: Extracting from the text elements or symbols, excersizing a free association of emotions or thoughts for each symbol, the subsitituting the meanings of the symbols back into the text of the story line.

The last step is the most important as it brings together and makes all your work meaningful.

I’ll give some examples.

Example 1:

A friend of mine dreamt that his cat, Fluffy, was hiding in the closet. As he wondered why, he saw a snake curled up in the corner of his room.

Symbols:
The symbols are the characters and their actions. These symbols are little packages of tremendous information cloaked in decorative gift wrapping.

We must unwrap our symbols by using free association.

Fluffy the cat= represented to him companionship and friendship;
The cat is hiding = repression or suppression.
The snake–represented to him fear

Substituting the meanings into the text:
My friend dreamt he saw a friendship and companionship suppressed or repressed due to fear.

In discussing this dream he realized it applied to a situation he was having with a potential romantic partner, a friend he was avoiding because he was afraid of the feelings he had for her. Thus, it seemed thru this dream his soul was telling him not to sacrifice his friendship but rather face his fear of rejection etc.

Example 2:

This experience is a good example of what I mean by point3 in my dream interpretation model.  Every dream is valuable for what is termed pre-cognitive or pre-sentiment work.  In general, there is a 12 hour window to apply the lesson of your morning dream upon waking, but some dreams last weeks, months or even years in the power of spiritual maps that they present symbolically.

Here is a basic one-

I once dreamt that I was driving a VW bus into a parking lot. Everything seemed fine until I applied the brakes which didn’t slow down the van, which bounced over the parking block and into the hibiscus hedges, feeling foolish.

Symbols:

VW Bus + Parking– traveling or working, parking= a normal daily routine.
Applying Brakes w/o stopping– brakes= self-control, not stopping= not working, malfunction.
Running into hibiscus + feeling foolish– hibiscus= other people’s property, beauty; running into= personal liability, responsibility.

Substitution of symbols back into dream text:

I dreamt that, in the course of my daily routine of working or traveling everything seemed fine until I presented with a situation which required self-control. A lack of self-control will make me foolishly liable for damaging other people’s property or beauty.

Application of the lesson in my day:

In the course of that day after waking up with that dream, someone said something to me that unexpectedly provoked a sharp reaction inside of me. I almost replied emotionally charged… but then I remembered my lesson for the day and simply held my tongue.

The brakes were applied when needed, and an important relationship in my life preserved mostly because I saw the situation coming before it happened.  This is the kind of wisdom that is natural to human consciousness when we are able to pay attention on subtle levels.