Someone once said that dreams are just the answers to questions we’ve not yet learned how to ask. This is why I believe that dream interpretation may be one way of identifying our unconscious fears and desires. Each and every night, we have direct free sessions with our very own personal psychotherapist. After all who understands our subconscious mind better than our subconscious mind!

We can interpret the meaning of our dreams to change our core beliefs, relationships, hopes and fears. The more importance we place on our dreams, the more we will remember them and the easier it will be to interpret the meaning of our dreams.

Why are Dreams so Weird?

When you dream, your unconscious mind begins to take over. The unconscious is almost like our inner child. Removing all forms of logic and with an inability to plan ahead it indulges in rather basic feelings and urges.

That’s why dreams are so weird.

Strange connections are spun by our unconscious mind, disregarding all forms of logic nothing within them seems to make any since. But if we can interpret these strange connections we can apply their resulting insights to everyday waking life…

To start dream interpretation you must first look for any dream symbols. Use a dream journal as explained in a previous post.

In your dream journal, underline or highlight anything think you think could be a dream symbol – for example; an elephant wearing a hat or a phone that runs away from you. These are illogical symbols but may carry a much deeper meaning within the unconscious mind.

How to Interpret Dream Symbols

The foundation of good dream interpretation is much like cracking a secrete code. You need to identify important symbols and then translate their true meaning.

Again like code breaking, keep an eye out for recurring symbols. Breaking a promise is a concept. Running away from something is a concept. These ideas and symbols are all based on experiences you have had previously throughout your life and all interactions with the world around you.

Every single life experience you have had has gone on to create a “rule” or “concept” understood by your unconscious mind. You programed everything within your unconscious mind.

Dreams are the perception of the world around you in a conseptual form and renderd by yuour uncouncious mind, its basically showing you how it sees the world around you. From fears to desires, it shows all, the problem however is that it never shows you as you would expect to see them! Let’s look at the common example of flying dreams.

What do Flying Dreams Mean?

Flying dreams usually represent your own personal feeling of power over yourself and/or a situation.

This is how your unconscious takes a concept (power), and shows it to you coded as a dream symbol. If you are soaring up high and are able to look down and enjoying all the scenery that’s below you then it is likely that you are in control of your life.

However, if you are struggling to keep up or are falling then your unconscious is telling you that you lack control or are feeling vulnerable in a situation. Trees, power lines, buildings or gravity are obstacles that are preventing you from flying within the dream. Do you see the concept showing through?

If you have recurring flying dreams like this, try to identify who or what is at the root of your fears. Ask yourself some simple questions; what are you afraid of? What are you struggling to control in life? Is someone or something making you feel vulnerable?

If you answer yes to any of the questions then take charge of the situation! You will soon start to soar high above the trees and other obstacles in your dreams…

Are Dream Dictionaries Worthwhile?

All dream symbols are different for each person, this is because we all see the world around us differently. As we grow up, our unconscious learned about friendship, love, loneliness and betrayal very differently to someone else. It wrote rules about every human emotion and how we should feel about life. These “rules” are what’s reflected in our dreams.

So when it comes to dream dictionaries please don’t rely heavily on them, because there it’s impossible for your mind to conform to the same “dream rules” written by the author.

However, dream dictionaries written by an author from your own country and of a similar age can provide some value. This is based on the fact that you may have grown up in the same culture, the same era, and after all we are all human. So it wouldn’t be a coincidence if we can make similar unconscious conclusions about life. A dream dictionary makes a good starting point for the translation.

Dream interpretation is not an essential lucid dreaming tool but the two concepts do tend to go hand-in-hand. Getting to know your own unconscious mind better is also a key element of lucid dreaming. By doing so it will help you master trickier aspects of dream control in the sometimes bizarre universe of your mind.