Dream Interpretation

"Just because we haven't been taught to emphasize dreams as a genuine field for exploration does not mean that they are not one. Dreams are analyzed for their meaning or are taken as portents, but never are they taken as real events" (don Juan Matus). People spend almost half of their lives sleeping, dreams matter! REM sleep (where dreaming occurs) is essential. Everyone dreams, but not everyone remembers their dreams when they wake up. "This barrier (forgetting dreams) is a psychological one created by our socialization, which puts a premium on disregarding dreams" (don Juan Matus).

There are a many theories about dream interpretation, but I have my own, as follows: Let's say you dream about a pancake. So you get a book on dream interpretation, and you look up pancake. Guess what? The author of that book does not know you, and therefore does not know what a pancake means TO YOU. The interpretations in books, while helpful, are just general ideas. For example, a person on the Atkin's diet (which I am totally against, by the way, but I digress) is going to think about pancakes differently then a person who works at a diner and serves pancakes to people all day long. For the Atkin's person, a pancake might represent forbidden desire, while the diner waitress might see a pancake as a symbol of subserviance.

To make sure that dream interpretations are personal and apply to you, you can do them yourself. First you need to record your dreams (either written or typed) as soon as you wake up. The more you record, the more you will remember as time goes on. Sometimes when I wake up all foggy, I forget what I dreamt, but only temporarily. I go about my day, and then I 'll see some random object, such as an old bicycle or a stuffed animal, and it will trigger a flood of memories of what I dreamt.

For instance, the other night I dreamt my parents got a pool to keep tigers away from our house (it was my mom's idea)...and the next day when I woke up, I was driving (in real life) and there was a tiger stuffed animal on the dashboard in the car beside me. That's called Synchronicity, according to Jung.

Once you have a written record of your dreams (do this for about a month), go back and read it. Look and all your dreams. There may be some things in there that you remember. As you get used to writing down your dreams, you will be able to remember more.

Now for the analyses: write a list of recurring objects, ideas, people...if things are recurring, your subconcious is trying to tell you something.