Methodology of Analyzing and Transforming the Dreams

The methodology that I use to interpret and transform dreams comes from having a spiritual philosophy of life.   This means that human beings are primarily spiritual in nature and that dreams arise out of non-material (spiritual) reality.   Since humans are also material beings in that they have a physical body through which they pass this life, dreams are both representations of physical realities and spiritual realities.  

The physical reality is locked in time and space, which means that even though we are mainly spiritual, we live in the reality in time and in space.   The dream world does not abide by the same rules of time and space because it exists outside of the physical world.   This makes it possible for time and space to have different realities.  For instance, the end can be in the beginning, the end and the beginning can be the same, or you can have neither beginning nor end.   It also can mean that here is there, or here and there are the same, or that there is neither here nor there.   

In a typically negative dream, time is often the reverse of what the reality of physical world is.   The end (the purpose of the dream) comes at the beginning of the dream and the beginning  (beginning of emotional and spiritual work) starts at the end.   However a very positive dream has neither beginning nor end because it represents a spiritual energy that can be applied anywhere in one’s life and produce excellent results. 

Non-material (spiritual) positive reality has the power to automatically integrate with every other non-material positive energy.  For instance, the energy of generosity automatically integrates with the energy of courage even though in their physical appearance they may seem very different and with unique objectives.   The reason they are integrated is because all spiritual reality is one, that is, it is all connected and comes from the same source.  It is only when it goes through the prism of human understanding that it takes on its differentiated reality.   In other words the spiritual world is characterized by one unified force with infinite potentialities.  When it appears in material form, it is in a differentiated form.  We see, for instance, that a lion has the quality of courage and a tree the quality of uprightness.   This differentiation in the material form allows us to have differentiated spiritual understanding so that we can use the information and the experiences we have for our own transformation.  

Negative reality is, by nature, non-integrative.  When you feel a negative emotion inside yourself, it means that you are not whole, not fully unified with yourself. When you feel a negative feeling such as fear or anxiety, recognize its origin, glean its understanding, and then transform it to its positive opposite, you become more unified with yourself.   But just when you feel that the world is totally unified and you are at one with things, along comes another negative emotion to remind you that growth is endless and your journey has no end except higher and higher realizations of spiritual potentialities.  Only the divine is perfect and wholly unified and we are subject to continual process of moving closer but never totally being unified.  

When you understand that dreams are communication attempting to move you to higher levels of unity with your true self, you can free yourself from thinking negative dreams are bad and to be avoided or that it means that your are not a person full of positive energy.   All dreams are just communication and when you understand them, they will help you grow and transform, become happier, more fulfilled, and accomplish your goals.  

 

Why dreams are metaphorical?

The way we grow as human beings in the physical world has a lot to do with how we understand things.  We become conscious that we do not have a certain ability, or are lacking an understanding in some area, by feeling incompetent or negative when we are facing certain challenges of life.   Our minds and bodies tell us that something is not right and needs to develop.    The thing we need to develop can appear as a positive image, but it is also stimulated in negative reality.   Dreams are a way of telling us what is wrong or where we are going.  The communication appears in metaphorical language so that we can understand the structure of the non-material reality we are facing and then change it.  Since the spiritual world is infinite and unified, the dreams appear like a light going through a prism.   When the spiritual world, which is unified, attempts to communicate with the human world, it sends the message through the prism of the mind in metaphorical language and when this language is understood, it can be transformed. 

 

Structural Approach

When you are trying to understand a dream, it is very helpful to not let your everyday understanding of sequence and structure of the material reality interfere with what the dream is attempting to communicate.   In the material world sequence follows the rules of the clock, meaning time goes in a forward direction from beginning to middle to end.   You wake up, you take a shower, you eat your breakfast, and then you go to work.  In the dream world you could go to work and then wake up or you could eat your breakfast and then wake up or you could go to work and then take a shower.  It all depends what the dream is trying to say.   Waking up in a dream usually means moving from unconsciousness to consciousness.   So often you hear a person say something like, “I had this terrible nightmare where a thief was chasing me trying to get my purse, and just when he was about to grab it, I woke up.”  This means that in your life you were asleep and you only woke up when the thief was about to grab you.   We call this a wake-up call, but it shows how in the dream world the waking up in one’s life often comes after a really negative experience and the dream is a reflection of how this has happened and reflects the idea that dreams are telling you about internal reality in a perfect structure. 

I often tell people that when I hear a dream, that I like to sit with it for a while as if it is right next to me speaking to me.   Then I do basically two things.  Look at the metaphors and analyze the way the dream is presented.  Both factors are critical.  The metaphors are great, but they are not the end of the process.   Where the metaphor is in the dream can be just as important as the metaphor itself. 

Consider this example.   “A huge bear was running after me and the faster I tried to go the slower I ran.”   It is easy enough to recognize that in the dream that a bear is a big strong negative energy coming after the person.  But if you just understand the metaphors, you will still be fearful only you will also know what you are fearful of. When you understand the structure, you can transform it.    The structure is that bear comes after me and then the faster I try to get away the worse it gets.   The key words are after and faster.   This means that to solve the dream, the slower you go beforehand, the more you will have the positive opposite of the bear, inner strength.   Inner strength is gained by going inside and slowing way down so that you can take on the qualities of the bear.   If you run away, things only get worse.

Here is another example.   “I dreamt that I was walking down a dark alley and then a man started chasing me.”    In this dream the dreamer starts slow, but then gets faster.    If you go slowly in dark narrow places in your life, places where there is no choice, something negative will happen.  This is the structure.  This means that positives happen when you give yourself lots of choice and then your life lights up and you can run quickly.  

Here is a positive dream sentence.   “Walking through a dense forest.”   This could be a positive feeling for one person and a negative for another.    The keys to the structure are walking through and density.    Density means close together and walking means going slowly.  So when she is slowed down with a lot of friends (close together) she is really positive.     If you want this dreamer to be happy with you, take a slow walk in the forest with her or just slow way down and be with her.  The key is getting close by slowing. 

           

The structure is extremely important.     

How to Interpret a Symbol

Example:  A Shark

1.   Ask yourself what a shark is and what are some of its characteristics.
A shark is an animal that lives in the sea, has huge teeth, rips its prey by biting strongly into them, and has to have other smaller fish around to prey on. 

2.  Take one of the characteristics and ask yourself what that characteristic does. Teeth and jaw of a shark allow the shark to rip into the other. 

3.  Ask yourself what is the equivalent of a shark in the human non-material world. A shark is someone, positive or negative, who goes after something by attacking it with a huge grip and then ripping into it.  Positive could be a way to go for new projects.  Negative is a way to bring others down.  

4.  Ask yourself who the shark is in the dream. 
Is it your boss, your spouse, business associate, coach, your own self? 

5.  Keep asking more questions about the shark and the context of the dream.  What is the sea?   The sea is the environment in which a shark lives.  It is fluid, which means that it has give and take like what is necessary in relationships, and it is huge which means it can have to do with the relationships with larger realities such as the divine.  

6.  Ask yourself how you need to be more like a shark in a positive way. 
Being like a shark would allow me to get a grip on my life, to rip through the negativity of myself and others, to attack the things that have always hampered me. 

7.   Imagine yourself as a positive shark.  

8.   Get assistance from appropriate professionals who can help you deal with how you have been a negative shark or how other sharks have ripped your life apart. 

 

Example 2:  A Mountain

A mountain is a high place from where you can see great distances. (vision)  It can also be a thing you have to cross over or climb. (challenge)   And it can also be a place of jumping from or skiing down. (courage) 

What am I not seeing?  Where do I need more vision?   What challenges am I facing?   What keeps me from overcoming the obstacles?    What fear is holding me from letting go and flying with things?  

Imagine yourself on top of the mountain or overcoming obstacles or skiing down the mountain. 

 

Example 3:  A Snake

1. What is a snake? 
A snake is an animal that moves on the ground or in the water by conforming to the space it moves over.  It takes the shape of whatever it moves over.  It also sheds its old skin and some species have a poisonous venom. 

2.  What are the non-material equivalents of a snake in a positive or negative sense?
Snakes have flexibility and because they are low to the ground and take the shape of things, reflect humility.   They, therefore, are key symbols at the beginning of a transformation process because they reflect acceptance of whatever you have to go through to get to where you want to go.    A poisonous snake can mean someone or something is poisoning your life such as listening to backbiting or gossip or a lot of negativity.  

3.   Who is the snake in your real life?   
If it is poisonous it usually reflects fear on your part caused by a jealous person.  Jealousy is very venomous and causes people to act in destructive ways.  

4.  What are the context and details?
For instance, if you feel positive, then it can mean you are in the beginning of a new change process and should go for it.    If you are being constricted like with a boa constrictor or python, it can mean that you or someone else is preventing you from change by constricting your movement forward. 

5.  How can you be a snake in a positive way?
Accept what you have to move through and go for it, instead of fighting it.   The advantage of a snake, which is the advantage of flexibility and humility, is that you easily move through things by not trying to raise yourself above things or others, but by accepting others and accepting that you have lots to learn and move through.

6.  Imagine yourself as a snake and how it helps you in your life now.

 

Example 4:  Verbs – Running Away

Running away means that there is something that is chasing you which gives you fear.   It is a verb instead of a noun.   

What is the thing you are running away from?   

This is always the key question.   Who or what is giving you a lot of fear?   It could be an abusive person or an activity where you are going to get a lot of criticism. 

What is the positive opposite of the thing you are running away from?  

If you are running from a bear, the positive opposite is strength, from a lion, courage. It means that you need the positive opposite of the thing you are running away from and the thing you are running from is always the clue.  

Imagine yourself as the positive quality such as a bear or a lion.

Seek assistance to get rid of the fear as you move more and more toward the positive quality.    If you are running away from an abusive person, it means that you need a certain amount of empowerment, and it is going to be extremely valuable to find people such as a good therapist who can help you through the process.