“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep”.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare.
We all dream, even those who don’t remember. The dream state is another state of being, which is in my opinion, as real if not more real than our everyday waking consciousness. I’ve always been fascinated by my dreams and have kept a dream journal for countless years, writing down the meanings as revealed to me by the symbols, colours, people and whatever else is important. Dream books can be useful, but the trouble with relying on them is that they can take away from what the detail means to us as individuals. Particular objects & situations mean different things to different people according to who we are, our life experience and our spiritual stage of evolution. In order to understand personal meanings for ourselves, we need to listen to our emotions, dropping into our deeper self known as the subconscious mind. The 20th century psychotherapist, Carl Jung was the forerunner of dreams, synchronicities and the subconscious mind, recognizing that this part of us is invaluable if we want to connect to something beyond our physical body and the denseness of the earth plane. He also suggested that everyone in our dreams represents a part of us, according to how we see that person and what he/she means to us.
There are different types of dreams. Some are Precognitive, meaning that the dream shows us a true event that will take place in the future. This could be something personal or even a global event such as a major transformation or a warning of an inevitable catastrophe. The part of us that is connected to Source sees the energy of that event ahead of our linear time, with an awareness that in our sleep state, reaches out and touches the future. Whenever we are asleep our etheric body can free itself from the physical body & connect to “no time”, “no place”, “nowhere”, because it is only in the confines of our human body in the third dimension where we abide, that we feel stranded in clock time. In truth there is no time, so sleeping can be a little like growing wings and flying to different places, before the day begins again and we keep going on our path as the person we know ourselves to be.
If we want to really know ourselves, we need to notice what our dreams are telling us. It’s one of the best ways of hearing our higher self. It cuts straight through the ego which doesn’t hold our best interests, but it cannot so easily do this when we are awake. Sleep is a letting go of our physical senses and an opening to the treasure chest of our inner world. If we don’t get the message that our subconscious mind is trying to convey to us, it will keep going with either the same dream over & over again, or by a different way round with new symbols, until hopefully we understand. Of course there are the dreams which are full of jumbles fragments from previous days, as if our mind is trying to process things from our life, and these can be less meaningful. But I truly believe that somewhere in every dream, is some degree of communication that could be interesting and helpful for us. The more aliveness we place on the dream state, the more rewarded we will be by the language of dreams, because where we put our attention is where energy flows.
I remember many years ago, I dreamed that my mother (who I hadn’t seen for some time), was lying motionless on the ground in her house. I felt afraid, thinking that she was either seriously ill or dead. I panicked and then she got up and walked out of the room. In the dream I thought that she was being difficult, especially as our relationship was complicated. Yet three months later she died suddenly & unexpectedly. I realized that my dream, which wasn’t obvious to me at the time, was a very clear sign that she was about to leave her body and go into the next world. Her getting up and walking out of the room, signified leaving her physical body behind. It was her etheric body which is identical in appearance but of a much finer, higher vibration, as it does not have the density of the world of matter slowing it down. Nor does it have the inner organs or the physical structure needed to function in the material world. We all have an etheric body whilst on the earth plane, attached to the physical body by a silver cord. When we are ready to transition to the next plane of existence, this cord is broken. You may wonder how I didn’t perceive this at the time as it was so simple & straight forward, but she was relatively young and I just didn’t expect it, so it didn’t occur to me that this was the meaning. In a way her soul chose to let me know when I was in a different state of consciousness – my soul received this message but my human self misinterpreted it.
Some people have the gift of Lucid Dreaming. There are even courses on how to dream in this extremely powerful way. When we lucid dream we know that we are dreaming, and can decide where to go, who to see and what we’d like to happen. We can ask for answers to questions that have been troubling us, ask to see our spirit guides & angels or loved ones who have passed on. (I believe that we have this opportunity anyway, but usually we don’t recall what has taken place). Perhaps if we have issues with forgiveness, this could be the moment to ask for help so that we can let go once and for all and free ourselves from the pain that unforgiveness causes. We can travel to higher planes of consciousness and ask for help with our path in life. It can be an invaluable experience, far beyond the realm of the ordinary dream. It means that we are in the theta brainwave state where our pineal gland is activated and where we can change our reality if we so choose. I would say there is much to be gained from working with this dream state, especially for those of us who are fascinated by the other worlds.
The Native American Indians made circular dream catchers from the bark of willow trees, weaving a pattern like a spider’s web right the way across. Willow is the tree of dreaming and the branches are soft and flexible, so it’s easy to make one. They used to hang feathers along the bottom & would fix a bead, crystal or something meaningful inside it whenever a dream came to fruition, whether it be a manifestation in their waking life or a night-time dream, depending on what the dream catcher was intended for. They had reverence for dreams, story-telling and the imaginative, creative & intuitive part of our brain, as well as deep respect for the natural world. Somehow we have lost this along the way and need to call it back in. It’s the part of us that creates a bridge between the worlds, reminding us that we are so much more than our bodies, thoughts and fears. Our dreams hold the key to our magical selves, and if we have the time and courage to explore them and to trust in their significance, then each one of us has the privilege of walking the earth with sacredness & wonder in our hearts.
Your article on dreaming is beautiful and insightful, thank you for sharing it. I’m fascinated by dreams and the meanings they hold. I’ve started to keep notes to see if there’s a pattern emerging. I’d love to learn more about lucid dreaming.