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Dream Interpretations And Symbolism
Dreams can be most fascinating. Dream interpretations and symbolism is a many thousands of years old topic!
Shamans, mystics and priests have done their best to monopolize dream interpretation. But what if you could figure out your own?
(The heroine Sedona struggles with this issue throughout her adventures…which surely must be medical-induced coma dreams after the shark attack she experienced. She thinks so.)
Such visions these can be – from predictive, to bizarre, with no regards for the laws of our every day reality, and with no thought given to time, sequence, or gravity.
Do You Control Your Dreams
Everything is up for grabs, from fearful and horrible, to pleasant and comfortable, to exotica and the magnificent. There are lucid dreams, where one awakens in the dream.
Where you, the dreamer, are aware and in control of the scenario as it occurs.
This happened to me briefly once. I was having a very intense dream, quite stressful, and I became aware that I was dreaming, and looking on the scene, rather than being in the scene.
I thought to myself that “it is only a dream“, and continued with it, 
back in the dream. Drama and all.
This one was a strange dream. I normally dream in color, but this particular dream was in sepia, much like the early photographs one can see from the later eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. Most interesting for a bit of variety!
Symbology In Dreams
The subject of symbology in dreams interests many, and there are as many different interpretations, as there are interpreters.
Psychoanalyst Carl Jung did extensive research into the subject, and came up with most interesting theories. Another subject altogether.
There is a more personal approach which I prefer. Many years ago, I practiced Gestalt, a branch of psycho-analysis, developed by Fritz Perls. I shall over-simplify it for sake of this short article.
A Gestalt Therapy Technique – The Empty Chair
The gist of Gestalt therapy is that the patient gets into into dialogue with that which is bothering him or her.
Reversing roles, the patient imagines that they are the subject which is troubling them, and this imagined personified subject responds back to the patient.
This procedure continues back and forth, until a resolution occurs. I had good success with this.
This technique can be applied with dreams. It doesn’t have to entail dialogue with something that is disturbing, It can be with any item of interest in the dream.
It could be a tree or a dragon. You could choose an item, or symbol from the background, or foreground.
Let me give you an example of the procedure.
- You sit in a chair with an empty chair across from you.
- Select an item from the dream, shall we say, the dragon.
- Imagine the dragon sitting or perching opposite you
- This is entirely your creation, however you picture the dragon
- You ask it a question, or make a statement to it, whatever is relevant
- Role reversal – you become the dragon
- You, the dragon, respond to the patient
- Or, you are spoken to by the dragon. Whatever works
- This continues, backwards and forwards, until resolution, or understanding takes place.
That’s it in a nutshell. I love the simplicity of it.
This a good way of accessing the subconscious mind. I hope that my explanation is adequate, and perhaps of service to you. Happy hunting with your dream interpretations and symbolism!
By J. Windsor Cox, a guest blogger.
This is a kind of healing dream power, using a technique to reveal to yourself something that your unconscious mind is focused on.
Other healing power dreams are here.
Do you control or interpret your dreams? How? Please share!
Cool topic. I enjoy dreams and always have trouble remembering them. A technique that I used to help me remember my dreams was to write them down as soon as I woke up. All of a sudden I was having a lot more dreams that I could remember in fact I ran out of time to write them all down. Maybe this could be useful somewhere on you site. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Estevan, thanks for your input! Ah…dream journals! They can be so interesting to read years later! Do you still have yours? In the book “Sedona” she keeps her iPad handy for recording dreams. I suppose you might use that now, or another tablet, if you decided to resume writing your dreams.
Very interesting. I wonder why there isn’t a lot more attention put on dreaming in general. Or perhaps there is and I’m just missing it! And I’ve sometimes wondered if people in comas dream. Or are they asleep? Or do they sleep and wake up within the coma, yet nobody knows… Or have any awakened coma victims come forth with any “memories” from their comatose states? Hmmm… Google, here I come…
You know that is what I’m searching right now! First, to get some info on medically induced comas, and the accidental ones too. I’d love to get a view into someone’s experience of those.
I have often wondered about some of my weird dreams over the years. I think your subconscious fears and desires play a prominent role in the dreams you have. The exercise you mentioned with the dragon seems interesting. I would like to learn more about this topic in the future. Thanks for the great article!
Hi Johnny! Thanks so much for leaving your comment here. Recently I was chatting with a therapist who reiterated exactly what you said about the subconscious and fears showing up in dreams. I’ve read that peeps should just make quick notes about their dreams every morning, to see if any particular symbol or event keeps repeating. For those who have the time lol…cheers!