DREAMS



GETTING STARTED
Working with Your Dreams, Opening the Door to Your Creative Potential

Dreams can be elusive and transitory.
Keeping a dream journal is one of the best ways to ground your dream work.

Reviewing your recorded dreams and interpretive notes will improve your ability to understand symbols, build a personal symbol glossary and reveal to you the picture of your life map.


A great aid in listening to our dreams is remembering their origin.
It is my belief that we have been created by God, our loving, wise and omnipotent Source. We have been so designed that during sleep, while our conscious minds are at rest, we experience dream images conveying powerful, purposeful messages. Their meaning offers insight and information unavailable, unrecognized or unheeded during our waking state. Whatever one’s faith tradition, dreams are an integral part of the personal psyche and have been studied since conscious awareness was able to ponder the purpose of existence.

Dreams are personal parables. Their symbolism allows us to answer the call of higher consciousness, but it is up to us to respond. Dream symbolism also allows us to move at our own pace as we discover layers of meaning.

The best way to get started in working with dreams is to be open to this innate function and learn to listen. The dreams will tell us what they mean.

The following suggestions will guide you in exploring the meaning of your dreams. Use whatever suggestions you find helpful.



Getting Started .
Learning to Recall Your Dreams
Honor the process. Get a notebook. Resolve to remember.

  • Get a notebook to use as a journal (preferably not loose-leaf). Keep the notebook and notepaper and pen by your bedside or in the bathroom.
  • Make a mental resolution to remember your dreams. It may be helpful to write down the statement "I will remember my dreams" in your journal.
  • When you awaken, lie still for a moment and try to recall your dream.
  • As soon as possible, jot down notes on notepaper or in your journal.
  • Record your dream(s) in the journal as soon as possible because dreams are easily forgotten.
  • Allow space for notes about your dream. I find it helpful to indent the dream on the page, leaving room for notes in the margin. If your dream changes subject or a new dream begins, make a new paragraph. Some people like to title their dreams or draw pictures.
  • Dream fragments are extremely useful. You do not need to recall all of your dream. Write down as much as you remember.

Some tips:

  • Notes about your dream are helpful, but keep them separate from your dream. If they are combined, you may find it difficult to recall what was in the dream and what you thought of afterward.
  • Without turning your journal into an appointment book, you may find it helpful to jot down significant events or experiences. This will give you a link to the source of symbols and imagery meaning.

  • Today many people are used to computer entry rather than writing by hand. However, writing longhand slows you down and that can move you from "analysis" thinking to "processing" thinking. For many people, a handwritten journal offers some advantages over journaling on the computer. A simple theme notebook will keep your dreams intact and in chronological order without folders or files. (I prefer 8 ½ x 11 because I find it easier to write in.)
  • If you choose to use a computer, you can make a shift in thinking with printouts and then rereading what you have typed—this will help you talk out your dream. In either case, but especially on the computer, take care to record your dream separately from your commentary. Because typing on a keyboard is so fast, it is easy to get into a "stream of consciousness" that takes you far afield of your actual dream .

Guidelines for Your Dream Journal
Keep It Simple and Efficient

  • Write down the date of the dream.
  • What is the setting? Are you inside or outside? The place or setting of your dream is "where you are" at this time in your life—in general or in regard to a specific situation or matter
  • What is the action in the dream and do you/how do you take part in it? Is there a problem that needs solving or a task that needs completion?
  • Who are the other people in the dream? Remember, they are aspects of yourself. Are they friends, allies, helpers? Are they causing you problems? Do they obstruct progress or resolution? Do they make you afraid or cause you harm? Are they after you? Can you describe the people in your dream in terms of "this is how I am when I...?" or "this is my tendency to... or, "if I could turn a quality into a person, this is what he/she would look like"
  • Are there word plays, puns, names, catchy phrases that create a picture or image to help you understand the dream?
  • How do you feel in the dream? Immediately upon waking? Does it make you feel anxious, worried, fearful, happy, wondering, passive, amazed, or some other way? Can you connect this feeling with the way you feel about the situation in your waking life? When do you feel the same way that you feel in the dream? Dreams are symbolic, but the feelings are literal.
  • Can you see both the forest and the trees? If your dreams are detailed or go on and on, can you stand back and summarize various parts to get a broad picture? What do you see when you take a closer look at the setting changes, symbols and other imagery?
  • Does this dream lead you to other areas you would like to explore? Can you connect this dream with previous dreams? Can you identify any patterns or repeated symbols?