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The Art of Interpreting Your Dreams

By: Deborah Lukovich

People tend to perk up when they talk about their dreams because we have an intuitive sense that there is meaning behind those crazy images. The problem is most people do not gain the powerful insights they could from their dreams because they don’t know how to decode them. This is where depth psychology proves especially useful.

The source of dreams is your unconscious and its language is mysterious and seemingly irrational. We attempt to understand dreams through our intellect, understood in depth psychology to be the language that dominates our conscious lives. But to truly know the meaning behind your dreams means letting go of the need to interpret things in a rational sense and embracing the uncertainty of where your imagination might take you. Dreams offer opportunities to harness wisdom and guidance from another source, and there are some things you can keep in mind that will help you connect with that wisdom.

Dreams are often trying to tell you that you are repressing something. For example, if your dreams contain a lot of violence, it may mean you are repressing and denying anger, which is often a cover for painful wounds. So instead of feeling disturbed by the image of violently stabbing someone in your dream, look for times in your life that you held back your feelings and find ways to express your anger and frustration in a healthy way.

People who show up in your dreams are actually pieces of you. When your child shows up in your dream, you probably think it’s about him or her. When your ex shows up in your dream, you think it’s about him or her. This is not usually the case. Instead, ask yourself what comes to mind when you think about that person. If, for example, you think that person is very needy, this is likely to be a mirror of a part of you that you don’t want to admit. And instead of feeling shame about your inner neediness, embrace it and explore how to exist healthfully in the world with that characteristic.

Emotions are key. Perhaps you had a dream where you were falling to your death or in a plane crash, and you woke up terrified. Sometimes, but rarely, dreams are prophetic, but often in a symbolic way rather than a literal way. Next time you have a dream where you feel your life is in danger, notice how the dream ended. Likely you survived, which may mean you have what it takes to deal with whatever situation you’re facing.Potential death in a dream may mean death of your soul or death of an old dysfunctional way of behaving, rather than literal death. For example, are you denying something in yourself by staying in that high paying corporate job?

There is no right way toward interpretation; it’s more about finding meaning that is helpful for overcoming challenges in your waking life. Dreams are your subconscious mind trying to help you. And there exist useful tools for tapping into that wisdom, rather than being left to wonder.

Join Deborah Lukovich at her upcoming workshop, The Art of Interpreting Your Dreams, on Wednesday, October 24th, 6:30-8pm to gain the tools you need to tap into your inner wisdom and become a dream expert.