Dream Symbolism is Personal

A great number of books have been written about dreams and dream interpretation. Many of them offer generalized meanings for various dream symbols – i.e., "horses refer to male sexuality," "arrows are the phallus," etc. Similarly, online searches on the topic of dreams will lead predominantly to "dream dictionaries" that have cut-and-dry translations for virtually any sort of dream motif imaginable. Some of these dream symbolism interpretations can trace back to a particular method of dream interpretation such as Freudian or Jungian. Some styles of interpreting dream meanings seem to lead nowhere at all and leave you more confused than informed. Perhaps a good path to understanding your dreams is not to look outside yourself for answers, but look within.

The human experience is commonly shared. We do have more in common than not. We all laugh when amused, cry when suffering loss. As social creatures we strive for consensus about the nature of reality. So, it is not surprising we share some common dream symbolism. However, human beings also have cultural differences. There are numerous languages and religions. In essence, humans are a paradox since we share much in common, yet in the end, we are all individual, right down to our DNA. Dreaming is an intimate, personal experience for all of us. We likely share some dream symbolism with others, but no dream symbolism chart, or book, is going to be absolute about all people.

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Dream symbolism needs to be tailored to fit each dreamer. Dreams of water, for example, will evoke one kind of emotional response for a person who loves swimming and quite a different one for a person who once almost drowned. Dreams of fighting may reflect conflict for one person, but for a boxer, it may be the unconscious perfecting a skill. When a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is taken towards interpreting dreams with standardized dream symbolism, the truth may be more obscured than revealed. Yes, some standard dream symbolism may apply in some instances. However, the appearance of a dragon in a dream can mean one thing to a Westerner, and something completely different to someone in China.

This is not to say that examining different, standardized dream symbolism books or standardized dream meanings information. Looking into dream symbolism that some people share can be helpful. There is also evidence that as we study a standardized dream symbolism method our dreams can actually adopt some of the symbolism. It can be as if we are teaching our unconscious self a means to communicate with our waking selves.

The moment we start to examine our dreams there takes place a give-and-take between our waking self and dreaming self. Though many in the scientific community would argue that our dreams are meaningless, a great many of us would argue that is not true. And there is much historical evidence to suggest the importance of dreams and dreaming (see article Dream Are Not Meaningless). Dreams can help us to understand ourselves and that is definitely important. As we begin to understand ourselves it becomes difficult not to want to understand our dreams. As we become more honest with ourselves about who we are and how we feel, then often it begins to be easier to understand the meanings and messages of our dreams, with or without standardized dream symbolism. Sincere self-awareness improves the give-and-take between our waking self and dreaming self, which in turn starts to deepen and broaden both our sense of self and our possibilities.

The emotions evoked by any given dream can be your strongest keys to unlocking its meaning. By focusing on how a dream felt is a great path to understanding the dream. This technique requires no dictionary of dream symbols. It is way to look within and let the answer come to you. If a dream brings sadness, focus on the sadness and what within the dream made you sad. For instance, a long lost love appears in a dream and you feel a sense of sadness. Could the sadness be a sense of loss. In your waking life, have you been pushing away the feeling of not being loved? The emotional echoes left behind by dreams often are the message (for more on this, check out the article Easy Dream Interpretation)

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Want help interpreting your dreams? Give Psychic Sumaria a call today at 1-866-327-9032.

If you have taken an interest in understanding your dreams, there is nothing wrong with checking the various online dream symbolism directories and/or books on the topic. We would all love to understand our dreams, to use our dreams to solve problems, even have more fun in our dreams. Yes, we all share the human experience of dreaming. However, the path to dream interpretation, though, is and always will be about looking within for the final answers. Ultimately we decide what a dream means over the judgment of any author or therapist. That’s because only we know the real, true answer. It’s a matter of knowing you know. There’s nothing wrong with getting help with our dreams. Getting help with our dreams can prove invaluable. Just do not be too quick in accepting the external, pre-packaged, easy answers.

Would you like to interpret your own dreams. Check out Dream Interpretation Course. Interested in working with someone about interpreting your dreams? Psychic Sumaria Jones is a clairvoyant with years of experience working with clients on understanding their dreams, both natural and mystical. Give her a call at 1-866-327-9032, toll free Canada and US.