Dream interpretation is a massive topic that cannot possibly be covered in one hub, but I hope you will find some of the most important elements you need to interpret your dreams here and my other dream interpretation articles.

Theories on why we dream have evolved and changed throughout the centuries but we are closer now than ever before to being able to understanding what our dreams mean and how to use them for our benefit. Only by bringing together our knowledge of psychology and spirituality can we truly get to the bottom of our dreams.

Dreams are an effort of the self to integrate into a state of health and wholeness in much the same way as our biological body does. The body is constantly working towards perfect health and so is the mind. In the dreaming state we are presented with information that if acknowledged and processed, can help us become more emotionally, mentally and spiritually healthy.

For the most part dreams are challenging us to be honest about who we are, what we want, what we fear, what causes us pain, our insecurities and the things that are holding us back in life.

Dreams tell us where we’re at - what’s going well and what’s going not so well.

Our unconscious is our own personal therapist and we’d be wise to listen to her!

Getting into dream interpretation has so many benefits. It can bring liberation, self awareness, self knowledge, a strong connection to our inner selves and an awareness of our emotions.

The functions of dreaming

• Expression & processing emotions
• Maintain or improve mental health
• Provide information on what we want, need, think or feel
• Sexual release
• Organising knowledge & experiences – (Defragging the mind like a computer)
• Learning (making connections)
• Problem Solving (creativity, thinking out of the box, new inventions, finding solutions)
• Wish fulfillment (e.g. having a sexy dream with someone famous)
• Connection to spiritual realities (rare!)
• Through lucid dreaming & dream incubation we can develop confidence in ourselves and any area of our lives that we choose to. We can also go on some amazing adventures!

The emotions we experience in our dreams are one of the most important aspects to dream interpretation. Believe it or not our dreams are trying to be obvious! Understanding dream language can take a bit of practice but once you get into the right mindset you’ll find the majority of your dreams can be interpreted quickly and easily.

If you are driving a fast car in your dream and feel exhilarated this could mean you are progressing at a great speed in some area of your life and you are finding it exhilarating and exciting.

But what if you are driving a fast car and feel terrified of crashing? The meaning will be vastly different. Something along the lines of, you are travelling too fast in an area of your life and feel out of control.

Or what if you are driving in a fast car that will only do 10 miles an hour and you feel impotent and frustrated? You would need to look at what is holding you back in life either through inside or outside circumstances.

Make a special note of your feelings in relation to each symbol that appears in your dream as it's going to give you some of the most valuable information on the dreams message to you.

There’s a strong myth around that all of our dreams are foretelling the future and it’s simply not true.

That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen - I've had quite a few myself. But whilst dreams can occasionally give us information about future events, (which is where the myth comes from), unless we have highly developed psychic abilities, these are usually few and far between. This begs the question, “How do we know when our dream is prophetic?” Unfortunately the answer to that is that you can’t know until the event you dreamt of takes place.

A lot of people have experienced dreams that involve ESP or what we might call psychic events. Again these are quite rare - most people might be lucky to have one or two of these in their lifetime. They include:

• Dreams of a deceased relative or friend (accompanied by feelings of joy, peace & love)
• Dreams of a deceased person we do not know
• A dream involving extra sensory perception (ESP) such as seeing an event in a dream that is taking place at the very moment you dream it.
• Dreams of angels, spirit guides or religious figures
• Dreams of past lives
• Out of body experiences
• Astral travel

Those who have had these kinds of dreams report that they are exceptionally vivid and the feeling quality of the dream is different than in ordinary dreaming. The emotions are particularly intense and there is a sense of watching the scene as an observer rather than being involved in it.

Nightmares

While distressing, nightmares can tell us a great deal about ourselves. In particular what we fear, what causes us the most emotional pain and what is holding us back in life. Nightmares are usually expressing deep feelings and thoughts that we are unconscious of - that is why they are so frightening - because they are bringing to our attention emotions that were perceived to be threatening, devastating and/or overwhelming at some point in the past.

The occurrence of a nightmare is a sign that you are now ready to deal with these emotions and that you NEED to deal with them for the sake of your emotional, mental or spiritual health.

This statement may sound obvious but it surprising how many of us don't understand that our nightmare is telling us about something we are frightened of or anxious about. Take the time to discover its meaning and you will benefit in the long term.  

Here are a couple of common dreams which show examples of the kinds of questions you need to be asking yourself to enable you to accurately interpret your dreams

A partner being unfaithful

Dreams of your partner cheating on you are most often an expression of your own anxiety and insecurity. Rarely, they can be your intuition telling you about actual cheating but rule out all other possibilities first.

• Are you scared your partner will leave you?
• Do you have low self esteem and/or confidence and wonder whether you deserve your partner?
• Have you or your partner cheated on each other or other partners before and you are worried this will happen again?
• Do you have problems with trusting people?
• Do you find it difficult to trust yourself?
• Are you attracted to someone else?

Dreams of being naked

What is your dream of being naked telling you? It will depend greatly on how you feel about it in your dream. Are you embarrassed? Ashamed? Free? Liberated? Vulnerable? Scared? Indignant? Exposed? Natural? Exhilarated?

If you experienced a negative emotion in relation to your nakedness it could mean:

1. You are feeling very vulnerable at the moment.
2. You are scared of being exposed in some way.
3. You have problems with your relationship with your body.
4. You are hiding something you need to share.

If you experienced a positive emotion in relation to your nakedness it could mean:

1. You feel totally free.
2. You feel liberated from a problem, set back or difficulty.
3. You are at one with your physical nature.
4. You enjoy your body.
5. You are being completely honest about who you are, what you want or need.

Recent events come up a lot in our dreams. Sometimes it is because our minds are trying to process and organise what happened, other times they offer the mind handy symbols to present other information.

Past events, people and places also come into our dreams frequently. They are usually telling us that there is something from our past that needs understanding or resolving. You will normally find that the issue is something that is also prominent in your life now.

If you dream about a house you lived in as a child, for instance, ask yourself what was happening in your life at the time you lived there. Did your parents separate? Did you change schools? Was it a particularly happy time? Ask yourself why your mind would want you to revisit that time again. Are there things issues from that time still holding you back? Did you make decisions based on events in the past that are no longer relevant or useful? Do you need to recapture a certain quality or feeling?

One way of interpreting animal symbols that I often use is to ask myself, "What special characteristics does this animal embody?"

Eagle

The eagle soars freely high above the earth. Therefore the eagle has a broad perspective of what is below and will be able to "take in the whole picture". Do you already see the whole picture or you do need to take a more objective view of something? Maybe you need to look at things from another perspective.

The eagle is strong and powerful. Do you feel strong and powerful or does someone in your life embody these qualities?

The eagle is a skillful hunter. Do you need to hunt something down or do you feel like someone is hunting you down?

Bees

Are you feeling stung by something that happened recently or by something someone said?

Bee is a homophone of "Be". Is your dream of bees telling you to just "be" yourself?

Think about what is special about bees. Bees are very busy, productive and industrious creatures. They work co-operatively for their survival. They swarm together for protection and to attack. They are hive creatures - the group is more important and powerful than the individual. They produce a nourishing food (honey). Do one of these things prick your intuition about what the bees mean to you?

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