Remember Your Dreams

Most dream researchers say that we dream for at least an hour every night. Some of us do not remember our dreams and are losing out on what could be very valuable insights into our being. Someone said that an unexamined dream is like and unopened letter. If you receive a letter in the mail you certainly will open it up and look at it. When you receive information about yourself in the form of a dream, you certainly would benefit from examining it.

I have found from reading books on dreams and from personal experience that I can always remember my dreams if I prepare myself before hand. When I go to bed, I will tell myself that I will remember my dreams tonight. Sometimes I will repeat the words to myself like counting sheep, I will remember my dreams, I will remember my dreams, I will remember my dreams… I keep repeating the same words over and over until I fall to sleep. I have found that this always works. Although sometimes I have to repeat the words for two or three nights before I begin remembering me dreams. When I was teaching middle school students I had them try this and most found that they could remember their dreams after repeating I will remember my dreams for several nights.

How you awaken is important also. I find that if I want to recall my dreams that I have to lay silently upon awakening and not think at all of anything. I lay with my eyes shut and wait for the dream vision to come into view. I use to have pen and pencil near my bed and write the dream as soon as it came to mind. Now, with my computer at hand, I go over the dream in my mind and write in on the computer. I write the dream before I have my morning coffee or think about what I will be doing during the day.

I have found that how you understand your dreams and how you write the dream is important also. Fritz Perls has said that everything in your dream is some psychological force in yourself. If you dream that you are walking down a railroad track and get hit by a train, the railroad track is you and so is the train. He also said that every dream should be recorded as if it is happening right now. Dreams should always be written in the first person present tense. I have found that when I record my dreams, they come more often and they are clearer in my mind. It is also helpful to discuss your dreams with a friend.

Let me present the following dream to give you and example of how a dream should be recorded. I'm in a long empty hospital corridor. A doctor in a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck is removing bandages from my arms. I have the feeling that some world wide catastrophic disaster has taken place, that the world will never be the same again. I'm one of millions who have been injured or killed, I'm telling myself as the doctor completes his examination.

He tells me I'm free to reenter society and asks if I intend to continue my career in education. “No, I got to get out'a teaching. It's not the same any more. It's not any fun,” I answer feeling a great sense of relief at my decision.

Then, the scene shifts. I'm in some kind of large factory. It's my first night on the new job. I'm tightening a clamp that connects two big black hoses. I can see this white creamy milk flowing inside the hoses. A trickle spills on the sleeve of my white work shirt. As I turn the wrench, I wonder just what my job is, and what I should do next.

After I record a dream, I give some thought to what it is trying to tell me. This particular dream I discussed with my friend Alex and got a lot of insight into what the dream was telling me.

"Wow, that's a big dream," Alex exclaimed nodding his head. 



"Yea, I had a strong feeling for several days after that another disaster like the one in Chernobyl might occur. That it's a prophetic dream. From the collective." 



"No, that's not a collective dream. That dream isn't about mankind. It's about you some kind of disaster within your personal unconscious. Though, of course, there are connections with the collective. What was there, milk flowing through pipes? I'm sure that's from the collective." 

 “Yea, I thought of my new job as connecting the lines where the milk is flowing. But, I felt so strongly that hundreds of thousands of people were involved. That's why I think it may be some kind of premonition." 



"No, if it was from the prospective function, you would be able to pin point specific details. There are those kind of prophetic dreams. Jung describes several. But, they're always in terms of the specific facts they predict. Your disaster is inner. You know, if you have centers that are developing consciousness that would seem catastrophic to sleeping psychological forces. There are complexes within our unconscious that don't want to come to light. 

"It's a big dream, though. One you ought to work on. You know, I really find that Fritz Perls has the best method of looking at dreams. Remember, he says that everything in your dream is you, some psychological force in your unconscious. The doctor is you, the stethoscope, even the pipe where the milk is flowing." Alex told me.

It seems to me that the dream was telling me that I need to stop putting all my attention on my teaching job, and begin to pay more attention to developing my being, that I ought to work harder on trying to raise my level of consciousness, that my real work is in trying to connect to where the milk is flowing.

There are lots of books that can help you remember your dreams. Creative Dreaming by Patricia Garfield has some basic advise, but it is very academic. Jung and Freud, of course, are the standard on dreams. Fritz Perles gives some excellent information. And Castaneda gives some very interesting instruction for advanced adventures in dreaming.

So, pleasant dreams. And lets hope you remember them.