First of all, recognize that you do indeed dream. Just as you have an active imagination and fantasy life, so too do you have dreams. Imagination, fantasy, and dreams, however, are often overlooked, dismissed, or intentionally blocked out through habits that are formed at different stages of our lives or through simply not paying attention. If I ask you not to think about a red rose, what happens? Just by mentioning the term, "red rose" your imagination, your mind, comes up with an image. It may be a word image, red rose. It may be a memory of a particular red rose. Whatever passes through your mind, most people will, at least briefly, imagine something to do with a red rose. Dreams come out of our consciousness, that part of our mind, intellect, being that holds a wealth of images, memories, symbols, archetypes, and connections to everything we've ever experienced and much that is present in and around us that we may never consciously notice. Our mind filters information from our consciousness, our memory, and our perception in order that we can maintain balance, sanity, focus, and presence with our daily lives and activities. For example, if I am at the task of driving, I cannot be responding to all the images and activities or inner feelings and thoughts that are present in my experience. I must focus on my driving. Remembering, exploring, and working with our dreams also requires intention and presence.
Most of us remember having at least some dreams. Often the dreams we most remember are the nightmares or scary dreams. Sometimes the fear or confusion we experience in some dreams causes us to want to block out or not remember dreams. I remember going through a period of time when I was having some very disturbing and frightening nightmares. I would awake in terror from the dreams. Having always been a regular dreamer, I briefly went through a time when I "didn't want to dream." That doesn't actually work, so I was faced with having to find a way to learn more about the dream process so that I could alleviate the fear that was built up at the time. Like many negative experiences of our lives, facing the fear often helps us deal with it.
Dreams present information to us in ways that often shock and frighten us; this happens to catch our attention. For example, if I dream of someone crawling in the window to harm me or see myself falling down a deep, dark shaft, feeling myself in danger in both instances, I may worry first of all about my physical danger. When we learn more about our dreams and the different types of dreams we all have, the knowledge helps us use the dreams to pinpoint the underlying messages (each dream could have more than one meaning). Frightening dreams where we are in mortal danger, more often than not, signal a threat to our emotional, energetic, or psychological well being. Over time I have come to recognize such dreams as signals to warn me that the way I'm living, working, or pushing myself is causing me to lose control or put myself at risk.
If you have stopped dreaming or don't remember your dreams, and if you want to work with your dreams, it might be time to develop a dream practice. In this column, I will be exploring some of the ways that we can develop a dream practice and use the great gift of our dreams as one more tool in our kit to live a more fulfilling life. I will combine this discussion with some information about the kinds of energetic influences that may be affecting us, in both our waking and sleeping life. We, humans, are affected by the world we live in, by what we can see and what we cannot see, and by the energies of the Universe. For that reason, I will add some information that may or may not influence your dream life. You be the judge of that.
Last night, for example, around 1:00 am, Venus (archetype of the feminine, creativity, love) formed a trine with Saturn (the Great Teacher archetype) bringing into focus the serious nature of our relationships and the pragmatic nature of our lives. Think how that might have influenced any dreams or snippets of dreams you may have had. Around 5 this morning, Mercury (archetype of communication, messages, neighbors, brothers, sisters) conjoined Pluto (the archetype of the great transformer). How are things shifting, changing, transforming, and what information is flowing to you or going out from you? How is change showing up in your dreams, in your daily life, in your relationships, and in your work? By 7 this morning, Venus was forming a conjunction (meaning they appear to be lined up together in the sky), creating a more romantic, creative, or uplifting imaginative tone to your early morning. This may show up as seeing the good in others or situations (which may be somewhat illusionary) but it helps us sometimes be more forgiving or understanding (that's the good side) or more delusional or in denial. Depends on the nature of the situation or relationship, and on how you are dealing with the pragmatic realities of your life. Later in the day the Moon in Virgo forms a conjunction to Mars in Capricorn (both earthy energy) bringing us down-to-earth and grounded in the comfort of our lives. The Moon then forms a trine to the Sun in Capricorn near 6 pm. Venus leaves the rather unconventional energy of Aquarius tonight as she enters the romantic, creative, and sensitive sign of Pisces. All indications that emotions are aroused and need to be grounded in the pragmatic, daily focus of our lives.
Dreaming during this period of time, could then reflect more towards the major areas of transition in your life and in the day-to-day activities, issues, challenges, and habits that are signaling the areas of your life that are in the process of major transformation. During this time, I had a dream about the number 2. The dream was a huge numeral 2 and then a series of photographs of things that come in twos. The underlying message to me has to do with grounding myself in the simple nature of my daily habits, partnerships, and finding balance. Two may have any number of interpretations, but it is a number that to me speaks of simplicity, balance, pairing, and partnership. Simplifying my life right now, and focusing on relationships within my daily sphere, are areas that are transforming for me now.
Developing a dream practice, begins with dreaming. As I stated, all of us dream. Our brain processes and produces dreams much of the night. Our conscious memory, however, stores much of this information away, and unless we are paying attention, we tend to jump out of bed and start our day without much regard to a dream, that is unless it's been significant or scary. To begin to develop a dream practice, keep in mind, we're not looking for long, epic, lucid dreams. We begin with remembering something. Even a feeling a dream has left us with. Or a snippet of a dream or a word or maybe a tune or color that appears in a dream. How do we do this? As you go to bed each night, set the intention of remembering your dreams. You might include it in your prayers or simply suggest it to yourself as you sleep. I would also pray for dreams to come in forms and ways that did not scare or upset me. Again, if you don't pray, suggest this to your subconscious. Surround your sleeping area with pleasant, calm, peaceful sounds, visuals. Avoid watching television or reading something disturbing before sleep. In the morning, wake up gently. Before you jump out of bed, calmly lay still and pay attention to what you remember. Keep a writing tablet and pen beside your bed, and gently write down anything you remember. Write down what you recall. It may be the feeling of a dream, or a snippet or two. Sometimes we get what seems like a whole story, but quite often we get flashes and pieces of information. We might recall much of the dream at first, but then forget all but a few pieces of the dream. That's fine. Write down what you recall, and avoid judging whether or not it's enough. By writing down your dreams regularly, you will develop your own dream journal and vocabulary. I record my dreams in a simple spiral notebook. About once a month, I reread all the dreams I've had. By doing this, over time you will begin to see the different types of dreams you have, and you will begin to see patterns and symbols that you can work with. Dreams images and symbols are archetypal in nature. They are not necessarily meant to be taken literally. When you first begin recalling and recording your dreams, avoid trying to get too analytical about what you dream. I find it very helpful not only to write the dream down right away, but also to have someone to talk my dreams out to. Be discerning about who you share your dreams with. Whoever it is should be someone you trust and someone who will be supportive. Sometimes simply retelling the dream will shed light on aspects of the dream you might not have noticed before.
No comments:
Post a Comment