The Dream Sourcebook: A Guide to the Theory and Interpretation of Dreams (24 page)

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Authors: Phyllis R. Koch-Sheras

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BOOK: The Dream Sourcebook: A Guide to the Theory and Interpretation of Dreams
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Of course, these associations are never entirely "free," colored as they are by your own life experiences and perceptions. We have talked before about context, and it is this contextcircumstances such as childhood memories, lifestyle, likes and dislikes, recent experiencesthat influences the associations you have to the various parts of your dream.
There are three levels to look at when using these techniques to interpret your dream symbols. First, consider the meanings that may be particular to you, based on the people, places, things, and events that are most familiar; these are your
personal
associations. Next, examine a symbol for possible
cultural
meaning: What associations to the symbol are related to the culture or world in which you live? And finally, there are the
universal
symbols and your associations to them, like the archetypal symbols that are shared by all humankind. As you become more familiar with free association and amplification as dream interpretation techniques, you will see that sometimes a symbol has several layers of meaning that incorporate all of these levels. A dream about a peaceful river, for instance, may remind you individually of a pleasant family trip to the Mississippi River in childhood, suggest a cultural expression such as "still waters run deep," and imply a universal meaning such as the flowing waters of life or time. It is up to you to determine how much weight to give each of these different possible interpretations.
Your Dream Emotions
When interpreting your dreams, it's important not to get lost in the details. Just as you will want to identify the dream theme, you will also want to determine the basic feeling behind the dream. As anyone who has ever remembered a dream can tell you, dreams evoke strong emotional reactions. While dreaming, your feelings of fear, anger, love, hate, happiness, and sadness
 
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seem very real to you. These dream feelings are another door to deep understanding of the dream itself. Paying attention to your gut reactionsboth during the dream and upon wakinghelps to balance any overanalyzing you might do in interpreting specific symbols. Don't be confused if you feel more than one emotion about a dream, or if the emotion you feel in your dream is different from the one you feel upon waking. Emotions are complex, and dreams often reveal hidden feelings about a situation.
"I've Dreamt In My Life Dreams That Have Stayed With Me Ever After, And Changed My Ideas; They've Gone Through And Through Me, Like Wine Through Water, And Altered The Color Of My Mind."
Emily Brontë, English author
When exploring your dream emotions, take time to let the emotions sink in. Don't assign feelings"In my dream I rob a bank, so I must feel guilty." Instead, just let the emotions flow, and follow wherever they lead, even if the result is "I rob a bank, and feel proud and clever." Don't let your dream emotions' intensity scare you: anger, jealousy, resentment, and fear are normal emotions, and you don't need to act on them. Simply acknowledging these emotions can help you to understand and accept yourself.
A Final Note
Dream interpretationon your own or with othersis entertaining and enlightening. But it can also be frustrating to try to understand the story your dreams are telling you or the messages they seem to be conveying. By now you realize that dreams operate on many levels, from the nonsensical to the profound. Sometimes, you will recognize dream details from your daily life, or
 
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understand the puns your dreams are making, yet be mystified by the message or meaning. Never fear! This chapter is just the beginning. With these concepts as the groundwork, there is far more than can be done with your dreams, just as there will be far more dreams to work with. You have your guidebook for exploring this fascinating realm, so now let's travel deeper into the world of dreams!
 
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Chapter Six
Making Your Dreams Your Friends Exercises in Dream Exploration
By now you have learned some basic techniques for recalling and interpreting your dreams. The once strange and foreign land of dreams is becoming familiar, and you have begun to speak its language. Now, you can begin to "make friends" with your dreams, to interact with them in new and powerful ways that can truly enrich your waking life. Spend time with your dreams, as you do with your friends, and your understanding of them will deepen and grow.
This idea is appealing where pleasant dreams are concerned. But what about nightmares? Terrifying dreams of being chased, being attacked, drowning, falling, dyingthese you might just as soon forget, right? Wrong. Spending time understanding the fear that people associate with a nightmare can offer valuable insights into the fears that disturb you in your waking life. A childhood nightmare may remain vivid in your memory and call up frightening associations well into adulthood. "It's okay," your parents
 
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might have said in an effort to comfort you. "It was only a nightmare. It wasn't real." But the experience of a nightmare is real to the dreamer, no matter what age; the sights, sounds, actions, and emotions can be horribly immediate. As unpleasant as nightmares are, they can contain an important message about your waking life; you have only to decipher it. You can make friends with your nightmares by learning to look through your fear to the message behind it.
Next time you have a nightmare, resist the impulse to evict it from your mind as quickly as possible. Doing so only invites your dreaming mind to present the same frightening message again until you finally "get it," whether as a recurring dream or a new nightmare with a similar theme. Instead, find a way to work with the strong emotions of the nightmare so that you can examine it for clues to its meaning. Tell yourself that the unpleasant dream emotions are the sign of an important message. Be open to receiving that message. Realize that the dream could have come from many places: an unaccepted part of yourself, a recent scary episode from waking life, or a much-anticipated future event. Use dream interpretation techniques to discern which of these is the source of the message.
Aside from unresolved issues or current conflicts, the causes of nightmares include repressed memories and physical conditions such as pressure on the spinal cord or a brain tumor. Before jumping to any dire conclusions, however, be sure to explore the associations you have with the content of the nightmare; doing so may quickly make the dream's meaning clear. If the nightmares are persistent and frequent, you may wish to consult with a psychotherapist to puzzle through the issues bringing them on. Only after exploring these avenues of analysis should you look for a physical cause for your nightmares. Most of the time, they are nothing to lose sleep over!
 
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A Cautionary Note
Remember that there are many interpretations for a given dream. Remain open to all possibilities. Exploring one avenue does not mean erecting a barrier to another. Whether you are new to dreamwork, or are an experienced dreamworker, variety is the spice of dreaming life, so vary your technique from time to time. You are learning a new language, the language of your own dreams. As with any language, you need to use a variety of techniques to become fluent. Learn the vocabulary, then apply it to the exercises in this and other chapters. Speak to your dreams, and listen when they are speaking to you. If possible, discuss your dreams or try these techniques with other dreamworkers. But first, here is an array of dreamwork exercises to add to the basic interpretation techniques described in chapter 5, exercises that can help you to make friends with your dreams, to look to them for support and guidance you can use in your waking life.
Dialogue With Your Dreams
One of the most effective ways to work on a dream, especially one that is frightening or disturbing in some way, is to use role-playing or dialoguing to talk with the various aspects of the dream. The premise is simple: By acting out the parts of each of the different characters in your dream, you can see your dream from new points of view. By putting yourself in the position of each character, you can then allow each character to speak through you. As the characters have their say, you take ownership of the feelings and actions in the dream, and you may even discover some new or unappreciated parts of yourself. Fritz Perls, in his description of the Gestalt theory of dreamwork, discussed reliving the dream as an essential part of taking responsibility for creating it.
 
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When you role-play your dream characters, be sure to explore all possibilities fully: Don't leave familiar characters out simply because you "know them already." You may not know all the dimensions they represent for you without some further exploration, and there is no better way to get their message than to step into their shoes and speak their words as you created them in your dream.
"But I'm not an actor! How can I stand up and behave as though I am a character in my dream?" Don't worry. You don't have to perform a stage play or memorize any lines. Dream dialoguing can take place from the comfort of your favorite chair. You may not even wish to speak aloud; instead, you can dialogue with your dream in writing (in your notebook or on your word processor). The technique we present here is one you can adapt to your own skills and interests; if you like, try this exercise several different ways to see which one is most effectivewriting, speaking aloud to yourself on tape, talking to a friend, or moving around and acting out the various roles.
Begin by focusing on the dream as a whole. Then, zero in on one character or object or perhaps start with the title of the dream. If you like, visualize that character as sitting in one spot, such as a nearby vacant chair, as Perls suggested (sometimes referred to as "the empty chair technique"). You can switch chairs and become the dream character or object as your dialogue progresses, or use a pillow on your bed or sofa to represent the character, switching voices when you have each character speak. Be the object or character, and describe yourselfyour basic characteristics and beliefs. Try to visualize your dream character in the spot your choose; you may want to close your eyes.
Now, talk to your dream character or object (or write your comments down). Tell the character or object how you feel about
 
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it, what you think of it, and what aspects of it you find confusing. Ask it questions. When you get to a good stopping point, switch places, and answer your questions as the character. If you prefer, switch back and forth as you go, creating a continuous dialogue between yourself and the object or character. Here are some questions to get you started: ''Why are you coming up now?'' "What do you want?" "Do you have a message for me?" Allow whatever comes to mind. Don't force questions or answers. Just let it happen. The conversations can end whenever you feel a sense of closure or completion, a sense that you have gained new understanding through the character or object's message. Then, let the "conversation" lead you to the next character or object that may have information for you.
"In Dreams We See Ourselves Naked And Acting Out Real Characters, Even More Clearly Than We See Others Awake."
Henry David Thoreau, American author and philosopher
It's possible to really get into this exercise, changing tone of voice to match each character or object, laughing, crying, shouting, even beating up the pillow you are using to represent the character, or comforting it by holding it close. Perls described how to involve yourself totally in this type of exercise: "Really become that thing. Stop thinking. Lose your mind and come to your senses." If you're feeling awkward at first, that's okay. Keep trying, because this exercise becomes easier and more enlightening with practice.
A dialogue between the dream characters or objects themselves can offer much insight into intense conflicts or emotional situations in your life. To create this kind of dialogue, consider which two characters seem to be most clearly at odds. Said Perls: "If you get the correct opposites . . . they always start out fighting each other [in an] eternal conflict game, the self-torture game

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