16 x 20 Acrylic on canvas, St.GermainWhy do we dream in symbols? We dream when we are asleep and are not in a conscious state. Symbols are the language of the unconscious.
Everyone has their own unique set of dream symbols, because no two people are alike or go through the very same situations, with the very same intensity of emotions.
All text and images are property of Jeannette Stgermain. You may print - only the posts about Dreams - as long as it is for private use only. No part may be used to be edited or reworked, or used to be sold in any way or form.
A word that works like the hub of a wheel is "association" and will help you to decipher the symbols. For instance "water" is for some one who lives in the desert associated with "life line." For someone who almost drowned, water is associated with "fear" and "death", for a surfer water is associated with "skill", "competition", "fun."
This goes to show you that there are many associations for the symbol of water to be made.
Everyone has their own unique set of dream symbols, because no two people are alike or go through the very same situations, with the very same intensity of emotions.
All text and images are property of Jeannette Stgermain. You may print - only the posts about Dreams - as long as it is for private use only. No part may be used to be edited or reworked, or used to be sold in any way or form.
A word that works like the hub of a wheel is "association" and will help you to decipher the symbols. For instance "water" is for some one who lives in the desert associated with "life line." For someone who almost drowned, water is associated with "fear" and "death", for a surfer water is associated with "skill", "competition", "fun."
This goes to show you that there are many associations for the symbol of water to be made.
Another phrase that will help you on your way with the art of association is "a play on words." A friend of mine had a dream about someone we both knew. The whole dream was that she saw that person getting a call on his cell-phone.
Call - some one's calling, or - destiny. After I concluded what that person in the dream was going through right now in real life, was that he got a view, or discovered his calling, his purpose, or his destiny.
Once I had a dream that I and hubby went to the city that our friends had gone before, and they told us about the nice stores there, etc. When we drove in our car down South to that city, nothing worked out, and it was a very frustrating and disappointing experience.
It was a puzzle to me, until I started playing with the expression "gone South." "Gone South" here in the USA refers to a deal that has gone sour. This dream was a warning, that if we would follow our friends, the deal would go sour on us
Jim Goll, author of "Dream Language" on my Shelfari, divides dreams in two categories:
* intrinsic dreams, whcih are self-disclosure dreams
* extrinsic dreams, which are about outside events.
When our dream discloses our inner self, a number of people may show up in your dream, representing different parts of ourselves. In the beginning this is very tricky,because we normally don't think about ourselves as being more than one person at the same time.
They may show up as one attractive person with blond hair (an attractive part of us), and another, unattractive part of us, as a person you don't like. For me it was very eye-opening, discovering new sides of myself that I did not think I had!
Our dream synchronizes with "the field" you have in life. This field goes beyond our job. They are the gifts and talents we have and our social relationships. It may be a very small field, like being a cash register person in a big department store like Walmart, or a large field, like being the general manager of a company with several thousands of employees. Our field may be small at first, but it could grow, like that of Joseph.
Dreams are shapshots, bits and pieces of your life. They do not tell the whole story!
As a teen Joseph had a dream that his brothers and father would bow before him. That dream came true after a few decades. The dream did not tell him that because he told his brothers and father that dream, he would be thrown in a pit, they would sell him, and he would land in prison because he would be falsely accused of raping the wife of his boss.
For the longest time I could not figure out whether my dreams were about the present, or a reminder that I needed to do something about an issue that started in the past, but still was affecting me, or if my dream was something that would happen in the future.
Fortunately, you dream often leaves you hints.
When it is about the past you see:
a back door, or
back window, or
rear view mirror, or
you are looking behind you, or
you are wearing clothes from a bygone era.
Another important clue is: how old you look in the dream.
* extrinsic dreams, which are about outside events.
When our dream discloses our inner self, a number of people may show up in your dream, representing different parts of ourselves. In the beginning this is very tricky,because we normally don't think about ourselves as being more than one person at the same time.
They may show up as one attractive person with blond hair (an attractive part of us), and another, unattractive part of us, as a person you don't like. For me it was very eye-opening, discovering new sides of myself that I did not think I had!
Our dream synchronizes with "the field" you have in life. This field goes beyond our job. They are the gifts and talents we have and our social relationships. It may be a very small field, like being a cash register person in a big department store like Walmart, or a large field, like being the general manager of a company with several thousands of employees. Our field may be small at first, but it could grow, like that of Joseph.
Dreams are shapshots, bits and pieces of your life. They do not tell the whole story!
As a teen Joseph had a dream that his brothers and father would bow before him. That dream came true after a few decades. The dream did not tell him that because he told his brothers and father that dream, he would be thrown in a pit, they would sell him, and he would land in prison because he would be falsely accused of raping the wife of his boss.
For the longest time I could not figure out whether my dreams were about the present, or a reminder that I needed to do something about an issue that started in the past, but still was affecting me, or if my dream was something that would happen in the future.
Fortunately, you dream often leaves you hints.
When it is about the past you see:
a back door, or
back window, or
rear view mirror, or
you are looking behind you, or
you are wearing clothes from a bygone era.
Another important clue is: how old you look in the dream.
When you do not recognize certain things, such as boats that are also helicopters, some advancement in technology, it may refer to the future.
Remember, you start the language of symbols by learning single words. Then phrases, then a sentence. The grammar comes later (how to put things in the right order!). so do not expect to be able to make conclusions the first few times you interpret your dreams.
NEXT WEEK (S)
depending on interest
- Do colors have meaning?
- Meaning of death
- Wind Directions and Numbers
- Vehicles
- Questions from readers
21 comments:
Very enlightening. But this is one of those things that have to be read mre than once in order to grasp all its significant aspects.
Duta
Thank you! I realize that this is not so easily grasped when reading this for the first time.
Maybe you can print out the page(s) of the post? That's what I do when I want to think about it some more :)
Hi Jeannette - I replied to your comment on my post on the elections over at my blog - I love this painting of yours and also the photos of the roses and what a wonderful painting of same, you have such a treasure of a talent, aren't you very lucky!!
Voting is over and we await the count with great anticipaton starting at 9am, in about 7 hours. I am off to bed now, we will have the Euro results on Sunday and the locals tomorrow. Sad to say the far-right did very well in Holland - 4 european seats. Sign of the times, fascism thrives in a depression/recession - look at the 30s, hope it doesn't spread.
Catherine.
Neat post Jeanette.
I have this compact dictionary of the Bible which mentions "when the symbol is in natural realm, the interpretation is in the human; e.g., when Joseph dreamed of the sun...(was in reference to his father/mother), When the symbol is in the human realm e.g., Dan 7:8, the interpretation is in the spiritual realm? (just relaying)
I find the dream you had pertaining to the the drive that soured-interesting. Also about the past and future. Water is another one I've found sort of ominous..in mine anyway? Once I had a bad though very detailed dream..I ended up in the water where this shark was after me. I prayed God would send him into confusion then a dolphin came and carried me to shore while the shark was left thrashing around. (right now I'm wrestling w/writing) Anyway, I like your post-
Catherine,
Maybe because we only have been on short visits to Holl. that I can't believe that fascism is growing there. Guess that they haven't learned from the 30ties! Thanks for your visit, and I'll look at your blog in not too long:)
I have heard so many things about dreams, including the ones that just elude our grasp. I seem to have many of those. The interpretation was that it is our spirit selves dreaming and we just can not quite make the connection here.
I do not know, but I have had n=many more of them since I started on my Adventure.
And thank you for the kind comments about my works, your Acrylic feels dreamy and blissful to me.
WOW!! Such a lot to absorb here Jeannette. But I have a question - why is it that some people have dreams almost every night while like myself, I may only have two a year? Is it that I do dream but do not realize or remember it? I have heard dreams come your sub-conciousness, maybe I live a very peaceful type of life that I do not have things bothering me sub-conciously and so do not dream?
Regina,
Wish I could talk to you face to face, so I would know more about how to answer you in a way that is clear to you, LOL.
As a rule the natural is ALWAYS a "shadow" of the spiritual.
The passages you are talking about:
Joseph, yes he was dreaming about sun and moon (mother and father) and stars (brothers).
Daniel 7, 8 - In chapter 8 Daniel gives his dream interpretation -given by God- about what the king dreamed in chap. 7. The beasts (ch.7) represent earthly (not spiritual) kingdoms/countries. Some of it pertains to the kingdoms in the time that the king & Daniel lived. But is is also a "shadow" for what is going to happen in their future (which is described in Revelation).
I am not sure - are you making a division between the human and the spiritual realm?
We people do have earthly bodies, but we are also spirtual beings. So, people are in the physical and the spiritual realm at the same time.
About your dream in the water: my sense is that your dream has more details than you know/remember. Were there other fish, in which direction were you chased, how were the water conditions? clear, murky, hot, cold, comfy temps? etc., etc.
Very interesting dream!
Joey,
My sense is that your Adventure is your road to recovery, and you need all your physical, emotional and spiritual strength to get there (and you're doing a super job, as I might add!), so that could explain that you're not dreaming much right now.
But if something seems to be just beyond your grasp, you know that the wisest man on earth, king Solomon, prayed for wisdom, and it was given to him! He can give you the connections you need to have more understanding (which is probably the "associations" I was talking about in the post).
Joan,
As far as I know everyone dreams. But it seems that when one dreams during one of the REM (rapid eye movements) stages, it is easier to recall them.
So, may be you dream more in the non-rem stages of your sleep. Research also says that depressions and stress influence whether we can retrieve our dreams more easily.
That we dream, means that our brain keeps working, whether we are awake or are asleep.But the filter that we put on our experiences is taken away when we sleep.
(It's the same as when with a digital camera we shoot a pic in the "raw" mode -every part of the pic is still there, while in other settings, the camera processes things and takes certain parts of the pic out).
By the way, sub-conscious and unconscious is the same thing. The last term is a term Freud used.
This is so interesting as I am a frequent dreamer of weird and wonderful dreams. Quite neat to know what some of those associations are.
This is very interesting. I can hardly wait to go to sleep and test your ideas.
I miss remembering my dreams, I used to find it very interesting to interpret them. Still, I might drop by to read more just in case I start to remember once again. =)
I am truly enjoying these dream posts, unfortunately in a period when my dreams are hardly worth remembering, so bare are they. But I'm storing up all the things you say about them and will apply them to the next interesting dream I have. I can't wait. Thanks bunches!
XOX
Irene
Aggie,
Hope this helps you! If you have personal questions, please write me on my email (Below "Leave your comment") in the comment box
Dina,
I like you enthusiam:) But they are not my ideas though - they are a compilation of research and stuff I' ve read and tested.
Sanna,
Thank you dropping by! A question yo might ask yourself is to track when you stopped dreaming. There is probably one event, or a series of events that make it difficult to "retrieve" your dreams. See my answer to Joan.
Irene,
Thank you Irene. Hope will soon start having more elaborate dreams, because you love color, I can see that on your blog, and you're artisticly inclined.
Hey there Jeanette.. I just saw this..and think much overlaps in these kingdoms- both spiritual & the natural as we are in both domains so to speak..so I don't think there's much disagreement..even in interpretation as far as dreams go, as far as I know. It's just difficult on these blog spaces and getting things over without some speculation? Feel free to write me back any time. Have a good day-
Hi there Jeanette, no prob. I enjoyed your post.. but could see there are a few others which I haven't read. Also that I didn't notice any disagreement between what we were saying..or in regard to the interpretation as far as I know..anyway, as dreams do reflect these realms we're involved in- whether it be natural-human, human- spirtitual ect...its probably got more to do with conveying our thoughts in this narrow type avenue..i.e, we aren't face to face as you said...so there may be speculation at times? I've always been a dreamer and can pretty much gather or discern many..but some tend to leave you wondering- hmm? I think it's fascinating. Anyway, I hope that helped. Oh..I enjoy your comments.. but the last was like a doctors visit ha..though I'm glad you like my headers! Hugs-
I need to start writing my dreams down. I always forget them a few hours after waking.
Unless it involves sex. Then I'm always reminded of the dream every time I see that that person.
Sometimes it's sort of awkward.
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