FONT SIZE : small : Medium : Big : Biggest

The interpretation of dreams and nightmares

Dreams are not easy to interpret. Understanding the complex symbols has got to be a practical rather than theoretical skill. Too many books emphasize the theory and yet hardly mention any practical examples. Indeed many dream dictionaries do not mention any dreams at all. They are of little practical use. This is even true of the book "The interpretation of dreams" by Freud. The dream includes perhaps half a dozen real dreams. Thats hardly a body of knowledge.

Several years ago I began interpreting dreams on the internet and had some minor success. Then as time passed by I changed my methods. Rather than interpreting dreams in some random way I started to collect together dreams which I knew the meaning of (hopefully). I understand my own dreams and realize that there is an important link between dreams and the day before. That dreams capture feelings and emotions and thoughts. The dream mind is a conceptual one. It deals with ideas and thoughts. So the meaning of any dream is likely to be an idea or conceptual emotion.

Now I have a collection of hundreds of dreams. So the page on this site that deals with snakes in dreams is based on many practical examples of snake dreams where I feel that the dream is understood. So in this way we may have some practical knowledge of what a snake means in dreams. It can link to someone who is acting in a snake like way or tricky and slippery problem that you cannot solve.

This dream site then tried to show you how the dream mind works. A dream is a loose collection of dream symbols which on their own make no sense (the stories are often bizarre). Yet dreams show how the mind stores conceptual feelings. The mind uses symbols to store ideas and conceptual feelings. Instead of calling someone deceptive the dream mind links them to snakes and other nasty creatures. It does not understand language so it does not use language. Together the various symbols link to some thought process or feeling inside you. For instance a snake links to deception and slyness. A biting snake may therefore link to a person who is acting deceptively that is ready to strike at you or others.

But dreams are still not easily understood. But we have one strong clue. Dreams nearly always have some trigger in the here and now. They often capture thought processes from yesterday. If something big happens then you can assume that the dreams you have will be about that issue. But still dreams are not easy to understand. The dream symbols may have many meanings. Think of dream symbols like words in a dictionary. You will know that many words have many different meanings. Good dictionaries may list ten or more different usages of various words. It’s the same with dream symbols. Snakes for instance can have lots of different meanings. Then the dream maybe about feelings within you or thoughts about someone close to you or someone who has been on your mind. A dream maybe about long term issues but may easily be about some petty dispute yesterday that is soon forgotten.

Never forget the link between the brain and dreams. Dreams link to ideas and thought processes. So simply try to remember what has been bothering you and what is building up within the mind. Dreams are about new things. They link to new feelings and new thought processes. So look at what’s new. That will help you see what triggered your dream.

It is actually best to study other people’s dreams before really starting to understand your own. See the examples on this site. They give you an insight into how dreams work.

TRY THESE
REAL DREAMS :A collection of real dreams. These are thought to be correctly interpreted. They show the link between dreams and the previous day. Thery show how conceptual thoughts and emotions translate into dream symbols.
DREAM DICTIONARY: A dream dictionary with a difference. A bank of hundreds of hopefully correctly interpreted dreams has been collected. This dictionary explores common dream symbols and shows how they can have several different meanings. The definitions are followed by several real contexts in which the dream symbol links to real emotions.
HOW TO INTERPRET DREAMS : Understanding background knowledge and asking questions.

HOW TO USE DREAM SYMBOLS : How to use dream symbols and spot issues that are likely to cause dreams

NEURAL NETWORKS : Understand the link between dreams symbolism and neuralscience

THETAWAVES : Understanding how the brain works helps to show the link between dreams and the day before

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS : Answering some common questions about the approach that this website takes towards dreams.

SLEEP PHENONOMA
HYPNOPOMPIC AND HYPNOGOGIC IMAGERY :Hallucinations and dreams
HYPNOGOGIC IMAGERY :Example dreams
SLEEPWALKING :Dreams and sleepwalking
SLEEP DEPRIVATION :The TV reality show "shattered"
CIRCADIAN RYTHMS :Dreams and melatonin
LUCID DREAMS

NIGHTMARES
DISTURBING DREAMS : Nightmares.
NIGHTMARES : Childrens Nightmares.
WORLD WAR ONE NIGHTMARES : Dreaming of the front line.
NIGHTMARES : A practical study of nightmares showing what individual nightmares meant
CONFRONTING FEAR IN NIGHTMARES : By Dorian Paul

DREAM SYMBOLISM
DREAM SYMBOLISM :Neural patterns and their relevance to dream interpretation
ANIMALS IN DREAMS :By Dorian Paul
ANIMALS IN DREAMS : Animals in dreams
COLOURS IN DREAMS : By Urban
COLOURS IN DREAMS : By Kafka
Archetypes and myths : Jungs archetypes by Dorian Paul
INDIVIDUATION : understanding the Jungian approach
ARCHETYPES : Jungian archetypes
EVIL ARCHETYPES : By Dorian Paul
Heros and archetypes : by Dorian Paul
DREAMS AND MUSIC : by Dorian Paul
CRUSH DREAMS : The archetype
DREAM DICTIONARY? : Are we influenced by the dream dictionary we use by "Comrade Bart"

PREMONITIONS AND TELEPATHY
PREMONITION STUDY - A personal study showing how dreams can link to the future
HEART TRANSPLANTS - Does the heart have a memory
DAVID MANDELL :Psychic paintings?
OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES :OBE's and psychic phenonoma
Premonitions :places deep into the future?
SCIENCE :Towards an understanding of premonitions
EXPERIMENTS :Premonition studies and false premonitions

DREAMS AND THE MIND
THETAWAVES :Hallucinations and dreams
NEURAL IMAGING:Attempts to prove or disprove the existence of ESP
ROBERT STICKGOLD:Robert Stickgolds studies of dreams and the game Tetris
DREAM DIARIES :What to look out for
THE FUNCTION OF DREAMS Why do we dream
COMMUNICATION SKILLS : Dorian Paul on left and right brain issues?
MEDITATION :Using meditation to expand your mind

OTHER ARTICLES

BIG BROTHER : A study of the Big Brother reality show
THE SPIRITUAL AAPROACH : By Always Dreaming
INSPIRATION : By Dorian Paul
FAITH AND DREAMS : By Weiss
MONTAGUE ULLMAN : Swedish researcher
DREAM FORUMS : Helpful advice
ETHICAL GUIDELINES : By Dorian Paul
FACTS ABOUT DREAMS : Some thoughts

OTHER DREAM INTERPRETORS/WEBSITES

Aisling Ireland : Posts at www.bellaonline.com
TheHermit.info - Your personalized Esoteric and Occult Directory