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by
Aletheia Luna
July 10,
2021
from
LonerWolf Website
Whimsical, wonderful, bizarre, horrifying, embarrassing, joyous,
uncanny... welcome to the mysterium tremendum - or
awe-inspiring mystery - of
the dream world.
Most of us go to sleep at night and totally take our dreams for
granted.
Perhaps we dream of a place from childhood, have a strange
nightmare, or some other garden variety dream that keeps
re-emerging. But we quickly brush it aside upon waking and continue
with our day.
But dreams, in all of their strangeness, are a powerful
doorway to the Soul.
If you're on a path
of self-growth, spiritual development, or simply want to know
more about who you are, don't ignore your dreams.
Dream work is one of the most rewarding and profound inner work
practices out there.
And I'm here to walk
you through it, step-by-step.
What is Dream
Work?
Dream work is the practice of unpacking and deciphering the meaning
of your dreams for the purpose of gaining more self-awareness,
spiritual growth, and life direction.
Dreams themselves have been interpreted for thousands of years.
But in recent times,
dream work has been popularized and further developed by figures
such as psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.
Dream Work & Spiritual Awakening
In the words of German poet Friedrich Hebbel,
Dreams are the best
evidence that we are not as firmly shut in our skins as we
believe.
Dreams work helps us to
take a step outside of the small and constricted
ego self (or false self) and access
a larger realm of awareness and understanding.
As such, they can be
powerful allies on the
spiritual awakening journey.
Intense and vivid
dreams can even be a sign that a new level of involution (or
internal evolution) is about to take place.
And throughout our life journeys, our dreams can guide, warn,
and instruct us on the best paths to take.
3 Different
Types of Dreams
When thinking about paying more attention to your dreams, it's
crucial to understand that there are different types of dreams - and
not all of them offer guidance.
As you journey into the magical world of dream work, you'll discover
that there are:
-
Decompression
dreams - a weird term, yes.
But decompression
dreams are essentially just dreams that your brain generates
to digest and work through what it has perceived during the
previous day.
Think of these
types of dreams as your brain trying to decompress and
unwind.
Such dreams have
little to no deeper value.
-
Psyche dreams
- these are dreams that are generated by your internal
landscape (or psyche) and they tend to be charged with some
kind of emotion.
For instance,
after having a psyche dream, you might feel excited, scared,
unnerved, upset, nostalgic, sexually aroused, or any other
kind of emotion.
When you have a
psyche dream, you're being called to understand something or
work a particular issue out.
-
Sacred dreams
- these types of dreams are rare and might only occur a
handful of times during your life.
When we have a
sacred dream, there is a feeling that it is "realer than
real life."
Such dreams are
said to come from the Collective Unconscious or the
Akashic Realm and be direct
revelations from your Soul.
In dream work, you'll
mostly be dealing with psyche dreams - although when a sacred dream
does come along, you'll most certainly want to unpack that!
Dream Work
Approaches
There are also three different ways that psychologists, inner
journeyers, and dream interpreters approach dream work.
These approaches are:
-
Seeing dreams
objectively
-
Seeing dreams
subjectively
-
Seeing dreams
archetypally
Don't be intimidated by
these approaches.
Let me break them down
for you plain and simple:
Objective dream
work is when we see dreams as like a secret x-ray that
reveals to us hidden truths about our waking lives. In this
approach, our dreams point to the reality about external events,
people, and situations. (Thanks Sigmund Freud!)
Subjective dream work does the opposite of the objective
approach, and sees our dreams as pointing back to ourselves.
Every person, figure, object, and situation in a dream is
thought to represent a part of the ego or self. (Thanks Carl
Jung!)
Finally, archetypal dream work builds off the subjective
approach in that it sees the contents of a dream as being part
of the self.
But it also brings in
collective patterns, symbols, and myths known as archetypes.
An archetypal dream
is seen to incorporate universal patterns such as
themes of
rebirth, quests, and universal motifs like the Mother,
Father, Magician, Hero, Lover, etc.
As the dream worker, you
can choose which one of these approaches you like the best.
In fact, you might even agree with all approaches - and if that's
the case, you may choose to use them whenever they feel appropriate.
How to
Practice Dream Work - 9 Paths
Dreamwork
creates a bridge
between our
conscious, everyday life
and the sacred
inner world of symbols.
Through working
with these images
we are nourished
by their depth
of meaning and
purpose.
Llewellyn
Vaughan-Lee
You've heard it before:
we spend one third
of our lives sleeping.
Therefore, it makes sense
to use our dream life as a rich and rewarding gateway to access a
greater sense of wholeness.
Here are some different approaches to dream work that you might like
to experiment with:
1.
Understand what type of dream you've had + choose which approach
you'll use
As I explained above, there are three types of dreams and three
approaches to dream work.
Reflect on whether
you've had a decompression, psyche, or sacred dream. Then, think
about what type of approach (objective, subjective, archetypal)
you'd like to make use of to explore the dream.
If you need help
deciding, you can always enlist the help of a dream working
professional (i.e., a Jungian psychotherapist).
2. Dedicate a
journal to your dream work
You cannot effectively dream work without a journal.
So go find one.
Dedicate this journal to recording and decrypting your dreams.
You can buy a blank one or a pre-formatted one.
Here are a few dream journal possibilities:
3. No, you
don't need a dream symbol book
Many people wonder whether they need to buy a book full of dream
symbols to effectively do dream work.
My response is that
no, you don't need to purchase one of these books (and there are
many)!
Why? My answer is that,
dreams are
extremely personal and the symbology within them is unique
to your own psyche.
Unless you've had a
sacred dream that has a more archetypal quality, it's not worth
buying a dream symbol book. They're just not accurate!
For instance, one person's experience of a dog might be totally
different from another's experience.
You might have
been bitten by a dog when you were little and will associate
the dog with danger.
I might have
grown up being smothered with dog love - and will associate
it with safety. Same symbol, two totally different
possibilities.
Do you see why buying
a book with generalized meanings is pointless?
If you do want to buy a book, get a book like the
Signs & Symbols Sourcebook
which I personally own and enjoy reading through.
A general symbols book such as this will help you to understand
the archetypal meaning behind collective symbols - and how they
might shed light on some of your sacred dreams. (Plus you'll
feel like a witch or wizard flipping through it!)
4.
Technique #1 - Re-enact of the dream
The first dream work technique is re-enacting a part of the
dream in daily life.
For example, if you dreamt of walking down a certain street, go
to that street and walk down it in the same manner as your dream
character. Repeating parts of your dream in waking life can
spark amazing epiphanies that you'd never have otherwise.
Certainly, this dream work technique is not always practical or
possible (or ethical). You wouldn't want to go slap your boss in
the face if you dreamt of that - or do something even worse.
So be smart and mindful. This technique is particularly helpful
with recurring dreams that you struggle to decipher.
5.
Technique #2 - Create a psychodrama
If you have a close and helpful bunch of friends or family
members, you'll benefit from this dream work technique.
The goal is to recreate the dream, similar to the previous
technique. But this time, you'll be assigning roles to your
friends/family members.
Make sure that you detail and explain each dream character's
personality and actions clearly so that your friends or family
members can stay true to the dream (and not introduce their own
theatrical variations).
You'll play the main role. Let everyone sink into their dream
character and let the story play out.
Reflect on what feelings, thoughts, and epiphanies arise. Ask
your friends/family members about their own perspective (but
ultimately, it's your dream so you have the last say - but be
open to different ideas).
This technique can trigger sudden realizations and discoveries.
6.
Technique #3 - Word association
Using your dream journal, note down all the symbols in your
dream. Next to each symbol, write a list of spontaneous
associations that you have - don't think about it too much!
Here's an example:
Mountain: large,
majestic, mother, nurturing, protection, milk, danger
Cave: void, shadow, hidden, unknown, lost, scared
Lion: strong, brave, father, angry, teeth, shout, yellow,
leo
Then, reflect on the
associations you've made with the symbols. What stories or
patterns emerge?
In the above example, we might interpret that the dream is about
one's mother and father - perhaps a dream from the inner child -
about the conflicting feelings of love and fear.
Keep this practice simple and define the top three to five
symbols in your dream, then word associate them. Trust your
intuition and let your pen flow!
7.
Technique #4 - Journey back into the dream
Through visualization, close your eyes and imagine entering the
dream again.
This dream work technique is best done shortly after waking up
because your mind is still in a fluid and hypnogogic state.
With your half-awake mind, imagine asking your dream character a
question to help unravel the dream's meaning.
For instance, you might ask,
"When you said
___ what did you mean?" or "Why did you do ___?"
Make sure the dream
character stays true to their dream personality, attitude,
agenda, etc. aka. don't try to change them!
Journal about what your dream characters say afterward.
8.
Technique #5 - Tarot and oracle cards
If you're familiar with how to use the tarot system or have an
oracle deck you like using, incorporate it into your dream work!
Here's a simple three-card spread:
What triggered
this dream?
What is this dream trying to tell me?
How can I apply the advice within this dream?
You can also focus on
specific dream characters and pull a card for them.
You might choose to
ask a question such as,
"Who or what does
this dream symbol represent?"
"Is there a
specific message I'm meant to receive?"
Journal about your
findings.
Tarot and oracle cards you might like to check out for dream
work include:
The Mystical Dream Tarot
Dreamkeepers Tarot
The Shaman's Dream Oracle
9. Final
advice: keep a relaxed and fluid mind
In the words of Steve Price and David Haynes in
their book
Dreamworks,
Dreamwork has its best results when we are open to the
experience and relaxed, yet have not turned it into another task
to be accomplished.
When we step into the left, yang, or task-oriented mind, dream
work can become confusing, frustrating, and ultimately
fruitless.
To enjoy and reap the benefits of this awe-inspiring inner work
practice, you need to keep a yin and open mind.
Carry the dream with
you, pay attention
to synchronicity, and let it
work its magic in the background.
The answer won't always
be obvious and that's okay.
Sometimes the answer is
meant to be revealed across a series of months or even years! I know
this has happened to me, and it will almost certainly happen with
you.
Dreams are one of the main ways your Soul speaks to and guides you.
So approach them with
gentleness, reverence, and an open mind - this is the key to
powerful dream work.
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