Online Dream Course: Learn about dream symbols and what dreams mean

What Dreams Mean: Understanding Your Personal Dream Symbols

By Laura V. Hyde

Why do your night-time dreams possess certain dream symbols? What do your personal dream symbols mean for you?

Dream Archetypes
There are certain kinds of symbols that appear in your nightly dreams and some of them are Archetypes or Universal symbols. These symbols are recognized and interpreted by people from different cultures. For example, a cross is associated with Christianity by people around the world, and a dove is usually associated with purity and peace. The meaning of the symbol does not change from place to place.

Therefore, at times, your dreams teach you by using symbols with archetypal meaning. Dreaming of a candle, whether you're from the United States or Japan indicates one's inner light and understanding. Archetypes are easier to recognize than other dream symbols because of their universal meaning. Other archetypes include a labyrinth, star, sun, moon, mountain, old man and angel.




Personal Dream Symbols
Personal dream symbols differ from dream archetypes because they have significant meaning for you, depending upon your life experiences and perceptions. There is no such thing as an "objective experience" because we color situations and events with our past experiences. How you see life is going to differ from how your sibling views life, even if you were raised in the same environment. Therefore, everything is subjective. How you view a particular dream symbol may differ from how I see it depending upon our respective experiences and perceptions.

What Do Your Dream Symbols Mean?
Just like dream characters, every dream symbol represents a part of you. In fact, each dream symbol is you. This is true for every person, place, and thing (unless you've programmed your subconscious mind to have a character play him/herself).

If a tiger appears in your dream and you want more clarity on what it represents to you, become the tiger. Imagine feeling the immense physical strength, the ability for seeing with the keenest vision, the capacity for running effortlessly with great speed. Connecting with your dream symbols enables you to deeply understand your dream.

Quite often, one dream symbol stands out in each dream. This dream symbol is a key factor and is worthy of your attention and understanding. Sometimes personal dream symbols set the tone or "theme" for the dream.

If you dreamt of making the bed with your partner, the dream symbols that stand out are "bed" and "partner" and may imply you need to work on some intimacy issues within your relationship.

Tornado Dreams
One of my clients used to have a recurring dream symbol of tornadoes. For years she didn't understand why a tornado would regularly appear in her dreams, then, she started working with them. By doing so, she discovered that a tornado would appear whenever she was unconsciously angry.

Since she had been taught, "Nice girls don't get mad," her anger was repressed. Once she realized what the tornado dream symbol meant, she was able to delve more deeply into herself and access her anger. Over time, my client developed the ability to recognize her anger and express it appropriately. She began to see that a tornado (anger) meant something had gone amiss and that she needed to set healthy boundaries and to speak her truth in relationship.

Working with Your Dreams Symbols
Drawing a dream symbol -- or even talking with it -- may help you understand why it has appeared in your dream. Ask it questions.

I remember having a "discussion" with a bee that showed up in one of my dreams several years ago. Upon waking, I wasn't clear about what the dream meant to me until I sat down, closed my eyes, and began asking it why it was in my dream. After having some inner dialogue with my dream and my soul, I was able to see that the bee was representing a situation that was about to "sting" me if I didn't wake up and see it for what it was. Talking with your dream symbols, sketching them out on paper and stepping into the role of the symbol can help you understand their presence.

Tips for Working with Your Dream Symbols
Ask yourself the following questions...

1) What does the symbol mean to me? 2) What feelings does this symbol trigger within me? 3) What is my perception of the symbol?

Take your time answering each question and write down the responses that feels right to you. If you're unable to identify the meaning of a particular dream symbol, try a dream dictionary as an alternative solution.

Be aware that dream books do not necessarily possess the capacity for accurately interpreting your personal dream symbols. They may give you some additional ideas, but again, your dream symbols are aspects of you.

Sharing Dreams with a 'Dream Buddy'
Sharing your dreams with someone close to you may also assist you in uncovering a symbol's meaning. My husband and I have been sharing dreams for years and as much as I work with dreams, he is more apt to understand my dreams. Why? Because I'm too close to them and since he knows me so well, he is able to see the bigger picture more clearly. So, teaming up with a Dream Buddy can be a wonderful and fun way to work through your dreams. Also, working with another's dreams helps you in better understanding your own.

Your dream symbols paint a portrait of your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, actions and reactions. They help you think in metaphor much like many of our greatest teachers and books. You may wonder, "Why doesn't my dream just spell it out? Why does it have to be so complicated?"

Try to appreciate that much more learning occurs through metaphor and that the subconscious mind work symbolically not literally. A greater depth of wisdom can be imparted through metaphor. Such is the wonder of your nightly dreams.