Dreams - Working with Dreams : Part Two

Connections Among Dreams

Dreams often are connected to each other in their meanings. Look for similar patterns or themes across your dreams. Are your dreams progressing or changing somehow over time? This might indicate something about YOU that is changing over time. Pay particular attention to recurring dreams since these are important! They point to a persistent theme or issue in your life. They may indicate some "unfinished business" in your life. How are the recurring dreams similar to each other? Different? Are they changing over time? What might this say about how you are changing?

Think Unusual
Remember that the unconscious thinking that affects a dream is unusual and illogical by conscious standards. Things can mean exactly the opposite of what they seem. Something you FEAR in the dream may be something you unconsciously wish for. Things may contradict each other, which suggests a conflict in which you have contradictory feelings about something.

Try EXAGGERATING some important aspect of the dream. In your mind, in writing, or in a dream enactment, amplify the feeling, action, or situation in the dream. Take it to the limit. Make it as intense as it could be. Where does this take you?

Try REVERSING the important elements in the dream. Turn them into the opposite feelings, behaviors, or characteristics. Does this ring any bells? Does it change the meaning of the dream?

The Problem and Its Solution
A dream may be showing you a problem or issue that needs to be resolved. It may be showing you how you are reacting to the problem. It may even be suggesting a solution. For each dream, ask yourself, "What is the problem? How am I reacting to it? Is the dream suggesting a solution?"

Anxiety and Fear
Anxiety in a dream usually indicates a point where important, perhaps threatening, ideas are surfacing from the unconscious. The anxiety is a signal. Pay close attention to these anxiety dreams. Nightmares that wake you up indicate the surfacing of particularly powerful material. In these cases, the mind can only think of one way to deal with the situation - ESCAPE!

Where are you?
You may be able to find yourself in various places in the dream. The most obvious place is the "dream-ego," as Jung called it. This dream-ego is the person who is having the experiences that make up the dream. Usually the dream-ego does not know he/she is dreaming, unless it is a lucid dream.

Examine this dream-ego carefully. Even though you may experience this ego as yourself, the person in the dream may be behaving and feeling in very different ways than you normally would. Compare yourself to this person in the dream. How are you the same? Different? Is this person in the dream some hidden part of you - some part you wish for, need, or fear?

Other people in the dream may represent important people in your life - how they actually are, how you wish them to be, how you fear they might be.

Or, other figures in the dream may represent hidden parts of yourself - the way you wish you could be, the way you used to be, parts you try to deny, your hidden potentials, something that is missing in your personality etc. Some dream researchers even believe that everything in the dream - every person, object, and event - represents a hidden part of you.

Jung would say that you should always look for what the dream is trying to teach you about your SPIRITUAL self.

Myth
Jung would say that every dream has its roots in mythology. Your dream - and the situations in your life that it depicts - are a reliving of issues that are universal to all humans. So find a good book on mythology. Locate a story that contains people or events similar to those in your dream. The mythical story will give you insights into your dream and how it relates to universal human struggles and triumphs.

Impasse
At some point in working on a dream you will get stuck. This is an impasse, a barrier. It means you have to take a different perspective on the dream. You have to reorganize your thinking. Immerse yourself into that stuckness. Stick with it and eventually you will be able to break through to a new level of understanding. If you're REALLY stuck and frustrated, you may have to set the dream aside and come back to it later. Let it percolate in the back of your mind. Look at other dreams. They may help you make that breakthrough.

Don't underestimate how "deep" a dream may be, even if it seems silly or simple. When you think that you are all finished working with a dream, think again. There is probably more there!

A Little Help from Your Friends
It often helps quite a bit to get someone else's perspective on your dream. Tell your dream to a friend or family member, someone who knows you pretty well. With their help, try using some of the dream techniques described in these pages. Here are some other tips:

GROUP DREAMING: In the presence of one or several friends (or when working with fellow dream explorers), close your eyes and describe your dream in the first person and in the present tense. Tell it, from beginning to end, as if it's a story. With their eyes also closed, everyone quietly listens to your dream and tries to imagine it in their mind as you describe it. Afterwards, they describe to you the reactions they had to your dream.
"IF THIS WERE MY DREAM..." - As a general rule, you can only make guesses about what someone else's dream means. And it's quite easy for you to project your own personal meanings into it. Try using your own personal reactions to help your friend. What if your friend's dream WAS your dream! What would you think and feel about it? What would you be thinking and feeling if you were the people inside the dream? Tell your friend about your personal reactions. It might help your friend understand his or her dream.

Your Dream, You
Remember that your dream was created by your mind. Other people can help you explore it, but that's all. Listen to their feedback, take what makes sense, and leave the rest. Ultimately, YOU are the expert on what your dream means.

The Dream Collage
In a group with fellow dreamers, take turns creating a dream collage. On a chalkboard or on a large posterboard, jot down words or phrases about your dreams. Feel free to be creative in how you record these ideas. Pick an interesting spot for each item. Add arrows, boxes, patterns, drawings, doodles, whatever you like. Be as spontaneous as possible. The group can suggest ideas about things to add to the collage. Some items that you can add to the collage might include:

the people, places, animals, objects in your dream
the important activities, actions, or events in your dreams
the emotions expressed in your dreams
quotes from things said in the dream
how you would describe the dream ego
the names of important people in your life
important past or current events in your life

Afterwards, the dreamer and the group can step back to take a look at the completed collage. Do any interesting patterns emerge? Is there meaning to how the different items are placed next to, above, below each other? What is written large, small, faintly, boldly? Do there seem to be distinct sections, centers, boundaries in the collage?

[Note: When using any of these techniques, if something makes you too uncomfortable, then stop. ]

- John Suler, Ph.D.