Dream Visions

Using the Wisdom of Dreams for Inner Healing

According to the brilliant psychotherapist, Carl Jung, dreams are one way that our inner selves communicate with us through images. All of us can gain from the wisdom imparted to us in our dreams, but not all of us know how.

Such wisdom, while tremendously valuable and healing, can be difficult for most of us to interpret for ourselves. Jung pioneered the art of interpreting a person’s dreams, and the images used in artistic expressions, to facilitate emotional healing and mental wellness.

“In each of us there is another whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves. When, therefore, we find ourselves in a difficult situation to which there is no solution, he can sometimes kindle a light that radically alters our attitude-the very attitude that led us into the difficult situation.” – C.G. Jung, Civilization in Transition

Jung trained other psychotherapists to use his methods, and through his writing, he made his system accessible to millions. Jung wrote about his own dreams as well as those of his patients. He encouraged patients to express their inner lives in art.

Jung himself used the form of the mandala, or circle, to work with his dreamlike inner images. He encouraged his students and patients to do so as well, and he wrote eloquently of the value of such images in bringing the human being into mental and emotional maturity and wholeness.

Exploring one’s inner world via Jungian methods is best done in jungian psychotherapy, where one explores one’s inner world with the help of a Jungian therapist who has not only trained in Jungian therapy but also experienced it as a client. Jung’s teachings have inspired millions over the years, and Jungian psychotherapy has helped many people achieve inner healing and emotional growth.

There are Jungian therapists in virtually every major city worldwide. Some cities also have C.G. Jung Centers which host educational lectures and often have bookstores featuring the work of Jung, his students, and other Jungian therapists.

For more information on Jungian therapy and how it can help you, if you are in the New York City area, call Douglas Tompkins, M.Div., L.P., NCPsyA, a Jungian analyst practicing in NYC (mid-town Manhattan). For a consultation, contact him by phone at 212-504-0887 or email him at dgtompkins@nyjungian.com.

How to Interpret Career-Related Dreams

Dreams often guide us into new directions, but you have to listen to them. And you have to take action.

People often dream of new careers. Have you ever found yourself doing work in a dream that you have never done in real life? That could be a clue (or a warning, if it was something you did not like).

Most often, though, the direction is more subtle. You may awaken with a feeling of pride or achievement, a sense that something good awaits you, or just a vague feeling of hope or happiness. It is up to you to decide how to interpret those feelings.

So even if you have never dreamed of, for example, becoming a Registered Tax Return Preparer, that may still be that career of your dreams. It helps to be open to pursuing new ideas, and now is a great time to learn more about the possibilities.

After all, everyone has to file income taxes, and as rules and returns become more complex, more good tax preparers are needed every year. Even if you just want a part-time job during tax season, becoming a paid tax preparer may be just the answer to your dreams.

New IRS requirements for paid tax preparers took effect in January 2011. So even if you have been a paid tax preparer in the past, you will have to study to pass the new IRS tax preparer exams. But there are some great courses and guides that help you prepare for the tax preparer exam.

And once you have your tax preparer certification, you are ready for a career of getting paid for helping people, a career you can take pride in. It could very well be the career of your dreams.

So whatever you dream of, always be open to the possibilities. You may find an even bigger dream that will surprise and reward you, like being a registered tax preparer.

Meanings and Close Analysis of Symbols Behind Dreams

Meanings and Close Analysis of the Symbols in Dreams

By Johnnie J. Lim

In addition to the article I posted in the web entitled “Dream Interpretations”, I would like to share this knowledge based on my special gift to foresee the meanings behind the symbols people see in dreams.

Theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung have already tried to explain why people dream. But the meaning behind the objects seen in dreams are still ambiguous to those who experience amazing dreams while sleeping. The following are my own analysis of the meaning behind the symbols one sees in dreams:

1. Dreaming of a crocodile is not good. Whether you only see this reptile on a distance or closer, you  should be cautious as soon as you wake, because someone, an enemy,  is planning to hurt or harm you. This is a warning to allow you to think of what to do with the incoming danger. The intensity of the situation is seen if the crocodile bites you in that dream. Continue reading Meanings and Close Analysis of Symbols Behind Dreams…

Dream Interpretation 101 – Understanding Precognitive Dreams

When we experience the dream state, the attention moves into the subconscious mind – a vast inner world where things that seem impossible become possible Unlike our experiences in waking life, these inner level experiences are not bound by physical space or time.

Consequently, people who have passed away can come and visit loved ones through dreams, dreamers can dream of past life experiences, while others can experience precognitive dreams.

Precognitive dreams are inner level experience in which the dreamer dreams of future probabilities. While it might seem impossible, the experience of seeing probabilities is an everyday occurrence.

Avid sports enthusiasts can sometimes tell from the release of a basketball shot the probability of the shot going through the basket. Others can tell the probably of a golf putt going into the hole after watching it’s direction for a couple of seconds. We can even see future probabilities of a student passing an exam based on how much or how little they studied.

Sometimes the outcomes differ from our expectations. Nevertheless, many times the outcomes match our expectations, verifying our ability to glimpse future probabilities. Have you ever had the experience of knowing what someone’s going to say before they say it, or even finishing someone else’s sentence before you speak it?

Telepathy is an intuitive capability much like precognitive dreams. Here are some key things to consider with precognitive dreams. Continue reading Dream Interpretation 101 – Understanding Precognitive Dreams…

Dream Interpretation the Old Fashioned Way

I remember sitting on my grandma’s big fluffy bed, watching her write in a faded, worn out notebook; squenched, tiny faded lips and her eyes shut tight, remembering a dream she had dreamed the night before.

“What are you doing, Grandma?”

“Quiet child! I’m going back to the dream world for just a few minutes. Interpreting my dream, see?”

Sitting as quietly as any kid could, breathlessly anticipating the moment she would open her eyes and smile heavenward, “Ahhh. I understand. Thank you.” A few moments more of furtive scribbling and then we would begin our day together.

At the time, the little ritual felt sacred. I could not ask her about her private dreams, or how she knew how to interpret them, but my curiosity for such matter was overwhelming at times. As the years passed and I grew a little older, I also became bolder if not wiser.

“Grandma, I had a dream last night,” I tossed out, ever so matter-of-factly one day. The lift in her little wrinkled eyes told me even then that she was on to me, but she indulged my cleverness.

“You did? Tell me all about it. I interpret dreams, you know,” she smiled, knowing full well I already knew this. I would tell her my dream with all the drama and gusto I could muster, and she quickly broke it down. Continue reading Dream Interpretation the Old Fashioned Way…

Life is But a Dream – Find Your Dream’s Real Meaning

Our fascination with dreams is as old as human identity. Dreams represent a world existing on another level of consciousness, common to all, yet still completely individual. Dreams reflect one’s most personal thoughts and feelings, often so private, they are hardly known even to the dreamer.

The study of dreams crosses many disciplines: psychology, neurology, sleep science, symbology. Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams brought the study of dreams into the world of mainstream scientific examination. Carl Jung followed with another perspective on dreams and symbols, reinforcing the acceptance of the concept that our dream state is a meaningful reflection of our waking psyche. While scientists and psychologists have somewhat recently come to this understanding of the dream connection between the conscious and the unconscious mind, psychics have always considered dreams to be a means of communication between metaphysical worlds, linking the past to the future, the known to the unknown, or the real to the unreal.

The soul in sleep gives proof of its divine nature; for when free and disengaged from the body, it has a foresight of things to come.
- Cicero

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Sleep is as essential to our health as food and water. Lack of sleep can cause serious physical and mental problems, and severe sleep deprivation can even lead to death. The scientific study of sleep has made great advances with the use of new technologies that can record and measure brain activity. Brain waves change dramatically while we sleep, revealing much about the physical nature of this state.

The body at rest restores its energy and prepares for the next day’s activities. This rest and rejuvenation is also working on the brain, providing the mental strength we need to cope with stress, handle emotions, and use our mental capacities fully.

Continue reading Life is But a Dream – Find Your Dream’s Real Meaning…

Dreams Interpretation

Dream Interpretation

Dreams are real life….

Every time when we dream of images, people who are close to us or strangers at time, building, etc. that puzzle and amaze us. Ever wonder why we dream. It is no accident that one third of our lives spend in sleep and that much of this in dreams sleep. This is a major part of our lives and it is clear that sleep is not just about giving body much needed time to relax, rest but about providing us with the opportunity to dream.

Dreaming has many purposes:

Ø  To clarify problems

Ø  To reveal true feelings about others

Ø  To take pressure off when times are tough

Ø  To develop creativity

Ø  To rehears future success

Recalling Dreams

Ø  If you have difficulty in recalling your dreams, write down your mood on waking and any special thing that might happen in your dream which you can remember.

Ø  Write yourself a note before you go for sleep:”Tonight I will remember a dream”.

How to interpret our Dream: People in our life

Each of us has a set of personal symbols that grow out of our life experiences. The essence of our dreams largely arises from these unique personal experiences.

{A dream of a teacher may indicate new learning for you.}

Continue reading Dreams Interpretation…

Carl Jung on Dreams

Another expert in the field of dreams and dream interpretation was Carl Jung. Jung studied under the tutelage of Sigmund Freud. Their differing views on dreams and dream interpretations led to a permanent rift that led them to go their separate ways.

Like Freud, Jung believed in the existence of the unconscious. However, he didn’t see the unconscious as animalistic, instinctual, and sexual; he saw it as more spiritual. Dreams were a way of communicating and acquainting ourselves with the unconscious.

To Jung, dreams were not attempts to conceal our true feelings from the waking mind; they were a window to our unconscious.
They served to guide the waking self to achieve wholeness. 

To Jung, dreams offered a solution to a problem we are facing in our waking life. Jung viewed the ego as one’s sense of self and how we portray ourselves to the world. 

Part of Jung’s theory was that all things can be viewed as paired opposites (i.e. good/evil, male/female, or love/hate). And thus working in opposition to the ego, is the “counter-ego” or what he referred to as the shadow.

The shadow represents rejected aspects of yourself that you do not wish to acknowledge. It is considered an aspect of yourself which is somewhat more primitive, uncultured, and awkward.

Jung said, “Dreams are the main source of all of our knowledge about symbolism.” He meant that the messages you receive from your dreams are expressed symbolically and must be interpreted to find their true meanings.

In his writings, Jung says that rarely do the symbols in dreams have just one meaning. And when interpreting the messages in your dreams, he suggests going with your first hunch, relying on your intuitive abilities, before applying more rational methods of dream interpretation.

What Are Your Car Dreams Trying to Tell You?

Image by mliu92 via Flickr

Car dreams can be scary. And they can have a lot of meanings. For example, if you are obsessed with getting a new car, you may dream about them at night. That much is obvious.

But some automobile dreams are puzzling. What caused them is not clear, and you may start thinking that they are premonitions of disaster. But their meaning may not be so simple.

Some people dream of car crashes. Those could be warnings. But if there has been a rash of spectacular wrecks on TV news, we may write off the whole idea. Still it is good to be extra careful when driving anytime.

Dreaming of a malfunctioning car, though, may have very different meanings: metaphor for the body, business or relationships; automobile malfunctions not yet consciously noticed, or…? Continue reading What Are Your Car Dreams Trying to Tell You?…

Sigmund Freud on Dreams, Part 1

The Interpretation of Dreams, Cover via Amazon

Sigmund Freud actually called dreams the “royal road to the unconscious.” That statement will probably remain true in psychology forever.

Freud’s classic book, The Interpretation of Dreams, includes some of his finest work. Freud wrote that every dream is a wish fulfillment. He continued to believe that theory to the end, even though he gave up his initial idea that all dreams have a sexual content.

For Freud, the concept of wish fulfillment did not necessarily mean that the dream indicated that the dreamer was seeking pleasure. He said that the dreamer could just as well have a wish to be punished. Nevertheless, this idea of a “secret” wish being masked by a dream remains central to classical Freudian psychoanalysis.

Freud said,

“Dreams are not comparable to the spontaneous sounds made by a musical instrument struck rather by some external force than by the hand of a performer; they are not meaningless, not absurd, they do not imply that one portion of our stockpile of ideas sleeps while another begins to awaken. Dreams are a completely valid psychological phenomenon, specifically the fulfillment of wishes. They can be classified in the continuity of comprehensible waking mental states; they are constructed through highly complicated intellectual activity.”

After Freud noticed how allowing his patients to freely associate ideas with whatever came to mind, he began to seriously explore what he called spontaneous abreaction. Freud himself suffered bouts of deep anxiety, and it was partly this that led him to explore the connection between association of ideas and dreams.

In 1897 Freud wrote this to his friend, Wilhelm Fliess:

“No matter what I start with, I always find myself back again with the neuroses and the psychical apparatus. Inside me there is a seething ferment, and I am only waiting for the next surge forward. I have felt impelled to start writing about dreams, with which I feel on firm ground.”