A Web of Dreams

I don' know about you, but dreams have always been of huge interest to me.  Maybe, it's because as a child I suffered from night terrors and nightmares.  That's probably where I gained interest in delving into those visions and finding out exactly what was going on in my brain.  Then when my son was born, he followed in my footsteps and not only awakened us with night terrors, but also became a chronic sleepwalker. 

It's fascinating the way our subconscious takes everything that has occurred within a given time frame and dumps it into a dream.  The dreams seldom make sense and usually run together further confusing the meaning.  The idea that our mind comes to terms with our experiences through dreams has been of such interest to me that I wrote an entire novel about it.  In Jamais Vu, Darby struggles with the idea that by tweaking her dreams, she can alter her reality and bring back the dead. 

I thought I'd share with you some of the more common symbols in dreams and provide you with the opportunity to reflect on your own night visions and what they mean.  Hope you enjoy.

1.  Animals – Instinctual actions and emotions.  The personality traits that come to mind when you think of the animal in your dream may be ones that you are repressing.

2.  Blood – Emotional upheaval.  You probably feel like there are people in your life who are black holes of need, who suck the wind from your sails.

3.  Cars – Freedom or being in control.

4.  Death – Death rarely represents someone dying.  It is usually the reflection of some change in your life or the lives of those around you.

5.  Fire – Arousing passion or sexuality.  Fire can also represent a cleansing of emotions.

6.  Naked – Suggests feeling vulnerable or perhaps afraid some action you were trying to hide will be exposed to others.

7.  Ocean – The subconscious itself.  If the water is calm so is your mind, but if its turbulent you may be under stress.

8.  People – usually projections of ourselves and in them we see aspects of our own personalities.

9.  Tree – A symbol of knowledge and learning

10.  Weather – usually the weather in your dream reflects your general emotional state.

Have you ever researched the meaning of a dream?  Have you ever had the same dream more than once?

Dreams play a huge roll in our mind's ability to come to terms with our problems and goals.  Next time you are off in your own dreamland, try to make note of the symbols and see if you can figure out what they mean about your life and the current state of your emotional well-being.

Cheers,

Monique O'Connor James

Author of:  The Keepers, Jamais Vu, The Mulligan Man all available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Coming in Early 2012:  Deja Vu;  Coming Summer 2012:  Becoming Jolie