At breakfast the other day, my husband remarked that he had dreamed something "really weird." I perked up from my pre-caffeine morning sleepiness. His dreams are often nonsensical and silly, and after a stressful week, I was eager to revel in a humorous story.
He dreamed that he walked down a flight of stairs to find that the basement of his childhood home had been beautifully redecorated with new furniture and brightly painted walls. Lying on a plush rug, his deceased mother looked up at him with a loving, contented smile. Nice image, except that her entire body was wrapped in a large soft tortilla, like a burrito, with only her sweet face exposed. We both laughed.
"What did THAT mean?" he asked.
"Well,' I said, giggling, "You love Mexican food and you love your mother, but I'll let you figure out that one."
Maybe his sweet mother's spirit just wanted to hear us laugh.
I forget most of my dreams, especially the nonsensical, fleeting ones, but the more drawn-out, vivid dreams have proven prophetic and significant. At least three childhood dreams were so profound that I remember them sixty years later.
Early on, I understood the significance and power of dreams from biblical stories in a Golden Book my mother read to me. I was in awe of Joseph's prophetic dreams as a young teen wearing a coat of many colors and marveled at his bold interpretations of Pharaoh's dreams as an enslaved man. Joseph predicted famine throughout Egypt after recognizing metaphors and symbols in the ruler's dreams, predictions that compelled the Egyptians to store enough food to save hundreds of lives. I didn't understand symbols, metaphors, and archetypes until much later, but I realized that even my childhood dreams could be symbolic.
As a teen, I encountered the typical, anxiety-ridden dreams of walking through high school halls in my underwear, forgetting to go to class until finals, or fleeing from a tornado or predator by flying up into a blue sky. One night (in my thirties), my child and I dreamed the exact same dream about terrorists invading our home. We compared notes and details--everything matched. No hidden meaning in our mutual dreams, but our joint experience was unforgettable.
Then, during a debilitating illness in 2002, I began having spiritual experiences and profound dreams that I recorded in a journal.
The Power of Symbols and Archetypes in Dreams
As a lifelong reader of literature, poetry, and drama, I value metaphors and archetypes in stories and dreams. Dreams laden with symbols can help us solve problems and ignite our creativity; reveal goals, intentions, and insights; and illuminate what is blocking us from understanding our spiritual selves.
Psychologists claim that we are the best authority for personal dream interpretation, but websites featuring universal archetypes and symbols can also be helpful. As you read the recounts and interpretations of my dreams, you might wonder how I remember so many details.
Like other serious dreamers, I keep a notebook beside my bed and quickly write down the entire dream as soon as I wake up. I fill in the blanks when specific details come to mind throughout the day. I have left a basket of half-folded laundry sitting on the counter while I dash to my office to add thoughts and insights to my notes.
Years later, when I read about a dream in my spiritual journal, I see flashes of images in my mind's eye.* Sometimes, I add to the interpretation because I have new insights as I age into wisdom.
Please read accounts of my dreams and their universal interpretations under the Label "Dreams." Feel free to share your dreams.
--Cynthia
Image of Dream Catcher by Orange Fox from Pixabay
* I have aphantasia, an inability to "see" objects in my mind. Tell me to think of a rose, and I see a quick flash, and then it's gone. I can imagine how a rose looks, with soft curling petals, but the image is fleeting. On the other hand, images freely take residence in my mind when I'm dreaming or have a waking vision.
This blog post also appears on Cynthia--An Ambivalent Mystic
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