dream interpretation 101 an introduction
When I was a child, I used to have this recurring dream from time to time of a monster that chased me around this bush endlessly. The first couple of times I had this dream, I woke up afraid. Overtime, I woke up to the realization that I’ve been having the same dream. Then I asked myself, “I wonder what that dream means?” Sound familiar? If you’ve ever experienced a nightmare, dreamt of bizarre events, or found yourself engaged in activities that you wouldn’t do in a million years, you’ve probably thought to yourself at least once, “I wonder what THAT dream meant!” Studying dream interpretation helps to transform a wacky dream experience into one that holds insight and refreshing perspective. As a student and teacher at the School of Metaphysics for the past five years, I’ve learned two general guidelines with dream interpretation: 1. Every dream is about the dreamer. 2. Every person, place, and thing in a dream represents a part or aspect of the dreamer. Here’s an example that clearly shows these two dream interpretation guidelines at work. When I first started my studies in dream interpretation, I had recurring dreams about my car crashing, breaking down, driving off of highways, and getting flat tires. I even had a dream that a polar bear was jumping up and down on the hood of my car! I asked my teacher what all these car dreams meant. He looked at me and said, “You need to stop working yourself to the ground and learn how to take care of yourself better!” He was right. At the time, I was working two full-time jobs around the clock. During the day, I worked as a department manager for a music store. At night, I worked as a night clerk for a gas station across town. I had been working like this for about three months and was feeling highly fatigued. He told me that cars in a dream represented the physical body. Just as we use cars to get around from place to place, our mind uses the body as a vehicle to gain experience and learning. His dream interpretation was right on the money. After we discussed this for a while, I decided to quit my job as a gas station clerk to focus on getting the rest I needed. Surprisingly, my dreams began to change! I had a series of dreams of seeing my car parked in the garage. I observed teams of auto mechanics giving my car oil changes, tune-ups, and air in each of its tires. My car even got washed! I felt both energy and sanity return to me as I got the rest I needed. Studying dream interpretation was a Godsend. This gave me first-hand experience that dreams were more than synapses randomly firing off in my brain when I slept. As I continued to study dream interpretation, I had experience after experience of seeing how dreams related to how I was thinking, feeling, and acting the previous day. Dream interpretation served as a welcome feedback system that I could count on every time I remembered a dream. You maybe wondering what happened to that dream monster that kept chasing me. One night, I realized that I was having that same dream while I was dreaming. So in the midst of being chased, I stopped and turned around to face the monster. He stopped to look at me and said, “I was wondering when you were going to stop running away from me.” With a goofy grin on his face, he reached out his hand to give me something and said, “You forgot this. All I wanted to do was give it back.” I never had that dream again. Although I can’t remember what he gave me, the dream itself acts as a great example of how all people can benefit from learning dream interpretation. Dream interpretation gives all of us an opportunity to turn around and look at ourselves, examine our lives, and make adjustments as needed. In the case of the monster dream, things weren’t as scary as I was making them out to be as a child. I just needed to be willing to look a little closer. I can imagine now what would have happened if I didn’t study dream interpretation. I would have most likely continued to push myself to make more money to pay off debt. Nevertheless, all the money in the world would be for nothing if I ended up falling asleep at the wheel, never the wake up again. Now, I wake up everyday, interpret the dreams I remember, and witness first-hand the numerous “Ah ha!” moments my students have when they study dream interpretation. All who are willing to turn around and look at themselves can learn dream interpretation. Do you remember your dreams? Matt Valois has studied and taught at the School of Metaphysics for six years. In addition to giving numerous presentations on dream interpretation, he was also a contributing writer and editor of “The Moon’s Effect on Dreams.” He continues his work in dream interpretation through working closely with the School of Metaphysics’s Global Lucid Dreaming Experiments and publishing dream tips and articles at his website Dream Interpretation 101.
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