Thread: Dream interpretation: more about interpreter than about dreamer?

Perhaps there could be reasons to say what you feel the person would benifit from. However, that implies you are attempting to steer anotherr into certain choices or actions. That is not always bad, and some teachers say things that are crafted to affect the student personally. I would personally try to avoid that line of thought. I may not comment that this or that dream may indicate they have no self-esteem, however, I would still give an honest interpritation, with kinder wording.

I think it is impossable to interperate dreams using a so called dream dictionary. Your dreams will use symbolism hand crafted to your mind and experiences. I also feel that 'dream interpretation' can be a almost mystical skill that involves powers much the same as one who is gifted with Tarot card ability. That sounds strange, but that's me.

I am very fundamentalist about this issue, very Virgo analytic. The dreamer's job is to have the dream and record it. The interpreter's job is to interpret it according to their metaphysical foundation. When I interpret a dream, and the dreamer doesn't like it, I can sympathize, but at then end of the day it's irrelevant. No information taken after the initial recording of the dream by the querent is relevant to the dream/interpretation dynamic. Once the interpretation is done--it's done. If the dreamer then wants to go and find other interpreters who will give them a different take, that's entirely up to them.

I believe the Divine Source speaks to the individual through dreams. I also believe it's very beneficial to eavesdrop in on such conversations whenever the Divine Source is speaking. So, it is very possible that the dream can be more important to the interpreter than it is to the dreamer. I've interpreted some dreams that had profound messages from the Divine that the dreamer just blew off because they wanted the dream to mean their boyfriend was coming back to them. Therefore, I do not belong to the school of thought that suggests the individual is the best interpreter of their own dreams. People will make their dreams say whatever they want them to say--I know I do. It is impossible to be objective with one's own dream, in my opinion.

Again, for me, there is the dreamer who has the dream and is the only one who can record the dream, and then there is the interrpreter who interprets the dream, and the interpreter is not there to serve the dreamer's needs but rather to give the best interpretation they possibly can. These are, after all, Divine communications.

A problem with analyzing one’s own dreams lies in a basic theory of the purpose of dreams, namely that they are in general trying to maintain an overall complex balance and interplay of psychological factors, similar in principle with the body’s continuous work to regulate temperature, amount of salt in the system, number of bacteria etc. etc. in order to keep a balance on the physical side of things.

In this approach to dream analysis, just as the ego doesn’t really control bodily functions to any great extent at all, the ego’s viewpoint regarding psychological matters is often like a lighthouse’s narrow beam which only sees generally what it wants to see due to factors related to varying levels of emotional pain and discomfort regarding certain issues.

Following along with this general idea, most of us have probably experienced the situation where a Jane or John Doe just doesn’t realize how her or his behavior is, for example, upsetting to others, and how trying to broach the subject can be very difficult even if one is good friends with the person.

So as EdwardG mentions, when dreams try to tell us something important which we don’t want to hear (which can often be the case), unconscious hesitations, beliefs and resistances are very common which lead to a rejection of an interpretation made by others, and these inner factors affect how we examine our own dreams.

Often this is because of the emotional pain involved with perhaps having to accept less than complimentary viewpoints about our beliefs and behaviors etc.

Resistances can be very strong. For example, a woman who was clearly regarded by others as having frankly stupid prejudices and who was deaf to reasoned argument to a high degree dreamed that she was attending an important social function. The hostess greeted her “How nice that you could come. All your friends are here, and they are waiting for you”. The hostess then led her to a door and opened it, and the dreamer stepped through… into a cowshed.

To you and me, the meaning of this dream is clear, but the dreamer strongly resisted its message, only gradually coming to accept its pointed meaning.

However, most dreams aren’t as obvious as this one, so the danger can then be that the interpreter automatically and unconsciously projects her or his “issues” onto someone else’s dream which they are “interpreting”.

Probably most often, this just complicates things and while some ideas brought forth might seem fascinating or interesting etc., they may have little or nothing to do with the specific issue being dealt with by the dream, so subsequent dreams will only have to reframe the same problem in a different way to help to clarify an underlying subject of concern.

Ironically, dreams aren’t currently used very much at all by most professional therapists or psychiatrists to unravel the client’s problems, but any reputable therapists who do use dreams in their practice have to have been analyzed thoroughly themselves by professionals in order to reduce to reasonable levels any projections of their own which might otherwise be “seen” in the dreams of clients. And an ongoing “update schedule” of their own analysis is very important to maintain.

Of course, no such process is usually present among those online who are interpreting the dreams of others, however well meaning they might be in trying to help others in understanding their dreams.

I agree with sivason about not relying on “dream dictionaries” because, for instance, when looking at one’s own dreams, one can find a convenient “out” by searching through various ones until a convenient interpretation is found for a given image which neutralizes its force in the actual dream.

Also as sivason stated, a dream is very specifically designed for the dreamer alone whereas the majority of “dream dictionary” entries are fixed and general statements that usually don’t fit exactly enough if at all the individual dreamer’s actual situation.

Overall, “dream dictionaries” are also of little value because anyone with limited or no real knowledge on the subject of symbolism and dream interpretation can write one whether online or in book form.

This is similar in a way to the fact that you or I could write a dictionary and call it “Webster’s Dictionary” because this title is no longer copyrighted, but we would automatically take on a special authority by the bogus means of using this title or something like “The Dream Dictionary of the Ancients” etc.

In reality, only books about symbols from all areas of life (art, music, mythology, philosophy, anthropology etc. etc.), as well as direct dream symbols, which have been examined, sorted and described by professionals in their respective fields are of any real help in trying to understand the symbols that appear in dreams (By “professional”, I mean someone who is accredited by a recognized body such as a respected university or psychological association etc.)

That’s because the symbols which appear in myths, stories, songs, poems, art, sculpture etc., etc. all have the same source as symbols in dreams, that is, the psyche itself, and by looking at a given image from all of these various angles, a deeper appreciation of its general meaning can be obtained.

I’m not saying, of course, that we have to become “professors” regarding symbolism, but only that, for example, we should have high quality tools at our disposal and know how to use them thoroughly, something like a person whose hobby is very good quality woodworking at home but he or she wouldn’t start a professional furniture-making business.

I also agree with sivason that it’s best not to provide too much direct “advice” and that any comments should be polite and restrained, just as if you were sitting directly opposite a stranger who you don’t really know and trying to comment on a personal issue that they had brought up while in an airport café or some other chance location.

The thoughts touched on by sivason and EdwardG linked to mystical skill and a Divine Source perhaps speak to the view that dream interpretation is not just a “science” but an intuitive art as well.

Anyway, these are just a few additional ideas made to an interesting discussion.

Athanor, Thank you very much for your thorough and thoughtful response. I find a lot of what you said very persuasive, and will contemplate it further. Thank you!