Method of interpretation

When it comes to non-lucid dreams, how do you guys go about interpreting your dreams?

I have recently changed the way I view my non-lucid dreams. I think I have landed on a more down to earth way of looking at symbols in my dreams.
I had a hard time reaching this point, because my dreams have always reminded me more of fairytales rather than dreams that other people tell me they have.
Like, I dream in a storyline most of the time. It often involves castles, dragons (yeah :banana: ) and pretty much any fairytale-creature you can think of.
And sci-fi topics.

So.. I got too caught up in the entertainment of the story of the dreams rather than looking at the symbols :D

Now I have started to divide my dreams into sections, and look for symbols in each section, and after that, look for the common theme of all sections.
And I now tend to look more for a logical meaning to the symbol.. rather than go "yeah.. I dreamt of dragons. how cool" :D

I would however like to get even more.. how do I put it.. efficient at breaking down the symbols into their meaning... So .. any good suggestions on how to dig down deeper into my dreams, and
find the not-so-fairylike-meanings to them? :)

Wow your dreams do sound really awesome! Lately mine have been really weird and cartoonish and not very entertaining at all.

A couple of things you should ask yourself about various dream symbols -

Does any aspect of it remind me of anything? From waking life, from old dreams, from books/movies - anything at all.

Assume someone has never heard of it before (whatever the symbol may be) - how would you describe it to them? Ie, what exactly IS a dragon (or whatever it may be)?

Does it call to mind any associations with words or phrases that might help explain its meaning?

And ask yourself how it made you feel and why.

Also be sure to scribble down any important events happening in your life at the time - just notations like "started the new job and the boss is a real jerk, not sure I can deal" or whatever. And every so often go back and read journal entries form weeks or months ago - read several of them in a row and think of them as relating to each other. Often after a little time has passed you're capable of seeing patterns you didn't notice at the time.

Ok, guess that's about all I got.

**EDIT

No - no it's not.

Here's a nice little trick - what I call an imaginal dialogue - it's a way of accessing different parts of your mind and working around blind spots you might have when you're being you.

Think of somebody you know who's really smart and open-minded, and would be good at interpreting your dreams. It could be somebody you know, somebody you used to know, or even somebody you're only familiar with from TV or movies or books - a real or fictional character. But it needs to be somebody that you believe would be open-minded and not just say negative things or scoff at your dreams, otherwise this won't work. Begin daydreaming that you're with that person (or people - I sometimes used to do round-tables with several and see who would actually speak up - some refused to). Really imagine the environment - someplace you're familiar with is best or someplace where you might expect to encounter that character.

Maybe, if you're familiar with them at all, and if you respect them, it might be a good idea to imagine Dr Freud and Dr Jung sitting beside your bed as you lay in it, and they're asking you questions about your dreams and discussing the meanings of the images between themselves and with you. Or maybe a teacher you remember fondly? Socrates and Plato maybe? Adrian Monk?

I'm not sure everyone can do this - I have a pretty vivid imagination and I'm capable of some pretty intense daydreaming, and sometimes it works well for me sometimes I just can't get it working. It might work better when you're in the right frame of mind for it, I don't know. But a dialogue is by far the best way to work out ideas - and just because you're alone is no reason you can't get a good dialogue rolling. It really is important to invite the right people though - I find sometimes a person I expect to speak up and be very helpful is just too shy or doesn't seem to materialize very well or at all, or just sits there like a lump or starts saying the wrong things. So then it's time to kick them out (actually imagine shoving them out the door or yelling at them till they leave) and bring someone else in their place.

Heh heh - yeah, I'm pretty weird! :lol:

Well, as for a diary of sorts, I've been doing that since I was i kid, so that's already sorted out :)

But the idea of looking at a symbol as something that no one has heard of before was a good idea :) I've never thought of that. Maybe I'll get some interesting results from that method.
If I look at a dragon as a symbol, it is basically a flying lizard. Which is again a creature futher down the evolution path than us humans. Ya know.. thanks.. this gave me a great deal of new ideas :D
*hurrying to make privat notes so I won't forget*

I have tried associations by the way.. kinda loose my way all the time, because my chatter-brain keeps getting in the way..

Let's use dragons again:

Serious-Me: I dreamt about a dragon.. what does i think of when it comes to dragons?

Chatter-brain: Ya know.. DRAAAGONS! It's like COOL! We dreamt of DRAGONS! Hey everybody.. dragons!!! Flying Dragons! How cool is that!? Do you think they might eat all the mean people?...

It's kinda hard to try associations when my trail of thoughts go down that path.. but I do try.. ever so often :D

As for the conversations.. with an imaginary opponent.. that I kinda do... uhm.. all the time. Been getting a few concerned looks from time to time, when I forget that there are other people nearby.. that can HEAR me if I say things out loud.. I'm working on my shutting-up-skills :D (keep self-talkies.. to myself.. inside the brain <-- my new mantra) ;)

When I interpret dreams, I look into the emotions in the dream, and try to get an intuitive feel for the dream. Yes, interpreting dream symbols is important, but I also want to interpret the dream as a whole, and the symbols in the context of the dream, and the dream in the context of waking life as well as in dream series with other dreams.

My personal dream symbols tend to change over time, and sometimes the meaning attached to a symbol seems to change. Especially any symbol that keeps reoccurring, usually has several different meanings. Dreams are kind of like onions with many layers of interpretation. I often keep coming back to the same dream, and find that my interpretation of it changes. I am not a big believer in "original intent": especially when interpreting my own dreams, while I do wonder what my mind thought when it had the dream at that time, it's what my mind can do with it now that counts more, and as my mind changes and I come back to the dream I may "find" a new meaning in it - or my mind makes up a new meaning - but that's all good, because to me dreams are tools to understanding the mind, and it's not so much that I want to understand my mind when the dream occurred, but more importantly I want to understand my current mind as I am interpreting the dream. So even an interpretation of the dream that had not occurred to me yet at the time when the dream occurred is perfectly valid. The dream is like a prism that allows me to look at my mind in a new light. Yes, it can tell me about the state of my mind at the time of the dream, but the act of interpreting it and what interpretation I attach to the dream post-factum tells me about the state of my mind at that later point.

I have a very intuitive approach to dream interpretation, much more than rational: if an interpretation "feels" right, I accept it. Of course, if I reject an interpretation, I may later on come back to it, and realize that the reason why I rejected it was not because it was wrong, but because it was too close to a truth that I was not comfortable yet to accept.

I like self-interpretation of dreams, but I also appreciate the feedback of other dream interpreters from whom I learn a lot about dream interpretation. A couple of examples of things I learned that I have found to be useful: try to interpret all dream characters as a part of dreamer's own personality; a house represents the mind. I also pay attention to means of transportation in my dreams: fast or slow, am I in control or not, on tracks like a train or more flexible like a car, modern or old fashioned - transportation in dreams tells me a lot about how things are going, what my confidence level and flexibility is, etc.

I also at times write down the dream in detail, but then distill it to just the keywords (in the DV dream journal those would be tags) and then I look at those keywords and what they mean to me, at other dreams with similar keywords. Also at times I will brainstorm additional adjectives for different part of the dream. I look at my emotional reaction and especially what is positive and what is negative, and ask myself why. I look at the dream in terms of issues on my waking mind, my goals, my values and religion, things that happened to me recently and things that happened long ago but were formative in my life.

You do have a point JoannaB. Dreams as well as experiences while awake will have different meanings to us depending upon where we are at in life. I also view my dreams differently as I look at them from different points in time. Just as I do with experiences from the real world.

What was i nightmare to me when I was a child, is not necessarily a nightmare now when I'm an adult.
Also I agree with you that the mood or emotions of the dream is just as important as the different symbols or objects in ones dream. If one do not take that into account, it's like saying you cannot understand why you felt wet after being outside in the rain, because water falling from the sky was not in your focus :)

I must admit I have not really had a special method to my dream interpretations.. but I wouldn't mind having a bit of a system to fall back on if my musing over a dream does not give me a result. I don't belive in following a recipe per see, but a little bit of system.. would come in handy, as I tend to be a bit of a mental bumblebee at times.

But I think I will add your points to my list.. not to think that if I accept one meaning to a dream symbol or a dream as a whole, that that is the ONLY meaning that is right. :)