Journal format for interpreting dreams
I wanted to share this journal format for dream interpretation from Robert Bruce's book, Astral Dynamics. Sometimes interpreting dreams can be overwhelming and I have found this format useful. After all, the only person that can truly interpret your dreams is yourself! Hope this helps.
Interpretation Protocol
Dreams and vision experiences often have such vague, cluttered, and seemingly random content that their interpretation can be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
This is why interpretation is best saved for clearer and more powerful kinds of experiences, or parts of experiences, although it never hurts to analyze the smallest and most insignificant vision segment. With a little practice, it soon becomes clear which experiences or parts of experiences warrant serious interpretation and which are best ignored.
An interpretation protocol - a set procedure - helps.
Keep a journal and record all significant dreams and OBE experiences. This is sage advice for anyone hungering for personal spiritual insight and progression. Dreams and visions show and teach you everything about your past, present, and future. They will guide you along life's rocky paths, if only you have the eyes to see through the infuriating simplicity of it all.
Usually only in hindsight do certain vision elements become meaningful. A record of past experiences allows them to be researched and compared with other visions and real-life events. The knowledge and insights gained from repeated comparison of symbology and real-life outcomes can then be applied to present and future visions and dreams. The accuracy of this kind of prophetic analysis, based on identifiable personal vision symbology, works better over the long term.
Everyone's mind works in different ways when it comes to dream and vision experiences.
We all have our own personal built-in set of mental filters, made up of symbolic associations peculiar only to us. Learned mental associations, and those set within us all by the collective consciousness, are used by the physical brain on the subconscious level to interpret vision-causing energies from dimensional levels above and beyond the base level of understanding. These energies-perceived or received in their pure form during dreams, visions, and OBEs - must be translated into base-level format (standard physical brain memory storage format) before they can be downloaded to become real memories.
I include dreams here, although this book is not about dream interpretation, as it is often impossible to differentiate between OBE-gained visions and dream-gained visions. Very often, during OBEs, only the tail ends or segments of clairvoyant visions and akashic pulse episodes are remembered, with everything else being lost to memory. These often seem like normal vivid dreams.
Only by the process of recording and interpreting visual experiences, in the long term, can the all-important peculiarities of personal psychological associations be identified.
Long-term recording and analysis allow the identification of the symbolism and imagery generated within vision experiences by the subconscious mind. In time, repeated patterns appear. These show the forms, structures, and symbology that make up the metaphorical imagery of the visions and dreams of an individual. When the basic elements of these patterns become known, that knowledge can be applied to personal vision interpretation. A great deal of valuable personal insight can then be gleaned from seemingly meaningless visions and dreams.
As a bonus, the more a set protocol is used, the more powerful and accurate it becomes as a prophetic tool and guide.
Journal Layout
The layout shown below can be simplified or elaborated on as required.
At least a full page should be used for each experience, with space left blank at the end for hindsight notes and connections to be added later. If a vision is lengthy or complex, more than one page may be needed to break it down. In time, a more-practiced eye will allow the bulk of interpretation to be done mentally, with much less attention then being needed on a formal layout. It can be progressively simplified to reflect increased understanding.
It helps if you use the same layout every time. The keywords can be added first, transcribed from the notepad you should keep beside your bed at all times.
The full experience can be written, using the keywords as a guide, later in the day when you have more time.
Header: At the top of each journal entry (always use a new page for each vision or dream) show the page number, full date, and moon phase in bold. On the same line, write a brief phrase to encapsulate the experience, e.g., "Whale Watching" or "Disneyland", or "Refrigerator". Do not be afraid to alliterate, as this helps lock it in memory.
These headers make it easier to search for particular experiences at a future date. Adding the moon phase is optional, but I find this a useful reference that, over a full year, shows the times when significant visions and dreams occurred. This can be a good indicator as to when more of the same are likely to occur in the coming year, and how they are affected by astrological influences.
Keywords: List the keywords of the experience on the first line, below the header, keeping the true sequence of events. Separate vision segments with a dash - like this - if more than one is involved.
Full Experience: Leave a blank line, then write the full experience using the keywords as a guide - again using dashes - to indicate distinctly separate vision segments.
(Leave a blank line between each of the following sections.) Setting: Briefly describe the background and setting of the vision, listing each change of background if the vision has multiple segments.
Players: List all the players in the vision, in order of the importance of their connection to you and your life, as well as by the significance of the part they play in the vision. If there are many people in the vision, list those not taking active or meaningful parts in descending order, as "Supporting Cast" and "Extras".
Sequence of Events: Note and mark the sequence of events, using keywords as guide. You can list these separately for a short vision, but for a longer one it is probably easier to insert these into the "Full Experience" section, as #1, #2, #3, by inserting numbers, especially if you are interpreting a lengthy or complex vision.
Symbols: Things that seem odd or out of place are usually symbols that have deeper meaning than is apparent on the surface. Symbols can be anything: objects, animals, people, or even the way people are dressed. Often, several items will appear odd or out of place; these must all be accounted for.
For example: a police officer may symbolize legal matters, whereas a firefighter may symbolize damage, danger, or urgency. An automobile, or any other form of transport, will usually indicate your life's path. A particular type of vehicle, say an ambulance, furniture van, truck, or hearse can add important meaning and indicate future events. An ambulance, for example, may indicate a coming illness. Interpret each symbol, once identified, in the most basic way possible and you'll seldom go wrong.
Symbolic Actions: Any action that stands out or has meaning, or that is performed in such a way as to attract attention, is a symbolic action. Even small and seemingly insignificant actions can be extremely important. If someone passes an item, or points, or reveals something, or waves, or smiles, or frowns, or laughs, or turns away, etc., these symbolic actions hide deeper meaning. Think simple pantomime here.
Usually, an important symbolic action will stand out and your attention will be drawn to it during a vision or dream. Keep in mind that the memory you have of a vision is only a very small part of the total information held within it. Any feelings or intuition you have concerning any part of a vision can be considered an important indicator that, if properly accounted for, can unearth more information and meaning.
Also, keep in mind that in many cases you will find yourself central to the action. You will often be trying to do something or to get somewhere. The rest of the vision will often be built up around this central action. This, if present, reveals the central theme or thrust of the experience and generally indicates what the rest of the symbology is associated with, or can be applied to during interpretation.
Symbolic Modifiers: These add meaning to symbols and symbolic actions. If, for example, someone passes an object to you, and the object is damaged or dirty, the condition of that object is to be considered a modifying element, altering its meaning. When traveling in a vehicle, the type and condition of that vehicle is an important modifying factor. If you find yourself traveling on foot, the condition of the road and the surrounding scenery will be the modifying elements to look for.
Signposts: These are the most important elements to look for. They will always be there, although they may not always be as clear as the refrigerator symbol given earlier. Signposts symbolize the date stamps for coming events, something that will mark or trigger them. They may not be related in any way to the actual events.
A signpost is usually something out of place that cannot be missed; there will usually be only one symbol that fits the bill, if it can be identified. For example, you may see a car battery sitting in the middle of your living room during a vision or dream experience. This would indicate that when a car battery becomes significant, the other events depicted in the vision will be active, or are about to become active. It may be something small, like a Christmas gift or birthday card. It could be anything.
Connections: Note anything connecting players, objects, and events in vision to your real life.
Questions: What is it in itself? What does it do? How does it symbolize a connection with my life? What is its simplest and most basic meaning? Ask these questions of each part and symbol and action, then apply common sense, logic, intuition, and - most especially - personal life knowledge to it. This will provide valuable insight into hidden meanings.
Take care to give each part the most simple and basic meaning possible. Wishful thinking and jumping to conclusions will ruin any interpretation, as may ignoring the obvious. If no clear meaning can be found, simply leave a large question mark. Its meaning will often become clear only in hindsight. Do not overcomplicate the interpretation process or you will erode the meaning and worth of any vision experience. The most important rule:
Keep this line of questioning ultra-simple. Do not overlook the obvious, but also do not overlook the more subtle modifying touches.
Comments and Guesswork: After applying these questions to each part of your vision, list or write your interpretation of the vision here. Apply current knowledge here, taken from past visions and dreams, plus feelings, intuition, and reason. If you have already started a symbolic index, apply what you have in it. If you are still lost as to the meaning of a vision or dream experience, take a wild guess based solely on intuition. Watch out for wishful thinking and try not to jump to conclusions; these are real killers of accurate interpretation.
Hindsight: This part is to be left blank until parts of the vision pan out in real life. Once this happens, the vision must be re-checked carefully for repeating symbolism and patterns that can be used to interpret other visions.
Indexing: Make a note of recurring themes, symbols, patterns, and their apparent meanings, according to past vision and dreams experiences. Once these are identified, transfer them to an index in the back of your journal and use this to enhance the interpretation protocol. The index becomes especially powerful once these items are linked with real-life events. List page numbers where symbols recur to make it easier to trace and identify particular elements.
Retrieved from: Astral Dynamics - 30
