Dream work

Dear Gabriel

I’ve always been fascinated by dreams and own all kinds of books on the interpretations of dreams. I want to have my lead character be able to interpret dreams – do you have an opinion on dreams and what they mean, especially the idea that they have a predictive quality?

Simone

Dear Simone

I certainly do have an opinion on this topic! And yes dreams are fantastic aren’t they? While I really do want to believe that dreams can predict life events and that they may be signs of things to come, I just can’t quite get there. I think all of us find a way of making meaning of things like dreams and I don’t mean to undermine your beliefs.

But personally I’m of the view that dreams tell us more about the present and its relationship to the past. What this means for the future will depend on what we take from the interpretation of the dream. So dreams may tell us what our unconscious world is grappling with and in bringing these wishes, needs and concerns to consciousness, through the dream interpretation, we find out what it is that we need to think about, acknowledge and work on.

One way of thinking about dreams is that the subject matter, the elements and content of the dreams, are symbolic and are not to be taken at face value. In talking through, and making associations with, these symbols, the underlying meaning starts to take shape. So what this means is that “dreamwork” is not about simply looking in a book to see what “seagull” dreams mean but to unpack what seagulls mean to the dreamer. And what other issues, past, present and unconscious, are percolating in the person’s mind, to arrive at a deeper and more meaningful analysis.

It’s also said that remembering dreams can be assisted with a notebook and pen at your bedside as we forget our dreams very easily. And the more we work with and remember dreams, the more easily we remember them. So unless your character is a psychologist, she or he needs to have done a fair bit of reading, and be willing to take dreams seriously (a bit like this serious answer to your question!).

Happy dreaming

Gabriel  

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