Learning to Speak the Language of Dreams (so that I can hear what the muffin is saying)

Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening, by Salvador Dali

I am swimming with sharks and sting rays (and Tom Cruise).
I pull a tampon out of my left shoulder.
I am driving past piles of dead geese.
A white snake lies resting on my lap.
A sombrero wearing muffin with a moustache is speaking to me in Spanish. (Seriously.)

These are a few of the hundreds of images that I have written about in my journals, sent to me by my dreams in their nightly attempt to translate the messages of my psyche (the invisible animating principle of my body) into a symbolic language that they think I might understand. And no…I’m not talking about Spanish!

Yes I know it might seem like it would be easier if your psyche just pulled up a chair every night and had a good ‘ol chat with you in your spoken language about what you need to be paying attention to, but it doesn’t work that way. Symbols transcend the many shortcomings of words, which are merely abstractions that turn the vastness of a felt understanding into a tidy little package of intellectual concepts. Symbols speak to a part of our knowing that is beyond language. They open doorways to new layers of insight that we might have no way to conceptualize with language.

"We should understand that dream symbols are for the most part manifestations of a psyche that is beyond the control of the conscious mind. Meaning and purposefulness are not the prerogative of the mind…"
– Carl Jung in Man and his Symbols

But, meaning and purposefulness ARE the prerogative of the psyche. So please, step aside mind, I want to hear what psyche has to say!

Now…where to begin with translating these symbolic messages?

1. Don’t head immediately for a dream dictionary or ChatGPT to tell you. Yes there is some universality to some symbols but for the most part symbols are highly personal. These symbols are intended to provoke a knowing to rise from inside of you, rather than to be put upon you by something outside of yourself.
2. Do get curious! Try to not default to taking symbols literally. Your dream ego - the “I” in the dream - will have a reaction to the symbols just as you might in real life. In real life I would rather not have a big white snake in my lap, and this dream was not trying to tell me to watch out for snakes in my house. So look beyond the reactions and snap judgements of the ego and ask yourself why would my psyche send me that symbol, what is it trying to tell me? And yes, it might be something that you don’t want to hear (so all the more important to try to listen).
3. Do notice everything there is to be noticed about the symbol. Your psyche chooses EVERYTHING it sends to you in your dreams, so pay attention to details. Notice your personal associations with the symbols, the feelings that you felt in the dream, and any symbolic understanding that you might have. I love snakes, there are many around my house, and I associate them with good fortune. Symbolically I know that snakes (white snakes in particular) are associated with the primordial Goddess energy. I felt awed and slightly afraid in my dream, but I knew that it was quite happy on my lap and meant me no harm. My psyche knows that I would have these associations and feelings, and so all of what it sent me in the way that it did is relevant for what it was trying to put me in touch with.

Dreams come to us to aid us in our unfolding future.*

And we all dream, every single night! Every night you are visited by a wise teacher, that has a soul-deep knowing of you. Every night, this bigger wiser part of your being that sees well beyond the limitations of your ego and far beyond the scope of your own individual existence, sends you symbolic messages specifically to try to help you live your best life.  

It really is so worth trying to listen, and to learn to speak their language. Who knows how far you could travel with their help.

Need some help? I highly recommend “Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams".
 
*Dreams also help us to order and integrate the events of the day and of the past. Why? So that we can be available for the unfolding future!