STEP THREE: LINKING THE STORY LINE TO YOUR LIFE IS STEP THREE OF THE FIVE-STEP DREAM TECHNIQUE
1 TO LINK A DREAM TO YOUR LIFE: ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION ABOUT WHAT A DREAM MEANS. As mentioned previously, the question is never “What does this dream mean?” The question is always “To what in me or in my life does the dream refer?” Retaining that focus bears repeating. When you keep in mind that a dream speaks of your life and is not merely an amusing tale, you stay on the right track to finding its meaning. Match the story line to an actual life area or experience, and the meaning surfaces.
2 TO LINK A DREAM TO YOUR LIFE: THE IMPORTANCE OF MATCHING THE STORY LINE TO AN AREA OF YOUR LIFE. As if moving a puzzle piece around a board to see how it fits, scan your life to see where the story line coincides with an attitude, a relationship, activity, or an ongoing situation. For example, suppose you dream that you ran a race in the Olympics and won a gold medal. The story line says, “After much effort, someone succeeds brilliantly” or, “By persevering, someone achieves great things.” Which success in your life is highlighted by the dream, depends on your life; only you can know what that success is for you. To some it may refer to fitting into a glamorous outfit after losing weight; to others it might be completing a degree or sprinting up the corporate ladder.
3 TO LINK A DREAM TO YOUR LIFE: TURN THE STORY LINE INTO A QUESTION. If you have trouble fitting a story line to an area of your life, try turning it into a question.
DREAM EXAMPLE 1 OF TURNING A STORY LINE INTO QUESTIONS: INVADING MY SPACE. A man dreams of walking into his office and seeing the manager’s assistant at his desk pulling off pieces of Scotch tape for her own use. She has no right to be in his office or go through his belongings. He walks up to her and asks her in a quiet voice, “What are you doing?” She knows she has been caught doing something off limits but ignores him and blatantly defies him by continuing to rip off tape. The man stays quiet and does not challenge her further because he is not sure what to do. The story line is, “Someone watches another misuse their position but does not know how to stop them.” The story line calls to mind questions like: Where in your life is someone overstepping their boundaries? Are you letting someone take advantage of you? Is there a situation at work or elsewhere in your life, where you would like to speak up but feel unsafe to do so? As you answer the questions that the story line initiates, the life area that the dream relates to should become clear.
DREAM EXAMPLE 2 OF TURNING A STORY LINE INTO QUESTIONS: THE WOUND. A dreamer is shocked to see a large, gaping wound dripping with blood. The story line is, “Someone sees something that needs a lot of help.” This story line begs these questions: Where in your life do you feel wounded or in pain? Have you overlooked someone around you who may be hurting? Have you, or someone close to you, caused emotional damage by your actions or habits?
DREAM EXAMPLE 3 OF TURNING A STORY LINE INTO QUESTIONS: A BEAUTIFUL SCARF. A woman dreams that her work associates are frantic and scurrying to get things done. She ignores them and peacefully puts on a wide, red silk scarf, carefully tying a bow in an artistic arrangement. The story line is, “Instead of getting caught up in the frenzy and chaos around her, someone peacefully focuses on creating something beautiful.” The story line brings up questions like: In what area of your life are others frantic? Would concentrating on doing your best resolve an issue? Are there creative activities that would distract you from the anxieties in your life?
HINT 4 TO LINK A DREAM TO YOUR LIFE: THE STORY LINE MAY RELATE TO YOUR INNER OR OUTER LIFE. As you search for answers raised by story line questions, insights about a particular situation in your life may begin to pop up. When matching a story line to an area of your life, remember that you lead two lives: an inner one and an outer one. Sometimes the life event about which the dream is commenting is an attitude, an emotion, a set of thoughts, or a perspective that is going on within you. Your inner life is also subject to lots of episodes and events, so to speak. We tend to look at outside circumstances and events for the meaning of a dream, but just as often, a dream relates to your character, attitudes, or thoughts about potential decisions, hopes, fears, and wishes.... a dream is not a mini-movie - it is a link to your life dream meaning
If your dreams are about severe seizures (particularly when specific organs are involved), consider seeing a psychologist.
ASTROLOGY: Cosmic connectedness, ancient and profound wisdom, or superstition, relinquishing responsibility for oneself. Search for one’s own star.... assaults / attacks of illness dream meaning
2. Doctrine;
3. Covenant;
4. The Church;
5. Substance;
6. Provision (money, food, etc. )Matthew 4:4; Judges 7:13-14; John 13:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:8;... bread/ staff of life dream meaning
If you dream that you are 111, you can rest assured that your health is good. ... fever or illness dream meaning
If you have this kind of dream, the chances are you are fighting for survival in some aspect of your waking life. On the other hand, you may be the kind of person who makes ordinary choices and decisions as if their survival were at stake. For example, small disappointments or minor upsets send you into meltdown and you are frequently dissatisfied if some invisible inner standard has not been met.
If you are prone to life-and-death dreams, your unconscious is urging you to find a kind of security that cannot be lost. In other words, you need to look at things that are intangible and reside in your spirit and in your emotions, because everything else—since it is out of your control—is at risk. You need to develop greater flexibility and tolerance, and by so doing you can find contentment and peace.
If your life-and-death battle involves a war scene, the emphasis shifts.
Despite war’s disturbing and destructive nature, it can sometimes be represented as a cleansing process that represents a victory of good over evil. However, in dreams war is generally regarded as a warning that dangerous times lie ahead, as well as indicating inner conflicts and deep-seated grievances. An important aid for interpreting dreams of warfare is to remember whether you were on the winning or losing side.
If you were on the winning side, this suggests you are on the right track.
If you were on the losing side, what can you learn from the tactics of the winning side? Surprisingly, to dream that you are wounded in battle denotes that you have finally been accepted by your peers.... life-and-death struggle dream meaning
To see a life-boat sinking, friends will contribute to your distress.
To be lost in a life-boat, you will be overcome with trouble, in which your friends will be included to some extent.
If you are saved, you will escape a great calamity. ... life-boat dream meaning
Your soul.
Your will, ego, or consciousness.
Your identity.
The idea of being alive.
Your life force flowing out of you can represent feeling: tired, weak, or drained by something in real life; disappointed or apathetic; out of touch with your sense of purpose or the meaning in your life; disconnected with God.
See also: Life; Alive or Exists; Dying; Death of You; Killed, Being; Dead Acquaintance; Death of a Loved One... life force dream meaning
If they appear distorted or unnatural, the dream is more unfortunate than good.... life-insurance man dream meaning
2. Confidence in conflicts and confrontations. ... life jacket dream meaning
To dream of colorful candy life savers represents happiness and security.
To dream of floating in a life saver indicates that you feel as though you have been rescued.... life saver dream meaning
Although the following dreams can occur at any stage of your life, you may find that the focus of your relationship dreams shifts during your lifespan. In your teenage years, dream scenarios in which you are suddenly thrown together with someone to whom you are attracted are very common. The goal of the dream is to help you determine if someone is or is not interested in you in waking life. By the mid-twenties, however, relationship dreams move beyond initial attraction and begin to explore who is or is not right for us. This is the time when strangers, celebrities and friends tend to appear as dream lovers and partners. You may find the images shocking but it is important to bear in mind that the images are unlikely to represent the real person and more likely to represent qualities that you are evaluating.
During your thirties and forties, romantic dreams focus on explanations for why relationships may have disappointed in the past and offer dreams that can show you what to go after or avoid in the future. Dreams in which your current partner or lover is unfaithful are extremely common at this time; it is as if your dreaming mind is urging you to pay attention to your relationship, and secure or safeguard what you have.
During your fifties and sixties, dreams shift their focus onto things you have learned to value in your life. Past and present partners become shorthand symbols for the quality or experience you had with them. For example, your first lover represents passion and excitement or the partner who was unfaithful represents someone who cannot be trusted. Although you may dream of people from your past, your dreaming mind is using them as symbols to refer to your current relationships. From your seventies onwards, dreams are more likely to zoom in on the very nature of love itself to help you gain a deeper understanding of love and affairs of the heart.... relationship dreams at different stages of your life dream meaning
If you dreamed of saving others, this foretells that you will be appreciated by others for your good deeds.... saving a life dream meaning
He viewed youth as a period of expanding consciousness, middle age as a period of questioning long-held convictions, and old age as a period of increased introspection and preoccupation with self-evaluation. According to Jung, dreams are important tools of self-discovery for you, whatever your age or life stage.
This is because in every stage of your life you will face many challenges: emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical. These challenges can trigger fascinating dreams, some of which can help you to meet those challenges and pass on to the next phase of your development.
Jung believed that what prevents people from becoming independent, fulfilled and ultimately happy is their refusal to open themselves to change or to new and unfamiliar experiences that potentially threaten their sense of self. His approach to finding balance in every stage of life was through the analysis of dreams and a process he called ‘individuation’. Dreams are a powerful tool for self-discovery and individuation is a self-analysis, a self-discovery, a way of analysing your own reactions and responses at every life stage so you can discover what truths lie underneath your conscious and egocentric personality.
In this chapter you will explore dreams that are believed to be typical of distinct life stages; some dream analysts refer to them as ‘developmental dreams’. This is because they seem particularly to reflect the typical stresses, questions and issues you may face at specific times in your life. This makes sense as you would expect the dreams you had when you were fifteen to reflect the concerns of your life as a teenager, just as you would expect the dreams you have now to have evolved into a mirror of your current situation and age group. Bear in mind, however, that how the stresses and challenges of your current life stage is represented in the dream world depends upon your personal circumstances, your sleep patterns and your ability to remember your dreams.
Bear in mind, too, that it is possible to have any one of these dreams even if you don’t fit the life-stage profile that coincides with it.
Dreams of death will also be explored in this chapter, as death is the final stage or change that comes to us all. Although dreams of death may explore your feelings about death or represent potential you may have missed or not expressed in general, dream analysts believe that such dreams represent the ending of one phase so a new one can begin. They reveal forthcoming finalities such as the end of a relationship or career and should not be interpreted literally. Because in the past we were terrified at the idea of death, it also represents upheaval, calamity and the sense that things will never be the same again. It was something that could only be endured but never be understood. Today, as our attitudes towards death have changed, death in a dream represents a challenge that cannot be avoided and which must be confronted if progress is to be made in waking life.
The message is that some approach or attitude to life needs to be changed or adjusted; if you can find the courage to make that adjustment successfully, there can be a fresh start or a new beginning.
For dreams concerning childhood, see BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. See also LOSS AND FRUSTRATION; NIGHTMARES; SPIRITS AND GHOSTS.... stages of life dream meaning
If not, this symbol may be pointing to the ability to digest and to metabolize, to be receptive, and to deal with intellectual and emotional “food.”
A full stomach points to overstimulation and too much consumption.
An empty stomach is an indication of greed; you feel short-changed.... stomach / stomach illness dream meaning
Britain was once covered by mighty oak, lime and pine forests, and reverence for trees is a major feature within Celtic religion, reflecting a link between the upper and lower worlds. Druids had their teaching center in the midst of oak groves, and the words for wood and wisdom are similar (Welsh gwydd and gwyddon). The Celtic Tree of Life is one of the most popular and enduring motifs of Celtic art, found both on Northumbrian and Celtic crosses and on illuminated manuscripts. It is also portrayed variously as the Golden Bough, vine, or mistletoe. The ancient Celts envisioned the cosmos in the form of a great tree, whose roots were deep in the earth and whose branches stretched to the heavens.
The Celtic Tree of Life is therefore a symbol of balance between these worlds; the unification of above and below; a symbol of balance and harmony. Its branches and roots form a map of the cosmos wherein all things are interwoven and connected; it dwells in three worlds—a link between heaven, earth and the underworld. In dreams the appearance of the Tree of Life or any kind of tree can therefore be a powerful symbol of harmony, success, integration and fulfillment.
These can be achieved in waking life when there is a union between the material and the spiritual, and the feminine and masculine aspects of your personality.... the tree of life dream meaning
The Final Stage... typical dreams of later life dream meaning