See Prophetic Dreams and Wish Fulfillment Dreams.
The resulting substance is cold and hard—adjectives that do not conjure pleasant sensations when applied to one’s emotional nature. From the world of physics, we know that ice is not created by adding cold, but rather by the loss of heat. This tells us that when ice is present, warmth has been lost or given away. Ice can also be dangerous, especially when one must maneuver over it. An icy road has the symbolic connotation that a lack of emotional fluidity can be treacherous on your path through life.... ice dream meaning
See Light and Quantum Physics.... fiber optics dream meaning
If you are jumping from one thing to the next, then you are being compulsive. However, if you are making a leap, then this represents that you are taking a leap of faith, or making a quantum leap. Your dream is giving you the message to live fully, to leap and know that the net will appear.... jump dream meaning
If you dream of reading your own obituary, then you are gaining a wise and objective perspective of your own existence, dying to your former egoic self, and making a quantum leap in your spiritual growth.
See Death.... obituary dream meaning
If you dream of on-line dating, then this represents your openness to endless possibilities in love, and that your mental, emotional, spiritual, and geographical boundaries are expanded beyond your familiar sphere of possibilities.
See World Wide Web.... on-line dream meaning
See Water, Ocean, Tidal Wave, Venting Dreams, and Breakdown/Breakthrough Dreams.... tsunami dream meaning
It is the color that absorbs the most light, retains heat, and is associated with death, as it is the opposite of life-affirming white. As the color of mourning, black clothing represents the social construct of receiving consolation in some cultures. When we are in mourning, we are surrounded by people who share in our sadness. In the same way that a black shirt will absorb all wavelengths of sunlight, a person in mourning wears black in order to absorb the light from those who surround him or her. In the world of fashion, black has a connotation of being trendy and sophisticated. Nighttime is when blackness reigns, bringing secrecy and the ability to hide into this color’s symbolic meaning.... black dream meaning
First letter of the alphabet. The corresponding letter of the Greek alphabet is alpha. Alpha and omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, symbolize the beginning and the end and, in the New Testament, Christ. In musical notation, the letter is the symbol of a note in the scale. The symbol can also refer to a blood group, a vitamin, the months August and April, or any word, place, sound or name represented by the letter ‘a’. In education, a grade of A typically represents the highest score that students can achieve.
The Letter B
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘b’. The second in a series. Something shaped like the letter B. The second best or second highest in quality or rank. A mark of‘B’ on a term paper. A written or printed mark representing this note. A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this tone. One of the four major blood groups in the ABO system. The symbol for the chemical Boron.
The Letter C
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘c’. The third in a series. Something shaped like the letter‘c’. The third best or third highest in quality or rank; a mark of C on a term paper. The first tone in the scale of C major or the third tone in the relative minor scale.
Symbol for the element carbon and the Roman numeral 100. A circled‘c’ represents copyright or ownership.
The Letter D
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘d’. The fourth in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘d’. The lowest passing grade given to a student in a school or college. A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this note. In Roman numerals, the number 500.
The Letter E
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘e’. The fifth in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘e’. In education, a grade that indicates a ‘fail’. A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this note. The hypothesized traditional source of those narrative portions of the Pentateuch in which God is referred to as Elohim, so therefore a word of great power. In weather forecasting and geography, E stands for east, one of the four cardinal directions.
The Letter F
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘f’. The sixth in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘f’. In education, a grade that indicates a ‘fail’. A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this note. In chemistry, F is the symbol of the element fluorine.
The Letter G
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘g’. The seventh in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘g’. A string, key, or pipe tuned to the pitch of this note. In physics, G stands for the gravitational constant, the force that brings you back to earth.
The Letter H
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘h’. The eighth in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘h’. In chemistry, H is the symbol for the element hydrogen.
The Letter I
Any name, word, place or sound represented by the letter‘i’. The ninth in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘i’. A symbol for the self, the person you are.
The Letter J
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘j’. Symbol of January, June and July or the Jack in a deck of cards. The tenth in a series. Something shaped like the letter‘j’. The hypothesized traditional source of those portions of the Pentateuch in which God is referred to with the Tetragrammaton rather than as Elohim, therefore a letter of power.
The Letter K
Any name, word, place or sound represented by the letter‘k’. The 11th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘k’. In chemistry, K is the symbol for the element potassium. In law, K is a symbol for contract and in baseball for a strikeout.
The Letter L
Any name, word, place or sound presented by the letter‘l’. The 12th in a series. Something shaped like a‘k’. In the movie Men In Black, agent‘L’ (as in ‘elle’, French for‘she’) is the lead female character.
The Letter M
Any name, word, place, or sound represented by the letter‘m’. The 13th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘m’. In information systems, M is often used as the abbreviation for the male sex in personal data records. In calendars, M is often an abbreviation for Monday, or for the months March or May. In French, and some English works by French authors, M. is an abbreviation for Monsieur.
The Letter N
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘n’. The 14th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘n’. In weather forecasting and geography, N stands for north, one of the four cardinal directions. In calendars, N is often an abbreviation for the month November. In chemistry, N is the symbol for nitrogen.
The Letter O
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘o’. The 15th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘o’. One of the four major blood groups in the ABO system. Zero or nothing. In chemistry, O is the symbol of the element oxygen, essential for life.
The Letter P
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘p’. Symbol for the smallest unit of the British currency, the penny. The 16th in a series. Something shaped like the letter‘p’. In chess, P is a symbol for the pawn. In chemistry, P is the symbol for phosphorus, something that spontaneously combusts at room temperature.
The Letter Q
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘q’. The 17th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘q’. A hypothetical lost manuscript, consisting largely of sayings of Jesus, that is believed to have been the source of passages in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. In chess, Q is a symbol for the queen. It is also the symbol for a question, as in
The Letter R
Any word, name, place, or sound represented by the letter‘r’. The 18th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘r’. In film, R is a rating given by film classification boards meaning‘restricted’. R is sometimes used as a symbol for river.
The Letter S
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘s’. Symbol of the snake. The 19th in a series. Something shaped like the letter‘s’. In chemistry, S is the symbol of the element sulfur. In weather forecasting and geography, S stands for south, one of the four cardinal directions.
The Letter T
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘t’. The 20th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘t’. In calendars, T is often an abbreviation for Tuesday or Thursday. In propositional logic, T is the symbol for true.
The Letter U
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘u’. The 21st in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘u’. A grade that indicates an unsatisfactory status. In communication, U is an abbreviation for the word‘you’ in SMS or instant messaging.
The Letter V
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘v’. The 22nd in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘v’. V is for Victory. In computing, V is an operation on a semaphore, used for process synchronization. In grammar, v is an abbreviation for verb or action.
The Letter W
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘w’. The 23rd in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘w’. In weather forecasting and geography, W stands for west, one of the four cardinal directions.
The Letter X
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘x’. The 24th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘x’. A mark inscribed to represent the signature of someone who is unable to sign their name. An unknown or unnamed factor, thing or person. To delete, cancel, or obliterate with a series of Xs. Often used with the word‘out’. In films, X used to be the rating given to films suitable for an adult-only audience. A symbol for Christ, as in Xmas. In genetics, X denotes the X chromosome and XX denotes female in the XY sex-determination system
The Letter Y
Any name, word, place or sound represented by the letter‘y’. The 25th in a series. Something shaped like the letter ‘y’. In genetics, Y denotes the Y or male chromosome and XY denotes male in the XY sex- determination system. In Internet slang,‘why’ is commonly denoted by Y due to the similarity in pronunciation.
The Letter Z
Any word, name, place or sound represented by the letter‘z’. The 26th or last place in a series. Something shaped like the letter‘z’. In cartoons, multiple Zs are slang for sleep. In mathematics, z denotes a complex variable.
... letters in dream dream meaning
If you made a perfect jump, this could suggest that you have made or are about to make a quantum leap in the form of an important decision.
If your jump misses the mark, however, you may have made the wrong choice or are about to make it.... jumping dream meaning
Dreams and their purpose
Consider dreams like home movies that each person produces in response to their daily experiences. These movies are meant to clarify certain situations and support the person. With sufficient knowledge, they can become a sort of spiritual guide, since oneiric thoughts are a window to the subconscious where, frequently, hidden feelings and repressed needs are stored without us realizing.
Even then, there are people who question the importance of dreams. Some scientists, for example, believe that the content of dreams is simply a random mix of the many electronic signals the brain receives. Others, however, find all types of messages in even the simplest dreams, and end up distancing themselves from daily reality in favor of oneiric activity.
Neither extreme is advisable. Each dream is undoubtedly a journey into the unknown, but, at the same time, modern psychology has allowed us to understand a good part of their structure. One of the conclusions drawn from the study of dreams confirms this: dreams can be a priceless aid to the imagination, but above all when it comes to solving problems. You just have to know how to listen to them, because their content tends to have a direct relation to the emotional challenges you are experiencing.
Each dream is a journey to the unknown with an implicit personal message. Although it is the content of the episode that determines our emotional state, dreaming in black and white indicates a possible lack of enthusiasm or nostalgia for the past. These dreams are an invitation to live with more intensity and enjoy the present.
Still from the film Viaje a la Luna (Méliès, 1902).
It is known that in times of crisis, our oneiric production increases significantly, both in quantity and intensity. Should we consider this “surplus” to be positive? Yes, as long as one makes an effort to remember and interpret the dreams, since, as we will see further on, they have a valuable therapeutic potential.
For example, if a couple is going through a critical phase, remembering and analyzing usually helps them understand the subconscious reactions they have to the situation. In other words, dreams are an excellent tool to get to the bottom of emotional conflicts. Knowing the causes is an essential step to resolving the problems, regardless of what course you take.
The English psychologist David Fontana, whose books have been translated into more than twenty languages, said it clearly: “In listening to my patients’ dreams in therapy sessions, I have observed how, often, these can take us right to the root of the psychologic problem much quicker than other methods.” Although, we shouldn’t fool ourselves: dreams are a mystery that can rarely decipher everything. But if a certain level of interpretation helps us understand ourselves better, what more can we ask for? From a practical point of view, our own oneiric material can be very useful.
In dreams, relationships with others are a recurring theme. The people that appear in our dreams, especially strangers, represent facets of ourselves that the subconscious is showing us.
Well-known writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson, William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe, and Woody Allen have had faith in this, acknowledging that part of their works have been inspired by dreams. The discoveries of Albert Einstein or Niels Bohr (father of modern atomic physics), among other celebrated scientists, had the same origin. In any case, these examples shouldn’t confuse us: no dream can tell you what path to follow through symbolic images without the intellect to decipher them.
Prosperity, precognition, and pronostics
What’s more, judging by some documented cases, we can even reap material gain from dreams. There is proof of some people that had premonitory dreams managing to earn significant sums of money thanks to their oneiric “magic.” The most spectacular case was in the fifties, when an Englishman named Harold Horwood won a considerable number of prizes betting on horses. His dreams transmitted clues as to the winning racehorse to bet on. Unfortunately, these types of premonitions don’t come to everyone. However, anyone has the opportunity to discover the greatest treasure of all—knowledge of one’s self—through their dreams.
We’ve all experienced the feeling of having lost control of our lives at some point. We might feel like others are deciding things for us or that we are victims of our circumstances.
Our “dream-scapes” contain valuable information about our desires and concerns; they could also function as a forecast of some aspect of our future. According to ancient tradition, dreaming of stars predicts prosperity and spiritual wealth. “Starry Night” (Van Gogh, 1889).
However, many psychologists disagree with this. That is, they argue that daily events are not coincidences but rather meaningful deeds that reflect the inner state of the individual.
Dreams and thoughts
According to these experts, luck is a pipe dream, something that does not exist, since that which we consider the result of coincidence is none other than the natural manifestation of our thoughts and attitudes. We are basically creator, not passive receivers or victims of the events that unravel in our lives.
An example that illustrates this idea perfectly is the story of the old man who threw rocks into the sea. One day, someone asked if he ever got bored of the simple game. The old pebble thrower stared at his questioner and gave an answer he’d never forget: “My small stones are more important than they seem, they provoke repercussions. They will help create waves that, sooner or later, will reach other other side of the ocean.”
What does this have to do with dreams? It’s simple: as we’ve just seen, we are the only ones responsible for our daily experiences, no matter how hard that is to believe. Therefore it shouldn’t be too difficult to take control of our lives; we just have to listen to the messages in our interior, that is, our oneiric thoughts, of which we are ultimately the authors.
Visualizations
In this way, thanks to dreams, our two existences—conscious and unconscious—can work together to make our lives more creative and free. An important part of this process is getting to know and understanding better the process of thought. One of the most beautiful and commonly used visualizations in yoga reminds us of this: “In the bottom of the lake of our thoughts is a jewel. In order for it to shine in the light of the sun (the divine), the water (the thoughts) must be pure and crystal clear and calm, free of waves (excitement). If our water is murky or choppy, others can’t see this jewel, our inner light...”
In the bottom of the lake of our thoughts is a jewel...
But it’s not that simple: it’s often difficult to discern the connection that unites wakefulness with sleep, between what we think ourselves to be and what our oneiric fantasies say about us. In any case, if our search is passionate and patient, constant and conscious, it will result in the discovery of our true Self. Therefore the interpretation of dreams cuts right to the heart of the message conceived by and for ourselves (although not consciously). It is important to learn to listen to them (further on we will discuss techniques for this) when it comes time to unstitch their meaning and extract the teachings that can enrich our lives.
The rooms in our dreams reflect unknown aspects of our personality.
In this way, when we have to make an important decision, we can clear up any doubts through a clear understanding of our most intimate desires. Although it may seem like common sense, this is not that common these days, since most people make decisions at random, out of habit, or by impulse.
The meaning and psychic effect of some deities in Tibetan Buddhism can be linked to the monsters that are so popular today.
Dreams allow creativity a free rein and free us from worry, sometimes resulting in surreal images that would be impossible in waking life.
Put simply, the idea is to find your true identity and recognize your wounds, fears, and joys through dreams. Never forget that the subconscious, although hidden, is an essential part of our personality. Dreams are fundamental for understanding the Self, since they are a direct path to this little-known part of ourselves. Their symbolic content allows us to recover repressed emotions and gives us a map to the relationships that surround us.
Nightmares that put us to the test
Sometimes the messages they bring us are not so pleasant and take the form of nightmares. However, although it may be hard to accept, these nightmares are valuable warnings that some aspects of our life are not
in harmony with our deepest Self and thus need our prompt intervention. Nightmares are proof that self discovery is not always pleasant. Sometimes it’s necessary to feel this pain in order to find out what you really are and need.
On the other hand, dreams give creativity a free rein because, when we sleep, we are free from our day-to-day worries. Therefore, even if you don’t consider yourself a creative person, keep in mind that all the scenes, symbols, and characters that appear in your dreams have been created solely and exclusively by you.
It’s often very helpful to record dreams in a notebook (we will explain how further on) in order to later analyze them and apply their teachings to daily life.
It is quite the paradox; the human being awakens their most intimate reality precisely when they are sleeping.
Carl Gustav Jung, who dedicated his life to studying dreams, developed this metaphor: “People live in mansions of which they only know the basements.” Only when our conscience is sleeping do we manage to unveil some of the rooms of our magnificent house: rooms that may be dusty and inhospitable and fill us with terror and anxiety, or magnificent rooms where we want to stay forever.
Given that they all belong to us, it is reasonable to want to discover them all. Dreams, in this sense, are a fundamental tool.
How to remember dreams
At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Sure, dreams are really important, but I can’t use them because I simply don’t remember them.” That’s not a problem, there are techniques you can use to strengthen your memory of oneiric thoughts. Techniques that, when applied correctly, allow us to remember dreams surprisingly well.
The use of these methods is indispensable in most cases since people tend to forget dreams completely when they wake up. Why? Because, according to the hypothesis of Sigmund Freud, we have a sort of internal censor that tries to prevent our oneiric activity from becoming conscious material.
Sometimes the message of dreams turns unpleasant and takes the form of a nightmare...
However, we can laugh in the face of this censor with a few tricks. The most drastic is to wake up suddenly when the deepest sleep phase (REM phase) is just about to end, so that you can rapidly write all the details of your mind’s theater in your notebook. Waking suddenly will take this censor by surprise, stopping it from doing its job. The best time to set the alarm is for four, five, six, or a little more than seven hours after going to sleep.
If your level of motivation is not high enough to get up in the middle of the night and record your dreams, there are alternatives that let you sleep for a stretch and then remember what you dream with great precision.
First of all, it’s helpful to develop some habits before going to bed, such as waiting a few hours between dinner and going to sleep. Experts recommend avoiding foods that cause gas (legumes like green beans, raw vegetables, etc.) and foods high in fat.
You must also keep in mind that, like tea and coffee, tobacco and alcohol alter the sleep cycle and deprive the body of a deep sleep (the damaging effects of a few glasses on the body does not disappear for about four hours).
What is recommended is to drink water or juice, or eat a yogurt, more than two hours after eating, before going to bed. There are two main reasons for this: liquids facilitate a certain purification of the body, and because, most interestingly for our purposes, it causes us to get up in the middle of the night. As we said, this will catch the internal censor by surprise and allow us to record our dreams easily.
Relaxing in bed and going over the events of the day helps free the mind and foster oneiric creativity.
Yoga exercises, such as the savasana pose, are great for relaxation, restful sleep, and a positive outlook.
Relaxation
It’s important to surround yourself with an environment that stimulates oneiric activity. You should feel comfortable in your room and your bed. The fewer clothes you wear to sleep, the better. Practicing relaxation techniques, listening to calming music, or taking a warm bath a few minutes before getting into bed will help relieve stress so that you enjoy a deep restorative sleep.
There are good books on relaxation on the market, both autogenous and yogic; we recommend one of the most practical, Relajacion para gente muy ocupada (Relaxation for Busy People), by Shia Green, published by this same publishing house. However, the real key is to concentrate on remembering dreams. When you go to bed, go over the events of the day that were important to you. This way, you will increase the probability of dreaming about the subjects that most interest or worry you.
So, let’s suppose you’re asleep now. What should you do to remember dreams? First, try to wake up naturally, without external stimuli. If this isn’t possible, use the quietest possible alarm without radio. Once awake, stay in bed for a few moments with your eyes closed and try to hold your dreams in your memory as you gently transition into wakefulness. Take advantage of this time to memorize the images you dreamt. The final oneiric period is usually the longest and these instants are when it is most possible to remember dreams.
Remember that it’s best to write the keywords of the dream immediately upon waking. It is convenient to keep a notebook on the nightstand and reconstruct the dream during the day.
The dream notebook
Next, write in the notebook (that you have left beside your bed) whatever your mind has been able to retain, no matter how absurd or trivial your dreams seem, even if you only remember small fragments. This is not the moment to make evaluations or interpretations. The exercise is to simply record everything that crosses your mind with as much detail as possible. Giving the fragility of memory, it’s okay to start off with just a few key words that summarize the content of the dream. These words will help you reconstruct the dream later in the day if you don’t have enough time in the morning. Ideally this notebook will gradually become a diary or schedule that allows you to study, analyze, and compare a series of dreams. Through a series of recorded episodes, you can detect recurring characters, situations, or themes. This is something that’s easy to miss at first glance. One important detail: specialists recommend you date and title each dream, since this helps you remember them in later readings.
It’s also interesting to complement your entries with relevant annotations: what feelings were provoked, which aspects most drew your attention, which colors predominated, etc. An outline or drawing of the most significant images can also help you unravel the meaning. Finally, you should write an initial personal interpretation of the dream. For that, the second part of this book offers some useful guidelines.
While we dream, there is a sort of safety mechanism that inhibits our movement. Therefore, sleepwalkers don’t walk during the REM phase. This protects us from acting out the movements of our dreams and possibly hurting ourselves. Still from the Spanish movie Carne de fieras (Flesh of beasts) (1936).
As we’ve seen, there are a series of techniques to remember dreams. This is the first step to extracting their wisdom. Now, given that oneiric thoughts are a source of inspiration for solving problems, wouldn’t it be great to choose what you dream about before you go to sleep? Rather than waiting for dreams to come to us spontaneously, try to make them focus on the aspects of your life that interest you.
How to determine the theme of dreams
Let’s imagine that someone is not very satisfied with their job. They’d like to get into another line of work but are afraid of losing the job security they enjoy. On one hand, they’re not so young anymore, they should take the risk to get what they really want. But they don’t know what to do. They need a light, a sign, an inspiration. In short, they need a dream. But not just any dream, a dream that really centers on their problem and gives answers.
However, if you limit yourself to just “consulting your pillow,” you won’t get the desired results. There is a possibility you will be lucky and dream about what you’re interested in, but more likely you will dream of anything but. If we are really prepared to dive into that which worries us most intimately, we can direct our dreams to give us concrete answers. Just like the techniques to remember dreams, the process is simple: before sleeping, we must concentrate on the subject of interest.
It’s also best to write in your notebook all the events and emotions of the day that were most important before you go to sleep.
Once your impressions and theme to dream have been noted, concentrate on the subject that most bothers you. Think about it carefully; propose questions and alternatives, “listen” to your own emotions. It’s best if all possible doubts are noted in the dream notebook. This way you’re more likely to receive an answer.
In order for it to be an effective answer, the question must be well defined. The fundamental idea of the problem should be summed up in a single phrase. Once you’ve reflected on the problem, it’s time to go to bed. But the “homework” is not finished yet. Before going to sleep, you need to concentrate on the concrete question. You need to forget everything else, even the details. Just “visualize” and repeat the question, without thinking of anything else, until you fall asleep.
Oneiric thoughts are a source of inspiration. Annotating and analyzing them carefully fosters a process of self discovery.
Writing a dream notebook
You should always have a notebook and pen near your bed to write down dreams the moment you wake up. Don’t forget to always write the date. What details should you include in this kind of diary? As many as you remember, the more the better.
Dreams are “signs,” messages from our subconscious, and the study and interpretation of them helps resolve the problems that worry us.
Nocturnal sleep puts us in touch with the deepest level of being, which allows us to approach our problems with a wider perspective. And induced dreams tend to be easier to remember than other oneiric activity.
When we dream, we enter a marvelous world that escapes the laws of spatial and temporal logic.... what are dreams for? dream meaning
The technique of “lucid dreaming”
Broadly speaking, this type of dream permits the dreamer to consciously participate. That is, realize suddenly that they are dreaming and that they can use the elements of the oneiric scene to their advantage or whim. In this aspect, lucid dreams have a greater potential for creativity; it is the ideal occasion to invent, conceive, and formulate without any type of limit or restriction. The main course of these dreams are the curative properties they offer. The life of any individual can be improved by sleeping, since making direct contact with unconscious material makes it easier to discover oneself and progress interiorly.
But what is a lucid dream? You may have experienced it before. You are sleeping and your mind enters into a dream in which a stranger, for example, yells at you to go home. The inverosimile of the situation makes you suddenly say to yourself: “This is a dream.”
Lucid dreams are very stimulating, above all because they allow the dreamer to control their reactions within the oneiric episode, even if it is a nightmare.
Experts define this phenomenon as “prelucid oneiric activity.” But this situation can manifest in a much more evident form. In this case, you not only know you are dreaming, but you can also use your conscious to change the dream as you wish. In the example given, you could ask the stranger who he is, or why he is throwing you out of your own house.
It must be said, however, that oneiric lucidity is not common, even though surveys have reported that 70 percent of people claim to have had this type of dream at some point. It is possible that many are confusing lucid images with prelucid ones, in which they only had the vague sensation of dreaming.
Keeping the conscious awake for a long time as you navigate your oneiric oceans is complicated. When one has lucid dreams, normally you either wake up shortly after, or quickly fall back into an unconscious state. Lucidity is only intermittent. And once you’ve had a dream of this type, it could be years before you experience another one. This exceptional character is why many people consider lucid dreams to be the most stimulating, above all because they allow the dreamer to control their reactions within the oneiric episode, even if it is a nightmare.
Unfortunately, not much is yet known about this type of oneiric process, although it is believed to occur more frequently in the early morning hours, since this time period makes it easier for the individual to realize that the mind is conceiving something improbable or outright impossible (for example, seeing yourself lift an airplane with one hand).
Are lucid dreams beneficial? Of course, since the individual who experiences them, upon realizing their mind is conscious, has the satisfaction of the sensation of freedom increasing as their self-control does. In this sense, some experts go beyond and claim that when one has learned to control oneiric events, it is much easier to solve daily problems and face anxiety. Lucid dreams, therefore, can contribute to our spiritual growth.
In another way, their potential can help us to treat the most terrifying nightmares. Lucidity allows you to face the threatening images in order to understand them, not obliterate them. According to some psychologists, such as the reputable American analyst Gayle Delaney, the best way to deal with a nightmare is not to turn it into a pleasant dream. Quite the contrary, those who dream lucidly have a better option: directly ask the oneiric characters that so terrorizes them what it is they want, or what they represent.
This experience can not only help transform the evil figures into friendly characters, but also allows one to discern what parts of the dreamer’s personality are represented by the original threatening images. With proper training, the individual will report feeling more secure and confident upon waking.
How it all began
The term “lucid dream” was coined by Frederik Van Eeden in 1898, using the word “lucid” in the sense of “mental clarity.” So we can say that a lucid dream is one in which “the dreamer becomes conscious that they are dreaming.” This definition, given by the researcher Celia Green in 1968, is the most widely accepted today. In any case, the
study of this type of dream has been ongoing since Ancient Greece. In the fourth century BC, Aristotle makes the first written reference to a lucid dream in his Treatise on Dreams: “When one is sleeping, there is something in the conscious that reveals that what is present is nothing more than a dream.”
In 415 AD, Saint Augustine used the story of a lucid dream to justify life after death. Later on, in the seventh century, Tibetan Buddhism studies the yoga of dreams, in which the monks train themselves in lucid dreaming as part of their spiritual development. Despite these precedents, the study of lucid dreams, as we understand them today, does not emerge until the nineteenth century, by the hand of Marquis d’Hervey Saint Denys. This researcher published the book Los suenos y como controlarlos (Dreams and how to control them), in 1867. In this, he demonstrated that it is possible to learn to dream consciously. This fact converted him into the founder of the first line of study on lucid dreams, although his discoveries were put into doubt by many researchers afterward.
In lucid dreams we are conscious that we are dreaming.
The sensation that time has passed, in a normal dream, is due to the sudden change of setting. In a lucid dream, however, the critical sense of the dreamer makes them question passing of time they did not live. Much more systematic and objective than Saint Denys, was the English psychologist Mary-Arnold Forster (1861–1951). In her book, Studies in Dreams (1921), she describes techniques of lucidity and control over dreams she herself experienced. The researcher was especially interested in “learning to fly” in lucid dreams, a practice which she had done since childhood.
Another very important aspect of her work was her nightmare therapy. She learned to recognize that her terrifying dreams were “just dreams.” So she helped many children overcome their nightmares through lucid dreaming, teaching them techniques to change an unpleasant dream to a pleasant one. The fact that she criticized many Freudian theories, especially those about pretending and censorship, relegated her brilliance to obscurity. It wasn’t until many years later that the true value of her discoveries was recognized.
Meditation is a good resource to stimulate lucidity in dreams.
Through the techniques of lucid dreaming, we can overcome nightmares by transforming them into pleasant and agreeable dreams.
The lucid dream, today
Modern research on lucidity has advanced a lot in the last fifty years and has come to dismiss old theories. Traditionally, it was thought that dreams happen in a moment, although long stories occurred within them. However, after studying in a lab the subjective experience of the dreamer, in all cases the estimated time of the lucid dream was very close to the real time (LaBerge, 1980–1985). The sensation that more time has passed is due to the sudden changes of scenery during dreams. In 1982, a study by psychologist Stephen LaBerge and William Dement demonstrated that, in the lucid dream, respiration was controlled voluntarily. They confirmed it with three lucid dreamers, who could breathe rapidly or hold their breath during the experiment without suffering any alteration of the dream.
On the other side, one of the most common themes of lucid dreams is sexual activity. LaBerge, Greenleaf, and Kedzierski (1983) completed a pilot experiment on the physiological response in lucid dreams of a sexual nature. The experimental protocol required the lucid dreamer to make ocular signals at the following moments: when he entered lucidity, when the sexual activity of the dream began, and when he experienced orgasm. The investigators discovered that the body reacts the same sexually during a lucid dream as it does while awake.
The situations, characters, or objects that are present in dreams but impossible in real life are precisely those that awaken the dreamer’s critical sense and brings them to lucidity. “The Meaning of Life,” Hipgnosis.
Meditation is also a good resource to stimulate lucidity in dreams. Before going to bed, find a quiet place and sit in a straight chair or on the floor with your legs crossed. Close your eyelids until only a faint fringe of light enters your eyes, or close them entirely if it won’t make you sleepy. Then, try to relax for five minutes (as you practice, you can lengthen the sessions). Concentrate in a single stimulus, focusing your attention on a specific spot. When you finish the exercise, go directly to bed, trying not to lose the relaxation you attained. Meditation will help you concentrate as you sleep, allowing you to recognize the incongruencies in your oneiric thoughts. This is the starting point of lucid dreaming.
Another method for inducing this type of dreams consists of proposing to complete some sort of assignment while you sleep. When dreaming, you will try to finish this job, something that will remind you that the activity you are doing (if you do in fact dream about what you proposed to) is nothing more than a dream.
A variation of this technique (also implies taking on a task) consists of leaving a glass of water in the bathroom and eating something very salty before going to bed. If you follow this method, you are likely to be thirsty but, given that your body is reluctant to get up and go to the bathroom, the displacement will end up incorporated in your dream. The coincidence will make you realize you are dreaming.
When in daily life, if a person, feeling, or thought appears repetitively, there is a greater chance you will dream of it. The content of dreams is always influenced by the content of your day. The more often you do a certain task, the more likely it is to appear in dreams. Therefore, if you ask yourself “am I dreaming?” frequently, you will end up asking this question in dreams. The problem comes when the sensation of reality in dreams is so strong that it tricks you. It is necessary to repeat the reality test we show later on.
Dr. Consuelo Barea notes that there are two primary techniques to induce lucid dreaming at night. It has to do with self suggestion and direct entry into dreams without losing consciousness, which comes from Tibetan yoga.
The number of times that stimuli repeat in a dream has a great impact on the content. However, the same happens with the quality of these stimuli. An event that impresses you, that hits you hard, that causes a big impact, is much more susceptible to appearing in your dreams, even if it only happened once. The way in which people talk to you or in which you receive information can be very suggestive and enter directly into your unconscious.
The prospective memory is a variation of this ability. It consists of giving yourself an order, forgetting it, and then completing it when the opportune moment arrives. We see an example of this memory in people who are able to wake up without an alarm at the hour they want. When the order of oneiric lucidity is given intensely and with force, it can directly reach the unconscious. Some people are able to have a lucid dream just by hearing about it for the first time; this seems interesting, but it’s more useful to educate one’s prospective memory, so that one knows how to give the order effectively.
The process of training in lucid dreaming requires a gradual increase in oneiric experience. It is possible to advance suddenly to a much higher level of lucidity and control but, if this happens by chance, without having worked for it, you will not be able to maintain this achievement. Advances remain fixed when you work for lucidity, persisting with the techniques for induction. Then, the accomplishments are incorporated with your normal oneiric repertoire. In this way, you can reach a point where, in non-lucid dreams, you still act spontaneously, following the lessons learned from lucidity. For example, if you train yourself in lucid dreams to confront an oneiric character that terrorizes you, you will end up responding bravely to this person automatically, even if you are not having a lucid dream.
When in daily life, if a person, feeling, or thought appears repetitively, there is a greater chance we will dream of it; this happens because the content of dreams is very influenced by the content of our waking day. “El voyeur” (The voyeur) (Carles Baró, 1996).
This practice will give you the keys to discover all that worries you in waking life and ends up represented in worry dreams and nightmares. Upon practicing with oneiric lucidity, you will learn to reap maximum benefit from this source of inspiration and creativity.
In the box we show the steps to follow to train yourself in lucid dreaming. The information comes from the studies of Dr. Consuelo Barea that appear in her book El Sueño Lúcido, (The Lucid Dream), published by this same editorial.
Practicing lucidity gives us the keys to discovering everything that worries us and stalks us in nightmares.1. Development of induction techniques. Practice some of the techniques described earlier with the intention of having a lucid dream (for example, self-suggestion). You can practice it during the day, before going to sleep at night, or in the morning before a morning nap.
2. Gradually increase the level of oneiric astonishment.
The objective is to reach Level 3 through practice of the prior techniques.
3. Reality test. Once you’ve reached at least Level 1, you must get used to practicing the reality test in a dream. This can be visual, of laws of physics, or temporal. To do so, question for a moment the reality or coherence of that which you are seeing or what is happening, according to your notion of time and space. If you find something strange in the evaluation of one of these factors, it will set off an alarm for you.
4. Prolongation of lucidity. Once you’ve reached lucidity, you must extend the time as much as possible to better obtain more information. The way to do this is by internal dialogue with the people in the oneiric scene, and with the thoughts you have during the dream.
5. Control. When you’ve achieved lucidity for a while and it seems like it will continue, you can begin to practice control:
The Kabbalists associate dreams with the central symbol of their tradition: the Tree of Life. “Tree of Life” (Gustav Klimt, 1909).... lucid dreaming dream meaning
Dreaming Lens: Dreaming in color is often viewed as a particular phenomenon that sets a dream apart from others you have. There is an implication here that if a memorable dream is thought of as vibrantly filled with color, other dreams must be in black and white by comparison. However, all dreams are likely to be experienced with various intensities of color and the memory of vibrant color is just one more way the unconscious is speaking to you.
This section deals specifically with the general meaning of colors as universally accepted in reference to the spectrum of visible white light. Use this information to add texture to the meaning of a symbol if a specific color was indicated in your memory of a dream. This can refer to anything, from the quality of light to the color of an object.
Personal Focus: Light is experienced as white, but if refracted into separate wave lengths, the naked eye can perceive the seven distinct bands of color that make it up. Seven is an important number in numerology, as it represents spirituality and higher thought. One of the applications of this significance is the chakras, or energy points on the body that corresponds to a gland in the endocrine system. By aligning the colors of the spectrum and the seven chakras, the foundational and universal meaning to colors is generated.
This is only a starting place, as many permutations and personal associations will alter the meaning of colors as you interpret your dreams. However, consider the logic of even some of those permutations. For example, green is the color of the heart center, but is also associated with jealousy or being green with envy. Though these are very different emotions, love and jealousy are both products of the heart. Yellow represents the emotions, but has come to signal caution in the Western world. Again, very different life experiences actually have the same origins when examined closely. It is in paying attention to our gut feelings that we are made aware of when to exhibit caution. The following guide is meant as a foundation and starting place for symbolic interpretation.
For specifics on the seven spectrum colors, see below:
1. Red Base of spine Security, grounding Testicles
2. Orange Genitals Sexuality/creativity Ovaries
3. Yellow Belly Feelings Adrenal gland
4. Green Heart Love/healing/center Thymus gland
5. Blue Throat Communication Thyroid gland
6. Indigo Third eye Intuition Pineal/pituitary
7. Violet Top of head Spirituality Above the body
Red: The first color of the spectrum, red is associated with security and grounding. This energy is connected with the base of the spine and the testicles in men. Often thought of as a color of passion, red aligns with aggression and sexual expression in the masculine principle. We stop at red lights, creating security for ourselves by avoiding the danger of oncoming traffic. Blood is the essence of life force itself and, therefore, related to being grounded in our physical body.
Orange: The next color of the spectrum corresponds to the area near the ovaries in woman and the lower belly in men. Orange is also related to sexuality, but through the feminine principle of intimacy and transformation. It is the color most associated with creativity.
Yellow: Yellow is the color of emotions and gut feelings and is appropriately centered in the solar plexus, creating a relationship with this area of the body and the color of the Sun. This is where we experience our feelings and the rapid shift from one state to another. Associated with the adrenal gland, yellow connects to adrenaline, the chemical manufactured by the brain that creates anxiety, sudden bursts of energy, and the fight-or-flight response. This is reflected in the use of yellow to indicate caution in signage and traffic management. Of course, many emotional states are very pleasant, which is embodied by our experience of sunlight as warm and comforting. This chakra is also associated with self-worth and how one relates in the world.
Green: Green is the color of the heart center, which can be confusing due to the representation of the heart as red, made especially prominent in Western culture with Valentine’s Day. However, green is the central color of the spectrum and the heart is considered the center of both our physical and our emotional bodies. This connects the color green to love, healing, and all matters of the heart. It may be easier to understand the meaning of this color if you consider the Earth and Mother Nature’s love affair with the color green. Keeping with traffic signal analogies, if you go when the light is green, that is like following your heart’s desire to move forward. When the heart is soured by hurt, green can turn to the menace of envy.
Blue: Blue is the color of communication and connects to the body through the throat and the thyroid gland. There is a connection between our metabolic activity, which is regulated by the thyroid, and the effectiveness of our communication. Through our voice, we communicate with others, but it is through our energy levels that we commune with our immediate environments. Other communication concepts associated with this color are the blueprints that communicate the structure of something not yet created. The call of a hospital emergency is known as a Code Blue. Before a brochure or magazine page is printed, the early version used to finalize the design and layout is known as the blue line. When blood circulation diminishes due to a drop in body temperature, the lips will turn blue and communication is hindered. These are but a few examples that may not relate to a specific image; however, when the color blue is prominent in your dream, incorporate issues of communication into your interpretation.
Indigo: Indigo is an elusive color—many people would be hard pressed to describe it or identify it upon sight. Since intuition shares some of these same indefinable characteristics, it is ironic that the two are linked. Somewhere between blue and violet, indigo is the sixth color of the spectrum and vibrates with what is known as the third eye, the point behind the forehead that is the seat of inner vision. The pineal and pituitary glands correlate with this color, which contains yet another irony: the first regulates all of our body’s rhythmic cycles and the latter stimulates growth and incites the onset of puberty. They perform these functions at the right and perfect time, as if guided by intuition.
Violet: Violet is the final color of the spectrum and is considered the most spiritual. It is connected to the crown of the head and, therefore, not encumbered by the demands of the body. In this way, it is the vibration that is connected to us, but reaches upward into higher realms of energy. There are many examples of violet— more commonly referred to as purple—being associated with spirituality and high levels of consciousness. Merlin, the wizard from the King Arthur tales, is often depicted as wearing a purple hat; the Purple Heart represents ultimate bravery; and in Catholicism, during the holiday of Lent, all images of the Christ are covered with purple. People who meditate with discipline report seeing violet light as part of the trance experience.
Black: Thought of as the absence of color to some, in the world of physics, black is actually the presence of all colors in the object that embodies it. It is the color that absorbs the most light, retains heat and is associated with death as it is the opposite of life affirming white. As the color of mourning, black clothing represents the social construct of receiving consolation. When we are in mourning, we are surrounded by people who share in our sadness. In the same way that a black shirt will absorb all wavelengths of sunlight, a person in mourning wears black in order to absorb the light from those who surround them. In the world of fashion, black has a connotation of being trendy and sophisticated. Nighttime is when blackness reigns, bringing secrecy and the ability to hide into this color’s symbolic meaning.
White: Purity and wholeness is represented by white, as this is the unification of all the colors of light that are visible to the human eye. For some, white is the color of highest spirituality. For others it connects to the perfection that arises out of the absence of contamination as in virginity and chastity. An object that appears white reflects the light back outward, absorbing none of the individual colors of the spectrum. It is in this concept of reflecting the light that shines onto you back out into the world that embodies the high consciousness associated with the color white.... colors dream meaning
Dream Encyclopedia
Dream Interpretation
What is the dream?
Common Dreams
Top Searches