How do you interpret dreams?
06/02/25 11:03pm
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To interpret dreams, the first thing I do is write everything down as soon as I wake up. There’s such a short window where you can remember your dreams, so I try to capture as much detail as I can. Then I review the themes and patterns. I keep a dream diary, and I often notice recurring elements—like school buses or school settings. I break down each symbol or character and reflect on how they make me feel.
Dream interpretation is very personal, so I don’t rely solely on Google or symbol dictionaries. Those can be helpful, but only after reflecting on what the symbols mean to you. Over time, you start to see a bigger message or theme emerging.
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Dream interpretation is very personal, so I don’t rely solely on Google or symbol dictionaries. Those can be helpful, but only after reflecting on what the symbols mean to you. Over time, you start to see a bigger message or theme emerging.
I recommend first trying to grasp the concept of symbolism. Depending on what culture you come from, symbols can mean different things. For example, if you look at the Chinese zodiac, they have the year of the snake. Sometimes in Western culture, we think of snakes as dangerous animals that come out of nowhere and bite you, but the Chinese Zodiac was thinking about snakes curled up in a little ball, as cuddly, shiny, and pretty. If you have a dream about a snake, it could represent either of these meanings.
Every item in a dream will be a symbol for something else in your life, so consider carefully what each item you see means to you. Having a flying dream, for example, isn't necessarily some prophecy that you're going to gain the power of flight, but it's usually symbolism for ascension and growth in your personal life.
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Every item in a dream will be a symbol for something else in your life, so consider carefully what each item you see means to you. Having a flying dream, for example, isn't necessarily some prophecy that you're going to gain the power of flight, but it's usually symbolism for ascension and growth in your personal life.
I always recommend keeping a dream journal along with a day journal. Your dreams tonight are actually a commentary on what happened today. So, with a journal, you'll be able to connect the dots between what's going on in the dream to something that happened the previous day. For example, if your dream was particularly stressful, odds are it's because that day was particularly stressful.
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First you have to write down everything you remember from your dream without any judgment! As you start to interpret the dream, it can be easy to forget details or even to misremember what actually happened, so you have to start from a non-judgmental space where you let the words flow onto the page without any editing.
Second, ask yourself: What were the key feelings I had during this dream? Symbols and images can be confusing because they don't speak our waking language. But you can always trust the emotions. Was there fear in the dream? Then there is probably unexpressed or unexplored fear in your waking life.
THEN you can start to pull apart the key nouns and verbs to see what they represent metaphorically. First, start with your own free associations, then you can look to other dictionaries and interpretations to help you search for new connections you may not have thought about.
Remember, to interpret dreams ethically, only YOU can determine the true meaning. Dictionaries and online searches can be helpful, but nothing can replace your own meditative and introspective reflection.
Happy Dreaming!
- Jesse
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Second, ask yourself: What were the key feelings I had during this dream? Symbols and images can be confusing because they don't speak our waking language. But you can always trust the emotions. Was there fear in the dream? Then there is probably unexpressed or unexplored fear in your waking life.
THEN you can start to pull apart the key nouns and verbs to see what they represent metaphorically. First, start with your own free associations, then you can look to other dictionaries and interpretations to help you search for new connections you may not have thought about.
Remember, to interpret dreams ethically, only YOU can determine the true meaning. Dictionaries and online searches can be helpful, but nothing can replace your own meditative and introspective reflection.
Happy Dreaming!
- Jesse
If I know ahead of time that someone wants this service, I will have them keep a detailed journal. And then I will ask them for the dream in as much detail as they can recall from start to finish before I ever open my mouth.
Then I start asking questions. Could you smell anything in your dream? Or any other sensory things that they were picking up on? Because those are all little signs of what the other symbology is trying to say in the dream. Were they fearful? Were they excited? How were they actually feeling? Where do you feel this in your body when you think about that? For example, if they feel it in their gut, that's their solar plexus chakra, that's the seat of your personal power. Are you cramping, or does your throat hurt if you think about it? What are you feeling now that we're talking about it? So it's just asking a lot of questions.
If they are afraid of something in their waking hours, then we try to look at why it's coming up in a dream and what it means. So it's looking at all the different aspects of whatever is coming in with that dream for them and then trying to meld it with what's going on in their life. Because then I may ask other questions like, Have you started a new job? Have you started dating someone? Because those things come up in dreams sometimes when big changes happen. So it's not only finding out what's going on in the dream, then it's finding out what's going on personally in their life too.
It’s a lot listening with my ears, but also watching facial expressions and body language. If it's in person, I'm also reading their energy, too. I'm trying to listen for inflections in their voice and how it changes. All of those little cues I'm trying to bring into it when I'm working with someone and trying to interpret something for them.
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Then I start asking questions. Could you smell anything in your dream? Or any other sensory things that they were picking up on? Because those are all little signs of what the other symbology is trying to say in the dream. Were they fearful? Were they excited? How were they actually feeling? Where do you feel this in your body when you think about that? For example, if they feel it in their gut, that's their solar plexus chakra, that's the seat of your personal power. Are you cramping, or does your throat hurt if you think about it? What are you feeling now that we're talking about it? So it's just asking a lot of questions.
If they are afraid of something in their waking hours, then we try to look at why it's coming up in a dream and what it means. So it's looking at all the different aspects of whatever is coming in with that dream for them and then trying to meld it with what's going on in their life. Because then I may ask other questions like, Have you started a new job? Have you started dating someone? Because those things come up in dreams sometimes when big changes happen. So it's not only finding out what's going on in the dream, then it's finding out what's going on personally in their life too.
It’s a lot listening with my ears, but also watching facial expressions and body language. If it's in person, I'm also reading their energy, too. I'm trying to listen for inflections in their voice and how it changes. All of those little cues I'm trying to bring into it when I'm working with someone and trying to interpret something for them.
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