Understanding Your Dreams Pt 1

Ever have a dream that had images or symbols in it that you just didn’t understand? Ever wake up curious as to whether or not the dream had a message for you? Many times the things your dreams have to tell you are either messages from your subconscious mind, or messages from God.

The messages that are from your subconscious mind are messages that are trying to show you or address issues that you may be struggling with, or that need resolution. Sometimes the messages can be a forewarning. It could be your subconscious mind warning you of the results of a behavior, and sometimes you could be receiving a spiritual message that is warning you about an event or forthcoming circumstance.

As a child, I had a scary dream, one in which I was running for my life; and one in which a battle was being fought for my soul. It was definitely a battle of good and evil within me, and I was scared and intimidated by the beings I encountered in the dream time and again. You see, this dream reoccurred in my life from the age of 5 until I was about 26 years old. That is the age when I have no recollection of the dream happening.

The dream was modified a bit as I grew older, and a segment of it was dropped, but the rest of it was the same. The battle for my soul was real, and it even entered my waking moments. Why am I telling you this? Most people, especially parents, have no idea how their children can be attacked in the dream realm. I never told my parents about the dreams because I couldn't explain to them what I was seeing. Even when I got to an age where I could have explained it, they wouldn't have believed what I was seeing. Parents need to protect their children with prayer.

The only reason I recognized the gift of dreams in my own son, is because I went through this as a child myself. Never ignore or take your child’s dreams lightly. Most people don’t remember their dreams, but if your child can remember it and relate it to you; if it is important, or has made a distinct impression on your child, consider it carefully.

Let me give you an example of a dream that my child had that I paid attention to. It was a warning.

My son was five years old at the time. His father and I had separated when he was two, so by the time he reached this age, we were already divorced. All he knew was mommy. His father never saw him, and had no visitation rights.

My little man’s biggest fear was loosing me. This fear was exacerbated by the dreams he began having at this age. At first I didn’t think much of it, but he repeatedly came to me...almost nightly, crying, and saying that he had a bad dream. Poor baby. He couldn’t properly articulate what he was seeing in the dreams. All I could get from him was that it was something scary, something like a monster, and was trying to take me away from him. It was always something threatening me, or pulling me away and leaving him alone.

I always tried to assure him that mommy was not going anywhere, and that he was safe. He’d usually end up sleeping the rest of the night in my bed, and then he slept soundly.

But after a few months of this - it didn’t go away; I started to wonder. The dreams kept sounding the same; considering his ability to explain it, and I remembered the dream I had had since childhood. There was a distinct message in my dream, so I began to think there was a distinct warning in his.

Considering this, I began to prepare him, in the event that something did happen to me. I would reassure him that he was not alone, and would be taken care of if anything happened to me. I also told him that if I ever left this earth, I would always be with him in spirit, because I would be with God in heaven, and He would allow me to watch over my baby.

I also told him who in my immediate family, would come and get him and take care of him. I taught him the phone numbers of immediate relatives, so that he could call them if anything occurred, or if he couldn’t reach me for any reason.

My son had these scary dreams of something happening to me for six months prior to my accident. I was sideswiped by a car while on my bike in 2001. I ended up with a double fracture to my left knee and ankle, requiring 2 surgeries and an immobilizer. I was wheelchair bound and in recovery for 5 months afterwards.

My mother picked up my son, and despite the fact that she told him that I was ok, when she told him that something happened to me he burst into tears. I think perhaps there was a rush, or release for him. After all, he had been seeing something coming for six months, and I’m sure it was a burden on his little heart and mind, despite my attempts to ease it.

Now obviously, I’ve given you examples of the fact that dreams have messages, but I’ve also demonstrated that dreams can be reoccurring, as well as long term, lasting for months and even years. Why? Because if the messages of the dreams have not been addressed yet, or haven’t occurred, then the warnings and messages will often continue until the issue has been dealt with.

There are many universal symbols that are common in dreams to everyone. These are called archetypes, and represent something that represents universal principles of life, or themes lived by each one of us. These symbols can come from religious teachings, images, myths, fairytales, folk tales and legends.

Sigmund Freud had a tendency to view most of these symbols as related to sex; as he believed that dreams were an expression of some measure of sexual repression. His protégé, Carl Jung, claimed that the reason we dream is to compensate for those parts of the psyche or total personality that is undeveloped in waking life; unresolved issues in essence.

A few examples of Archetypes are:

The Divine Child - represents the true self; innocence; more child-like qualities to apply to your life, such as spontaneity, a new perspective, more trust and playfulness.

The Divine/Earth Mother - loving female; represents growth, generosity, and wisdom; could mean you need nurturing in many areas.

The Hero/Hero’s journey or quest - Hero must encounter challenges, hardships, villains, temptations and danger; at the beginning of the journey, the hero must be cut off from their roots and be mistreated or misunderstood. At that point, the journey/adventure of discovering your true self can occur. After encountering challenges, you experience self-acceptance and understanding & attain goal. It’s a process of spiritual growth which is essential.

Monsters - represent your worst fears or the parts of your personality that are usually kept hidden away. These are the issues you must face and deal with, and doing so in the dream world can help you confront them in normal life.

Death and rebirth - represents resurrection; symbolic of the death and resurrection of Christ; example given of a caterpillar breaking free from its cocoon, which symbolizes personal growth and transformation. It’s a positive dream.

Some people are gifted with an ability to not only dream, but to interpret dreams. These people have been known as seers or prophets biblically, but of course, their gifting is from God, and by His Spirit. There are also people with the gifting that is not utilized for God or by Him. They are called mediums or clairvoyants. You can usually tell the difference in the purpose of the use of the gift.

Continue to part 2 here.

Sandra M Urquhart

Massage Therapist/Writer

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