Dream Dictionaries - Opinions and Warnings

Normally I completely reject dream dictionaries of any kind, because a dream and it's symbol are as unique as the person who sees it. No one person can ultimately decide what YOUR dream meant to YOU except YOU. I'm a very firm believer in this. I think we can ASSIST in uncovering a dream, but not actually TELL you exactly what it meant.

That said, I read something the other night had me thinking a little differently about they idea of dream dictionaries and their true purpose. (Also a friend of mine had brought up this subject, which was pretty much the same as what I read).

In cases where the symbols in the dream have absolutely no meaning to you in waking life, it could be possible these are Universal Symbols. Which is to say if you have absolutely NO idea what something in the dream could have meant or it doesn't relate to anything currently in your mind, it may have been a universal symbol shown to you by your higher self.

I can't think of any of my own dreams off the top of my head as an example, so I'll borrow one from a friend....

She had a dream she was in the middle of a battle, wanting to go one way while with her child, while her husband wanted her to go the other way. The battle had no purpose in the location she was dreaming of. She was not currently studying anything ON battles in waking life. Because of it's location, there was nothing attaching this dream to a past life or future events (I know the area VERY well, trust me there's never been nor will there ever be a battle in that exact spot!). This dream had her absolutely STUMPED. (Forgive me if I've messed up the story of this dream a bit, it wasn't my own so I'm trying to recite this from hearing about it only once!)

While reading up on Universal Symbols, I came across the meaning of battles. It says "A personal or internal conflict". I gave her this information the next day, and sure enough that was the absolute best fitting meaning for the dream to her.

So while usually I absolutely hate dream dictionaries, I now see Universal Symbols can actually be a useful tool for those REALLY hard to crack dreams that seem to make NO sense what-so-ever.

Some notes about dictionaries though:

1. Universal Symbols are those that have not specific time or era attached. Things like certain animals, colors, numbers, and specific actions (ie dancing, traveling by any means, etc) are universal symbols. Electronics, modern inventions, and things we did not have 5,000 years ago are NOT universal symbols.

2. Never use a dream dictionary that includes non-universal symbols. The author has put these together using themselves or others, not you. Every person's dreams are unique, and no one symbol is going to mean the same for you. If the symbol you've looked up doesn't make any sense to you, then that's not what it meant or it's not a symbol.

3. Before grabbing a dictionary, make absolutely sure the dream doesn't have another meaning first. If you are worrying about remodeling your house and a house is in the dream, the house is probably not a symbol but just something weighing on your mind. It's your higher self putting you in a setting that's current to you, so it's ok to write off that certain aspect of the dream as "something on your mind". What goes ON in the house is a different story though.

Another example - even though color can be a universal symbol, it may have a different meaning in your dream. About 2 years ago I dreampt of being in my friends appartment, which had an emphasis on big blue curtains on a big window, with a big black couch in front (in the dream, in real life he was not living in an appartment). Just last fall he moved into this appartment I saw so vividly, and that was the first thing I noticed when I walked in. Obviously it was a precog dream, and the colors blue and black didn't mean anything but a fact of something I was going to see some year and a half later.

Basically, do not let a dream dictonary get in the way of the TRUE meaning of the dream. It won't always be correct. Make it your LAST source when uncovering the meaning of certain aspects in the dream (like the battle in the case of the friend's dream, it had no meaning to her and didn't "fit" in the area).

4. Always go with your first feelings. If you THINK a certain item, animal, person, place, or event in your dream had a certain meaning or purpose, go with that. Don't grab a dream dictionary to confirm it, because it probably won't be right. As mentioned before, make it your LAST resort for anything you can't figure out.


I'm currently reviewing some dreams in my own journal that simply didn't make sense to me the first time around, so I might post a few here and there for examples. :)