Dreams…the mysterious and wonderful world of the astral realm!  They truly fascinate me!! For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had super vivid dreams.  The type of dreams where you wake up and fully believe you were there acting out all the weird and wonderful things!  The type of dreams that still to this day I can remember with such clarity….as though they were actual memories.  The type of dreams that are so rich in wonderful metaphors and symbolism and that intrigue me so much!

What are dreams?

Seems like a daft question but honestly you’d be surprised!! Most people think that when they go to bed at night and have a dream that it’s just one of those things that our human brains do to pass the time whilst in REM sleep.  But honestly, it’s far far far more interesting than that!

Dreams have a number of roles to play.  For one, they are a way for our subconscious mind (the hidden part of our mind that thinks behind the scenes) to problem solve and work through anything that was on the conscious mind when you went to sleep or what has been bothering you for a while.  When we sleep, our conscious brain (the thinker….or over-thinker LOL!) looks at things very logically and rationally so it can be hard for the subconscious mind to get a word in!  So when we sleep, that part of our brain rests and the subconscious mind is able to do what it does best – problem solve!

Have you ever woken up and found that you seemingly have some new solutions to a situation that has been on your mind or something that you wanted clarity on?  That’ll be thanks to your subconscious mind working over-time as you slept.

What I love best, however, is that dreams are a way for Spirit (our Spirit Guides, Angels, Loved Ones etc) to communicate with us.  When we are awake and using our conscious mind, it can be hard for Spirit to get messages to us.  We just don’t see or hear them.  Plus we can overthink it all and question “did that really happen?” when something “odd” happens like a random song starting to play in your mind that reminds you of a loved one in Spirit.   So they use dreams as a way to communicate with us – because our conscious mind isn’t active and being all logical so they are able to bypass that part of our brain to deliver meaningful messages to us.

How do we receive messages in our dreams?

Let’s focus on the role of Spirit for now….as I love talking about them and how they influence our dreams!  Spirit LOVE metaphors and symbolism.  That’s why dreams are so odd!!! Because they are very literally and draped in symbolic imagery so when we wake up and our conscious mind kicks in again, we end up overthinking them trying to figure out exactly what that “chicken drumstick” meant (one of my most recent dreams).  But that is the pure beauty of dreams and all the symbolism….because the dreams are presented to us in a way that really paint a picture.  They are so visual with lots of meaning and symbols that really get you to think. For example, you could have been particularly angry that day and in your dream you see a kettle boiling.  It’s how the image is portrayed to you….it’s your emotions literally bubbling and boiling.  Or in your dream you could have been riding a bike….think about what bikes represent?  Yes they take you somewhere from A to B but you also need good balance to ride one….so that can be the meaning of your dream – balance.

Honestly, they really are rich in imagery and symbolism and metaphors and there are so many messages and meanings in dreams but they do all generally follow the same pattern.  They are literal….they literally spell it out to you as if you were trying to explain something simply to a small child.  You don’t need to overthink them, that’s why we get confused because we are looking for the “exact” meaning.

What type of messages can we receive?

There are a number of ways that Spirit use to communicate with us in our dreams.  These are:

• imagery
• people (either those we know or strangers)
• numbers and words
• things we hear
• situations
• feelings

Imagery

Let’s start with the imagery.  This can literally be anything.  Being sat at a table in a kitchen, riding a bike, swimming, flowers, eating ice cream, catching a train.  Anything that is visual like that which sets the scene for you.  How to interpret these?  Look at what they mean to you…literally.  For example, if you want to go on a journey you’d catch a train or drive or catch a bus, right?  So that’s what the dream is telling you – that you are on a journey or about to embark on a journey.  Another example, eating ice cream.  What does ice cream represent to you?  For me, it’s having fun with my daughter and relaxing in a park or at the beach with an ice cream.  It’s about enjoyment.  So that ice cream dream is about having fun.

See how easy they are to interpret?

People 

We can also meet people we know (or don’t know) in our dreams.  These people can be those who are still alive or those who are in Spirit.  If they are still alive, for example, your mother, either you are being given a message specifically about her or you are being given a message about what the mother figure represents – she is nurturing, feminine, she brings life to this world. Strangers can represent the unknown to us or maybe the relevance is in what they are wearing or what they are doing?

We can also meet passed loved ones in dreams too – one of my FAVOURITE things to do!!! I just LOVE visitations!! They make me feel so good about myself when I wake up and remind me of how much I am loved.  I love meeting with my grandparents and my friend in the astral realm and they give so much to me!  I once had a dream about 15-20 years ago about one of my granddad’s that I STILL remember to this day – the overwhelming feeling of pure LOVE from him for me in my dream was so beautiful that that dream has literally imprinted on my mind and will stay with me my entire life.

Loved ones come to us in dreams for a number of different reasons.  It can take a lot of energy for them to come through and so they usually have a reason for popping in to say hi!  It could be just that – that they want to say hi to us because we are in need of comfort or have been asking for guidance on a particular issue.  They could also visit to give us a little “nudge” in a particular direction (one of my grandma’s showed up 5 months ago to give me a nudge….LOL!).  They could also bring a message to us – for example, my mum had a dream 18 years ago about my grandma who had an illness in the dream and it actually gave her a reason to check her own health which is how she discovered she had breast cancer.

Numbers and words

I love getting numbers and words in my dreams!  Probably because they are pretty easy to work out and they really stand out to me!! Numbers are generally Angel numbers, a way for Angels to communicate with us using the energies of the vibrations of each number.  A brilliant site that I use for Angel number meanings is http://sacredscribesangelnumbers.blogspot.com/ . It’s very easy to use and tells you all about the meaning of each number!

I’ll see numbers in a variety of ways – either on a train ticket or theatre ticket, on a watch or the floor number that an elevator takes me to.  Numbers convey an additional message to us from our Angels that can help with guidance.

Words are similar – we can see people’s names or places or words in a menu.  Ask yourself what that word means to you.

Things we hear

Amongst my many Clair abilities, I am clairaudient which means “clear hearing”.  In my waking life, I’ll “hear” messages in my mind or out loud.  In the dream world, it’s no different and if you are also clairaudient then chances are you will hear things out loud in you dreams too.  You could hear someone having a full on conversation with you or hear a song being played or hear a word or phrase loud and clear.  Again, ask yourself what this all means to you.  I like hearing things in my dreams as it’s usually very clear on what the meaning is.  For example, last night I heard loud and clear in my dream, “you are a Shadow Worker”.  Spirit literally told me loud and clear what my purpose is – thanks Spirit!

Situations

Spirit and the subconscious like to convey meanings to us from various situations.  Things that we can easily relate to in terms of being able to visualise ourselves in that situation.  Some examples of this could be swimming or going shopping or riding a bus.  Swimming is about letting go of things and being present with our emotions (water is a VERY emotional sign in our dreams).  Going shopping will depend on what you are doing – are you trying on clothes (so trying out new things in your life) or are you browsing but not buying anything (perhaps unsure of putting yourself out there and committing to “buying the clothes”).  Riding a bus is about taking a journey – do you know where you are going on this journey?

Put yourself in the actual situation as if you were in it in your waking life and think about what it means to you and how it makes you feel.

Feelings

Which leads us nicely onto feelings!! How we feel in a dream is very telling and can give a lot of context to the overall meaning of a dream.  Did you feel anxious?  Scared? Happy?  Elated?  Confused? Sad?  Add these feelings to the overall imagery of the dream and you will get your meaning.  For example, you are stood at the entrance to a dark tunnel and are feeling anxious and scared to go in because you don’t know what to expect as you can’t see anything because of the dark.  This dream is about exploring areas of yourself that you’ve not previously explored before (i.e. if you are doing a lot of shadow work or self-reflection) and the darkness is the unknowing and the subconscious.  You feel scared and anxious to go “into the tunnel” (i.e. into these unexplored areas or the deeper depths of your subconscious mind) because you’ve not been there before and don’t know what to expect.  The feelings in your dream relate to your current situation and give context to how these situations will affect you.

Other things to take note of

Dreams are a whole other level which is why it can be hard to interpret them if you aren’t sure what to look for.  But as I always say, EVERYTHING in a dream has a meaning!  The things you notice like someone’s shoe colours or a bandaged foot, the colours, the weather (raining? calm? dry? stormy?), the time of day (daytime or nighttime), the people you are with, the minor (almost insignificant) details that you would normally pass over….they all have meaning!

Journaling….a great way to keep track of your dreams!

As someone who dreams very vividly most nights, I’ve found a huge benefit in writing my dreams down when I wake up.  I keep a journal at the side of my bed and will either jot some notes down quickly if I wake in the night or write the full dream down in the morning.  I write down as much detail as I can and since I started doing this 5 months ago I’ve noticed so many patterns in my dreams – for example, I’ve had hills in my dreams and over the months I’ve moved more up the hill which shows I’m accomplishing my goals and overcoming hurdles.

Journaling isn’t essential but it’s a great way to keep track of what you are dreaming about and recognise patterns.  You might start off dreaming of being the passenger in a car…to then being the driver and “in the driving seat”.  Or you might start off being stood at the station platform and missing the train…to finally catching the train and taking that journey.