Dreams are associated with the subconscious and seem to be without rhyme nor reason – however they can be interpreted in any number of ways according to the personal life experience of the ‘viewer’. As an interpreter of dreams (The Dream Doctor) in the daily publication The Advertiser, a Wagga based newspaper, I was given the opportunity to give extraordinary clarity and meaning to those who were baffled by seemingly nonsensical images. The analyses always related to what was happening in the life of the dreamer which translated into symbolic narrative. Most analysts will give general meaning to symbols, nevertheless each individual will attach significance to these symbols according to their own experiential journey. For example, one person might see a snake as something to fear, someone else may view this as an opportunity for transformation. All is in the eye of the beholder!
Why do we dream? The physical body needs to release the stresses of the daily grind – we have the means to do this when we are the most relaxed – in our sleep, whereby we can concoct a scenario that organises our thoughts, fears and ideas into a kind of strategy or solution. What about scary nightmares – how do they solve anything? As you will see in the published analyses below, things are not quite what they seem. What appears frightening may actually be a wake up call to challenge our thoughts and actions, and in fact offer a positive opportunity for refection on what we worry about and fear the most. Dreams may also be predictive but on the whole they reflect our own subconscious.