The Iroquois, among other indeginous peoples, believed that anyone not in touch with their dreams were not in touch with their soul. I am fascinated with the idea that dreams are a window into this “soul world”, or subconscious plane. (I use soul and subconscious interchangeably).
I have learned from experience and through psychology and self-help studies that the outcomes or results of our lives, which make up our life situation, are born from actions and behaviors, which in turn, originate from our subconscious beliefs about ourselves and our world. In other words, our souls drive us. If our dream states have anything to teach us about this powerful inner world that conducts the major portion of the work of attracting and repelling things into and from our lives, this could be one more tool in our belt for self improvement.
In the Bible, dreams were held in great esteem. Joseph was a dreamer, and he could interpret accurately the dreams of the Pharaoh. Here’s a thought: what if Pharaoh was a lucid dreamer? Would he have been better equipped to interpret his own dreams? Who knows his mind better than himself? Joseph no doubt took context clues from Pharaoh’s life situation, and related his dreamscapes to these waking realities. Can we not do the same today?
Why did I dream of my son as a 2-year-old the other night? Possibly because last month we got into a pretty heated conflict about me leaving him when I divorced his mom, and he is still not over it. Now at almost 20 years old, he feels he was cheated by losing his father in the house. And I feel guilt. Therefore, I dream of my son as a baby, and how wonderful it would be to start again.
Why did I dream of Chris the photographer being angry about not getting paid? Because she is photographic my upcoming wedding, and her fee is still in my pocket. Granted, the wedding is a month and a half away, but it’s on my mind to pay her.
Freud said that dreams are tools for wish fulfillment and conflict resolution. But what if there’s more to it? What if our dreams give us hints to the deeper meaning of our lives (through diagnosing our beliefs about ourselves)? Now, meaning is subjective and is assigned based on our personality, desires, social/religious paradigm, etc. It seems to me that this is all the more reason why dream work is a valid and beneficial tool for discovering unconscious desires and habits as well as the conditions in which we find ourselves. Does this not lead us toward the highest work of humankind– to improve, to grow, to self-actualize?
Given the gravity and emphasis that the ancients put on dreams, it seems to me they have at least as much meaning as waking life, albeit mysterious.
SIDE NOTE: My fiancé and I paid Chris this week for her services as our wedding photographer. She was in a poor mood, just as she had been in my dream. This could possibly reveal that, like my prediction about Teresa eating Frito’s yesterday, I had an unconscious realization that Chris would be in a bad mood. Or it could be coincidental.
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