ON-LINE BOOK : Hundreds of real dreams
A BASIC INTRO to what dreams are about
BASIC TECHNIQUES to interpret dreams
DREAM DICTIONARY A to Z of symbols complete with essays on symbols in everyday real uses
BASIC SYMBOLISM - DREAM SYMBOLS : Basements - Your boss - Best friend - Babies/pregnant - Brothers - Cafes - Cars - Castles - Children - Creative dreams - Clothes - Churches and cathedrals - Deaths - Demons,witches and goblins - Dogs - Drink and drugs - Farms, gardens and plants - Factories - Fathers - Faucets/taps/pipes - Food - Earthquakes and volcanos - Foreign Countries - Grandparents - Guards - Guns and knives - Horses and animals - Hauntings - Hospitals - Hotels + huge buildings - Houses - Locks - Men(unknown) - Military - Money - Mothers - Monster - Mountains - Movies - Music - People - Police - Phone - Politics - Planes and flying - Prison - Rivers - Rapists and intruders - Railways - Roads - Schools - Sea - Sex - Shops - Sisters - Skies in dreams - Skyscrapers and tall buildings - Snakes and spiders - Space - Sports - Street - Teeth - Tidal waves - Time - Toilets in dreams - Towns and streets - Trees - Water - Weddings and engagements - Windows - Work
OTHER SUBJECTS: external causes of dreams : Music in dreams : Premonitions : Telepathy : Specific dreams : Synonyms in dreams : Children's dreams and dreams about your child : Recurring dreams CASE STUDIES : 1 2 3 4 5
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SPECIFIC DREAMS : Often we get dreams about specific situations. These are easy to spot - things which stick in our minds. Often these will have symbolic associations with the situations involved. The symbols will therefor have a personal meaning. In such circumstances it is best to ignore the symbolic meaning from books and instead seek the personal meaning of some symbol.
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DREAM STUDIES : Real dreams about specific one off topics in your life
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THE DREAM After spending Sunday evening with a fairly new close friend (Donna), I had a really intense dream that night about a friend I haven't seen in years (Lorraine). I had a "I hardly know you but feel I know you well" sensation.

THE REALITY On waking I realized that the strengths and weaknesses of these two friends were very similar. The dreamer was also very comfortable with her and found it easy to get to know her and open up to her.
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THE DREAM - I am holding some cards(I occasionally play poker with a group of friends) and a bottle of vodka. I am a spy. I suddenly think of myself been tortured by the Germans.

THE REALITY The dreamer had just found out that they both knew a Professor. His mother was very pleased that he was mixing with refined and intelligent people. However, he failed to inform his mother that he knew him through secret gambling evenings.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "My mom found out yesterday that I know someone who is quite important and influential. Yet I also kept it secret how I know him as I meet him at illegal poker nights."

THE INTERPRETATION The bottle of vodka and cards were a good clue in this dream. It showed that the dream was in some way connected to that. The previous day the dreamer had found out his mother also knew one of his gambling friends. However, the dreamer failed to tell his mother how he knew the friend. She was impressed by his social connections.

The main symbol is the spy here. A spy holds onto his secrets until pain of death. So the dream is about holding onto the real facts behind his relationship with this influential person.

Symbolic Meanings
SPY : "keeping something secret - the dreamer fears that something will be found out"
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THE DREAM - I was half awake, and I could hear myself or someone else talking about the Ouija board that my friends and I might be trying soon. I can't remember everything I said, but the words "Sixth Sense" popped up and I got this image of a severely burnt child. It was really scary and it woke me up. I felt a presence in the room and I was afraid so I asked my spirit guide to help me get back to sleep and make the other feeling go away.

THE REALITY The dreamer had been thinking of doing a Ouija board with friends but was not sure as it seemed a bit frightening.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "I have been thinking about having a Ouija board. I am not sure as it is a bit frightening. "

THE INTERPRETATION If we are in two minds about doing something then we may dream about it. It is our minds way of weighing up the pros and cons. The dreamer had been scared of doing a Ouija board but knew a friend who had done one. So she felt it was worth doing and would close it if anything bad happened.

In the dream the child symbolised her enthusiasm for this - she wanted to do the Ouija board. The child maybe also symbolises innocence and the fear that she was getting involved in things that she did not understand nor control.

The child being burnt maybe symbolises the fear that she had.

So what does the dream represent? The dream obviously portrays the scarey side of Ouija boards - but it did not put off the dreamer. We all work through issues and dreams are just one way of doing this. The dream should be a seen as a discussion of the arguments for and against. It should not be seen as a warning or a premonition.

Symbolic Meanings
BURNT : "scared - the dreamer fears a Ouija board"
CHILD : "boundless enthusiasm - the dreamers initial enthusiasm for the Ouija board "
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DREAM TIP : The link between dreams and the day before is really very strong. That is no coincidence. During the day we store up thoughts in short term memory banks. Then at night we start to transfer these into long term memory banks and at the same time we start to integrate these into long term emotions. Then finally we clear short term memory banks ready for the day ahead. So dreams will tend to link to the day before and to ways in which we have been altering our thoughts and feelings.
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THE DREAM - I am touching this woman from behind. I am embracing her and moving my hands up to her breasts. She makes a signal and tells me to stop.

THE REALITY The day before the dream the dreamer had a routine employee counseling session. The woman described herself as a Freudian. The dreamer was a fan of dream analysis but not particularly interested in Freud at all.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "I had to speak to a work counselor yesterday. She was telling me about her interest in Freud. I was going to mention my own interest in him but then I decided not to as I do not have a very positive view - he sex obsessed."

THE INTERPRETATION The dreamer associated this dream with the incident in with his work counselor. The dreamer associated Freud with sexual obsession so felt this dream could link to his feelings about this Freudian Psychologist. The fact that he was behind the woman showed that he was trying to conceal his views. He did not want to reveal his interest in dreams because although they had lots of common ground he really did not think anything of Freud's ideas whatsoever. So maybe he felt he should not send out any signals to her about a shared interest.

Symbolic Meanings
BEHIND : "keep out of site - the dreamer decided to keep out of site his own view on Freud"
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THE DREAM I was with some guy who appears to be my boyfriend. He is a waiter and all I remember was that it was dark.

THE REALITY The day before the dream the dreamer had eaten at a cafe. When they had finished eating the waiter came to clean the table. She goes there often and she is often polite to the waiters. That day he said to her “I feel sorry for your husband…”. This was a totally unexpected response and made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "Something strange happened whilst I was a at a cafe yesterday. The waiter said something. I am not sure what he meant by it. Its been bothering me"

THE INTERPRETATION We often dream of things which do not make any sense. Our mind craves order and rationality. The unconscious wishes to see patterns in peoples behavior. However, when something simply does not make any sense whatsoever then we dream about it. The dreamer does not have a husband and does not know the dreamer at all. Perhaps the dreamer was worried about what he was thinking - she thought he liked her but that she was also after social status and money.

There was a clear connection here - the waiter in the dream symbolised the waiter in real life. The boyfriend is an odd symbol. It is difficult to explain. Maybe it suggests that she thought the waiter fancied her.

The darkness represented the lack of real knowledge the dreamer was able to cast on this comment.

Symbolic Meanings
DARK : "in the dark - lack understanding about what the waiter said"

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THE DREAM I am at my former workplace. I am at this notice board. I am talking small talk one of my coworkers. There is a narrator and he says that "YOU USED TO DO THIS". The notice board has this nail on it. I am moving it because there is nothing else to do. Later I am with some people who are homeless.

THE REALITY The dreamer had just recently left her old job and was now working from home. In some way this deprived her of a large network of friends.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "I have started to work from home. I really miss working in my old job as it allowed me to meet lots of people."

THE INTERPRETATION Often narrators in dreams symbolise an honest account of the truth. In this case the dreamer was missing the small talk that she used to enjoy at work. The notice board may even be a play on words showing that she has "noticed that she is bored".

Symbolic Meanings
COWORKER : "a thought about work - the dreamer is thinking about her current work setting and her previous job"
HOMELESS : "lacking a feeling of belonging - the dreamer gained a sense of belonging in her former workplace"
NARRATOR : an honest account of the truth
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THE DREAM I had a very vivid memory of a scene I saw on TV the night before. It was about a girl who had been involved in the hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She had been extremely distressed and broke down. She said that there were just bad people.

THE REALITY The dream followed this extremely harrowing personal account. The dream probably just brought home the reality of what had happened.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "I saw coverage of the Hurricane last night. A young girl just broke down and said that they were just bad people. I kind of realised at that point that she had been raped. There have been lots of reports of that happening in the aftermath."

THE INTERPRETATION Its not usual to dream about issues which are in the news. We dream about events which affect us very personally. However, this particular report did touch the dreamer. He had heard reports of females been raped in New Orleans in the aftermath of this disaster. This girl did not explicitly say that she had been raped. But the obvious signs were there. The chances were that this girl had been abused and beaten - this was indeed the human face of this tragedy.

Often a disaster is only brought home to the dreamer when a personal case is seen.
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CONTACT : E-mail me at hairybobby2000@yahoo.co.uk - If you went to sleep thinking of something that had dominated your entire day then I would be highly interested in any dreams you had that night.