NMR ISSUE 20

A Gift
Ancient Ways
Astrological Forecast 20
Calling Cthulhu!
Circle Chant
Eclecticism vs. Empowerment
Editorial 20
Healing Woman
Interview with a Closet Walk-In
Learning to Have Fun
Letters 20
Lunar Healing Ritual
Magick by the Book
Pagan Parenting
Porpoise/Dolphin
Rite of Bonding
Sherwood
The Council of All Beings
The Faery Prince
The Oldest Magick
Understanding Your Dreams

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Understanding Your Dreams V

The Setting in Your Dreams

By Diana Haronis

The setting of a dream is often just as significant as the action that takes place. The time, season, weather conditions and environment of the dream give important clues to the interpretation. Time may be indicated prophetically by a season or holiday portrayed in a dream. To dream that you are moving to a new home, and there is snow on the ground, may very well indicate a move or important change in your home life in the winter.

Weather conditions also have a lot to say, but usually speak more of emotions than time. A stormy day may indicate anger, or stormy emotions. A dark, cloudy day can show sorrow, or negativity. Rain is often tears. A flood can indicate a flood of emotion. An earthquake often portends an event that will somehow shake up your world. Lightning can signify a flash of insight, psychic power, or something that shocks you. A volcano is an outburst of feelings that have been repressed and building up for some time. It can also signify a situation that has been developing in your life and will soon reach a critical point. Explosions are an outburst of anger, such as in, I’m so angry I could explode! They may also be unexpected disruptions, such as your plans blowing up in your face. A bright, sunny day in a dream is usually a happy omen. Often you will notice that the general feeling of the dream is in tune with the weather conditions portrayed.

Time is often shown in dreams (as in movies), by the scene changing from one set of circumstances to a completely different set. Your dream may begin with a scene from some point in your past, and then suddenly change to the present. This tells you that whatever issue the dream deals with is somehow related to that time in the past. Sometimes dreams begin in the present and then change to an unknown time in the future. These dreams show you the probable outcome of your present actions, conditions or state of mind. They may be outright prophetic, or serve to warn you, or encourage you concerning your present course. For example, you may be wondering about beginning a new venture. Your dream begins in the present with you considering this venture. Then it changes to the future where you are happy and successful. The dream may be straight forward, or in symbolic form. As another example, let’s say you are considering going into a partnership with a person you don't know very well. Your dream begins in the present with this person smiling and giving you bunches of flowers. Then it changes to a future time. You have planted the flowers in your garden and they have grown to take over much of the yard. As you watch, the flowers begin to turn ugly and thorny. You try to pull them out and find that they are too deeply rooted. This dream shows that presently the person you are considering getting involved with is being nice to you, full of smiles and compliments. In the future, however, they will turn ugly and hostile, (thorns). By that time it will be very difficult to get rid of them because they will have become deeply rooted or involved in the situation with you. Understanding this dream you may well decide to heed the warning and end the association.

When dreams shift from one scene to another, it always shows a progression of plot. The first part of the dream sets the stage, the second scene (no matter how different from the first) shows how the dream story progresses. Often a third shift will reveal the resolution.

Sometimes a dream will shift from one story line to a completely different and seemingly unrelated one. Often, upon analysis, you will find that you have been given the same message in two different ways. For example; in the first part of the dream, you are in an auditorium waiting to audition for a play. You are nervous and afraid that you will forget your lines. The tension mounts as you watch one actor after another deliver a perfect performance. You are sure that you will not be as good as they were, and feel like giving up. In the second part of the dream, you are going to enroll in school. You are not sure what to do or where to go. There are many other students around. They all seem to know what they're doing. You approach one of the students and ask them where you need to go to register. They give you a mean look and say; you are going dressed like that? You look down and notice that you are in old junky clothing and everyone else is dressed really nice. Now the common theme of both of these dreams is the dreamers’ lack of confidence and self-esteem. They show that he wants to assert himself and try something new, but is afraid of failure, is unsure of himself and feels that everyone else is better than he is. The student that tells him off in the second part of the dream is an aspect of himself, his Shadow. The Shadow reveals your negative feelings about yourself, not what other people think of you.

Always look for a common theme in all the dreams you have in one night. Often you are given the same message in several different ways in case you didn't understand it the first time. Also, if you ignore an important dream message, it will keep coming through to you in different and more compelling ways until you acknowledge it. Nightmares are often just to get your attention and force you to look at something! So pay attention, and keep your dreams sweet.

Until next time, Sweet Dreams!

1991 Diana Haronis