Do you believe dreams have meanings?

[Postmaster]

I wonder how many people believe dreams have meanings? Or experienced any strange coincidences?

[dauer]

I think it's possible dreams have meanings but I don't think that this suggests they tell about the future or that the meanings we find in dreams are the real meanings of the dreams. Having said that, I wonder what makes a meaning of a thing the real meaning of a thing. I suppose it's because we assign that meaning to it, like Adam and the animals. And so I guess my answer is that dreams have the meanings we find in them, but we may be reading these meanings into them.

Dauer

[Postmaster]

I see what you’re trying to say and you do make sense.

[didymus]

I take dreams with a grain of salt. Some speak to me in symbols and I believe give me a message. usually they are just a hodgepodge of left over thoughts and such from the day that the brain gathers and throws together.

Have you ever heard somoene talk in their sleep? It's almost all jibberish. This shows that what may make sense in a dream doesn't while awake.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by didymus

...Have you ever heard somoene talk in their sleep? It's almost all jibberish. This shows that what may make sense in a dream doesn't while awake.

That may be. But it also may have something to do with the partial paralization we undergo during certain parts of our sleep cycle, which includes the vocal chords and tongue.

Just a thought.

v/r

Q

[suanni]

Yes I do but it depends entirely upon the lucidity of the dream.

Dreams are often the brain doing its filing at the end of the day (way I look at it) but sometimes there are meanings in them. Very vivid dreams, unless on medication that produces vivid dreams have meaning.
I have done dream interpretations for a number of people, usually related to repetitive nightmares and up to now I have been 100% accurate. They have usually been subconsious fears
There are those dreams that are predictive. I've had them and I know others have also.
I was given as a child a general rule of thumb in interpreting a dream, whatever you dream it usually means the opposite. Dream of a birth, you'll hear of a death and vice versa. This rule has never been proved wrong....I suppose it might work differently if your profession is in the delivery of infants or you work with the dead in some way.
To dream of a house that is your mind and the storeys relate to your memories, the present
Colour is important too.

[path_of_one]

I would say dreams can be a number of things:
* Just a hodge-podge of stuff you're trying to work through- fears, anxieties, stresses, problems in life, mundane stuff you have to get done
* Actual conscious work (at least, I do this- organizing research ideas, writing, outlining, etc.)
* Symbolic messages- whether you believe these are from your subconscious, God, or whatever
* Memories, although these are often somewhat transformed in dream
* Precognition (I think this is kind of rare, at least in my experience)
* Communication with others (possible, but would say it is a particular type of dream)
* Lucid dreams, especially if you control them, are in a different category than regular dreams to me

I am generally a lucid dreamer. That is, I know that I am asleep and dreaming as I dream. Generally, my conscious mind stands "outside" the dream and watches the subconscious me create and interact in the dream. However, because of this, my conscious mind thinks about what the "me" in the dream is doing, and also can step in and alter my dream. I can change things within the dream, like myself through shape-shifting, or awakening someone who died, or flying, etc. or I can change the dream all together and start a new one without waking. I have used my dreaming time sometimes to write poetry or work on research ideas, then woke up and remembered what I had thought of and finished it in the morning. So most dreams for me are not very symbolic, unless my conscious mind "lets" my dream just unfold, which is allowing my subconscious to dream regularly while my conscious mind watches and thinks about what the dream means. Whether I choose to actively create my dreams or just watch my subconscious do it depends on how tired I am and what I feel like accomplishing. It can be a lot of mental work to alter dreams, and can leave you feeling tired in the morning.

Every great once in a while I will have a dream that is not like my usual dreams. I am still aware I am dreaming, but the dream is so much like a real experience that I remember it more vividly than ordinary life. Some of these dreams have been symbolic messages, and others have seemed to be quite different- I guess you could say more like memories or experiences. All have been very meaningful. But perhaps I have an easier time than most distinguishing between the two because I am used to lucid dreaming and so recognize clues in those rare type of dreams that indicate they are not the usual type.

I must say... in reference to symbols... I do not believe there is a set this=that in dreams, especially when you consider the vast differences between individuals and cultures and how they would interpret symbols. For some, a fire could be representative of the hearth and home, or of renewal. But if one experienced a house fire as a child, it could symbolize destruction and loss. Personally, I think each individual has to work out the dreams s/he has in light of the experiences in one's life and a careful analysis of the kind of dream it is, if people know they have more than one type.

[ISFP]

most dreams i have are both nonsensical and meaningful.

for example, i'll dream about trying to find my deceased father in a city in new jersey. now, we haven't lived in new jersey for years and i know my father's dead, but having that dream and being somehow in touch with him through it makes the dream menaingful for me, even if it's not logical.

i've noticed that since i've stopped watching TV and getting all that weird media influence on my sub-conscious (like cartoons and stuff), my dream have been alot more powerful and less silly.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by ISFP

most dreams i have are both nonsensical and meaningful.

for example, i'll dream about trying to find my deceased father in a city in new jersey. now, we haven't lived in new jersey for years and i know my father's dead, but having that dream and being somehow in touch with him through it makes the dream menaingful for me, even if it's not logical.

i've noticed that since i've stopped watching TV and getting all that weird media influence on my sub-conscious (like cartoons and stuff), my dream have been alot more powerful and less silly.

Dreams can tell us about self. I used to dream I could fly (actually still do from time to time), without any means artificial. As long as the wind was right, I could spread my arms and catch the breeze. I was 15 when it started. It was a re-curring dream. Catch the wind and lift into the air, and soar around the neighborhood and beyond. I was always in a blue uniform (this has significance now), and found that the less harder I tried, the longer I stayed in the air, and the higher I went. But when the wind began to slack off, the harder I tried to stay up, the quicker I came back to Earth.

However, even when the breeze became almost nill, if I took it easy, I could still stay aloft. When the breeze was still, I learned to glide down to a gentle landing, and anticipated the next gust of wind (which I knew would come at some point). Funny thing was, even with no wind, if I tapped significantly down on one foot, I'd lift lightly into the air (just a few feet above the ground, and only for a few seconds). But it was a re-assuring feeling to me that I was not "grounded" to the earth, just had to wait for the next breeze to really take off...

The uniform I saw myself in 30 years ago, is the one I wear today.

Sometimes I still have that dream, but now I just enjoy it, instead of wonder about it.

v/r

Q

[ISFP]

that's cool, Quahom. never had flying dreams, but i imagine they're lovely.