HOW DO I MAKE THE BEST USE OF THIS DICTIONARY?
This e-Dictionary of Dream Symbols is user-friendly. It is more than just a list of words with meanings. Each of the twenty-six chapters begins with a sample dream and its interpretation, followed by the new “3-R’s to Dream Integration ” method of dream work, fully explained and illustrated. Icons provide easy identification with each step. Here’s how they work.
SAMPLE DREAM
Erich Rock's mask of the MOON indicates the dream presented in the example.
E-DICTIONARY INTERPRETATION
After you have written down what you remember about a dream, the first step is to find relevant associations to words or symbols. Some dreamers prefer to pick 3, 4 or 5 key words, look them up all at once, and then piece all the meanings together. Others prefer to look up one word, think about its meaning then go to the next and so on. Both methods can lead to powerful and insightful meanings for your dream and both are demonstrated throughout this dictionary.
THE THREE R’S TO DREAM INTEGRATION . . .
WHAT ARE THE THREE R’S TO DREAM INTEGRATION?
Our e-dictionary is a three step integration process which enables you to activate your dream insights. This new and highly effective dream integration process ensures that the exploration work you have done on a dream is fully realized and used in your waking life.
The three steps to integrate your dream are: RESPONSE/ACTION, RESULT and REFLECTION. These three R’s build a bridge from your dreams to your waking life
RESPONSE/ACTION
Uncovering the meaning of a dream is exciting. This, however, is only the first step. Once you have gained new insights about yourself or a situation, it is essential to incorporate this awareness into your waking life experience. Respond by taking action based upon your dream insight. As you make beneficial changes in your behaviour and circumstances prompted by your dream, you will not only receive the full benefit of doing dream work, but you will also be reinforcing the value of listening to your dreams. This will increase dream recall and stimulate further dreams that are helpful for waking life problem solving.
For example, if Sue learns from her dream interpretation that she makes inappropriate decisions when overtired, she will not benefit from this new knowledge unless she acts on it. She needs to review her old habit of making decisions after midnight, and develop the habit of making them only when she feels alert and rested.
To benefit fully from any dream interpretation, it is essential to do the RESPONSE/ACTION step. Any action should be guided by the premise of not hurting yourself or another. For example, if you need to express anger, hit a pillow or bed. Write that letter telling someone exactly what you think, but don’t mail it. If you are in doubt as to the wisdom of taking a certain action, go over it in your imagination first. This will give you additional information and release more emotion which will lead you to appropriate and effective action.
RESULTS
The second R is to note the RESULTS of your actions over the next few days or weeks. It is important to track them, because if you don’t like what is happening, then you can change what you’re doing. When you achieve the results you want, you also have a useful record of the process that brought them about. Reading these notes in later months is also a positive reminder of how far you’ve come. The woman pointing is our icon for results that a dreamer experiences after taking action prompted by the dream insight.
REFLECTION
The final R is to REFLECT and summarize your dream exploration experience. This third step is vital to making the process a real and lasting one in your life. Reflection contributes to ongoing growth and change in ourselves and in our world. It is an essential ingredient in gaining the most benefit from our dream insights. Reflecting on the process “hard wires” it into our long term memory banks where it can be easily accessed should we find ourselves in similar circumstances again. By anchoring the inner work and the outer action deep in our consciousness, this step also provides closure to the interpretive process.
DREAM WISDOM
Following each dream, its interpretation and the 3 R’s to Dream Integration, there is a section called DREAM WISDOM. These are short explanations of dream topics or common dream themes. See the Table of Contents for a full list of topics.
QUOTES
The bookcase icon throughout the dictionary signifies a quote from a dream worker or explorer of alternate states of consciousness. See Bibliography for a full list of sources, and other relevant books on dreams and related topics.
MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS
Carl Jung, an eminent psychiatrist, describes certain characters in our unconscious as “archetypal”. These characters sometimes appear in our dreams. These archetypal figures represent major character types to whom we all have a common connection: mother, tyrant, joker, lover, etc. There is a vast body of literature that includes them in stories. Most of the mythological characters are taken from ancient Greek culture, but many are also from Roman or Norse legends. When you read about these fascinating characters, you are exploring another resource from which your consciousness can draw new dream symbols. The more references your mind has to work with, the more it can draw upon to give you meaningful insights about dream messages.
Mythological characters are included alphabetically with the other symbols and highlighted with an ancient scroll icon. When you see this scroll, you might want to pause and consider what significance that particular character could have for your waking or dreaming life.
Another way to use the dictionary information about mythological characters is to ask a question and then open the book at random. Pick any scroll on the page, then read what message that character might suggest for you. For example: a woman asked, “What should I do about this situation?” The book opened at Persephone whose story suggested to the reader that she should wait until spring before acting.