Oscar Wilde said, “Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” This punishment that Oscar Wilde speaks of us is what makes self-actualization an incomparably rewarding but also increasingly lonely path. But the gift of fulfillment, wonder, and delight that it offers keeps us going, keeps us evolving towards a higher consciousness. Dreaming is an entryway into that endless field of energy. Modern day dysfunction undercuts the spiritual aspect of existence with its focus on the material world. This has led to a general dismissal of the importance of dreams. We have disassociated ourselves with the power that lies within every single one of us: our vast consciousness. In dreams, we are able to access the possibilities that are limited only by our imagination. We have lost sight of the gift that was implanted in our innermost being—the gift that could freely offer us golden treasures of insight, direction and peace. We could explore the universe that actually lies within—not without. We could communicate with every character within, all symbols of facets of our persona that we have not yet exposed to the light. By cultivating awareness in your dreams, and learning to use this inner trove of wisdom, experience, and exploration, you can deepen your understanding of yourself.
People often disregard dreams because they do not understand them. Randomness and chaos with no real cohesion makes the dream seem purposeless and merely a result of chance. In addition, the events that take place in the dreaming world are multidimensional in nature and cannot be contained within the single framework of time and space. Amidst this seeming chaos, however, lies a deeper meaning. Dreams speak in a different language: the language of storytelling, metaphor, and symbolism. Violet Staub De Laszlo writes in The Basic Writings of C.G. Jung (1959): “The dream is a series of images which are apparently contradictory and meaningless, but that it contains material which yields a clear meaning when properly translated.” Erich Fromm echoes the same idea in Elsie Sechrist’s Dreams: Your Magic Mirror (1968), when she writes: “Rather than be confronted with such an overwhelming proof of the limitations of our understanding, we accuse the dreams of not making sense.” Examined through this lens, we see that dreaming exposes previously unseen facets about our consciousness. The substance of the dream world mimics the same natural laws and mechanisms of the universe itself. Jane Roberts, in her book The Unknown Reality, Volume One (1977), writes: “If we really understand how dreams worked and allowed ourselves to explore dream levels, we’d see how the universe is formed it is the creative product, en masse, of our individual and joint dreams.” She also says in the same book, “from the ‘chaotic’ bed of your dreams springs your ordered daily organized action Your present universe is a mass-shared dream, quite validbased not upon chaos but upon spontaneous order.” In addition to increased awareness, the possibilities within dream life offer us the opportunity to explore different versions of an event and its outcomes without experiencing lasting consequences.
Dreaming also reveals the shadow self within us. These are the hidden parts of ourselves that make it difficult for someone to truly interpret another’s dream. Jeremy Taylor writes in his book Dream Work (1983), “It is most important to remember the two basic truths about dream work: 1) only the dreamer can know what his or her dream means; 2) there is no such thing as a dream with one meaning.” The fact that the dreamer is the only one who can understand what his or her dreams makes the responsibility solely belong to the individual. There are conclusions that can only be made when experienced through your own physical, spiritual and mental body. The shadow is limited to only our localized point of consciousness because it represents the baser parts of psyche. Dreams reveal your true state of mind and what your truly believe about yourself and the world. Dreams are a marvelous source of guidance for this reason, because it cuts through the denial that can happen in ordinary life. In waking life, these facets of our shadow are projected out as the people around us, so we feel separated from our inner demons. We live in a fragmented state of mind, with darker shadow parts of ourselves always lurking in the corner. We are unable to offer ourselves—and therefore others—a whole kind of love that includes the desirable and undesirable qualities in ourselves. We are therefore able to experience ourselves through the mirroring of those around us. Elsie Sechrist writes in Dreams: Your Magic Mirror (1968), “Broadly speaking, you usually meet yourself in your dreams in a myriad of artful disguises.” This lends to the incredible notion that the dream world is not just a secondary, lesser extension of ordinary life. Rather, dream life is actually the source of our waking life, a place that bypasses localized space and time, and deeper consciousness is uncovering how to play the game of life. By even making it just a game, we lose the need to control every element of our waking life. This is where we can discover what our truth is, what our beliefs about life are, and how to best utilize the gained awareness and translate them into our waking lives.
Perhaps our true affliction is denying our pain, staying hidden underneath the veil of denial and shame. Dreams allow us to harmlessly seek out answers that are frightening and overwhelming in ordinary life. We walk around crippled by our emotional ailments, unsure of how to treat them but also afraid of asking for help for fear of rejection, repulsion or remorse. Guilt eats away at us without any concern for our tolerance. We do not know how to enjoy ourselves anymore, because we make ourselves victims of our own thoughts. We create them, we suffer from them. But the over-activity of our society makes it easy to ignore these darker inner facets. People are afflicted with the need to seem better off than they actually are, or worse, use pity as a weapon. The shadow—all the archetypes within ourselves that are less desirable—must be exposed to the light. Only then can wholeness be achieved, and true, unconditional love flow into our lives. These parts can be areas of our psyche that have been underdeveloped, or events that we have not made peace with in terms of emotional acceptance. Jeremy Taylor says in his book Dream Work (1983), “The shadow is that very thing that has been lacking and is the most required for further healthy development. The ‘dark’ figure of the Shadow always bears the great gift. In order to receive the great gift, the fear and repugnance first awakened by the ‘dark’ aspect of the Shadow must be overcome By the same token, when we flee from death in dreamswe are often fleeing from inner promptings that it is time once again to grow and change.” Without growth and change, our lives behind meaningless and reaches a plateau that leaves the soul deadened and depressed. It is in our nature to want to progress and evolve continuously, and dreaming offers an incomparable, consistent way to grow in our awareness during waking life.
The active participation in dreams lends to an experience that cannot be likened to anything in the waking world. Ordinary life can only be one-dimensional at a time. This is neither bad or undesirable, but it diminishes our ability to recognize the true infinite nature of reality. We are unable to go beyond a singular point in space and time, so we feel overwhelmed by the chaos of our dreaming life. To realize that one is awake in a dream, however, marks a shift in consciousness that allows us to detach from our mere physical bodies and the physical reality that surrounds it. We are able to see past our petty problems, and to delve into a world that mirrors our true capacity for life. We are thus able to better use our energy while in our normal waking life, and manifest the outcomes that best serve ourselves and those around us. The limitations that seem to be external forces against us diminish in importance and become malleable within the realm of free-flowing energy and potential. We are able to harness the power of our minds in a greater fashion, and also are released from the fear of ruining something or making a mistake. Dreams offer a playground in which the dynamics of life can be experimented with. The nature of dream life answers questions that cannot be contained with the conscious mind during ordinary life. This also heightens intuition that translates into everyday life, and allows for a more transcending experience of life.
It is said that the last unexplored continent is not anywhere on the planet, but deep within ourselves. The dream world offers a pathway into a field where possibilities are limitless, all of which lie unmapped and undiscovered. Dream interpretation is less about deciphering a mysterious story, and more about becoming in tune with one’s intuitive response to events and life. Our reactions determine our inner reality, for only when something unexpected happens can a person truly know what he or she believes about their own selves and the world around them. Conscious life is not the only source for growth and expansion. In fact, dreaming is a regular activity that allows the dreamer to expand his knowledge and awareness without fear of outwardly opinion or consequence. The secrets of the universe remain hidden only because we have not explored the vast resource within ourselves. In terms of dream interpretation, the evidence that can be measured by machines cannot match the personal, experiential aspect of dreaming. In this way, dreaming provides a unparalleled method for exploring all aspects of oneself and the potential that lies within, and therefore gaining a comprehensive awareness of who he or she really is.
Works Cited
Sechrist, Elsie, and Edgar Cayce. Dreams: Your Magic Mirror. New York: Cowles Education, 1968. Print.
Jung, C. G., and Violet S. Laszlo. The Basic Writings of C.G. Jung. New York: Modern Library, 1959. Print.
Roberts, Jane. The "Unknown" Reality, Volume 2, Part II: A Seth Book. Bantam ed. Toronto: Bantam, 1989. Print.
Taylor, Jeremy. Dream Work: Techniques for Discovering the Creative Power in Dreams. New York: Paulist, 1983. Print.
