| Dream
Interpretation |
|  Dreams
come to us almost every night. Sometimes we remember them when we awaken,
sometimes we don’t. When we do remember a dream we often find that
the meaning of it seems obscure because the information in dreams comes
to us in symbolic form with symbolic language and symbolic images.
It has been suggested that we compare
dreams to political cartoons. When a reader gets the point of the cartoon,
he finds that it contains the very essence of a situation. |
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| For example, a recent political cartoon by Rogers
showed the Eiffel Tower, a French couple and the Golden Arches,
wiith a sign over it which said McBully’s. The woman was saying, “
We couldn’t very well let Freedom Fries go unanswered.” The
cartoon is full of symbolism but you readily understand the cartoonist’s
message because you know that when the French said they did not want to
join us in the invasion of Iraq, our leaders said we should stop using the
name French when talking about certain potatoes, bread, wine, etc. If,
however, you were a visitor from Mars, you could not understand the cartoon
until you learned about the planet Earth, its history and its symbols, and
learned English. In the world of dreams we are much like a person form Mars,
for the unconscious presents symbolic pictures to us in dreams in a way
much like a cartoon. When we understand the language employed, the meaning
of the dream becomes clear. If we do not understand the language, the dream
is difficult to interpret and comprehend. |
| At
first a dream may appear to mean one thing. Once it is interpreted, we discover
that it has a completely different meaning than we first imagined. To understand
obscure dreams you need to become familiar with symbolism or work with someone
who interprets dreams. |
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Johanna Mack. Ph.D. is a professional speaker and consultant with
a doctorate in psychology. She has presented seminars nationally and taught
classes on understanding dreams. |
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