Thread: Help?

wow.... that is a very varied question. the truth is that every person is their best interpreter. if you think that something in your dreams means something, it probably does. but there are obvious occasions where you are afraid or unprepared for something like if you dream about a test your about to have or something like that. there is no real way to interperet dreams.

That's a very broad question. In general, though: there are a number of approaches - perhaps the most "pop" method is through the use of dream-dictionaries and symbology. But, I think that's a load of new-age crap and only of very limited use. When I DO try to interpret others' dreams (I haven't lately on the forum, but might get back into it) I look for a number of things:

Firstly, I'll read the dream. Then I'll take note of the facts about the person's real life they've posted - this is USUALLY a good indication of the connection between real-life and the dream. People tend to tell you what they think is relevant to help interpretation, and usually, what they think is relevant, IS relevant.

The next thing I'll do, is take note of the emotional reaction that person has had to their own dream.

The GUTS of what I'm saying, is that often, the person asking for an interpretation will KNOW subconsciously what the dream means, or have some idea. So, it's a matter of drawing out and teasing out the connections that THAT PERSON has already made between the dream and real-life, and perhaps clarifying those connections.

Does that make sense? Basically, it's not so much "interpretation". I think that's a bad term. Rather, I think it should be more about explaining and clarifying the emotional reactions that person has had to their dream, and trying to pin down what real-life influences are manifested in the dream. Instead of interpreting the dream and presenting the dreamer with some sort of diagnosis, it's better to try and draw out the conncetions the dreamer has already made, and to help them make sense of their own dream.

Rather than saying "Your dream means this, and this symbol means this, etc, etc" What I'll try to say is "Well, perhaps this part of the dream is influenced by this sort of event happening in your real life, and the emotional reaction you had, perhaps is because of this and this and this..."

Does that make sense?