Ever find yourself pondering the meaning behind your wild, weird, or confusing dreams?

A lot of people run for the dream dictionary to find the meaning, but in this article we’ll explore how dream interpretation is a journey that’s as unique as you are.

Interpreting dreams is all about tapping into your own personal experiences and emotions.

Take it from me, diving into the depths of your dreams is like uncovering buried treasures of your subconscious mind.

Myth Busting: Universal Symbols For Interpreting Dreams

This is advice I’ve given before. Using a dream dictionary to try to interpret your dreams is like reading the Sunday horoscope in your newspaper, it’s never one size fits all. So throw your dream dictionary away!

Interpreting your dreams is about knowing what the different parts of your dream mean to you personally. It’s different for everyone!

For example, I once had a dream about a lilac bush with a bunch of bees on it.  One dream dictionary I looked up online says it means good luck is coming my way. That’s not what it meant for me.

Earlier that day I was in my car when I saw a lilac bush with bees in it and felt relieved that my car windows were up.

I’m terribly afraid of bees! I was reliving a scary experience through my dream.

A gardener or a beekeeper would have a completely different reason and interpretation for having a similar dream.

I can give you another example of where one dream can mean one thing to one person and another to someone else, regardless of “universal symbols.”

Imagine you’re dreaming about sitting on your couch, and suddenly you feel something slithering around your body. You hear a rattling sound and realize it’s a rattlesnake!

If you’re scared of snakes, this dream might mean you’re confronting a fear or feeling overwhelmed by something in life.

But if you love snakes, the dream could represent bravery. It might even remind you of a pet snake you once had, making you feel happy.

To Interpret Your Dream Pay Attention to The Emotion

After you wake up from your dream did you feel sad, angry, overwhelmed, depressed, defeated, scared, joyful, or hopeful?

The feeling you get from a dream reveals a lot about its meaning.

It’s crucial to recognize how the dream made you feel. Sometimes, understanding every symbol in a dream can be tricky. However, the emotion you experienced is likely the most important aspect.

To identify how you felt in a dream, share it with someone close to you. Pay attention to the words you use.

For example, were you amidst a terrifying thunderstorm in a dream? Or was it a powerful one? The choice of words you use will give you insight!

Download my free printable dream interpretation journal and start unraveling the mysteries of your dreams today.

The Eight Universal Dream Themes

It’s believed that these eight dream themes are extremely widespread, with the majority of individuals encountering each one at some point in their lives:

1. Dreams of falling
2. Dreams of flying
3. Dreams of finding money (usually coins)
4. Dreams of losing money
5. Dreams of being naked in public
6. Dreams of losing your teeth or having them fall out
7. Dreams about being chased
8. Sex dreams

That being said, the same rule applies. How these universally themed dreams are interpreted from individual to individual is dependent on who that person is, and what they may have experienced recently.

A dream of teeth falling out for a dentist could relate to his or her career or an event that happened in the day with a patient. To someone else, it would mean something completely unrelated, like a fear of losing something precious and vital.

To interpret the dream, go back to the emotion you felt, as I explained earlier.

Dreaming of People Who Have Passed Away

A very common dream is one where you dream of someone in your life who has died.

There are two possibilities when this happens:

1. The person is communicating with you from the spirit world, or…
2. It’s a regular dream and the deceased person is appearing as a subconscious symbol

How can you tell the difference?

Spirit communication feels very different than a regular dream.

The deceased person will speak directly to you: in front of you, or on the phone, with a short message that gets straight to the point. It might feel cold around them and the dream will feel crisp and clear. There is usually no one else in the dream scene.

In addition, you will easily remember the entire dream and wake up feeling hyper aware.

Most often the messages will be reassuring, but they can sometimes also be warnings.

Sometimes shortly after death a deceased loved one will come to members of the family to give them important information like the location of their will if no one can find it.

On the other hand, a normal dream often feels hazy. You’ll be doing something with the deceased person in the dream, like gardening or something. In this case, you can pay attention to the symbolism and emotion in the rest of the dream in order to interpret its meaning.

Calling a Spirit To Come Into Your Dreams

If you want to increase your chances of a spirit visitation, follow these steps to connect with a deceased loved one in your dream:

1. Before you drift off to sleep, concentrate on the deceased loved one you wish to connect with
2. Ask them to visit you in your dreams
3. Clear your chakras a little before you go to sleep
4. Ask the angelic energies to help the chosen spirit come to you

It may take several attempts.  There’s also the chance the spirit will never come, not because they don’t want to but because they cannot make the journey or they simply don’t know how to get inside your dreams.

Dreaming of Other People

Along the same lines as the dream interpretation for a deceased person, there are a few possibilities of what’s happening when you dream of another person.

It is either a construct of your own subconscious mind, or it’s that you really are meeting up with them in the dream space. Alternatively, you can be communicating with your higher self.

Let’s first talk about the possibility of meeting a friend in a dream.

I’ve had some experiences where I’ve had shared dreams with friends, where we both wake up and can share the dream from our own perspectives.

This is extraordinarily rare as it is extremely difficult to sync up your dreams and brainwaves, and most people lack the skills necessary to share dreams with other sleeping people.

How do you know if it’s a shared dream or not? The other person will also remember the dream.

Most of the characters in your dreams are going to be constructs of your own subconscious mind.  There will be no other consciousness in your dream except you, so anyone else you see there is just a manifestation of your subconscious.

However, dreams are an excellent place to meet up with other conscious beings including your higher self, your spirit guides, angels, ascended masters, celestial beings, and even deceased relatives.

The Meaning of Intense Dreams and Waking Up Tired

Many individuals experience incredibly vivid dreams, leaving them feeling as though they’ve been working or bustling about all night when they wake up in the morning.

There are two possibilities for this happening:

When we’re asleep, our subconscious tries to tell us things we might not realize when we’re awake. It’s like a way of nudging us about important things happening in our lives that we might need to pay attention to or do something about.

If we don’t notice during the day, our dreams might bring it to our attention.

If this happens, look at where you might need to take action in your life.

If you aren’t enjoying your intense dreams, there is a way to stop them from happening.

If you’re a lightworker, there can be another explanation for intense dreams.

Spiritual Missions in Dreams

If you’re a lightworker, or an intuitive person, and you’re experiencing dreams so intense that you’re waking up exhausted a possibility of what is happening is that during the night, you’re being guided and taught by spirit guides or other helpers from beyond, aiming to assist you in growing, learning, and recalling important information.

This helps you to be more effective in helping others while you’re awake.

You’re expending a lot of your conscious energy. So, in the morning, you feel like you’ve gotten no sleep and you feel like you’ve been running around all night.

When I was younger, I experienced similar occurrences. My dreams often involved my spirit guides visiting me to provide instruction and training. They would guide me through lessons and tests, which was quite draining as it required a lot of energy.

Is My Dream Prophetic?

A lot of people have dreams that something disastrous is coming. It could be the death of a loved one, or a natural disaster, or something apocalyptic.

While I know that dreams can be prophetic, I also know that not every disaster dream is a portent.

I’ve had enough dreams come true to know it’s possible to pick up and receive accurate and correct information about a future event.  You can read about a few of my prophetic dreams here.

How can you tell if your dream is prophetic or if it’s a regular dream working out what’s in your subconscious?

I have found no way to discern when a dream I’ve had is an actual prophecy or not.

Prophetic dreams may have a different, more lucid feel to them, but it’s hard to describe and isn’t always consistent.

So what can you do if you have a powerful dream that leaves you feeling emotionally distressed because you fear something bad might happen? It’s natural to want to take action.

You can try to prevent it by making necessary preparations—reach out to loved ones, stock up on supplies, or adjust your plans if needed.

However, it’s essential to remember that you can only do so much and you don’t want to overreact to something that isn’t even going to happen.

What Do Death Dreams Mean?

Death dreams don’t mean you’re going to die.

If dreaming about death guaranteed impending disaster, I would have met my demise at 16, 18, 24, and 26, and the apocalypse would have occurred numerous times by now.

I’m not suggesting that death dreams can’t be prophetic, but it’s improbable.

That being said, I understand that these vivid dreams can feel unnerving.

There are several possibilities for having death dreams.

You might be getting information about a possible future timeline that you want to avoid by taking a different action.

You could also be seeing an alternative timeline where you did, in fact, die.

It can also be a fear dream.

And finally, it’s important that you interpret the symbolism as to how it relates to your own life, what happened during your day, and what you are going through right now. Remember, throw away that dream dictionary for this!

Only you know why your subconscious is using the symbols it chooses to use.

The most important point here is to take death dreams with a grain of salt.  Unless the universe is going to give you a signed, notarized, detailed account of your fate, don’t worry about your future.  Live in the present.

The Most Likely Meaning of Your Dreams

Whatever occupies your mind before bedtime is most likely to influence your dream content.

Our subconscious tends to incorporate our problems into dreams as a way of helping us process them.

Consider what dominates your thoughts as you prepare for sleep.

Are you reflecting on your day, your problems, or your worries? Perhaps you’re making plans or replaying conversations in your mind. Are you strategizing what to say to your boss tomorrow?

Personally, I’m not fond of dreaming about my stressors—it’s a real downer.

How To Program The Dream You Want to Have

I like to have action dreams where I’m a superhero saving Metropolis from a super villain, or I’m a character in my favorite TV show, or that I’m hanging out with the most interesting characters.

Remember, whatever you think about before going to sleep, you’ll likely dream about, so follow these steps to program fantastic dreams!

1. Choose in advance the type of dream you feel like having
2. Then think about the characters and setting
3. Play around with the plot
4. Marinate and soak in the essence of the scenes you want to star in

That’s it. Go to sleep and see what happens.

It won’t happen every single time, and it also might not happen immediately, but this technique works!

Interesting Dreams I’ve Had

If you want to read about the most interesting dreams I’ve had, and my own interpretations of them, I’ve written about a lot of them on this blog.

Here’s a shortlist:

• Where Peace and Plenty are Possible
• Fighting Supreme Evil
• Dining with The Devil
• My Dinner with Einstein
• A Visit From Grandpa

Remember, whether you’re flying high or falling fast in your dreams, the most important thing is to trust your own intuition and feelings. Never underestimate the power of your subconscious mind. Until next time, sleep tight!

Master deciphering your own dreams and extracting valuable insights from them! Grab your FREE printable dream interpretation journal now.