Understanding Dreams

Interpreting dreams can be like trying to crack an impossible code, but gathered here are thoughts on how astrology, feng shui and symbolism can help bring clues

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: I have a question that is different from the type you usually get, but I didn’t know whom to ask. I thought maybe you could help me, as it indirectly involves my home. For years now, I have been having recurring dreams that involve some aspect of my home. Sometimes I dream that my home is so cluttered that I am relentlessly cleaning. Other times I dream of a house full of animals; yet oddly, sometimes I’m frantically trying to flush a parade of wild animals down the toilet. The best is when I unexpectedly find that my drawers are filled with money. I know all this must mean something. Can you tell me what this means?

Instead of telling you what I think your dreams mean, I can give you a way to look at these and future dreams to better understand what they could mean in your life. Quite a while ago, before I started my path as an astrologer and feng shui consultant, I was interested in dream interpretation and learned a lot about symbolism. When I started studying astrology, and then feng shui, I saw that they related to each other — in that dream interpretation, astrology and feng shui all use symbolism that can lead to deeper insight about our lives and us.

Awareness is the key

Awareness is always the first step toward understanding anything in our lives. By using symbolism, I found that I could make a clearer connection between my home and my life, and my dreams and my life. Keep in mind that there are hundreds of ways to look at dreams, and many different approaches, and my way is just one.

Generally speaking

Dreams usually tell the past or present, but not the future. In my experience, every dream is about the person dreaming it, and even when one has a dream about another person, it usually represents various aspects of the dreamer.

Most dreams will either reveal insight about a current situation or challenge, or bring forth suppressed emotions from our subconscious for processing. At the very least, our dreams can get our attention and get us thinking in new ways.

Symbolism

I have had the greatest success understanding my dreams by using symbology, because the subconscious mind is powerful and brings forth in our dreams situations that represent what is actually happening in our life.

Looking at your dream

Your home may play a central or key part in your dreams. So, ask yourself what your home represents to you. What is its significance? The home typically can represent the physical body, the mind, or thoughts, security, foundation, family or one’s private life. No interpretation is right or wrong, because it is personal to you. Try different possibilities to see what resonates.

A cluttered home could represent your guilt about cluttering your body with an over-abundance of junk food, or it could mean that your mind is filled with unimportant things that you want to get rid of, but haven’t.

Animals can represent what you feel about the nature of the particular animals. When you dream of many tame, loving, loyal or supportive animals, it can symbolize that you feel supported. If your dreams are of wild or scary animals, you may be feeling insecure or unsure about something. Flushing animals down the toilet could represent getting rid of a feeling you don’t want. What do you think about animals?

Money usually represents value of some sort. When one finds unexpected money in a dream, it can represent hidden value or signify that what is happening in your life has a value that you don’t recognize.

Note the action and the feeling

When you recount your dream, heed the action or feeling to give you insight into the symbol. Are you running from or to something? What are you trying to accomplish? How do you feel when you are in the dream? Emotions are important. Are you frustrated, angry, scared, happy or excited?

Other types of symbolism

If you experience physical pain in a dream, ask yourself if you need to let go of something painful in your life. If you can’t talk in a dream, ask yourself where you are unable to express yourself authentically. If you are driving a car in your dream, it could represent your freedom. Where are you going? How are you feeling as you are driving? The answers can give you keys to the meaning of your dream.

Remembering your dreams

If you are interested in learning more about yourself through your dreams, set the intent before you go to sleep to remember your dreams. Keep a notepad and pen by your night table and write immediately upon waking. Within five minutes of waking, half of your dream is forgotten. Within 10 minutes, 90 percent is gone. Ask yourself what key elements mean to you. Keep in mind that even when a dream seems to have no meaning, it does. In your dreams, your subconscious mind may attempt to process things by replaying events that are on your mind, but in that replaying is the clue to an answer.

Alice Inoue is the founder and Chief Happiness Officer at Happiness U, a friendly and warm educational establishment at the Gentry Pacific Center on Nimitz Highway. At Happiness U, one can learn how to be happy, a subject you won’t find in a traditional school. Happiness U offers classes such as feng shui 101, clutter clearing plan 101, positive mind-set 101, happiness 101 and more. www.YourHappinessU.com