Spirit Speaks to Us through Dreams

Spirit speaks to us through symbols, metaphors and stories in our dreams, both day dreams and night dreams. This is a concept as old as the hills, literally! All of the indigenous peoples of the world, as far back as recorded history reaches, have understood that Spirit speaks to us through symbols, and that dreaming is the land where symbols come to life and interact with us. According to Sandra Ingerman and Hank Wesselman, who have written a beautiful book on direct revelation from Spirit entitled, Awakening to the Spirit World, “The dream world is also a level of consciousness — the level of spiritual consciousness, and the indigenous peoples universally refer to this timeless, archetypal field as the spirit world — revealing that the spirit world and the dream world are experientially one and the same.”Let’s think about what this means for us, for this is indeed a very interesting and significant concept... this means that when we are asleep, or when our mind is relaxed, as in a state of meditation or daydream and we enter into a dream state, that we are venturing into the land of Spirit, or connection with Spirit! How might you approach your dream time differently, or even your preparation leading up to going to sleep, if you were conscious of the fact that this was a time for conversing with Spirit? Childhood rituals come to mind... cleaning one’s self, calming one’s self, saying nightly prayers of thanks and requests for help. Whereas typical adult evening rituals seem out of line for this spiritual preparation... a nightcap, television, internet, general mindlessness and numbing. Those old childhood rituals are a great way to prepare for dreaming, along with the act of setting an intention, and using a dream journal.To build your skills at listening to Spirit in your dream time, practice writing down an intention each night before falling asleep. Your intention could be in the form of asking for an answer to a question you’ve been stumped on, requesting healing for your self or another, or support in some form for a given situation. Then, first thing upon waking, jot down anything that comes to you from your dream the night before. If you do not recall your dream upon awaking, begin writing anyway. Just for a few minutes: start with any emotion you are aware of feeling, and be open to remembering. Often stream of consciousness writing upon awaking brings back threads of your dreams from the previous night. With regular practice, your mind also begins to retain more of your dreaming awareness. The practice of writing before and after sleeping is like building a bridge between your waking and sleeping mind.Interpreting symbols from your dreams...The symbols that come to you in dreams are personal, and best interpreted by you. You are the expert on understanding what a particular symbol means to you, because it is rising out of your own consciousness and relates in particular ways to your life experiences / frame of reference. With that in mind, rather than consulting a book on dream symbols, instead, have an inner dialogue with your self in which you explore what symbols means to you, and how they fit with the intention you are holding. Here’s a favorite therapeutic technique I’ve found helpful both as the dreamer and as the therapist... Recall a certain storyline from your dream, focus on the part of the story that holds the strongest emotional reaction. Every person place or thing in this dream vignette is a symbol.Ask yourself the following questions about each symbol one at a time, in order of the one with the strongest emotional reaction to the least...often you only need to work with the first few to begin to get a clear answer.1. What is the emotion associated with this symbol? If you are uncertain, use your imagination to merge with that symbol and feel the emotion it is holding.2. What is the purpose of this symbol being here for me now? As you determine this answer for all of the symbols, the context of the whole will add more complexity to the meaning for each.3. What is the message that you have for me? How is this message healing or helpful? How does this message relate to the intention that you set?This is best done in a relaxed state of mind, stream of consciousness flow writing.Sometimes you have to be patient, and sit with, or play with, the answers you are receiving, and the greater implication may come to you in time, slowly, little by little. Sometimes we understand a certain meaning up front, and a deeper meaning in time.This is the smallest little glimmer of understanding dreaming as a means of connecting with Spirit. We hope that this glimmer blesses your dreaming path, and that you find it a helpful step in your ongoing Spiritual unfoldment!Much love and many blessings,Lynn & Cheryl, Sacred Healing Journeysacredhealingjourney.com