Theresa Cheung - The Dream Dictionary from A to Z [Revised edition]

Can You See the Future in Your Dreams?

For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that could be.

– Tennyson

Déjà vu dreams involve dreams of a person, place or thing and then, the following day or a few days afterwards, you encounter whatever featured in your dreams. Precognitive dreams are similar in that they offer glimpses of the future, but they differ in that they predict real-life events the dreamer is typically not familiar with or can have absolutely no conscious awareness of. Déjà vu dreams, in contrast, could be explained as simply being highly likely scenarios because the people, things, and situations you later encounter in your waking life are ones that you are personally familiar with.

Precognitive dreams are rare but there have been many instances when people claim to have dreamed of events they couldn’t possibly have guessed or known about before they happened. For example, many people reported dreaming about 9/11 before it occurred. Other people tell of canceling trains or flights because of a foreboding dream, only to later hear that the train or plane has crashed. There are even reports of people who dreamed the winning numbers of the lottery.

Research suggests that up to 30 percent of people have had precognitive-type dreams. Most dream researchers dismiss precognitive dreams as coincidences, but in recent years a select group of scientists have warmed to the theory that dreams might actually be able to offer us a view of our future or a potential future. Their theory is inspired by the scientifically proven phenomenon of ‘presentiment’: bodily signals, such as a raised heart rate and increased sweating, that something is about to happen before it actually happens. If this intuitive physical sensing of the future can happen to us when we are awake, then it may also happen to us in our dreams while we are sleeping.

Science has a long way to go to prove that it might be possible to see the future in your dreams but the fact the theory is being researched and taken seriously is wildly exciting. We know even less about time – what it is and how it works – than we do about dreams. Both time and dreams remain elusive but enduring mysteries, united by the theme of eternal possibility.

How to Interpret Your Dreams

If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream.

– René Magritte

If you have ever wondered why dreams often appear so difficult to understand or make sense of, it is because the information they contain is relayed to you in a different language: the language of symbols. If you want to understand your dreams you need to learn their symbolic language.

People alive or dead, known and unknown; animals both domestic and wild; landscapes and buildings familiar and strange; and any number of symbolic objects such as shapes, colors, signs, numbers, jewelry, food, clothing, and so on, are just some of the countless number of images that can populate your dreams. These images are not to be interpreted literally but personally. They are your own thoughts, feelings and ideas translated into a series of images that are like ordinary scenes in your daily life. For example, if you feel overwhelmed, you may have a dream you are swimming but finding it hard to keep your head above water. If you feel stressed, you may have a dream where you are being chased by an unknown threat. The number of images that your mind can translate into dream symbols for you to interpret is practically endless.

Words just can’t convey the countless powerful thoughts and feelings that symbols do. These symbols are often chosen from something that has caught your attention in waking life, triggering a memory, conflict, or concern that resonates both in the present and in the past.

Remember, in the majority of cases everything you see, do, feel and sense in your dream is about you . Everything in your dream says something about you . It really is the world of your dreams. If you have seen the movie Inception you may recall the scene when everyone turns to stare at the dreamer. That’s exactly how dreams work. The people in your dreams are all aspects of you, the things in your dream all say something about you, as does the storyline or plot. Waking up to the reality that you are dreaming about yourself is illuminating and gives you a head start as far as dream interpretation is concerned.

Now that you understand that you are the world of your dream, the next step is to interpret the symbols your dreaming mind is sending you. One tried-and-tested way to uncover the meaning of your dream images is by association. You simply express the first thing that pops into your head when a trigger image from your dream is given. If you don’t immediately get an associative thought, try working through all your feelings about that image. For example, say you saw a bird in a dream. Do you like birds or do they make you nervous? Try to discover what the image means to you right now, for the meanings of your symbols will change over time.

The more you think about and try to interpret your dreams, the more you will begin to understand the significance of your personal images. You’ll probably find that you dream the most about the things that you are familiar with: your family, your colleagues, your friends, your pets. Each time you dream about these familiar things they will have personal significance for you alone. What aspects of your personality do these symbols represent to you?

Remember, most dreams are not to be taken literally and you need to do a bit of detective work to get to the real message. Just because you dream that a friend is dying does not mean that they will die, but rather that some aspect of your relationship with him or her or some aspect of your life is ending. Death in dreams suggests endings of some kind but also new beginnings. In fact, interpreting dreams literally can be harmful. As pointed out earlier, you have your own set of unique dream images and symbols. If you love cats, what a cat means to you and what a cat means to someone who can’t stand them will be very different. Always bear in mind that your dream symbols and images and their interpretation are unique to you.

If you struggle to understand your dream symbols turn your attention to the emotions of your dreams. How did your dream make you feel? Was it joy or sadness or love or fear? Then, when you have identified the emotion, observe it – but don’t identify yourself with it. You are not your emotions. Your emotions teach you something and you always have choice or free will over what you want to do with your life.

As well as noticing the emotions, start asking questions of your dream. Who are you in the dream? Is there a dream theme? Why did certain people or events or other symbols appear in your dream? Don’t try to get answers in every case. See what associations come up because sometimes just asking the question and paying attention to what surfaces in your awareness following a dream is enough. Bear in mind that everything in your dream is there for a reason: to tell you something about you. If someone you know appears in your dream, what aspect of them is reflected or needed or not being acknowledged within you?

Although the images and symbols in your dreams do need to be interpreted, their purpose isn’t to mystify you. They are simply trying to convey a message. If you do find yourself getting tense, confused, or frustrated when trying to interpret a dream, let it go. Dream interpretation is best approached with an open mind and in a relaxed, optimistic state.

You don’t need to interpret every single dream you have. In the same way that some movies are more compelling and thought-provoking than others, some dreams – such as those when you do fantastic things like flying into space or lying on a sandy beach – are simply to be enjoyed. You don’t always have to dig deep for meaning. It’s good to be aware that a dream might contain a message of importance, but don’t get obsessed with finding meanings for every single detail – just interpret what you can.