How to Use This Book
This Dream Dictionary is arranged in three parts: the Introduction, the A to Z Bedside Reader, and a closing section dedicated to the Most Common Dreams, or dreams you are almost certain to have at some point in your life.
The Introduction has been updated to take account of the latest research into the hows, whys and whats of sleep. It explores the complexities of dream interpretation and what you need to know about unlocking the meaning of your dreams. Although the dominant theme is that dreams have a symbolic and psychological interpretation, there’s also information about precognitive dreaming here, and whether it is actually possible to see the future in your dreams. And if you struggle to remember your dreams, or simply want to have a more active dream life, you will gain a great deal from the advice offered in the dream recall section.
You are strongly advised to read the Introduction before using the A to Z Reader to look up relevant dream entries as the advice in the Introduction will inform and enrich what you discover in the Reader. Be sure to check out the Most Common Dreams section at the end of the book too – preferably before you start using the A to Z Reader. Knowing how to interpret these very common dreams will get you thinking along the right lines and help you interpret all your other dreams. There is also advice about the kinds of dreams you would be wise not to ignore.
The A to Z Bedside Reader is the main body of the book. It’s been lightly updated to include a few new symbols, such as SOCIAL MEDIA, which we are more likely to dream about today than when the Dream Dictionary was originally written. Dream messages can be difficult to decipher until you have learned their secret language, and this section will give you keys to the wealth of creativity and insight stored in your dreaming mind. Understanding what your dreams are trying to tell you can help you transform and grow as a person. Your dreams reveal your deepest emotional and spiritual needs and allow you to experiment with an endless range of emotions, situations, and scenarios in a completely safe way. Only dreams can offer you such excitement, education, and enlightenment.
The entries in the A to Z Reader are arranged alphabetically for ease of use, but be aware that some entries, like dog, for example, are placed in categories, in this instance PETS. You will also find cross-references in many entries to other entries that might be helpful. Common dream symbols are listed as well as classic dream themes, such as FLYING or FALLING, but there are, of course, limitations in the number of entries this book can offer you; dreams invite a world of infinite possibilities and there simply isn’t a book vast enough to contain them all. If you do want a larger resource, thousands more entries can be found in my earlier dream title, The Element Encylopedia of 20,000 Dreams. You are also welcome to contact me about your dreams and how best to interpret them.
How to Contact the Author
You can message me via my reader email – [email protected] – or via my Facebook and Instagram Theresa Cheung author pages. You can also contact me via my website: www.theresacheung.com. Please do subscribe to my email if you visit my website. It’s a way for me to share the latest dream research, reader stories, and interpretation advice.
Feel free to get in touch to discuss your dreams or if you have questions, unusual or supernormal stories, or insights you want to share with me and potentially with a wider audience. I endeavor to reply to everyone who reaches out to me. Please bear in mind that sometimes it can take a while for me to reply if things are super-busy, or if I need to take a little time out to do some dreaming of my own.
And now, without further ado, welcome to the wonderful world of your dreams!
I NTRODUCTION: PREPARE TO DREAM
Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
– Chuang-Tzu
Every morning when you wake up and don’t recall any of your dreams – or dismiss the fleeting and surreal images that do surface in your mind as random nonsense – you miss an incredible opportunity for self-development. Hopefully, this book will help make dream amnesia a thing of the past and encourage you to treasure every one of your dreams as something sacred.
Treating dreams as sacred comes naturally to the Malaysian Senoi, a tribe noted by researchers for being completely free of depression and crime. The Senoi are believed to be such a happy and peaceful tribe because they use their dreams as tools for personal growth. From an early age Senoi children are encouraged to pay less attention to what is visible – the material world – and more to what is unseen – the world of the dream. Recording and discussing their dreams and using the insight of their night visions to guide their choices in waking life takes precedence over everything else.
The Senoi may be pointing us all in the right direction here. Many of us simply don’t pay enough attention to our dreams and miss out on a wealth of untapped wisdom. Research has shown that the more you recall and investigate your dreams, the better your creativity and problem-solving skills. Dreams may initially disorientate your logical mind because they typically don’t make any sense, but if you know how to interpret them even the oddest dreams can offer you priceless insights into your waking life. When analyzed effectively they are an incredibly rich source of guidance and healing, as well as the ideal catalysts for positive change and personal growth.
Why Do We Sleep?
Sleep is the balm for hurt minds, nature’s great second course.
– William Shakespeare
To better understand the nocturnal adventures of your mind it helps to know a little about the place where they all happen – the world of sleep. It is during sleep that we abandon conscious control over our body and mind and the unconscious or dreaming mind is allowed to roam free, giving rise to dreams.
We know that sleep is essential for our well-being but, like dreams, sleep remains a tantalizing mystery. It may surprise you to know that, to date, sleep researchers have not yet discovered the exact reason for sleep. For centuries it was thought that we needed to sleep to rest the body and mind, but this was disproved in the 1920s with the first electronic monitoring of the brain.
The brain gives off electrical impulses, and by attaching electrodes to various parts of the head scientists measure brain waves in a process known as electroencephalography. What these brain-wave readings (or ECGs) show is that both the body and the mind are active during sleep. So, if sleep doesn’t rest either your body or your mind, what is it for?
We don’t yet know for sure, but sleep researchers have uncovered some very intriguing things. It seems that when we fall asleep our brains act a little like computers that are offline. This means they are not idle but filing and updating. They do a system check on your body and release hormones to repair damaged tissues, stimulate growth, and fight infections. Sleep is therefore vital for the smooth running of many functions of your body and your brain, including memory, problem solving, and attention. Lack of sleep can lead to dementia, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, premature aging, weight gain, and lowered immunity. In short, sleep is essential, and we spend up to a third of our lives doing it. But despite all this we still aren’t entirely sure why we need it, and most doctors still don’t pay enough attention to the obvious importance of sleep for our physical and mental health.
However, the advent of space travel – of all things – has taught us a little more about sleep and why we need it. Scientists found that the prolonged periods of isolation and lack of external stimulation experienced by astronauts dramatically decreased their need for sleep. There is a sleep