First and foremost, don't make the mistake of procrastinating. Dream details often evaporate like the morning dew. You won't remember all of the details if you wait even a few hours before recording your dream. Worse, "I'll do it later" easily becomes not doing it at all.
DREAM NAME
Native Americans and other dream experts recommend naming your dream. This gives both your conscious and subconscious minds a point of reference for action and subsequent dreams that exhibit patterns.
DATE:
After translating dream symbols into meaning, you'll compare them to what's going on in waking life to determine your dream. If you fail to record the date and aren't able to look at your dream for several weeks, you may have difficulty with its interpretation. Record your dreams immediately for the same reason.
MAIN PEOPLE:
Whether you know them or not, people in dreams are symbols. Their presence may represent an actual person, or they may symbolize something to you. If they are unknown to you, note their characteristics; i.e., male, female, large, small, race, etc. Remember that people frequently do not symbolize themselves in dreams. Rather, they symbolize aspects of the self demonstrated in their relationship to you, their behavior or their appearance.
MAIN ACTIONS:
What were you doing? What were the people or animals in your dream doing? Actions such as driving, climbing, running, etc., play a large part in the meaning of your dream.
MAIN EMOTIONS:
The emotions you felt during and after the dream help determine the meaning of the symbols. If you felt nothing, document that as well.
MAIN SYMBOLS:
Note what the actions and people in the dream are centered around: colors, animals, clocks, rings, shapes, numbers, etc. The symbols have basic meanings but may have a specific meaning to you. Look up the symbol and reflect upon the role it plays in the dream and what that means for you. The meaning of one symbol may also be influenced by the other symbols present and entire context of the dream.
Dream Symbols Dictionary
ENVIRONMENT:
This is the location, the weather, time of year, etc. These are symbolic as well and play a role by creating context in the whole dream picture.
DESCRIPTION:
This is where you document the details of the dream, in as much detail as you can recall. Any of the above symbols or themes can repeat in dreams over a period of time. Documenting your dreams can help identify these patterns.
May all your dreams come true!
Parthena Black is a professional social worker and ordained minister with experience in tarot and runes. For private spiritual counseling and intuitive readings via e-mail, please visit her at oymygoddess.com.
