Dream Interpretations

I have always been interested in what my dreams say about me. I've had a few recurring dreams, many dreams about work, some sad dreams, and a number of nightmares. I even had a dream that continued from my friend's dream; when I went to tell her about a dream I had the next day, we discovered that we both had the same dream, except the people we dreamed about entered in the daytime in her dream and in my dream, the people exited at night. I don't think I get prophetic dreams, but I know I have dreams that speak a lot about how I view God. In one dream, people were jumping off a building that I was in and I would look out the window and watch them fall one by one, all the while, shouting at God, "Help us! Save this world from killing themselves!" A few weeks later, 9/11 happened.

Psychologists and astrologists believe that dreams send a message about our subconscious. Often, our dreams are mundane and reflect what we did or saw that day. Every now and then, however, our dreams pick up something in our brains that do not seem to affect us on a conscious level. I won't go into the history of dream interpretation here, but while most people would regard Sigmund Freud as the most recent modern expert on dreams and interpretation, I tend to lean toward Carl Jung who believe that dreams reveal our deep yearnings and help us to realize our ambitions in order to fulfill them.

I have two dream books that I consult, especially when I get a dream as vivid as the one I had the night before. One is called "Parker's Complete Book of Dreams" by Julia and Derek Parker and the second one is called "The Encyclopedia of Dream Interpretation" by Eili Goldberg. These books do not necessarily interpret the dream for me (no one is as good as Daniel), but they do provide suggestions on the symbolic meanings of objects and colours that I see in my dreams and guide me to make my own interpretation. As interested as I am in dreams, I take all of the suggested symbols with a grain of salt. Sometimes, a dream is just a dream.

But, for curiosity's sake, I'll try to interpret my latest dream. Would you like to help me?

Elevator = What is its function? Am I the elevator? Do I feel like I'm being pulled in many directions at once? An ascending elevator hints at success while a descending elevator suggests disappointment. I'm not sure how to interpret the way I traveled upside-down in an ascending elevator, though.

Glass = In my dream, the elevator was made of glass. If I were the elevator, what does the glass mean? It was very clear in my dream, so perhaps it's suggesting that I've reached some sort of clarity about something in my waking life, or perhaps, I need to make something clearer.

Gate = Alludes to security. What am I keeping in or keeping out? Did the Oriental ornaments on the gate mean something? The gate in my dream was more like an archway, which signifies opportunity. Traveling through the gate signifies surprising news, but would the news be good or bad?

Guard = I may be advised that something or someone needs protection. The guards in my dream allowed us through, but one motioned for us to pull over. Since D did not stop for them, I do not know if the guard was going to warn us or hurt us. This suggests that I need to be cautious in my waking life.

Car = A dream about cars traveling along a winding road serves as a warning sign to not take unnecessary risks and that I am looking for a way out. When women dream of cars, there seems to be a reference to ambition or assertion. What does my husband's car and the police car mean?

Police officer = Similar to "guard" in that they don't always represent authority, but rather behaviour to establish oneself. In my dream, I was having conflict with the police officer, which is a sign that I am feeling guilt in my waking life, but the fact that the police officer was female suggests to me that I am either already asserting myself or I need to do so in my waking life.

Gun = If an enemy is holding a gun, the dream hints that I have lost control, that perhaps, I am suffering from great worry and anxiety. An attack, especially when a weapon is used, often has sexual undertones. Although a car is also considered a phallic symbol, a weapon suggests sexual insecurity.

Put all these things together and I get....