PART I, Dreams and Dream Analysis: A Peek into the depths of the Unconscious

September 24, 2014

By: Anna Agoncillo


Since dreams are fascinating, I divided this topic into two posts. May you find it as equally interesting as I do! :)

PART I:  DREAMS AND DREAM ANALYSIS

PART II: LUCID DREAMING AND DREAM CONTROL

Why do we dream?

Personally, I adore analyzing dreams; I find it genuinely entertaining. I believe that sleeping is essential to our survival, and its by product is not meaningless. Dreams are small facets of you and your personality. 
It is the gateway to your unconscious mind where your imagination runs wild. In here, your deepest and darkest desires, thoughts, wishes and memories resides. Here are some of well-known dream theories (don't worry, there is a TL;DR [too long; I didn't read =P] version at the end) :



TL;DR: So basically, for Freud, all your wishes, desires and thoughts especially those that are unacceptable by society are fulfilled in the dream. He believed that dreams have both obvious and deeper meanings, which we shall be aware of, while Jung believed that our dreams have universal meanings. This led to the birth of the overrated Dream dictionaries. Lastly, neuroscience argues that our brains experience random neural activations as we sleep, and make a logical storyline or a dream out of it.

Interpreting the Meanings of Dreams

What's more interesting than dreams? Dream Analysis of course. It brings awareness to the conscious self about what's going on in one's unconscious mind. Combining all the knowledge above, here is my best take on some of the respondents' dreams:

1. “I was invited to a rich and famous celebrity's house party. It was so massive! Even the floors were made out of large aquariums. The fishes were swimming there as I look upon the glass floor.” Aquarium: indicates that you need to take some time for yourself to relax Party: both literal and underlying meaning shows that you might have been taking things seriously and it is time to have some fun!
Conclusion: Go out and have some fun! You’re not superhuman! Give your body the break it craves for. You deserve it. 2. “My dream was like a scene from the Jurassic Park movie. I was trailing in the mountains where all the ancient dinosaurs lurk around. Then, I got trapped in a cage along with other people but I successfully got out of it. I immediately ran away from the dinosaurs along with the others.” Dinosaurs: represent old issues, old part of the self or any other aspects from the past Cage: indicates a feeling of being restrained or powerless in some areas of your life Running: along with other people in the same direction suggests the feeling of being supported
Conclusion: You may be contemplating on the past issues in your life that made you feel helpless or depressed at that moment. But you're starting to leave this behind! You're on your way to becoming the better version of yourself with your loved ones and friends to support you.
3. “I was job hunting with a couple of my friends when suddenly one candidate got eaten by a whale. We immediately swam to the shore, and ate at a local restaurant (as if nothing happened haha).” Job hunting: you’re either seeking for a new challenge to promote personal improvement (latent) or you're not happy with your current job (manifest) Whale: indicates that you're overburdened with your new project Friends: may represent hearing or expecting a good news in the future Conclusion: You’re seeking for something new in your life, be it in workplace or personal growth and you feel worried about it. Maybe you haven’t found a new job or haven’t gotten any job interviews yet. But, your glimmering fairies AKA your friends will always be there to give you hope.

4. "In some of the dreams that I can recall, I see version of myself with a totally different face (almost like a stranger's face). This other face seemed happy. She's what society considers as beautiful."

Face: represents yourself or how you view yourself Stranger's face: shows the different parts of your personality Smiley face: expresses happy thoughts and feelings or the anticipation of joyful events in the future Conclusion: You view yourself differently now (seeing life in a different perspective). You see other aspects of ourself that you've grown to love. And at this very moment, you're happy with your new found self.

Parting thoughts Weird, humorous, symbolic or senseless...are the common words used to describe one’s dreams. I’ve got good news for you, it really shouldn’t make any sense at first because dreams are encrypted messages from our unconscious. This is the reason why some dreams are worth analyzing. By decoding our dreams, it may bring awareness to our conscious mind. All you need to do is to identify the central themes and symbols then look at it as a whole. You can come up with two or more interpretations, and it doesn’t mean that only one can be right, in fact they could all be right.
(c) selfdestination
Dreams can warn you about potential dangers in your life, point out the flaws in your personality, or even solve your current problem. Furthermore, dreams are essential to our survival. It helps us store and reprocess the new experiences into our memories or cope from the unwanted ones (e.g. rape or traumatic memories).

So...keep dreaming and let your imagination run wild! Stay tuned for the exciting Part II of A Peek into the depths of the Unconscious: Lucid dreaming and tips to control your dreams.

Share your own thoughts! Do you believe that we dream because of our repressed desires or just because our brains are wired to do so? Are there any recent dreams of yours that you’d like to share, especially those that are bothering you? I can analyze them for you! Just leave your story in the comment section below or leave a message in the contact section above. :)
Read the previous post: Psychology Quizzes: 5 Enjoyable Personality and Brain Short Quizzes for Everyone!

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References

Carl Jung Resources. (2014). Dream Interpretation Features at Jung. Retrieved on September 17, 2014 from http://carl-jung.net/dreams.html


DreamsHelp. (n.d.) Retrieved on September 17, 2014 from http://www.dreamshelp.com/dream-symbols.html


Freud, S. (1900). The Interpretation of Dreams. New York: Avon


Hartmann, E. (2006). Scientific American: Why do we dream? Retrieved September 17, 2014 from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-dream/


Hobson, J. A. (1995). Sleep. New York: Scientific American Library.


Wikipedia (2007). Dream interpretation. Retrieved September 16, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_interpretation#Psychology


Image References


Allan Hobson , 
Carl Jung , Carl Jung’s dream symbols , Ernest HartmannManifest and Latent Content memeSigmund Freud

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