What Dreams Are II

I promised that I would help my friend in finding a meaning to his dream. He sent me all the details that he could remember in an email. I’ve spent time reading it over and again and meditating on each of his scenes. I believe that after a few days of work, I have revealed some meaning into his dreams.

“Last night, I dreamt that I awoke in a cave with six exits all around me. Through each exit, there was visible light and a feeling as though I was being beckoned through. I stood there, in the center, looking at each exit, knowing that it would change my life forever. I peeked through each exit and felt terrified by my choice.”

“A voice in my dream told me that my choice was important and not to be taken lightly.”

There are decisions that we have to make every single day. A lot of them are subconscious, some we make out of habit. Then there are the choices that we silently feel dread from while trying to ignore them. These choices present themselves as ultimatums. You must make this choice or that one unless you want to suffer the consequences. Being ushered to a series of doors and pressed to make a choice is a prime example of needing to act now rather than later.

“Through the first door was the ocean with no land in sight. There was a man beside a boat offering to transport me somewhere.”

Oceans without any land on the horizon represents freedom or escape. When we’re land locked, seeing the ocean can cause a certain amount of longing for seeing what’s out there. The ocean stirs up creativity and expression the same as the sky does. We see this in both sailors and pilots, each the kind of person who wants to explore the unknown and go where man could not go previously. It awakens a human sense of new discovery in us. Having a way to get out into the wild unknown (the boatman) makes it a very appealing offer.

“Through the second door was a blank, white nothingness. There was no one and nothing to be seen, save for a sense of gravity.”

Emptiness is not always a bad thing. It can represent the stillness of the mind and the path to transcendence. It can mean that the mind is opening itself to all possibilities and ideas. There are, however, unsettling meanings behind a void. It could very well lead to destruction or losing oneself. This could be a form of nihilism, giving up belief in all things and emptying yourself of opinion and thought.

“Through the third door, there was a field of flowers with my dog playing in them. My dog looked at me and quickly ran away.”

Animals that run away in our dreams are beckoning us to follow. They’re our spirit guides trying to bring us to where we belong or to see something that we need to see. The fact that the animal is familiar to you represents the close bond that you share, which also means that following the animal is even more important.

“Through the fourth door, there was a great, snowy mountain with people walking down. The people waved at me, as though we were old friends.”

In some cultures, the journey toward the afterlife is represented as a mountain. Whether we scale the mountain to the next phase of life or we descend into a new plane of existence varies by culture, but the mountain carries the same message. In a dream, this could represent our connection to the afterlife, either having experienced the death of a loved one or perhaps sensing the death of someone close to us. Having people wave to you as you stand around the mountain could also represent spirits trying to communicate, showing your openness to the supernatural.

“Through the fifth door was a vast metropolis where it was obvious that no one knew me. I couldn’t understand the language.”

This is actually a common scene in a lot of dreams. Scientifically, it might be explained as our brains not being able to process all the conversations and words spoken by us or to us throughout the day in any logical way, resulting in garbled speech. Emotionally, however, this tends to be a recurring dream for people who feel that they’re not understood or that they don’t understand the world. People who experience loneliness, depression or other emotionally isolating conditions often feel that even if they were in the thick of a crowd that no one would pay attention to them or understand them.

“Through the sixth, and most unsettling door, there I stood, looking back at me. It was like a mirror, but almost certainly not.”

Meeting yourself is a unique scenario in dreams. Often, when we dream, we dream that we are someone else. We recognize that this dream avatar is us, but isn’t. Some people even dream in the third-person perspective, their minds identifying a character as who they are. When we dream as ourselves, it’s from our own perspective. Running into yourself can mean multiple things. This can range from how you see yourself to not feeling like you who you think you are. It always has to do with the self and how we think or feel about ourselves. The fact that this other version is behind a door, a door that you must choose to enter, represents a different you. A you that you’re either not ready accept or a you that isn’t really you. Either one may actually be dangerous as you could be forcing a change that you may not need as of yet or you may be allowing something to take over. Given the description of the sixth door as being unsettling, I would bet it’s the latter.

“So, after looking through each door, I began to think. As I was thinking, I worried about my dog, but when I looked through the third door, he just sat there this time. Looking at me.”

“After what felt like hours of thought, I guess my heart and love for my dog got the best of me. I walked through the door and wanted the experience to be over.”

“As soon as I did, I woke drenched in sweat, my dog laying happily beside me. Do you think this means anything?”

The whole of the dream, I feel, represents a spiritual crossroads. Through these doors were certain aspects of the supernatural that could have been opened up or revealed to you. Going through the first door might have divested your spirit from your body, without the assurance of being able to return, yet allowing you to freely travel the astral realm.

The second door might have represented the option to become one with the universe, dissipating into the energy of the universe and becoming a true being of light.

The fourth door might have opened up more communication with the afterlife than any normal person may have been able to handle. If it was truly a representation of the afterlife and you were being welcomed by the spirits, your life would be occupied by the dead without any way to break communication.

The fifth door could represent willfully shutting yourself out from all human senses. Walking into a world where no one knows you and you don’t understand them could have destroyed your capacity to relate to others in exchange for some other sense or ability.

The sixth door, I shudder to think if I had been right. As an astral projector, which my friend is as well, we have to guard ourselves against the possibility of bringing anything back with us. Negative energy can gather around us no matter where we’re at and in astral projection, it can severely alter your personality and way of thinking. The alternate version might have been something wanting to walk through the door in return, as an exchange.

I feel that the third door was both his heart and his dog beckoning him to make the safest choice and return home. Looking back on the third door and seeing his dog there, waiting, meant that he was meant to walk through the door and wake up. It may not have been the most exciting option, but without understanding the meaning of each door, it was definitely the right choice.

My friend felt that it was the right choice as well and since then has told me that he hasn’t had any similar dreams.