WHAT DREAMS BE.

Dreams are meant to be successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

Our dreams disturb us because they refuse to pander to our fondest notions of ourselves. The closer one looks, the more they seem to insist upon a challenging proposition: You must live truthfully. Right now. And always. Few forces in life present, with an equal sense of inevitability, the bare knuckle facts of who we are, and the demands of what we might become.

Is it your belief that dreams are disguised expressions of what went on below the surface of the mind? Or you believe that dreams have more spiritual perspective, in which Dreams may give expression to ineluctable truths, to philosophical pronouncements, illusions, wild fantasies, anticipations, irrational experiences, even telepathic visions and not just WYS is WYG.

The best reason for having dreams is that in dreams no reasons are necessary.

Our dreams are a second life. We have never been able to penetrate without a shudder those ivory or horned gates which separate us from the invisible world.

The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest.

TYPES OF DREAMS

It is generally recognized that dreams tend to be of two types, those that you might have called big and the others little dreams. With practice we can record these in different ways. Important dreams are usually easily remembered and we recognize the relevance fairly quickly, whereas the significance of lesser dreams may not become apparent until all the themes and dimensions have been explored. Frequently, it is worthwhile comparing important and less important dreams. The themes which are first presented in big dreams are often enhanced and better understood by subsequent little dreams. The more proficient we become at recording our dreams, the more easily they are remembered.

Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.

A further way of categorising dreams is by dividing them into good or  bad dreams. With a greater degree of knowledge, the dreamer can often change the outcome of a bad dream into a good one. This is called RISC technique and was developed in America as a therapeutic tool. The four steps are:

1) Recognize a bad dream while it is occurring.

2) Identify the bad feeling.

3) Stop the dream.

4) Change negative into positive. 

Initially, it may be necessary to wake up in order to undertake any of these steps. Gradually, with a greater

proficiency, we are able to do this while remaining asleep. Because change takes approximately six weeks to occur on a psychological level, we need to be patient with ourselves while learning these new techniques. Often, we notice changes in attitude fairly quickly, but they do not become habit until about six weeks later, since it takes time for them to become fixed in our minds. Given that we are prepared to change, it is often we ourselves who are most surprised by the shift in awareness. We may become better able to deal with issues which have previously proved difficult, or find that inner conflict is more easily and efficiently handled. By beginning to work with opposites, however they may present themselves, those opposites become more easily appreciated and handled in waking life. Sometimes in dreams there is an intensity of emotion which can be extremely frightening. We may be incapable of feeling such an emotion in everyday life, but for some reason we can allow ourselves, for instance, to be terrified in nightmares. It is almost as though we know we can escape from the situation simply by waking up.

Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.

To understand our dreams let's choose to visualise the types of dreams experts stipulate on dreaming. 

Anxiety Dreams

One of the most frequent dream themes is that of some form of anxiety. Anxiety dreams, while less intense than nightmares, often allow us to replay, and thus capture, those aspects of our lives which cause us difficulty. Disturbing elements in our dreams arise from our memories, stray thoughts or impressions and our own emotions which we deliberately suppress during waking hours.

The moment of enlightenment is when a person's dreams of possibilities become images of probabilities.

Subliminal worries and problems can be allowed to surface with safety in anxiety dreams. While the images may appear to be the important part of such a dream, it is actually the emotion experienced which needs to be faced and recognized. By doing this, we are able to handle ordinary, everyday anxieties. Dreams associated with grief, particularly surrounding the death of a partner, are a particularly poignant form of anxiety dream and are a necessary part of recovery.

Before your dreams can come true, you have to have those dreams.

Dreaming can allow us deliberately to access and explore our anxieties. If we cannot meet our feelings of fear or emotional pain we allow ourselves to be controlled by them. Often by deliberately facing our hidden anxieties, dreams will give us information on what action needs to be taken to enable us to avoid making mistakes. Expectations of the future may be revealed through hidden anxieties.

Precognitive Dreams

Precognitive dreams are an interesting phenomenon. Opinions vary as to whether there really are such things. Suffice to say that when anxieties are dealt with and further insights gained, the dream function will often access the best course of action available and give the information through images. That course of action is then usually chosen by the dreamer, though it may be that the conscious mind does not readily accept the situation.

Magical and Spiritual Dreams

Magical dreams and spiritual dreams are also part of the framework of awareness, though there are those who will deny their existence. Dreams have often been proved to give information in more esoteric ways. Number and colour, and all of the symbolism contained therein, are a valid part of dream interpretation and, with a little knowledge, can create a structure which allows access to what would otherwise be hidden information.

Who so regardeth dreams is like him that catcheth at a shadow, and followeth after the wind.

Tradition which is based on wisdom, and rituals and ceremonies built around a knowledge of symbolism, are thus accessed. Personal management of the creative side of oneself becomes possible both through dreams and the directed use of power in the waking state, and dreams can act as a monitor for correct behaviour, thus specialists perception.

The dreams, they're there, but somehow people don't think they'd be as special, if they are not shared with someone.

Would you ever wake from a dream and imagine having the same dream before? Or wonder why and when such dream is revisited? The only solution is to start recording your dreams from now, this method gives you the opportunity to look carefully at each of your dreams and return to them at a later date if necessary, perhaps to compare content, scenarios or other aspects. 

It can also allow you to assess your progress in the art of individualisation. Here is what to record.

Date of dream

Where were you when you recalled the dream?

What was the content of your dream?

Write down anything that strikes you as odd about the dream (e.g. size, bizarre situations etc.).

What were your feelings in/about the dream?

It is important that man dreams, but it is perhaps equally important that he can laugh at his own dreams. Oversleeping will never make one's dreams come true.