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Chapter 21
Put It To The Test
I can’t decide if my dreams
are a symptom of my unhappiness or a cure for it.
(Polly, rose grower)
They are both symptom and cure Polly! The
pleasure and joy you experience in your dreams is there to urge you forward: ‘Come,
taste this freedom,’ they implore. Only you can make the choice. Do you continue to
live with a gulf between unhappy days and beautiful nights, where the dreams are but
symptoms of your unhappiness? Or do your read between the lines and see that, yes, a new
life can indeed be yours if you are ready to drop the old and embrace the new,
transforming the dream ‘symptom’ into the ‘cure’ you seek? Symptom or
cure? The difference lies in the action.
Bring Back the Magic!
Now you have all the tools you need to interpret
your dreams, but there is very little purpose in understanding your dreams if you
don’t act on them! The only way to bring back the real magic of the astral plane is
to translate your dream experiences into a waking life action plan. Learn, learn, learn
from your ‘night school’, wake up, interpret your lessons until you understand
their practical application to waking life, then get on with your ‘homework’, or
‘day work’ as we should perhaps call it!
Cautiously test different approaches to your
relationships, following the roles you played out successfully in your dreams. Take a step
or two along a path suggested by a dream, or pay heed to a dream warning. Use something
you have learned about yourself through a dream to work on attitude changes, or to fulfil
a higher potential. Use each dream as a stepping stone to higher ground.
How Will I Know If My Interpretations Are Correct?
Once you open yourself to your dreams, interpret
them and start to pay serious attention to their meanings, you can expect your dream life
to blossom. When you are ready, the dreams bring you all that you need to know. Your
dreams also give excellent feedback if you listen to them carefully. If your
interpretation was a little off the mark, or your action was inappropriate, you are likely
to experience a powerful dream that makes things clearer for you. This will be akin to a
‘Wrong Way!" highway sign and you will understand the warning immediately! On
the other hand, making a good decision based on a dream is often rewarded with a
‘confirmation dream’ that leaves you in no doubt about the action you have
taken.
I first started to keep a journal and analyse
when I was getting repetitive dreams. Once worked out, they haven’t returned.
(Regina, executive assistant)
Recurring dreams disappear once you understand
them and take appropriate action. Once a lesson has been absorbed and acted upon, it is no
longer required. If you fall backwards at a later stage and slip into old behaviour
patterns, an old recurring dream might reappear to alert you to the fact.
Some people dream in series, almost as if a new
chapter is unfolded each night, with the same characters, same theme, but next scene.
Unless these represent very long dreams broken over several nights, they tend to belong to
a dreamer who is making progress in waking life. The dream scenes progress in line with
the waking life advances. Day and night lead and feed each other, hand in hand.
The Value of Hindsight
How perfect our lives might have been had we had the benefit
of 20/20 hindsight!
Keeping a dream journal may seem an onerous task,
but if I haven’t managed to persuade you to do it yet, consider its value as a tool
of hindsight. Many people use a dream journal on a daily basis, writing, interpreting and
moving on to the next page, never to glance back. It can be most instructive to read back
a month, a year, or even a few years to follow the pattern of your dreams and the actions
you decided upon. We see so much more clearly when we can look back with a more objective
eye. Dreams that seemed difficult to understand a year ago because your comprehension was
clouded by your emotional blocks of those days, can suddenly make sense. Flicking through
the pages, a new wisdom often leaps from those past times. You suddenly notice that this
dream contained good advice that you missed, or that dream obviously carried a
warning of a future relationship difficulty which you later encountered.
While you and I may share many common dream
themes, our dreams carry individual hallmarks, our own unique stamps. Just as one language
dialect is distinct from another, so your dream language differs from mine. To intimately
know ourselves, to catch every comment, every warning, every guideline, we need to study
our own dreams with the benefit of hindsight.
Just Do It! Case Histories
1. I Pack Up and Leave
ACTION ON A SYMBOLIC DREAM
Background:
I loved living in my Sydney apartment. It was my first place
on my own with my own special pieces around me and I had no intention of leaving
after being there for five years. My work at that time was under liquidation.
I didn’t know which way was up, but I wasn’t going to give up my apartment.
I was going to fight and start again.
Dream:
I kept dreaming that the muzzle of a gun was pointed at me,
following me around my apartment.
Action:
A friend said my dream seemed to say I was being threatened,
that my lifestyle was going to change and that it was time to move on. Thinking
about the dream I realised I was being forced out, but since the gun was never
fired I had nothing to fear. I packed up and left Sydney after 12 years and
moved back home to Queensland.
Result:
My life since then has been very happy and a thousand times
better.
(Coral, interior designer)
2. Working Relations
ACTION ON A LUCID DREAM
Background:
In waking life I had an employer who controlled my very being.
It really was unbelievable until I realised that I was repeating a part of the
role of my marriage because my reaction to this man was how I reacted to my
husband.
Dream:
I continually dreamed I was in bed with this man and in one
lucid dream I asked him why he did this and he answered he would do anything
to keep me.
Action:
I interpreted this to mean that in my job I was able to assert
my rights without fear of dismissal. This I did and it worked. Although I then
saw this man as weak, because of my spiritual development I determined to handle
this situation with love and compassion, whereas in marriage I had desired escape
and exercised resentment.
Result:
It worked.
(Regina, executive assistant)
3. Transformation
ACTION ON A LITERAL DREAM
Background:
This was a very sad traumatic period of my life.
It happened nearly ten years ago. I went to visit my brother who had inherited the family
farm where I grew up. I had not seen him for some years, but his marriage had broken up
and he was selling the farm, so my sister and I went for a last visit. We intended to stay
for a week but stayed for two months as my brother had a nervous breakdown. I didn’t
want to leave him alone as he needed help. He eventually killed himself.
Dream:
I had dreamed that my mother (who was dead), my brother, my
sister and I were standing on the front porch and the house was surrounded by
black, murky water. My mother said to me, ‘It’s time to go now. There’s
nothing more you can do here.’ I said, ‘I’ll have to pack’,
and she said, ‘There’s no time for that, you have to go now. Leave
everything and go.’
Action:
Two weeks later I left my house, my restaurant and everything
that I owned and had worked all my life for. I went to Sydney with three suitcases,
containing only clothes. I completely changed my life. The only person I knew
in Sydney was my sister. I had no job and virtually no money as it was all tied
up in the house and restaurant. I told my daughters they could live in the house
and run the restaurant.
Result:
I stayed in Sydney for nearly five years and when I came back
home I changed my lifestyle again.
(Carmela, tutor)
4. Resolution of the Past
ACTION ON A RECURRING DREAM
Background:
I dreamed for three days about an old boyfriend of mine. I’d
accidentally met a friend of his which brought up a whole lot of memories, especially
as I was not having a great time with my husband then. I was tired of dreaming
of Trevor (the boyfriend), the same old dream, and then it changed.
Dream:
Trevor started running after me, in the sense of courtship.
Action:
I rang him and had a chat. He was astonished I’d rung
and said he constantly asked after me and had not forgotten our last conversation
on splitting up. I was able to release him from the ‘hex’ as it were,
and told him I didn’t always believe what I said back then.
Result:
I have felt so much better since then and have no desire to
make contact ever again. He no longer comes on the astral with me at night and
I’m sure I have released him to get on with his life.
(Frances, actor)
5. Waterscapes
ACTIONS ON UNIVERSAL SYMBOL DREAMS
Background:
Jutta was thinking about leaving her husband.
Dream:
I had a dream where I was on a plane taking off from somewhere.
My eight year old boy was supposed to be on it with me, and I thought he wasn't
and asked the pilot to turn around. He was just beginning to do this when I
realised that Allan was on the plane. The plane couldn’t shift its position
and went into accident mode. It landed on its belly in a field of cane. Looking
out the window I cold see all these bandits surrounding the plane. They were
armed to the teeth with machine guns. Anyway, the door was opened, the sun was
shining, the sky was beautifully blue and I felt so happy and totally fearless.
I went out and stayed at a beautiful surf bay among friendly, active people.
The dream shows Jutta’s anxiety over whether
her inner child (boy: relationship to the outer world, even though he appears as her own
son) will be with her if she really does ‘take off’ and leave her marriage. In
other words, will she be able to survive the challenge of the outer world alone? The
confusion is shown by the plane crash. Her view of the future alone (view through the
window) is confronting and full of conflict, but the door opens (opportunity arises) to
show quite a different future. The dream inspires hope of a bright future once she takes
the risk and has her inner child on board with her.
Action:
Very soon after that dream I left my husband.
Result:
Jutta stayed away and moved to the coast.
6. If Only I Had Listened To My Dreams
INACTION ON WARNING DREAMS
Background:
When I was 32, I was trying to recover from the break-up of
a close relationship. We had been apart for almost a year when I met a man who
seemed like ‘all my dreams come true’.
Dream 1:
I dreamed the first man came to my house and was trying to
tell me something. Whatever it was, we didn’t agree I realised that I was
naked. I sent him away, but as I opened the door to let him out, three children
came rushing into my house and down towards the back (living area) in a very
noisy, disruptive fashion. The back of the house, which in real life was open
to a garden, suddenly seemed to have been built into a rock face. There was
no back exit. It was like a womb.
Maeve was naked showing her vulnerability after
her disagreement with her previous lover. Her vulnerability, the dream warns, may leave
her open (door) to invasion: likely to get trapped.
Action:
None. The new relationship developed.
Dream 2:
I was asleep in my bed and I saw a man outside my room (although
that room had no windows to the area where he was). He was loitering at the
entrance of the house as if he hoped I would let him in. It was night and I
felt there was something wrong about the way he was there, as if he would bring
trouble. I felt that there were presences there who were looking after my interests,
who were trying to move him away.
Action:
Because this dream contradicted everything I actually felt
about the man in my dealings with him, and everything I hoped for, I ignored
it. I did let him into my life and I married him after I became pregnant to
him.
Dream 3:
Prior to the wedding I dreamed I was walking through a village
setting on my way to the church. I had on a sort of wedding dress but my feeling
was that this walk among the people who had come out of their homes to see me
was sort of impromptu and not really what I would have planned for myself. As
we got closer I realised that I didn’t have a bouquet. My feeling was that
some of the people in the procession looked down their noses at me. I panicked,
but people started pulling flowers out of their front gardens to make into a
sort of posy for me. The wedding went ahead, but I felt it was all very raggle-taggle
and disorganised.
Action:
None. The wedding went ahead as planned.
Result:
In life the marriage turned out to be a disaster. He was a
chronic liar. Nothing he said about himself was true. His friends and family
(what few there were of them) deliberately kept information from me. He was
already married and had not obtained a divorce. Therefore our marriage was bigamous.
His business dealings and educational qualifications were non-existent. He cheated
money from people and was soon charged with fraud. At that point he explained
that there had been some confusion in his dealings and that there had been no
wrongdoing on his part, although he may have made an overly generous and poor
business decision. The extent of his lies was only gradually uncovered by me,
and the next dream occurred, I think, after the first visit from the fraud squad
but before charges were laid.
Dream 4:
He and I were running away from people in authority who were
gaining on us. We started running down a hill. I felt that our pursuers were
not really interested in me, so I rolled myself into a small ball and hid behind
a log. I was hoping my husband would have the sense to do the same thing, but
he kept running and they were gaining on him. Soon I was the only person ‘in
the picture’. I did not find out what happened to him.
Result:
Many people helped me after I made the decision to leave my
husband (who was in gaol). A very significant number were people who were previously
unknown to me and whom I have not met since. They helped me when they saw that
I was panicking. Each gave me what they could. Some of the people from whom
I expected assistance chose to make things difficult for me instead.
(Maeve, writer)
7. Making Peace with the Past
ACTION ON A TELEPATHIC OR PRECOGNITIVE DREAM
Background:
My father left us when I was very small and I hadn’t seen
him for years and years.
Dream:
I dreamed that he wanted to see me, or needed me.
Action:
My mother would have been very hurt if I had gone, and anyway,
he lived in Victoria and I in Queensland, so I wrote to him saying that there
were no hard feelings on my part, and how sorry I was all those years not to
have had a whole family.
Result:
There was no answer to my letter and we found out two months
later that he had since died after being very ill with emphysema.
(Sandey, retired)
8. No Regrets
ACTION ON A SYMBOLIC CONFIRMATION DREAM
Background:
I had a strong psychic feeling about coming to the Gold Coast,
and plans were underway to make the move to Queensland.
Dream:
I was on the highway, when there was a ray of light over the
Gold Coast, like a multi-coloured rainbow. There was a strong feeling associated
with the dream.
Action:
When I awoke the next morning I wrote in my journal that I
knew I was coming to the right place. This dream really confirmed my decision
to come to the Coast.
(Yvonne, charity worker)
9. Love Conquers All
ACTION ON A TELEPATHIC OR PRECOGNITIVE DREAM
Background:
My husband is quite a bit older than me and I had known him
on a casual basis for years. I thought of him as a friend, and if anyone had
told me that I would marry him, I would have laughed. He was unhappily married,
but didn’t believe in divorce. Our paths diverged for quite a long time
then we met again. He told me he had been in love with me many years before,
but I didn’t take this seriously. At that time he was cantor in the church
and I was in the choir. After driving home one night he kissed me and I was
very angry and pushed him away. To this day I don’t know why I was so enraged.
I barely spoke to him for about a year although I was impressed by the fact
that he was always friendly and polite. I began to believe I was an idiot.
Dream:
Then I dreamed he was sick and I was very upset. I awoke thinking,
‘I believe I’m in love with him!’
Action:
When I arrived for the next service I was told, ‘Simon’s
not here, he’s sick.’ The following week I started being very friendly.
Result:
The rest, as they say, is history.
(Fiona, retired medical secretary)
10. Sensing Danger
ACTION ON A PRECOGNITIVE WARNING DREAM
Background:
I grew up on a property in western Queensland. One night I
had a premonition dream.
Dream:
I dreamed that I was shot in the stomach by a gun. I heard
the gun go off, felt the impact and smelt the gun smoke. Then I put my hands
to my stomach and felt the blood gushing out. It felt warm and it flowed over
my fingers. I felt myself thinking, ‘I’m dying, but I don’t feel
any pain.’ The dream was frightening because it was so real.
Action 1:
A few months after the dream, when I was sweeping the back
verandah where the unloaded guns were stored, I felt the same fear as I had
experienced in my dream. I felt this was strange because I had swept the verandah
many times since the dream and hadn’t felt anything. I stayed clear of
the guns and soon forgot about it.
Result 1:
That night my father went to the rifles on the verandah. He
occasionally used to shoot up in the air to scare any wild pigs if they got
into the vegetable garden. Anyway, the next minute we could hear him yelling
and he came and asked us if anyone had touched the guns. He sad the 22 was loaded
and if anyone had knocked it, it could have gone off.
Action 2:
About a year later I was with my brother when he was practising
shooting old tin cans. When he was finished he unloaded the gun. As we were
walking home we were talking and he had the gun pointed straight in front of
him as he was describing something, rather than down to the ground which is
the correct manner. We didn’t worry on this one and only occasion because
the gun was unloaded. However, when I walked in front of the gun I got the same
feeling again as I had in the dream, but really strong. I couldn’t breathe
properly and I started to sweat. When he asked what was the matter I told him
that the gun was loaded and to be very careful. He said I was silly because
I saw him unload it.
Result 2:
To prove it, he pointed the gun to the air and pulled the trigger.
The gun went off. We both screamed.
(Morag, research student)
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