Issue 79, March 2005
The Meaning of Dreams
©Jane Teresa Anderson, March 2005
“Twenty seconds left,” announced the radio presenter, “Just time to take one more call. Hi Joe! What’s your dream for JT? Make it quick!”
Joe’s voice burst through my studio headphones, loud, excited and full of anticipation. “I dreamed my tooth fell out. What does it mean?”
How could I give a meaningful reply in ten seconds? Joe had been so patient, one of a long line of callers waiting his turn to ask me about his dream, but the ten second allowance reminded me of the ‘Quick Fix’ replies many people expect when they’re new to dream interpretation. They ask, “So, does my dream mean I’ll get the job I’ve applied for?” or “Will I get pregnant soon?” or “What does my dream say I should do?”
I thought about Joe’s lost dream tooth. With only ten seconds of airtime left the clown in me wanted to say, “How about a quick fix solution? Glue? Dental adhesive, perhaps?”
If I were less ethical I might have offered a reply to end the show on a high, perhaps, “Expect good news soon, Joe. An unexpected gift will arrive to fill the gap”. Well, isn’t that the kind of answer a Dream Dictionary would give and, judging by the way Dream Dictionaries sell, that’s exactly what many people want. But such an interpretation is meaningless.
What was my reply? Joe had asked me a question. I asked him one in return. “Where do you feel a sense of loss, a gap in your life (like the gap left by the lost tooth)?”
It’s all about Meaning with a capital M. It’s not about what your dream means. It’s about the Meaning you discover when you contemplate your dream. It’s not about whether you’ll get that job you’ve applied for. It’s about your inner search for making sense of the world, for finding Meaning. Getting that job, or not getting that job, is dependent on what’s happening in your inner world. It’s the job you do on yourself – on your inner world – that brings rewards. A Quick Fix is uplifting but empty and meaningless. Contemplating the true Meaning of a dream takes time but the rewards are long lasting.
I am reminded of the seven and half million years it took Deep Thought to work out the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. (That’s the ultimate Meaning, isn’t it?) Seven and a half million years is a big ask for a mere mortal but Deep Thought was the “second greatest computer of all time and space” so in terms of comparative life spans … okay, in case you have no idea what I’m talking about:
Have you read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams? The main quest in this science fiction series is to find the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything. The second greatest computer of all time and space, Deep Thought, was constructed specifically to find the answer to the meaning of life. After seven and a half million years of contemplation Deep Thought arrives at the answer: “Forty-Two”.
"Forty-two!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"
"I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."
– Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
And there you have it. To understand a dream deeply and meaningfully you first need to know the question it poses. Joe’s dream posed the question of loss. His dream reflected a sense of loss and the realisation of a gap in his life. Joe’s task is to look at this reflection of himself and rephrase it as a question, “Where do I feel a sense of loss, a gap in my life?” When Joe takes time to contemplate the question it will lead him – through feelings, memories, insights, new questions, recognitions and breakthroughs – to find both the meaning of his dream and new Meaning in his life.
Like Deep Thought, Joe may also discover the Answer to Life and his personal universe is 42 and that answer may sound meaningless to you. (Perhaps Joe’s loss occurred when he was 42 and now he sees that his still unresolved grief has clouded his perspective and sense of meaning since then. Knowing the question leads to the answer and knowing the answer leads to the power to make a change.)
In Joe’s case I looked at his dream and posed the question. In your case, contemplate your dream until you discover the questions, or ask a friend to simply ask you questions about the storyline of your dream or your feelings in the dream until something clicks.
The right questions lead to the right answers. Enjoy spending time with your dreams, contemplating, drawing or painting them, writing about them and, through all of this, discovering the questions they pose and how these relate to your waking life.
Jane Teresa Anderson
PS As practice visit our Dream Gallery click on an image of your choice and explore the questions I’ve posed for you there.
Jane Teresa Anderson
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