The wisdom behind your strangest dreams
Last night I had the strangest dream…
Do you ever wake up saying this? In the haze of the first minutes of opening your eyes, when for a flash that dream makes total sense until…pop! You’re awake, scratching your head, wondering what was that and what the heck does it mean!?!
I’m given a rose that turns into a muffin? Huh?!
Dreams have been a source of intrigue and speculation for centuries in metaphysical and psychological circles alike. From creation myths to self realization through lucid dreaming, many traditional cultures see dreams as a key aspect in the spiritual journey of knowing the self.
While scientists are still understanding the function of dreams, recent studies have concluded that dreams are an important part of how we process emotions and construct memories. While the circumstances of the dream might not match the literal events we are working through in our daily lives, the emotions of the dream will be familiar.
The first key to understanding your dreams: the feelings!
I was at a table of strangers, was the rose a gift or a trick?
I’ve been a very active dreamer since early childhood and was encouraged by my father, who studied the work of Edgar Cayce, to record my dreams. This enabled me to start to understand there was a patterns of symbolism that showed up repeatedly in my dreams.
As I’ve evolved in my spiritual journey, and through the tools I’ve developed through the foundational courses in the Training in Power Academy, I’ve learned how to read those patterns as a way to better know myself and work through obstacles that I might be facing in my waking life.
I’m presented with a tray of delicate roses and I’m invited to choose one as a gift. I am surprised, and choose a beautiful pink rose. I try to follow a conversation that the strangers are having around the table, and I don’t get the context. I look back down at my rose and it’s become an inflated chocolate chip muffin on a flower stem. What am I supposed to do with this!?
It’s easy enough to look up symbols like roses and muffins in a book on dream interpretation, but there are nuances that are personal to me that a book may not represent.
Roses have a lot of cultural symbolism, so it would be easy to say that roses represent love or romance. But roses are my favourite flower and I especially like to tend to my own garden of roses. For me, roses represent passion and the drive to build and grow something beautiful.
Lately in my life, I’ve been meeting a lot of new people for a business I’m starting, so the rose in my dream symbolized my new venture, a gift I’m hoping will manifest.
What about the muffin on a stem? It was a strange sight, that’s for sure! I’m gluten intolerant, so the muffin represented a gift I couldn’t use and didn’t want. As I considered the symbol emotionally, I realized it was highlighting the anxiety behind my new business venture, my fear it would not work out and the social anxiety that comes with meeting new people. What a powerful muffin!
For someone else, a dream about a rose that turns into a muffin would mean something awesome, so it’s important to consider your own associations.
This can be relevant when we dream about certain people. While sometimes the dream may indeed be about that specific person, usually the person represents an aspect about yourself. This isn’t just for human characters, whenever I dream about my dog, I know it’s a symbol of family responsibility.
Dreams are an incredible form of inner communication because while they might be cryptic, they never lie. You can’t edit your dream information and it takes courage and self knowledge to see the truth of what you might not always be conscious of.
Meditation and dreaming are complimentary, the more you meditate, the more you’ll dream. Because they exist in the same part of the mind, bringing your dreams into meditation will help to deepen your understanding of this rich communication system.
Enjoy the symbolism that is unique to you and remember, start with the feeling!