Interpret Your Own Dreams: 5 Types of Dreams and What They Can Reveal to You"

"Interpret Your Own Dreams: 5 Types of Dreams and What They Can Reveal To You"

Interpreting your own dreams is easier than some gurus would have you think. Different dreams have different purposes. Each type comes with its own message and meaning. Here are 5 Types of Dreams and the purposes of each. 

See which ones you've experienced and how to get the "juice" out of each type. 

•1. Prophetic Dreams

These dreams are the ones that get both sensationalized and also easily dismissed. These dreams are accompanied by flashes of insight. It can be a warning about your health, perhaps news of a birth or death- perhaps you see your future spouse. People throughout history have reported these types of occurrences. No matter what the message, these dreams are typically accompanied by an initial sense of calm and knowing. (Panic can occur later but is typically not the first response.)

This information is meant to help you navigate future events in your life and can serve as a warning for your survival. In the west, we have tended to dismiss these occurrences or explain them away with science...and if science can't explain the phenomena, then we go back to dismissing them. This use of dreams has been around for millennia and the trend to dismiss this information is historically recent.

•2. Daily Event Dreams 

These are the most common and are the subconscious working out the events of the day. Freud speaks of dreams in this manner. In these types of dreams, you get to "finish things" on an emotional and even experiential level.

After all, the subconscious mind experiences dreams similarly to reality. In other words, through a dream, you can relive the events of the day whether it was a "gold medal" day, and you want that great feeling again, or whether it was an argument and you thought of a great comeback after the fact. These types of practical dreams allow you to rework and relive these events such that you can get the emotional benefit of closure - they are a kind of mental "rewind" or second chance. Allowed to work properly, it can keep you off the mental "what if" hamster wheel. Instead of going over and over a situation during the waking hours, your mind can resolve it during dream time.

•3. Soul Dreams 

In the midst of our day-to-day activities and pressures, we sometimes push our desires to the side. We know what we want, and we ignore it. If you are the kind of person who gives your desires a backseat to the desires of others, these dreams encourage you to "step forward" in your daily life. They help you get clear about what you truly desire - and, when used properly, can assist with the "how to" of moving forward. (One woman started her retail business after seeing it in great detail in a dream.) 

This type of dream is a spiritual "tap on the shoulder". It's a call to your true self, a beckoning for you to follow your true desires. It's a reminder that your desires are still there, and it's an encouragement not to give up on them. Its spiritual permission and a nudge to action. 

•4. Travel Dreams

These are dreams where you seem to leave the body. Eastern traditions speak of this more so than you hear of it in the West. This is sometimes referred to as "astral travel". Whether or not you believe that you actually leave your body, there's still benefit in paying attention to where you go and what you do. 

One woman reports of dreaming of being with her husband on a battlefield. When she would get letters, those letters confirmed what she had seen in her dreams. Through her dreams, she had experienced, or watched, the battle as it happened. This experience provides a sense of the truth that "all is one" and is often meant to provide comfort. (In this case, the woman saw that her husband was okay.) This type of dream also demonstrates that we have power beyond what we imagine possible. 

•5. Attack Dreams

These dreams differ from the kind where you are fighting someone, and you can't move. (This is the kind where you want to punch your opponent, and you can't - due to REM sleep. These are the Daily Event type of dreams.) 

"Attack dreams" typically occur between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. They are accompanied by a sense of something evil in the room. There is still an inability to move, but this paralysis is accompanied by an awareness of the room and knowledge of the difference between being awake and asleep. Many people report a compulsion to pray while in the midst of these attacks. In Africa, this experience is called "Ogun Oru". The Japanese also report this dream phenomenon as do many cultures - albeit by different names. Science calls it "sleep paralysis". There can be medical, mental and spiritual reason behind this type of dream. If you've had this experience, know that you are not alone. You may want to seek the help of a doctor or a spiritual advisor - or both. 

Now that you know these 5 types of dreams, you can begin investigation of your dreams from a place of knowledge and power, from a place of inner wisdom. 

© 2008 Soul First Living, Inc. 

Sandra Gahlinger owns "Soul First Living": Healing Heart, Body, Mind, and Business. Go to www.soulandsuccess.com to get your *FREE* copy of "7 Spiritual Myths That Sabotage Your Success...and How To Avoid Them". 

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