Dream meaning?

[jakeysnakey]

Hello UM!
Last night I had a strange dream. I wasn't even myself in the dream, I played someone else's part.
Normally I have dream books to help me interpret the meaning of them, but in this dream there were so many back to back events it's a bit hard to decipher for me.
I'm hoping one of you can help me find the meaning in it. And otherwise at least it's written down now so I don't forget about it. Now for the dream:

 

I believe the dream had a medieval-ish setting.
I was a member of a tribe/clan who wanted nothing more than to complete a ritual in a certain area.
We were all locked up in a prison. There was trouble outside and we made use of the mayhem to escape.
We're running through the forest in nothing but the ragged clothes from prison, it's muddy and wet but that doesn't bother much. I even remember saying 'As long as I have legs I will follow you!' at some point.
We find scattered boots and swords and equip them, then we keep running.

We make it to the ritual site, it had to do with bamboo, we were whacking it and twirling it for the ritual and as the rite went on a deep unease came over me. But we continued.
Some fighting is going on outside the ritual, I knew it was the winners of the battle where we looted from earlier. They were raiding nearby cities a moment ago. I try to figure out why they would turn around specifically to get to us, but I don't know their reason.
The ritual continues to rise and reach it's peak, and at that moment all but about a dozen people in the ritual grounds disappear off the face of the planet, nothing is left of them but ash. I finally learned what the nature of the ritual was. It was some kind of death ritual. I wished I never took part in it.

We all don't know what to do now. the people that are left turn to me in silence as if waiting for a command. I realize that with everyone gone it's but a moment before those raiders catch up to us.
I turn around and see their leader inches away with a raised sword. I quickly close the distance and grab the sword arm. We struggle for a bit, when our fight lulls a little I can get a good look at their face. It was a young woman with an angry look. When I saw her eyes all I saw was a deep-seated hatred for everything I stood for. One of us was going to die. I resign, I stick my sword in the ground but I say 'there is one last thing I must do before you kill me'. She reluctantly agrees. I gather the ashes of my tribe members and put them in the center of the ritual site, then I break down crying over them. She says 'You'll have plenty of time to grieve when you're bones in the ground!' and grabs me by the neck. I say 'But skeletons don't have eyes to cry with.'

As I'm being choked I wake up from the dream in a puddle of sweat.

 

Three full sentences! I've never actually talked that much in a dream before. Maybe it's movie material? 
I don't know any of the people in my dream, nobody had faces I recognize in hindsight. I mean recognized and knew of them in the dream, but it's not like - for example - the raiders' leader was played by an ex or something.

What do you make of this dream? Any input to help make sense of it all would be greatly appreciated.

Edited January 11, 2021 by jakeysnakey

[Chronus]

I've never understood dreams (if they have a meaning), someone else might though

 

[Bed of chaos]

We supposedly have 4-6 dreams per night but usually just remember one. In the past, when I kept a dream journal (to improve dream recall, remember most of them) the narrative/story would change multiple times, per night. However sometimes I'd have one very, very, long strange dream. 

I'm not sure about entire story but its possible "being choked" segment was your brain waking up (or end of rem sleep). Possibly ur imagination signaling dream is over or out of creative content.

[moonman]

Dreams don't always have meaning.

[+joc]

8 hours ago, moonman said:

Dreams don't always have meaning.

All dreams have meaning.  It is how our sleeping mind assesses the conscious minds well being.

[+joc]

On 1/11/2021 at 10:37 AM, jakeysnakey said:

What do you make of this dream? Any input to help make sense of it all would be greatly appreciated.

I actually have experience as a Professional Dream Interpreter.  It may take me a while but I will get back with you with my interpretation.

[+joc]

On 1/11/2021 at 10:37 AM, jakeysnakey said:

Hello UM!
Last night I had a strange dream. I wasn't even myself in the dream, I played someone else's part.
Normally I have dream books to help me interpret the meaning of them, but in this dream there were so many back to back events it's a bit hard to decipher for me.
I'm hoping one of you can help me find the meaning in it. And otherwise at least it's written down now so I don't forget about it. Now for the dream:

 

I believe the dream had a medieval-ish setting.
I was a member of a tribe/clan who wanted nothing more than to complete a ritual in a certain area.
We were all locked up in a prison. There was trouble outside and we made use of the mayhem to escape.
We're running through the forest in nothing but the ragged clothes from prison, it's muddy and wet but that doesn't bother much. I even remember saying 'As long as I have legs I will follow you!' at some point.
We find scattered boots and swords and equip them, then we keep running.

We make it to the ritual site, it had to do with bamboo, we were whacking it and twirling it for the ritual and as the rite went on a deep unease came over me. But we continued.
Some fighting is going on outside the ritual, I knew it was the winners of the battle where we looted from earlier. They were raiding nearby cities a moment ago. I try to figure out why they would turn around specifically to get to us, but I don't know their reason.
The ritual continues to rise and reach it's peak, and at that moment all but about a dozen people in the ritual grounds disappear off the face of the planet, nothing is left of them but ash. I finally learned what the nature of the ritual was. It was some kind of death ritual. I wished I never took part in it.

We all don't know what to do now. the people that are left turn to me in silence as if waiting for a command. I realize that with everyone gone it's but a moment before those raiders catch up to us.
I turn around and see their leader inches away with a raised sword. I quickly close the distance and grab the sword arm. We struggle for a bit, when our fight lulls a little I can get a good look at their face. It was a young woman with an angry look. When I saw her eyes all I saw was a deep-seated hatred for everything I stood for. One of us was going to die. I resign, I stick my sword in the ground but I say 'there is one last thing I must do before you kill me'. She reluctantly agrees. I gather the ashes of my tribe members and put them in the center of the ritual site, then I break down crying over them. She says 'You'll have plenty of time to grieve when you're bones in the ground!' and grabs me by the neck. I say 'But skeletons don't have eyes to cry with.'

As I'm being choked I wake up from the dream in a puddle of sweat.

 

Three full sentences! I've never actually talked that much in a dream before. Maybe it's movie material? 
I don't know any of the people in my dream, nobody had faces I recognize in hindsight. I mean recognized and knew of them in the dream, but it's not like - for example - the raiders' leader was played by an ex or something.

What do you make of this dream? Any input to help make sense of it all would be greatly appreciated.

There are some main themes to  your dream.  Prison, running, fighting.  All of the various aspects of your dream seem to have something to do with feelings of oppression, a desire to gain control, and a feeling of insecurity over gaining control.

I was almost finished with an intricate layout of what different parts of  your dream meant and while I was eating dinner...the computer ate my essay.  

What is happening in your real awakened life that might indicate a connection to what I have said above? 

 

[+Sherapy]

On 1/11/2021 at 8:37 AM, jakeysnakey said:

Hello UM!
Last night I had a strange dream. I wasn't even myself in the dream, I played someone else's part.
Normally I have dream books to help me interpret the meaning of them, but in this dream there were so many back to back events it's a bit hard to decipher for me.
I'm hoping one of you can help me find the meaning in it. And otherwise at least it's written down now so I don't forget about it. Now for the dream:

 

I believe the dream had a medieval-ish setting.
I was a member of a tribe/clan who wanted nothing more than to complete a ritual in a certain area.
We were all locked up in a prison. There was trouble outside and we made use of the mayhem to escape.
We're running through the forest in nothing but the ragged clothes from prison, it's muddy and wet but that doesn't bother much. I even remember saying 'As long as I have legs I will follow you!' at some point.
We find scattered boots and swords and equip them, then we keep running.

We make it to the ritual site, it had to do with bamboo, we were whacking it and twirling it for the ritual and as the rite went on a deep unease came over me. But we continued.
Some fighting is going on outside the ritual, I knew it was the winners of the battle where we looted from earlier. They were raiding nearby cities a moment ago. I try to figure out why they would turn around specifically to get to us, but I don't know their reason.
The ritual continues to rise and reach it's peak, and at that moment all but about a dozen people in the ritual grounds disappear off the face of the planet, nothing is left of them but ash. I finally learned what the nature of the ritual was. It was some kind of death ritual. I wished I never took part in it.

We all don't know what to do now. the people that are left turn to me in silence as if waiting for a command. I realize that with everyone gone it's but a moment before those raiders catch up to us.
I turn around and see their leader inches away with a raised sword. I quickly close the distance and grab the sword arm. We struggle for a bit, when our fight lulls a little I can get a good look at their face. It was a young woman with an angry look. When I saw her eyes all I saw was a deep-seated hatred for everything I stood for. One of us was going to die. I resign, I stick my sword in the ground but I say 'there is one last thing I must do before you kill me'. She reluctantly agrees. I gather the ashes of my tribe members and put them in the center of the ritual site, then I break down crying over them. She says 'You'll have plenty of time to grieve when you're bones in the ground!' and grabs me by the neck. I say 'But skeletons don't have eyes to cry with.'

As I'm being choked I wake up from the dream in a puddle of sweat.

 

Three full sentences! I've never actually talked that much in a dream before. Maybe it's movie material? 
I don't know any of the people in my dream, nobody had faces I recognize in hindsight. I mean recognized and knew of them in the dream, but it's not like - for example - the raiders' leader was played by an ex or something.

What do you make of this dream? Any input to help make sense of it all would be greatly appreciated.

Jake, wow what dream.

Clearly subconsciously, you have faced a fear or will and will do so with grace and heal in the process. Just my Freudian spin. Thank you for sharing. 

Edited January 19, 2021 by Sherapy

[White Crane Feather]

On 1/11/2021 at 8:37 AM, jakeysnakey said:

Hello UM!
Last night I had a strange dream. I wasn't even myself in the dream, I played someone else's part.
Normally I have dream books to help me interpret the meaning of them, but in this dream there were so many back to back events it's a bit hard to decipher for me.
I'm hoping one of you can help me find the meaning in it. And otherwise at least it's written down now so I don't forget about it. Now for the dream:

 

I believe the dream had a medieval-ish setting.
I was a member of a tribe/clan who wanted nothing more than to complete a ritual in a certain area.
We were all locked up in a prison. There was trouble outside and we made use of the mayhem to escape.
We're running through the forest in nothing but the ragged clothes from prison, it's muddy and wet but that doesn't bother much. I even remember saying 'As long as I have legs I will follow you!' at some point.
We find scattered boots and swords and equip them, then we keep running.

We make it to the ritual site, it had to do with bamboo, we were whacking it and twirling it for the ritual and as the rite went on a deep unease came over me. But we continued.
Some fighting is going on outside the ritual, I knew it was the winners of the battle where we looted from earlier. They were raiding nearby cities a moment ago. I try to figure out why they would turn around specifically to get to us, but I don't know their reason.
The ritual continues to rise and reach it's peak, and at that moment all but about a dozen people in the ritual grounds disappear off the face of the planet, nothing is left of them but ash. I finally learned what the nature of the ritual was. It was some kind of death ritual. I wished I never took part in it.

We all don't know what to do now. the people that are left turn to me in silence as if waiting for a command. I realize that with everyone gone it's but a moment before those raiders catch up to us.
I turn around and see their leader inches away with a raised sword. I quickly close the distance and grab the sword arm. We struggle for a bit, when our fight lulls a little I can get a good look at their face. It was a young woman with an angry look. When I saw her eyes all I saw was a deep-seated hatred for everything I stood for. One of us was going to die. I resign, I stick my sword in the ground but I say 'there is one last thing I must do before you kill me'. She reluctantly agrees. I gather the ashes of my tribe members and put them in the center of the ritual site, then I break down crying over them. She says 'You'll have plenty of time to grieve when you're bones in the ground!' and grabs me by the neck. I say 'But skeletons don't have eyes to cry with.'

As I'm being choked I wake up from the dream in a puddle of sweat.

 

Three full sentences! I've never actually talked that much in a dream before. Maybe it's movie material? 
I don't know any of the people in my dream, nobody had faces I recognize in hindsight. I mean recognized and knew of them in the dream, but it's not like - for example - the raiders' leader was played by an ex or something.

What do you make of this dream? Any input to help make sense of it all would be greatly appreciated.

A really good excercise is to clear your mind, read your own journal from the dream then write an interpretation for yourself. The writting process draws out things aswell that really only you have access to. 

[simplybill]

Welcome to UM, jakeysnakey. Great first post! I felt like I was there in the forest with you and your tribe.

I don’t have any dream interpretation abilities, but a few things in your dream stood out to me. The most obvious was the ‘fantasy role-playing video game’ feel to it (finding weapons, going on a quest, a fearsome-looking opponent). Are you a gamer? 

Your description of the forest had a foreboding feel to it (wet and muddy), like a somber Brothers Grimm fairytale setting rather than a light-hearted and colorful Sleeping Beauty setting. There’s no mention of color or light, and no mention of forest animals (other than the snake in your screen name). I got the impression that you feel you’re surrounded by darkness, but then you conclude with a spark of hope.

I picked up on two emotions, and two character traits. The emotions:  the fear of being ‘locked up’ in a prison, followed by the fear of being surrounded by mayhem, looting and raiding. 

The character traits: You seem to have an intense loyalty to your friends. You used the word ‘we’ eight times, and in your dream world you show more concern for your friends than you do for yourself. This sentence was very touching: “I gather the ashes of my tribe members and put them in the center of the ritual site, then I break down crying over them”. Very heartfelt, and very poetic.

The second character trait: you fear your threatening pursuers, but when face-to-face with the enemy you don’t hesitate to aggressively confront your fears:  “I quickly close the distance and grab the sword arm”. 

One more thing I noticed, but from an entirely different perspective: Some dream interpreters believe that everyone in your dream is you. If that’s true, then the ‘ritual’ aspect of your dream might point to your subconscious realization that your old familiar ways of dealing with reality/anxiety/trauma no longer work: 

 “I was a member of a tribe/clan who wanted nothing more than to complete a ritual in a certain area”. And later: “I finally learned what the nature of the ritual was. It was some kind of death ritual. I wished I never took part in it”.

You don’t say it specifically, but I think in your real life you’ve begun to realize that  something has to change, and you know that you need to develop confidence in your own abilities, as indicated by this sentence: “We all don't know what to do now. The people that are left turn to me in silence, as if waiting for a command”.

Well, those are just my thoughts. Thanks for the interesting mystery, jakeysnakey. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by simplybill

[moonman]

16 hours ago, joc said:

I actually have experience as a Professional Dream Interpreter.  It may take me a while but I will get back with you with my interpretation.

Then you should know that dreams don't always have meaning. Some do, not all. Some commercial you saw on TV mixed with your cat sneezing turns into a dream about a talking cat that has a cold and is trying to sell you flu meds. It means nothing but your imagination is on overdrive.

"Professional dream interpreter" is a bit laughable, honestly. What school did you get a degree from for that? Every brain is different. Different things mean different things to different people. There is no "dream meaning playbook" that applies to everyone equally. Take a person who hates birds and dreams about them. That dream is not going to mean the same thing to someone who loves birds.

The only person qualified to accurately interpret a dream is the dreamer themselves.

Edited January 19, 2021 by moonman

[+joc]

 

1 hour ago, moonman said:

Then you should know that dreams don't always have meaning. Some do, not all. Some commercial you saw on TV mixed with your cat sneezing turns into a dream about a talking cat that has a cold and is trying to sell you flu meds. It means nothing but your imagination is on overdrive.

I will reiterate....All dreams have meaning.   I use to think the same as you...You walk across a bridge and you dream about being on a bridge...no brainer.  Except, that isn't how the mind works. 

1 hour ago, moonman said:

"Professional dream interpreter" is a bit laughable, honestly. What school did you get a degree from for that? 

"Professional dream interpreter" is someone who is paid to interpret dreams.  I was actually paid by a Dream Website for a time, to interpret dreams for those who were willing to pay.  That you think it is laughable is your problem not mine.

1 hour ago, moonman said:

Every brain is different. Different things mean different things to different people. There is no "dream meaning playbook" that applies to everyone equally. Take a person who hates birds and dreams about them. That dream is not going to mean the same thing to someone who loves birds.

All human brains are exactly the same...it's what makes us...human.  The primitive brain, the temporal lobe, the frontal lobe, the neo-cortex...pretty much the same in all human brains.  So what you are really meaning is that we all think differently.  Again, however; we don't.  We all think the same thoughts along the same lines of thought for pretty much the same reasons.  We reach different conclusions about different things based on knowledge and experience, but the workings of the Human Mind are very similar in all humans. So, what you must be meaning then is that we all have different experiences.  True.

1 hour ago, moonman said:

The only person qualified to accurately interpret a dream is the dreamer themselves.

Most people do not have an understanding of Dream Language.  I do, because I have studied it.  

Because we all think generally in the same way...our minds create similar visual images...for pretty much the same reasons.    You are correct when you say that there is no dream playbook...because we all have different experiences, different situations going on in our lives.  But there is a dream language.  Imagery created by our mind while sleeping is done so for a reason.  

So for instance, let's say you do walk across a bridge...and while asleep you dream you are walking across a bridge.  That is because of the way the sleeping mind works.  When we sleep, while our body is resting, our mind is very busy.  This is the time our mind assesses itself to get a grasp of it's own well being.  If we look at dreams in a certain context...they do indeed tell us about our conscious lives.   In our awakened state, the bridge is something we cross over to get past a divide.  In our dream world, the bridge could be seen as the crossing over of a divide of sorts as well.  Perhaps crossing from one thought process to another.  I don't expect you to understand, but you should take care in criticizing those who understand things which you do not.

Edited January 19, 2021 by joc

[moonman]

38 minutes ago, joc said:

 

I will reiterate....All dreams have meaning.   I use to think the same as you...You walk across a bridge and you dream about being on a bridge...no brainer.  Except, that isn't how the mind works. 

"Professional dream interpreter" is someone who is paid to interpret dreams.  I was actually paid by a Dream Website for a time, to interpret dreams for those who were willing to pay.  That you think it is laughable is your problem not mine.

All human brains are exactly the same...it's what makes us...human.  The primitive brain, the temporal lobe, the frontal lobe, the neo-cortex...pretty much the same in all human brains.  So what you are really meaning is that we all think differently.  Again, however; we don't.  We all think the same thoughts along the same lines of thought for pretty much the same reasons.  We reach different conclusions about different things based on knowledge and experience, but the workings of the Human Mind are very similar in all humans. So, what you must be meaning then is that we all have different experiences.  True.

Most people do not have an understanding of Dream Language.  I do, because I have studied it.  

Because we all think generally in the same way...our minds create similar visual images...for pretty much the same reasons.    You are correct when you say that there is no dream playbook...because we all have different experiences, different situations going on in our lives.  But there is a dream language.  Imagery created by our mind while sleeping is done so for a reason.  

So for instance, let's say you do walk across a bridge...and while asleep you dream you are walking across a bridge.  That is because of the way the sleeping mind works.  When we sleep, while our body is resting, our mind is very busy.  This is the time our mind assesses itself to get a grasp of it's own well being.  If we look at dreams in a certain context...they do indeed tell us about our conscious lives.   In our awakened state, the bridge is something we cross over to get past a divide.  In our dream world, the bridge could be seen as the crossing over of a divide of sorts as well.  Perhaps crossing from one thought process to another.  I don't expect you to understand, but you should take care in criticizing those who understand things which you do not.

I'm just going to say I don't agree with most of that and leave it as such.

"Dream language", though - nonsense. There is no such thing that applies across all people equally. Reading fairy tales makes you literate in fairy tales, but it doesn't make them any more real. If people pay you for that all I can say is a sucker is born every minute.

Unless you know the person intimately, you have no business trying to tell them what their dreams mean. An outside observer simply cannot know all the facts. It's not up for debate.

Edited January 19, 2021 by moonman

[jakeysnakey]

First of all, thanks to all of you for your responses! Regardless of whether you're sceptic or sympathetic with the idea of dreams having meaning. It really tickles me that you've taken time out of your day to respond to such a personal post.

I don't think I can add anything of significant value to that discussion, since there just isn't enough evidence either way to (dis)prove most theories on the subject. That said, I do enjoy trying to find meaning in them regardless. Food for thought: Similar dream themes occur across different populations and radically different cultures, maybe the commonality between them helps in discussing them? Perhaps in a few decades we'll have found out that it really is just random neurons firing off, and I'll be laughing at how pointless the mental exercise was! 

 

On to the actual contents of the dream. These were my first thoughts as I was reading your interpretations:

On 1/16/2021 at 7:10 AM, Bed of chaos said:

Its possible "being choked" segment was your brain waking up (or end of rem sleep). Possibly ur imagination signaling dream is over or out of creative content.

You're probably right, the last sentence I said in my dream wasn't exactly a brilliant one.

On 1/19/2021 at 2:57 AM, joc said:

There are some main themes to  your dream.  Prison, running, fighting.  All of the various aspects of your dream seem to have something to do with feelings of oppression, a desire to gain control, and a feeling of insecurity over gaining control.

Thanks for the input! I didn't see that kind of big picture, was too hung up on details maybe? It feels right, like there was a sort of running theme.

On 1/19/2021 at 4:55 PM, simplybill said:

One more thing I noticed, but from an entirely different perspective: Some dream interpreters believe that everyone in your dream is you. If that’s true, then the ‘ritual’ aspect of your dream might point to your subconscious realization that your old familiar ways of dealing with reality/anxiety/trauma no longer work: 
(...)
You used the word ‘we’ eight times, and in your dream world you show more concern for your friends than you do for yourself.
(...)
Your description of the forest had a foreboding feel to it (wet and muddy), like a somber Brothers Grimm fairytale setting rather than a light-hearted and colorful Sleeping Beauty setting. There’s no mention of color or light, and no mention of forest animals (other than the snake in your screen name). I got the impression that you feel you’re surrounded by darkness, but then you conclude with a spark of hope.
(...)
The second character trait: you fear your threatening pursuers, but when face-to-face with the enemy you don’t hesitate to aggressively confront your fears:  “I quickly close the distance and grab the sword arm”.

A lot of what you said resonated with me. Especially the part about everyone in the dream being me. Revisiting it with that in mind brings a whole new perspective to things! Maybe then the antagonistic figure I fought with was really a part of me that was furious with myself, following the logic that the ritual I'm doing is hurting... myself. Food for thought.
I never noticed! I did view the group as a whole with me being just a part of it. Guess that bled through in my writing! (if something similar would ever happen IRL, I'd bolt as soon as I realized someone was after the group. I'll save my own skin any day. Funny that I acted so differently in the dream.)

There's so much else that felt right about your thoughts on the dream, rather than continuing to rave on about all the correct details, it'll be more efficient to go over the things that stood out as misunderstandings. Or me just not writing it comprehensively enough. Two things I feel I should elaborate on:

• About the forest, I clearly remember how it looked like though I didn't feel anything significant towards it, even in hindsight. It was spectacularly normal, actually. For what it's worth, the ground was wet, the leaves were orange and hadn't fallen yet. There was a bit of light that came through the leaves so it wasn't entirely moody, just a bit dim, there really were no animals though.
• The scrap with the enemy was way more reactionary than I wrote down. Like I didn't have time to process that I was in a fight until after it had started. As soon as I turned I parried a strike purely from reflex. 'close the distance' was the distance my arm had to travel to bring my sword up to bear it. I was constantly blocking and they were aggressively attacking. Could have worded that better, hindsight is 20 20.

On 1/19/2021 at 3:44 AM, Sherapy said:

Clearly subconsciously, you have faced a fear or will and will do so with grace and heal in the process. Just my Freudian spin.

That is a very literal way of seeing things. There are plenty of valid reasons to be nervous these days. Maybe the dream is telling me to accept them? Thanks for your input!

 

All in all, I can't work out all the details and how they tie in to my daily life, but in broad strokes this dream could possibly be about acknowledging weaknesses, considering the contents of the dream being mostly about running away, fearfulness, oppression, etc. Thankfully I'm in a relatively good place right now and I don't feel these things specifically in my waking life. At the very least not to the extent it appeared in the dream, as a direct threat. So if there is a takeaway to be had, it's probably something else about myself that needs my attention. I'll keep my eyes open. Either way, it definitely can't hurt to work on bettering myself as a person.

Edited January 23, 2021 by jakeysnakey

[Bed of chaos]

On 1/18/2021 at 11:28 AM, moonman said:

Dreams don't always have meaning.

I'd suppose (sometimes) it's very well hidden or related to the other dreams from same night (which we usually forget).

[Mr Walker]

On 1/20/2021 at 3:23 AM, moonman said:

Then you should know that dreams don't always have meaning. Some do, not all. Some commercial you saw on TV mixed with your cat sneezing turns into a dream about a talking cat that has a cold and is trying to sell you flu meds. It means nothing but your imagination is on overdrive.

"Professional dream interpreter" is a bit laughable, honestly. What school did you get a degree from for that? Every brain is different. Different things mean different things to different people. There is no "dream meaning playbook" that applies to everyone equally. Take a person who hates birds and dreams about them. That dream is not going to mean the same thing to someone who loves birds.

The only person qualified to accurately interpret a dream is the dreamer themselves.

All dreams have meaning, and are part of out thought process However some don't have a deep psychological meaning 

Usually when you look a t a dream you can see how bits of it connect to stuff in your life in the last few days  work, movies,books, recent dreams,  memories a TV commercial, an isolated comment from a friend or colleague.

Sometimes the links are simple and direct Sometimes they are symbolic/deeper, and require some analysis 

 eg  Id been questioned lot on another thread about my experience in a bushfire in 2005 when we lost our house. LAst night I had another dream about the house we lost.  It had lots of themes withinit Eg someone else owned the house and had rebuilt it but we were still living there 

I was questioned about my facts and recollections in this thread.  In my dream i provided a whole stack of books and sources and gave it to 3 old men in the house  They chronicled the  world events of the last 15 years  The dream was set 15 years ago and i was showing them the future (see how it links to being asked for proofs and evidences )

Certainly different peole respond and dream in different ways but, in general, every human brain is very similar and very human mind works in a similar way 

Some dream symbols, then, are really stereotypical and representative.

Others are more individual 

Ive been analysing controlling directing and  constructing my dreams for over half a century, (over 60 years)  and have read a dozen books on it, from ones on psychological representations to more "new age' ones  

You are right, in part, that it is not precise or exact, but many general interpretations of common images and themes   are spot on 

Know your dream language, and you can use it to chose a dream and to control it, by consciously shaping the characters, plot, setting, etc., of the dream  

However you can also use it to understand and decode, both your own dreams and those of others 

To comment on one thing said in another post 

All dreams are a construct of your mind and, in that sense reflect facets of yourself 

However because we have imagination,  read, or watch movies, we can construct a dozen difernt characters in a dream and they will all act their character eg a hero will act the hero, a coward will act the coward 

These dont have to be elements of your own character but elements you have GIVEN to your creation (Think of it like Lee Childs writing a Jack Reacher novel. 

Every character in the book comes from  Lee's mind, but they don't all represent real parts of his character, only imaginary ones 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Mr Walker