Oracle 20-20 August 2007 Article, Personal Dream Glossary

A good dream or symbol dictionary is a valuable tool if you are serious about working with dreams. A personal dream glossary is a step beyond a dream dictionary because here you literally make the symbols personal. Your person dream dictionary can be accumulated in a spiral or loose leaf binder, an index card file, or as a computer file. Convenience, accessibility and ease of adding entries should be the key features. It’s also a good idea to put your entries in alphabetical order for ease of retrieval.

It’s vital to make your personal symbol guide a resource you will want to refer to and add onto frequently. Some dreamers get really creative and decorate their personal glossary with pictures, drawings and images. This really brings the symbols to life since we know a picture’s worth a thousand words.

Central to spiritual work is formulating ideals in our life to which we can aspire. These ideals then become the central focus of our dream work. Dreams are like a school we attend each night. Since most traditions agree that our sleeping self is more attuned to our soul and spirit, our job is to learn to understand the language of dreams, becoming receptive to guidance from Spirit.

Dreams contain three kinds of symbols: universal, cultural and individual. A universal symbol contains the intrinsic meaning of the symbol itself. This type of symbol is said to be recognized by the subconsciousness of everyone regardless of culture or creed. A smile is a universal symbol of good will, a beckoning hand is welcoming, hands helped up palm out means do not approach.

Numbers are a good example of universal symbols even if we don’t usually use them in their symbolic sense. While the number one represents a quantity of one, it also connotes the qualitative notion of singleness, being first or alone, and unity. These qualities are intrinsic to the nature of one. Certain geometric shapes function as universal symbols. A circle shows both potential and a closed system. A triangle pointing upward implies spiritual aspiration and hierarchy, a square signifies stability, and displays a well-grounded balance.

Cultural symbols, sometimes called collective, are recognized by groups of people and include such things as flags of nations, colloquialisms or slang such as the currently popular “cool,” clan plaids, family crests, and the seal of a monarch. Sports team identifiers like Rams, Bulls, Cowboys, and Eagles are cultural symbols as are state flowers or birds. The American eagle, the Chinese dragon or the Russian bear are cultural symbols of countries.

Corporate logos and trademarks are also cultural symbols, like the world-recognized icons of the Golden Arches of McDonalds, and the mouse ears of the Walt Disney empire. Holiday icons such as a shamrock, a red heart, a black cat, Halloween pumpkin, Thanksgiving turkey, a Yule log or Christmas tree, Father Time and Baby New Year are associated with holidays without any written language. A four-leaf clover is a sign of good luck since they’re rare. However, these symbols are relative since a good omen in one culture may be bad news in another context.

A personal symbol has meaning only to a single individual, evoking emotions and unique responses. Your signature is a personal symbol. Your son or daughter will represent something to you personally that is an individual response. One person may have a fascination with spiders, creatively spinning webs, while another person may feel terror of arachnids.

When we compile a personal dream glossary our resource may include all three types of symbols. The point is to keep track of when a certain symbol appears in a dream and note recurring patterns and your emotional reactions. Over time we notice, for example, that “our sister Susan” always represents the quality of loyalty, while “brother Joe” shows up in a dream to tell us we have been too judgmental. We may use the back yard of our childhood home to represent either past happiness or sorrow. Driving too fast in a red car may mean we’ve been too aggressive. Watch for symbols that repeat.

The counsel offered through our dreams is free and provides a priceless opportunity to commune with the wisest part of our being. If we believe spending time with our dreams is important, and expect wise counsel, we will be amply rewarded. When we actively work with our dreams our ability to decode the symbolic language become fluent, and taking the extra step to learn our personal dream symbols profoundly deepens the wise counsel.

Julie Gillentine is the award-winning author of TAROT & DREAM INTERPRETATION and other books and articles. Her annual trip to Egypt this October will include a Full Moon and Grand Sextile configuration. Visit her at www.queenofcups.com