If you grew up in the 1970’s like I did. You would know that Dreamweaver was a song released by Gary Wright June 1, 1975. It has been used in movies and played numerous times on the radio. I never appreciated the song until I was much older. Since doing more work in my own therapy over the years I have come to learn that dreams tell us so much about our non-waking lives, aka “the unconscious.”
Does the shadow really know?
Dreams tell us something about our lives that we don’t know. Like whether or not to change careers or move to a new home. Or how we might still be hurting ourselves through the negative relationship we have with ourselves. For example dreaming about being abandoned might be trying to explain how we abandon ourselves. Our shadow can also show up in our dreams. In jungian psychology the shadow is thought to be an unconscious part of one’s psyche that we don’t readily identify in ourselves. For example the “not me.” If I am like myself, a zoftig blonde women in her fifties and I dream of a red headed thin woman in her 20’s it would be a shadowy part of myself. In my waking life that is definitely “not me” but in my non-waking life she is alive and well.
Get on Board the dreamweaver train
Dreams interpretation requires skill and patience. Writing dreams upon wakening is the best way to ensure the accuracy of our recall of the dream. I tend to use a voice recorder for my dreams. I then print it out and write any associations in the margins. The two questions I pose are “why this dream now” and “what is this dream trying to tell me about my life today?” Another fun way is to draw or paint a dream. Seeing what images arise on the paper can be really helpful with the interpretation of the dream. In the next few months I will be starting a dream group. It will meet twice a month and will be limited to 8 to 10 members. It is not a psychotherapy group. It is a group where members will help the dreamer interpret the dream through non-judgmental feedback. Check out my FB page for updates!
