Close Encounters of the Practical Kind
One of my greatest rewards as a dream-study facilitator/lecturer for the past six years is to witness how dreams play an emancipating role in very practical ways. Dream study can easily degenerate into useless cerebral mumbo-jumbo. Sorting through symbolism may provide nothing more than mutual admiration among academic acrobats. Not so if you look to dreams as the media for messages from the soul (spiritual “e-mail”). Paying attention to dreams for years furnishes me with compelling evidence that they come from a loving, intelligent Source that sees way beyond waking human consciousness. (For atheists or agnostics, believing only in the wisdom of the mind, dreams offer access to the data banks of the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious or unified field of intelligence.)
After years of lecturing, facilitating and counseling, I conclude that the following are three of the most pragmatic and influential forms of dreams:
(1) off-balance warning
(2) emotional discharge
(3) dress rehearsal
One of my group members kept dreaming of aliens and Russians. Finally, she realized that her fast-paced (Rushin’) life-style was foreign (Russian was alien) to her. In the context of other elements in her dreams, she saw how this was an off-balance warning.
Another dreamer awoke from a dream, sobbing out loud, releasing throat tension (mild sore throat). Just prior to awakening, she dreamt this sequence: she could not find her car; thieves stole her car keys; her male protector disappeared. She awoke in tears. In addition to the composite message that her most mature way of moving through life was in jeopardy **, this dream gave her the waking gift of emotional discharge, clearing her throat for more effective verbal self-expression in her outer reality. (**keys = access and ownership; car = individual mobility; male protector = inner capacity to care for self.)
I am both encouraged and amazed by the frequency of “dress rehearsal” dreams among people devoted to actualizing a fuller physical/spiritual potential. Dress rehearsal dreams prepare us internally for major external-life transition. Generally, such dreams begin before a dreamer is ready to acknowledge the feasibility of the transition in waking life. For example, I met several dreamers who believed they were locked into jobs they did not like. Time after time, I listened to each proclaim scarcity of job options, immediately followed by an account of a dream, the content of which cried out, “Don’t restrict yourself … Higher Intelligence supports you to find new ways to earn income”. In one such dream, the dreamer was prompted to give up an outfit that did not fit, encouraged to try on clothing that better “suited” her. (Dreams are often riddled with plays on words)
Another person dreamt repeatedly of the habitual use of a wheel chair in the midst of work pressures when he did not have any physical handicap in the dreams (message = absurdity of lame posture re: work). Other segments of these same dreams showed him practicing independent thought and action. I call these “dress rehearsal” dreams since they set the stage to practice thoughts, feelings and actions needed for changes in waking-life experiences.
A single dreamer may receive dozens of dress-rehearsal dreams before consciously obtaining the vision, creativity and confidence to begin making plans to leave a toxic job environment. One dreamer who already laid a great deal of external-world groundwork for a job change was still afraid of quitting. She dreamt of being startled to realize her horse (no horse owned in waking-life) survived quite well tethered to a tree in her back yard without any food for many years. Aside from bumps on his skin, the horse seemed quite healthy. As she stood a good half-block away from the horse, he began galloping toward her at top speed. She was afraid she lacked the agility to move out of the way in time to avoid a head-on collision. He was rushing straight toward her. The horse stopped abruptly, mere inches from her face. The horse in this dream represented her “horse-power” to move ahead with self-generated, grounded vitality and self-control to become all she could become. She was afraid of her power. It had been tied-up, forgotten and unnourished for years. The skin blemishes indicated blemishes on her self image (skin = inter-face with external life = presenting of self to the world = self-image) But the dream reassured her that she had the horse-power to move ahead fully energized despite her long-term self-denial. This dream caused her to KNOW the vital health and direction of her power. She was left with the FEELING of trust that moving full-speed ahead under her own horse-power would not hurt her. It was her last dress-rehearsal dream before quitting her job. Immediately, she began successfully supporting herself financially via a full-time private practice.
Expect your dreams to lead you to greater self-actualization. Dreams are an intrinsic resource for practical spiritual counsel. Expect them to cue you for an entrance – dress rehearsals for life changes that open you to more of your human/spiritual potential.
Debby Taylor welcomes one e-mail query per person (no cost) about specific dreams. She facilitated an on-going monthly dream study group for six years. Also, she has been doing phone consultations as a psychic channel since 1987.
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