Nightmares definitely contain unpleasant dream symbols that people would wish to avoid. There are many suppositions that aim to keep a person away from nightmares and the horrid dream interpretations that cultivate fearful thoughts and feelings. Although nightmares bring negative feelings, its appearance in one’s dreams is an important indication to maintain a person’s security and safety.

There is a belief that negative dream meanings imply warnings. Although this is not always true in physical reality, the unpleasant dream meanings may indicate dangers that one’s psyche might encounter as a person faces reality. In contrary to beliefs that nightmares are psychic episodes, dream psychology states that nightmares occur because of occurrences in a person’s life that the unconscious would wish to resolve. For example, a person dreams of bleeding and getting badly wounded. This does not precisely signify getting into an accident or getting hurt physically. Dreams symbols as such may post as an alarm to your conscious mind that your body is undergoing pain coming from stressful situations or emotional liabilities or may encounter pain with the current decisions and actions the person has recently undertaken.

Dream psychology studies the important messages that nightmares bring. During dream interpretations, each aspect of the experience is dissected in dream psychology. Dream symbols may imply the negative feelings the unconscious mind is trying to communicate whether during the present or whether it had been a recurring theme since the time of childhood.

Reverence should also be maintained from the dream meanings nightmares provide. Extreme unconscious dream symbols may also imply psychological needs and psychiatric issues that need to be addressed. Recurring nightmares, on the other hand, would present dream interpretations that remind the dreamer of responsibilities that are consistent, duties that have continuously been postponed, or the need for the person to understand a certain reality that he or she encounters in life.

A classic example of nightmares is the dream symbols that give feelings of falling with the inability to save oneself. Dream psychology explains that dream symbols similar to this indicates deceptions to prepare a person to become strong and determined to face challenges like these.

Following dream meanings may help lessen the appearance of unpleasant dream symbols. Nightmares indicate the abstract means that the unconscious uses to communicate with our conscious. Dream psychology suggests a person could solve and overcome problems encountered in life by following the guidance of the unconscious mind through the dream interpretations it presents. So, whenever encounter weird and fearful dream meanings, keep in mind that your unconscious mind is giving you signals to protect and prepare you to face possible problems that you are experiencing or may encounter very soon.

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Dream meanings have been continuously interpreted through the years. Many have developed false beliefs and distorted the truth behind our dream interpretations. You might even think dream meanings are complete hoax, but dream psychology proposes the most accurately way to explain how and why dreams occur.

Since dream symbols are difficult to dissect because of the hidden dream meanings, some people might think that there would be no way we can finally interpret our dreams. In contrary to this, dream psychology reveals ways to discover the true meanings of dream symbols. Carl Jung’s study of dream psychology reveals that the unconscious messages hidden in our dreams are protective of our well-being.

A simpler method of dream interpretations is by putting it into our own words. Sigmund Freud used a similar method of free association in dream interpretations of his patients. Jotting down specific entities in a dream will help a person discover the dream meanings and signals. There are dreams that might show repetitiveness, consistency, and sometimes, continuity. All of these pieces work together in defining our life choices and experiences.

Let us try to look into common dream symbols and possible dream interpretations that can possibly apply to it.

• People: As Carl Jung explained the Anima or Animus, our unconscious portrays people who we characterize ourselves with. We project our character using other people to represent our weaknesses or strengths. People in our dreams may mean specific traits that we have or want to have that other people have attained.

• Animals: In reality, we describe animal to have instinctive nature. Similar to this, animals used as dream symbols uncover our instinctual emotions and actions. The characteristics of animals represented in dreams are interpreted as repressed emotions we encounter in reality.

• Falling: Dream psychology has observed that falling had been a usual theme of nightmares. Falling is often described as a dream symbol that poses warnings that people or events may deceive us.

• Blood: Other common symbols seen in dreams are blood and accidents. These represent pain, whether emotional, physical, or psychological.

• Train: Vehicles, such as trains and buses are defined by Sigmund Freud as a phallic symbol, implying a sexual desire. Missing a ride may also mean an opportunity a person has overlooked or neglected.

• Work or School: Since a person has to spend most of his or her waking hours at work or in school, the unconscious mind continues to remind us of the responsibilities we have at work.

Some people may wish to keep track of the dream symbols they experience and be intrigued with the themes that recur or continue. Dream interpretations differ from person to person. Each dream allocates to specific life experiences that a person can apply to his or her life experiences. Being aware of our dream meanings will help develop a person’s maturity and decision-making skills.

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Whenever complicated problems arise, we try to decide by choosing the best and the more important choice. In considering all necessary options, some people even experience difficulty in sleep and rest. During these times, the conscious mind has been working double time to address the problem, but we would later on discover that the unconscious could also help solve the problem for us.

Let us give more meaning to our Conscious and Unconscious mind.

Conscious mind is responsible to rationality of human. It is responsible for our abilities to think, speak, and reason out. The conscious mind aims to understand our thoughts, problems, and concerns. It also holds the responsibility of keeping our unconscious needs and desires repressed as what dream psychology supposes.

The unconscious mind, on the other hand, is the area of our deepest desires, urges, and feelings. Sigmund Freud suggests that the dream symbols we have are created by the unconscious mind. The dream meanings suggest the things that our conscious mind refuses to manifest because it is inappropriate. The unconscious is also responsible for the involuntary movement of our body. It also manifests literal dream interpretations and associates information with more concrete or tangible means to represent our dreams and aspirations.

Dream Psychology defined dreams as a camouflage that conceals the desires and feelings that we repress. The dream interpretations execute the abstraction of the thoughts of a person. The dream meanings show the continuation of the repressed feelings that one has encountered during the day, sometimes even extending the activities experienced during the day. If a person has a clinging desire to succeed or change a reality, yet unable to speak about it or perform the action, dream symbols take its place to fulfill the person’s wish.
There are occasions when we ponder on the peculiarity of certain dream meanings due to the translation of thoughts into abstract means. This is the work of the conscious mind struggling to hide the repressed feelings in abstract dream symbols. As we delve deeply of the dream interpretations, we discover that the expression of one’s feelings takes the form of objects that indirectly refer to the more specific insights. This is called symbolism.

Upon waking up, the conscious mind aims to determine and understand the themes of our dream meanings. It would either rationalize and give it a reason or push the ideas and dream interpretations away, especially if it opens up the dark secrets that a person keeps from reality.
In the evaluation in dream psychology, the unconscious mind, although responsible for the formulation of dream meanings, would distort and break the connections of the dream symbols with a person’s life and feelings. This is together with the influence of the conscious mind over the unconscious.

Both areas of the human mind work together in keeping a balance between a person’s needs, wants, and desires, with the capacity in which a person should perform in reality.

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The Freudian dream psychology searched the unconscious of a person where fears and desires dwell. These emotions were camouflaged in the form of dream symbols. Dream meanings communicate to our conscious mind the desires that it tries to suppress.

Freud developed several themes on dream psychology. He proposed the structure of the Human Psyche – the id, ego, and superego. Id characterizes our reflexes, urges, and primal functions, while Ego is the rational part of the psyche. Finally, the Superego represses the Id by enforcing one’s moral responsibilities. When one is asleep, the superego and ego takes a break, allowing the Id to present itself in dream symbols. Upon waking up, we sometimes forget what we dreamt about because the Superego resumes work to suppress the evaluation of the dream meanings that represent desires of the unconscious mind.

Dream meanings could also be discovered in the Five Psychosexual Stages of Development of Freud. These personality foundations also take part in dream interpretations:
1. Oral Stage takes place during birth to infancy where in the fixations focus on the mouth. Recurring dream symbols of being incomplete refer to themes based on this stage.
2. Anal Stage refers to the potty training stage wherein a person learns about controlling one’s body functions. Being unable to meet the challenges on this stage would be seen in people with obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Dream symbols that show one’s inability to put things in order are dream meanings with difficulty in this stage.
3. Phallic Stage is during the preschool years where Oedipus and Electra complexes may arise. Boy’s anger and jealousy towards the father are dream interpretations of the battle for the mother’s love. This also happens in girls, which is represented in her love for her father.
4. The Latency Period is the time when the child begins to learn about his/her sexuality. Dream psychology proposes that sexual tendencies begin to arise during this phase, because the child begins to learn about gender roles.
5. Genital stage starts from 12 years of age. This is where the sexual and erotic interests appear. The dream meanings of erotic dreams imply difficulty in this stage of development.

The studies of Freud on Dream Psychology also focused on wish-fulfillment, where dream symbols present thoughts of one’s dreams and aspirations. Thoughts on issues that a person lacks like love, encouragement, and other means of satisfaction can be seen hidden in the dream meanings seen during sleep. The dream interpretations would show the repressed thoughts and feeling resurface as dreams are discussed and identified.

In closing, Freud’s theories of dream psychology main focus and revolve around the unconscious mind of a person. The unconscious satisfies the desires of the person while one enjoys the time of hi or her deep sleep.

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Literally, “Istikhara” can be translated variously as “awareness” or “seeking peace”. Religious scholars in Islamic traditions trace its origin back to Hadith, i.e. teachings of Prophet Mohammad. According to these, the process of dreaming for learning the divine will can be performed by any grownup Muslim man or woman, though the dream of pious people will be more reliable a clue to the proper course in one’s life. The process itself consists of offering a particular number/units of prayer in the evening, usually a while before going to bed, followed by recital of certain verses a specified number of times, and then thinking of a question in one’s mind – something for which one is asking the God’s will to guide him/her. With this in mind, the person performing Istikhara goes to bed (alone of course).

The nature of the ensuing dream can vary widely. Two main types of dreams, however, are distinguished by the learned in this topic. First, the dreamer may see actual characters and/or hear their voices, acting in a sequence that leads to the answer sought by the dreamer. In some cases, for example, a dreamer reports seeing the prophet (his persona or silhouette) telling him/her, expressly or through a hint, the proper choice relevant to the matter. Then there is the second type of dreams with more vague and symbolic meanings. One of the more commonly experienced dreams of this kind shows colors flashing on the dreamer. Seeing green or white color, in this context, would mean divine approval (yes, your favorite choice is right) while red would mean negation (no, what you are going for is a threat).

There are also dreams wherein the sequence or content appears confused or unrelated to the dreamer’s purpose. Such dreams are taken as indicative of a freedom of choice left to the dreamer: the divinity is not interested in the issue and/or grants that any choice the dreamer makes will be the proper course to follow. It is worth mentioning that Istikhara needs to be repeated 3 to 7 times for a particular question/issue before making the final choice. The more the number of times an answer is repeated in dream, the greater the confidence of its approval by the almighty. Also, the question chosen for Istikhara needs to relate one’s earthly affairs and not one’s beliefs, faith, or ideology.

Opinion differs on the obligation of the dreamer after he/she is finished with the Istikhara and the answer to his/her question is provided in dream. Some scholars claim that taking the choice indicated in the dream is optional and the dreamer is completely free to make the choice he/she thinks is the best. Others are of the view that the choice approved in the dream must be pursued or else the dreamer will be offending the will of God.

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Drowning generally means that there is just too much of something in someone’s life.  Maybe the dreamer is overworked?  stressed?  or maybe tired?  It is the subconscious way of asking the dreamer to slow down, take stock and reevaluate perspectives.

Some interpreters see drowning dreams as a rebirth.  If you die in your dream and then live again, then it is a signal for change or a new beginning.  To dream about seeing somebody drown means that you are over involved with somebody and you are slowly losing your identity to that person.

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Flying over a landscape or above something means that you have overcome some sort of trial and are now enjoying the feeling of flying free.  Most interpreters see flying dreams as conquering dreams or gaining new perspectives.   Generally flying dreams mean you are on top of everything.

However, flying while being impeded by power lines and other object means that you are having a hard time staying aloft.  The same is true for flying dreams wherein the dreamer has little or no control over where he is flying to.  These barriers represent obstacles that you must go through in order to achieve your goals.

In reality, man cannot fly, so flying dreams are representations of man’s imagination soaring into the heavens, or the desire to be more than what we can be.  Undoubtedly, most flying dreams give the dreamer a sense of happiness and freedom.

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With these things said, you would understand what you might be feeling when you finally meet your enemy in your dreams. Although the desire to kill, torture or harm the other person is there, sometimes it will amaze you to see how things will turn out. It could be a preposterous exchange of words, only yours are much edgier than normal or end up losing a battle of wits. Whatever the situation might be, here are some interpretations when having your enemies in your dreams:

·    If somehow, you managed to overcome your enemy, it means that your life’s obstacles are way behind you and you are quite enjoying the ride as of the moment. It can also mean that you are enjoying a contented life right now after having to ward off potentially harming events.
·    It is not uncommon to find yourself unable to say a word when faced with the enemy in your dreams and yet he still continues on haranguing you. This means you need to be very cautious of your current transactions, whether personal or business since deep inside you, you feel danger lurking around the corner.
·    Overcoming your enemy means gain for you while defeat means your loss. Your enemy can be a third person, your life or even your enemy from within—meaning you. Sometimes you need to search deep within to know the difference.

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I am standing on the platform of the elevated train station.  My cousin has arrived to pick me up. I tell him I have lost my cell phone.  He gives me a watch and tells me I can reach him using the watch. I look at the watch, the hands are standing still.  I don’t believe I will be able to call him with it.  Suddenly it starts pouring.  He shelters me and gives me a pair of galoshes.  I put the boots on and we head out into the pouring rain. We are in the park now. The rain has stopped and the sun is shining bright. We start chasing colorful balloons across the park.  I feel happy and we are laughing. We embrace and kiss gently.  I feel safe.

This dream is so strong and symbolic I have not been able to shake it for days.  Initially when I awoke I felt confused about the intimacy within the dream. Sigmund Freud would have labeled this sexual in nature.  More a tuned to the works of Carl Jung I proceed to delve deeper into the message.  As I replay the dream in my mind it’s vivid symbols overwhelm my curiosity.  A cousin, a train, a lost phone, a watch, the pouring rain, the balloons, the kiss, all lucid messages from my subconscious.  I have spent the last few days thinking, analyzing and understanding what message from within has been delivered to my waking mind.

I want to hear my subconscious voice clearly and so I close my eyes, imagine myself walking around my body stopping face to face.  I look down into my closed eyes and recapture every scene as if in slow motion.  I am overwhelmed at the depths of emotions.  This may seem like an ordinary dream but I am beginning to understand what I would not hear consciously.

I am on this platform no train coming or going because it has already arrived. This is not a missed train.  My journey began years ago and although there are days I doubt myself I know I have built this platform but have failed to completely accept that I deserve what I have built. The lost cell phone is symbolic of the communication I have lost within myself. The watch reminding me the time is here and now, hence the hands standing still. The sudden pouring rain feels like the tears cleansing away my doubts that now drip down my cheeks as I am in this dream all over again. I am sheltered. Putting on these new boots makes me feel strong and ready to go out in the rain. I feel centered again. The sun is shining bright. My body as still as meditation. There is no such beauty as realizing reality. The park is alive with greenery and how I can relate to the feeling of being so alive as I begin to accept what has been missing in my waking hours. Chasing bright colored balloons my spirit is young and unbroken again.  My cousin mirroring my feelings of glee. Deep in his eyes I see a familiar soul. Tall, bright, funny,charming, secrets longing to be free. My subconscious has chosen a vessel to be the messenger.  Embrace the feeling.  A gentle kiss makes us one. 
This is me safe and real.

–Writer–Janice Hunter

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While it is known to us that dreams do exist for a reason, its purpose is yet to be determined. Apparently, this is where the commonality of all dream theorists ends as there are several “suggested” purposes for dreams and not a single one of them has significant basis except for being circumstantial. This, in a way, supported Domhoff’s conclusion after several years of studying dream patterns and reports in accordance to today’s relevant social behavior, dream laboratory findings in the 50’s and of course, studies made by all-time dream champions like Freud, Jung and Hall. Domhoff’s conclusion? Dreams do exist for a reason but it may not be for a purpose as there is no existing purpose at all.

We have heard of dreams being prophetic in nature while many others agree that dreams are a cognitive function, natural to human capable of perceiving things. Claims were made even to this day but there seems to be no strong evidence to back up any. The birth of REM sleep almost doubled these dead-end claims but still no light to the matter can be seen. Furthermore, Domhoff stated that dreams have their own uses depending on one’s culture as people have been adamant in finding uses for them.

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