On Dreams and Dream Symbols

On Dreams and Dream Symbols

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TA Sullivan

Recipient of the NFWNA Gold Book Award for Excellence!

Recipient of the IMLP Non-Fiction Superior Award of Writing Excellence.

Recipient of the Gold Non-Fiction Author’s Award for Excellence!

Copyright by TA Sullivan

All rights reserved. This book or parts hereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from TA Sullivan and IM Light Publishing. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions (paper or electronic), and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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Keywords: dreams, sleep, dream symbols, paranormal, spirituality, psychology, self-improvement

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Cover design by DL-Designs and Digital Art

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Author’s note:  Names and other identifying information, such as occupations, professions, or geographical locations have been changed. Otherwise, the events and interactions stated and described in this book are reproduced as accurately as memories allow them to be.

ISBN-13: 978-1480229051

ABOUT THE BOOK

The author has been studying dreams since she was a child. She has researched dreams and their meanings via psychology, cultural studies, and historical references.

This book is a compilation of that background combined with the readings and insights offered by the Masters.

The readings included here were culled from the hundreds of readings that have been given over the years. They were selected because they offered the most comprehensive and insightful information.

The opinions, comments and suggestions given by the Masters do not necessarily agree with the attitudes, opinions, convictions, or beliefs of anyone else connected with this book.

Introduction

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FROM THE MASTERS:  "Sleep is necessary for the body, for while it sleeps it regenerates itself. The adrenals, the neurological, and the arterial systems all respond to a night’s rest with healing and replenishment. Meanwhile you—the essence you—also replenishes self, for you will depart and seek out those of your entity or those other fragments of self and converse.

That these moments do sometimes surface as pieces of images or erratic movies of the mind that you call dreams, is true. For as the essence of you draws closer to your return into the physical form, do the images and perceptions that you are experiencing filter down to the physical mind.

The mind then relays these concepts to the overall you sometimes as jumbles of incoherent sights and sounds, and sometimes as disjointed scenes. Other times, they come through as if you are watching some strange movie. However, most times upon awakening, the images and memories fade away and you can barely remember any of it.

Those dreams that seem clearest or appear prophetic are usually either self warning you about some choice that ego is trying to push forth, or one of your guides trying to help you.

That many (people) dismiss dreams out of hand, is true; however, those dreams coming from their higher-self or their guides are not so easily dismissed. If ego seems intent on pushing some path that essence is opposed to, then will the higher self try innumerable times to break through during the sleep cycles to frighten ego in the hopes that it will listen and not make the choice it is trying to.

What you might call your conscience is, in actuality, essence trying to warn you. Perhaps you think that if you start a rumor about your co-worker because you are both vying for the same promotion that you will win. However, essence does not wish you to pursue this path for it knows that a debt will be incurred. Therefore, does it send you warnings both in dreams and as a small voice telling you not to do it.

Sometimes the small voice belongs to one of your guides, for they would also warn you, though usually of different types of danger. Perhaps by oversleeping, they know that you will run into the gun fight that is going to occur at the nearby bank. Therefore, they yell at you to wake up, for they do not wish you to be harmed. If, however, you continue to sleep through their attempts to awaken you, they might show you images (dreams) of either the impending danger or of staying home and relaxing.

By showing you the danger, they hope to use fear to keep you from harm. By showing you more pleasant images, they hope to convince you to call in sick and stay home, thereby also avoiding the danger.

Dreams are really the physical mind’s effort to disseminate the images received from beyond the body’s sensory input. That is, images received from essence rather than from its own senses such as touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight.

The seemingly universality of dream symbols is due to the oneness of us all. Since we are all of the same substance and all of the same Tao, then does it make it easier to envision a system wherein the symbols are universally meaningful.

In truth, do we see that the symbols, although similar, are quite different. However, it is the similarities that are captured and therefore described and ascribed meaning. It is these symbols that are then looked up upon awakening and used in the interpretation of those dreams that have more than just vague imagery to them.

For some, dreams truly do have messages. It is those dreams that the symbols are used for. The guides and guardians would use similar ideas, concepts, and thoughts to convey to each of their charges that which they would pass along. That they use similar symbols, concepts and thoughts is true, and therefore do you each find that the dream image of an apple (for instance) has similar meaning for each of you. For most guides, and therefore most dream messages, are coming from the Astral plane; therefore, do they tend to use the same substance to create their messages to you.

Other considerations, such as a person’s own personality and enculturations, also play a significant part in how someone will see the objects in and understand or interpret the overall concept of the dream. What we mean is that someone who dislikes apples, will then see the symbol as something evil, while those with no preconception – that is, feeling neither negative nor positive – about apples, will see almost clearly that which the guides intend. Is this more clear, then?

Numbers, when dreamed of, can be interpreted as numbers having a more spiritual meaning, amounts, dates, or other truisms. It must first be determined the intention of the numbers within the dream before you can decide how they are to be interpreted."   

Table of Contents

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Introduction

Dreams and Dreaming Through the Ages

Art Influenced by Dreams

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

How Much Sleep Do We Need?

Do Dreams Have Meaning?

Interpreting Dreams

Dream Numbers

Dream Symbols

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

L

K

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

About the Author

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Dreams and Dreaming Through the Ages

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DREAMS—THE EPHEMERAL experiences that occur while we sleep. Sometimes they seem so real, other times they seem nothing more than a replay of those events that plagued us during the day. What makes these vignettes of our unconscious so fascinating?

We probably spend at least one-third of our lives sleeping, and according to researchers, at least a third of that time is spent dreaming. Yet, we still know so little about dreams. What are they? Where do they come from? Do they have meaning? Why do some people seem to dream and others not?

Dreams have intrigued and fascinated people for centuries, from before the time of the ancients up to today. Through the years, people have constantly sought answers to some of the mysteries surrounding dreams. Some of those seeking the answers to dreams have used the ‘common sense’ approach, others the ‘fantastic’ or ‘divine’ approach, and still others, the ‘psychoanalytical’ approach.

Today, many who believe in the fantastic approach to dreams, think that dreams are messages from the ethereal plane or contain some esoteric wisdom. Some even believe that the soul itself leaves during the night to seek knowledge and wisdom on the Astral and other planes. Many researchers seem to combine the three approaches.

Most of them think of dreams as a means of communicating, not only with our inner selves, but also with our bodies and, perhaps, even with those in other realms. Researchers have found that dreams let us access information that, while awake, we keep hidden or are otherwise unable to see clearly. When faced with decisions or problems, dreams sometimes can even help us define the answer or solution. Professor Kekule stated that it was a dream of a spinning snake biting its own tail that gave him the clue to his ring theory. (The ring theory is the basis of the constitution of benzene, which finally emerged as the benzene formula. A formula that revolutionized chemistry.)

It is a well-known fact, that outside stimuli can, and does, affect dreams. But even when confronted with outside factors, the mind usually blends the stimulus into the dream without losing or corrupting the overall meaning or flavor of that dream. A sleeper can be dreaming of an overcast day and incorporate the dripping faucet into the dream as a sprinkle of rain.

Through their imagery, dreams help keep us in touch with what is happening in our own bodies. If, for example, you dream of baking bread, you are warned of a possible illness. The recorded incidences of psychic dreams have filled volumes. So, it’s not surprising that modern researchers are more open to considering the possibility that telepathic or clairvoyant communication can occur during dreams. Some have even gone so far as to admit to the possibility that dreamers may somehow even be able to foretell future events.

Art Influenced by Dreams

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DREAMS INFLUENCE ALL of us throughout our lives, yet it is through the artists that this influence is really shown. It is said that Mozart was inspired to write one of his greatest operas, Don Giovanni, based on a dream. It is also said that many of the inventions Leonardo DaVinci sketched and developed prototypes of, were those he dreamt of first.

Of dreams and art, Carl Jung had this to say, A great work of art is like a dream. For all its apparent obviousness, it does not explain itself and is never unequivocal.

Many of today’s artists often find their muse in dreams. Jasper Johns’ first flag painting came to him as dream, and William Blake dreamed that his brother taught him a new method of engraving. When he awoke and tried it, he discovered that it worked. A photographer, Sarah Charlesworth, was so intrigued by dreams of soaring and flying, that she created a series of photos called Stills. This series depicts figures seemingly flying over different landscapes.

Juan Sanchez dreamt that a nationalist flag was suffocating someone. He used this image in several of his paintings, the most notable of which is Mick’s Statement.

People are so fascinated by dreams that even many of our literary works are filled with references to them. The Romantic poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge seemed especially susceptible to translating their dreams and nightmares into prose and poems.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) also translated his dream imagery into literature. Lewis Carroll created an entire world from several dreams he had, and he wrote these worlds into his well-known books, Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

When Alice entered her dream world created by Mr. Carroll, she entered a world that many of us are familiar with. It’s a world where reality changes from moment to moment, and the rules never seem to apply. You see things and people as they are, and others as you wish they would be. Also, like Alice, dreamers are confronted by their fears. Alice faced the ultimate in fear when she confronted the Red Knight. Even though she felt the unreality of the situation, it seemed real to her. It seemed so real that when the Red Knight told her she would cease to exist when he awoke from his dream, she not only believed him, but was terrified that she truly would cease to exist.

Sometimes, it is only with this kind of dream imagery that an author can bring across the intense emotion and fear that he needs for his reader to understand a situation or character. It’s a type of powerlessness that comes across, a feeling we’ve all experienced at one time or another. A feeling that our life is out of control, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Most of the time we wake up from a dream of this sort panting in a cold sweat. These types of dreams also seem to stay with us all throughout the day. I think Cathy (Emily Bronte’s heroine in Wuthering Heights) probably said it best, ...these dreams that stayed with me; they have gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.

Shakespeare was exceedingly fond of using dream allegory, and even wrote a play about dreams and dreamers called A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Shakespeare was quite aware of the impact of dreams on people, and he used this to help the audience relate to his characters. Prospero, the magician from the Tempest, suggests that life is merely a dream, ...We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

Edgar Allen Poe expressed much the same sentiment in his poem, A Dream Within a Dream, when he said, ...All that we see or seem, Is but a dream within a dream. This may lead one to wonder then, which is the dream, and which is the reality? Maybe asking that is the ultimate confrontation with ourselves. Because, if we can’t face ourselves in waking life, perhaps we must do so in our dreams.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

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ALICE ENTERED HER dream world by falling down a rabbit hole, but most of us simply curl up in bed and fall asleep. As your body relaxes, you move into a light sleep. This is a borderland, a land where flickering images begin to form, yet you’re still susceptible to the noise and other stimuli in the room. As you sink further into sleep, you begin to experience rapid eye movement (REM). It is in this stage that you enter the first stage of the dream cycle. This is when the dreams really take over.

Once in the REM stage of the dream cycle, it is almost impossible to awaken a dreamer. They become so involved in the dream that little short of an earthquake can arouse them. The next two stages of the dream cycle are called nREM or non-rapid eye movement. In these stages, the dreamer experiences less emotional, less involving dreams. These dreams lack the clarity and vividness of the REM stage, and so become much more difficult to remember, if they are remembered at all. After this, you sink into what is called Delta sleep. This is the longest and deepest sleep stage. This sleep pattern is cyclical; it repeats approximately every 90 minutes in most people.

At one time it was thought that dreams lasted only seconds, but now researchers have found that the dream periods become longer as the night progresses. The first few flashes of dreams that occur when a person is initially falling asleep may only last minutes. However, as the night continues, and the dream cycle is entered, the dream stages lengthen. During an eight-hour sleep period, the average person dreams for approximately two hours. This is broken into four or five occurrences ranging in length from 5 to 45 minutes each.

The two main disrupters to the dream cycle are the quality of sleep and the length of sleep. Obviously, if you only sleep six hours one night, the length of your dream cycle will be affected. If you go to bed late and know you must be up at your usual time, the dream cycle will usually speed up. If, however, you are awakened earlier than normal, the dream cycle is completely interrupted. Even if you can return to bed after the interruption, the dream cycle rarely continues where it was interrupted, instead it begins all over again.

The quality of the sleep can also affect the dream cycle. There are many factors that can affect your quality of sleep. For instance, worry, unresolved anger, indigestion, the temperature of the room, are all factors that can affect your quality of sleep. These, and other similar factors, can inhibit you from initially falling asleep or plague you even after you fall asleep, and so keep you from moving into the dream cycle. If you do manage to move into the dream cycle, the dreams are distorted and become nightmares or you may skip the REM cycle and go directly into the nREM stages.

If you have difficulty sleeping and indulge in some type of sleeping pill, you will find that it does not really enhance or help you rest or dream. Pills will get you past the first stage of sleep and into the dream cycle, but the length and number of REM cycles diminish. You may spend more time in the nREM and Delta cycles then in the REM cycle (the cycle most needed by the body to feel rested). So, when you awaken in the morning, you still do not feel refreshed and well-rested.

How Much Sleep Do We Need?

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FROM THE MASTERS:  "Sleep is needed by the physical form, not by you—the true you. The physical form seeks respite from the general clamor of the input that it receives, as well as from the drive of essence.

Essence then shifts focus and allows the body to maintain itself. For, while the personality is driving the body, it becomes difficult for the body to heal, grow, shift, and change as it needs to. So, the mind can turn off and most of essence departs–that is, shifts focus to other fragments and other plays and other portions of itself—allowing just the barest of portions to remain and tend to the body’s needs.

If the body is in decent shape and most of the business of essence is tended to, little sleep is required. If, however, the body requires more maintenance, or much business is needed to be done requiring a shifted focus, then more sleep is needed. If the individual would allow for meditation time, then the business could be tended to which would require the body to sleep less. So, for each fragment, the need does vary.

Again, we repeat, these altered focused times can be sleep or meditative moments, for all are cumulative and all contribute. This would include meditation, auto-pilot times, sleep, and naps for these all allow the essence to shift focus from the physical to other viewpoints.

As to excessive sleeping or lack of sleep, we would need to take each case individually. Each fragment is an individual, and circumstances play an important part as to the amount of down time required.

What we have given you is an average, but everyone is different and not at all average. Some will indeed seek sleep through boredom, though these are usually fifth cycles with little occurring in their physical lives, and so do they prefer to spend more time with those who have already cycled off.

Others who seek sleep as an alternative to life, are trying to escape, usually from some pain—emotional or physical. For both can drain the energies and leave the body tired. While still others seeking escape through sleep, are those too frightened to continue with the drama in which they have joined. They must either face the fear or wait for the drama to shift around them, for this will then allow them to again function in the physical realm."

Q: So, are you saying that it’s better to sleep in long sessions (like 8 to 10 hours) or break it into smaller chunks (like 3 to 4 hours), or does it even matter?

From the Masters:  "We see the matter of continuous or broken pattern sleeping as one that depends upon the individual fragment.

Some, because they re-energize by being in the spotlight or on stage, adapt quite well to the cat naps and short snatches of down time; whereas, others need continuous stretches wherein they can leave their bodies and regroup.

As we said, all periods are cumulative, and aid the body’s regeneration, so it matters not which sequence the fragment prefers.

There is no way that is better or worse, there is only that which works best for the individual fragment.

Does that help?"

Q: Does role or soul age affect the need for sleep?

From the Masters:  "The roles affect the sleep cycles in as much as they determine whether the energies of the individual are self-directed (introverted) or other-directed (extroverted). For those who spend their time in an atmosphere conducive to their own energy’s flow, will they need less sleep than those who are within an atmosphere that drains their energy. Also, if they are within a draining atmosphere and of low-energy body types, then will they feel drained that much more quickly, thus requiring even more sleep. However, they may be of a body type or soul age that will allow them to recharge quickly. Therefore, could they recover through short periods of sleep rather than long sleep periods.

More than anything, the roles indicate how easily or how quickly an individual will become drained, and how easily or how quickly they can recover. Of course, each circumstance depends on the environment, body types, energy types (how much negativity, positivity, or neutral energies there are around the individual), and other factors. For many factors can and do affect the amount of energy drained or retained, as well as the quickness with which the energies are lost or gained. 

Overall, we see the soul age as having a greater impact than role, and body type an even greater impact than either role or soul age. For example, a Mercury (body type) will require less sleep especially if they are a late second cycle through third cycles, and sometimes even into the early stages of the fourth cycles.

Those with a Solar body type can also subsist on less sleep or on broken patterns of sleep, for they already have the energies of the Solar body to help them recuperate and regenerate.

The high-energy body types rarely need more than three or four hours of continuous sleep, so can usually adjust their schedules to get by with short cat naps rather than long periods spent in sleep. However, while those with slower energy body types can occasionally get by sleeping in short bursts, this type of sleep pattern, will, after a period, cause distress within the body. This is because those with slower energies take longer to recharge and to heal and balance the spiritual, emotional, and physical bodies.

Even some of those with the faster energy body types can occasionally run into periods of needing more sleep than would seem normal (for them). After all, even they can abuse the body by eating poorly, skipping meals, or simply neglecting the physical health of the body all together. They can also create situations in which the emotions are too overwhelming for their energies to create a healing or relaxing atmosphere within that three- or four-hour window of downtime. That is why, each person should allow their bodies to choose just how much sleep or meditative time is needed.

In summation, we would see longer sleep periods being needed for those who have either the Jupiter, Moon, or Mars body types in predominance; while those having Mercury, Saturn, or Venus body types in predominance, can function quite well with shorter sleep periods.

While the soul age can have an effect, it usually has more to do with the lessons learned. That is because third cycles will be more inclined to ignore sleep in favor of gaining recognition at work, achieving some personal goal, or because they do not see the usefulness in sleep. They are the ones who will most often say, You can sleep when you’re dead, because they do not believe there is anything beyond this life.

First cycles and early second cycles will seek solace in sleep. They are still attuned enough to the ‘hidden’ aspects of life that they are eager, and willing, to let go of the stresses of physical life and return to those quieter places within the Astral. Once in the middle and later stages of the second cycle, however, they are much more likely to follow whatever habits they were taught. Therefore, if they were taught to sleep for eight hours, then that is what they will consider normal. If their bodies insist on awakening after four hours, they are likely to think this is abnormal behavior. This may prompt them to self-medicate or to seek expert advice on how to make their bodies follow the ‘normal’ sleep patterns.

Those who are fourth cycles will sometimes allow their body the freedom to follow its own schedule. If the body seeks to sleep for eight hours, then the fourth cycle will do so (if circumstances allow). If work or other functions within the life, cause the sleep cycle to be shortened, then will most fourth cycles simply adapt to this need. This is the same way they will accept and adapt to their body’s telling them that it only needs four to six hours of sleep.

Early fifth cycles act much the same (as fourth cycles); however, mid- to late-fifth cycles tend to seek sleep much the same way that first and second cycles do. They find solace and companionship in sleep, as it allows them to connect with teachers, guides, and entity mates who have cycled off and are awaiting them. This is not true of every late fifth cycle, but it is true for many of them.

Therefore, as we said before, the need for sleep is driven first by body type (which influences the energy levels of the individual), second by soul age, and third by role."

Q: Why do light sleepers seemingly have more dreams than heavy sleepers?

From the Masters:  "Those who usually profess to sleep deeply are those whose physical mind is still greatly controlled by ego and personality, and so it rejects anything it cannot understand, and the tasks and travels completed during sleep are those such things.

Usually lighter sleepers are very much in tune with themselves as a complete being—not just a physical being. Therefore, they have awareness of some of the nightly activities of the part of themselves that is not physical and do not reject that information, but rather do they welcome it and seek to understand it.

This is not 100% true as there are always other reasons for light sleep and deep sleep, but if someone’s sleep pattern is consistently deep, it is usually because they do not want to know what goes on while the physical form sleeps. Because for them there is not some other part of them, they are only what they see in a mirror and nothing more."

Do Dreams Have Meaning?

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ALMOST EVERYONE AGREES that most dreams have some meaning, and the Masters have named the seven types of dreams and what they signify (if anything) to the dreamer.

1) Subjective Or Physical Dreams

These are dreams in which your body sends you messages for assistance, such as help in avoiding the onset of a cold or other malady. Or the dreams can be meaningless images caused by an imbalance in the body chemistry; something caused by something you ate, by nerves and tension, or because of some pain that the body is feeling from an injury or strain.

2) Essence Or Self-Sent Dreams

These are dreams sent by essence when ego and essence disagree about what you should do or the path you should follow. These are the warnings, images, and inspirations that essence would use to convince you (your personality/ego you) to do as essence wishes or to warn you of the consequences not considered if you follow the path that ego is urging you to.

3) Guided Dreams

These dreams primarily come from discarnate guides and guardians who try to direct you away from (for you) unforeseen events unforeseen or events you never wanted to experience. If encountered, these types of events would either cause detours or disruptions to your life goals and path or could cause you to be majorly injured or even killed.

Other times it can be essence indicating that the path now junctions with that of another—perhaps it’s the path of someone with whom you have agreed to seek balance or someone with whom you have agreed to work on a monadal lesson. In both instances, the dreams would then seem prophetic. However, dreams coming from guides are usually couched in symbols, while the dreams coming from yourself are usually more straightforward and less mysterious.

4) Essence Travel Memories

These are usually vague memories (most times) of meetings and lessons performed in other realms. Although, most meetings occur within one of the Astral levels, such as the transitional level, some can occur on the Ethereal or Mental plane. Therefore, unless one is spiritually awake enough to understand the experience, most of the images relayed to the physical mind will seem little more than gibberish—random blips of color and sound that can’t be easily understood.

If you are more aware and spiritually awake, then some of the images might be retained. And you might also realize that a meeting between souls has occurred or that a series of possibilities was reviewed while you slept.

5) Facilitating Others

Attaining this level when you sleep enables you to act as a facilitator or guide to entity mates, both incarnate and discarnate. If the entity mate is discarnate, you might do life reviews with them or help them determine what choices they would make for their next life or their new beginning (because not all of them are going to return to Earth or the Physical plane).

Also on this level, there are those who operate outside of the Physical plane rules using their skills and energies to adjust and balance the Physical realm. These energy manipulators slip into those areas outside of the Physical plane so that they can more easily adjust those areas of instability or imbalance.

For instance, if too much negativity has gathered within one area of a Physical plane world (there are other worlds than Earth), then all those with agreements to do so, will work to dispel some of that negativity, thus allowing the energies of the planet to flow more freely and in a more balanced way.

6) Focused Meditations

The sixth level of dreams is reached through focused meditation. By focusing your energies while in a meditative state