Dreams are a gateway to understanding yourself at a deeper, more personal level. Socrates famously said, “A life unexamined is a life not worth living”. Dreams give us the opportunity to do just this, thus gaining insights which cannot be accessed in our conscious lives.
Once we gain an understanding of what is happening in our subconscious mind we can then see what issues
need to be dealt with in our life. That’s the whole purpose of dreaming – to be able to link our conscious and unconscious mind and freeing ourselves of our preconceived ideas about whom we are. And isn’t that what we all want?
People say to me, “But I don’t dream”. This is not true. We all dream. Even animals experience dreams in the sleep cycle called REM (Rapid Eye Movement). This is the ‘dreaming sleep’. It is when you are in your deepest sleep and it’s almost impossible to wake up from this state. The body is paralysed even though you are mentally active. REM sleep occurs in stages, lasting from ten minutes to one hour, so there may be five cycles of this type of sleep during one night. This is when you dream. The longest uninterrupted REM sleep occurs early in the morning. And dreams during this time are the ones you are most likely to remember.
What do dreams mean? There is no definitive answer. Each person’s dream has a personal meaning to them. However
there are common dream symbols, and sequences of dreaming events, which we all share. In my Dream Reading Cards, I’ve outlined 22 universal dreams with a list of questions for the reader to answer or ponder.
Many of these common dreams occur during changes in your life. Transitional, or even traumatic events, can bring up
volatile emotions which have long lain dormant within you. Stress can release all types of weird, vivid dreams, as can
some medications.
The most common dream of all is water. Water represents your emotional, creative and spiritual life. If you are swimming, is it in a peaceful sea or a lake? Are you trapped in rapids or in ocean waves? How you cope in these situations will reflect your emotional dramas in real life. But is it any wonder that we dream of water when our emotions are usually held in check in our waking lives.
My aim in creating the Dream Reading Cards was that they be both intuitive and insightful. I came up with the design of having a deck split into 22 theme cards and 30 oracle (reading) cards as I wanted to give people the tools which would help them make changes in their lives.
Understanding dreams is empowering. Once you learn to interpret the secret messages from your subconscious mind, you will gain valuable insight into your personal life and make the changes you need for the best life you can have.
Rose is the author of ‘Dream Reading Cards’, published by Rockpool Publishing.
She is currently writing her new book, ‘The Magic of Dreams’ www.roseinserra.com
Rose Inserra - An Extract from An Alternative Voice – 07 November, 2013