At the start of your dream journey, one of the most frustrating things is to figure out what the symbolism in your dreams means! Most often people start their dream conversation with me by saying: I had this weird dream What makes it weird is the strange collection of people, objects, places and events that take place in the dream.

How do you make sense of it? I guess youd be thinking that a dream dictionary is a good place to start.

The biggest complaint I hear is: I looked up such-and-such in a dream dictionary and it makes absolutely no sense to me! Well, Im not surprised.

Watch out for Dream Dictionary Bloopers!

Some dream dictionaries contain some real whoppers. Heres a selection from some dubious sources I saw recently [dont laugh these are real examples!]:

Burglar - If you catch a burglar in your dream youre about to inherit some money.

Funeral - signifies news of an engagement or wedding.

Marshmallow - means you will meet a new friend of the opposite sex. Razor - is a warning to control your temper.

Well, you get the picture! These interpretations are obviously just ridiculous. And you can easily see that for yourself intuitively you know that these meanings should not be taken seriously.

So do you even need a dream dictionary?

Well the answer is yes and no and depends.

Yes use a dream dictionary when youre really stuck with a symbol and you need some inspiration to find the right meaning. Just make sure youre using a reputable resource and use your BS detector!

No avoid using one when you can immediately relate the symbol in your dream to something in your waking life and your gut is giving you a positive reaction to the interpretation youve intuited.

Depends on the reliability of the source of the information. Dont take any meaning at face value. Test them out first. You will be able to validate your dream messages in your life. Youll also automatically collect your own personal dream symbol dictionary if youre actively journaling and interpreting your dreams. Youll be able to tell when certain symbols are valid for you or not.

How to use Dream Symbols

Ive collected over 1000 dream symbols in my 10-year dream quest and have validated them all for myself. Most of them are universal in nature and Ive noticed time and again how the same meanings appear for the same symbols in reputable research works from dream therapists to psycho analysts, psychics, mystics, shamans and other metaphysicians.

For example:

Water - signifies your emotional self, your intuition and sub-conscious

Fire - signifies spiritual and psychic energy; purification; passion and creativity

Earth - signifies your physical self; reality and practicality; groundedness

Air - signifies your intellectual self; your thoughts and plans

Taking this a step further, certain transport vehicles relating to Water [emotion], Earth [physical] and Air [thought] signify how you are coping with these aspects in your life.

For example, if youre in a boat in your dream this represents how youre coping emotionally: are you gliding smoothly through the water indicating that your emotions are smooth and calm or are you being tossed on the waves of a stormy sea indicating abnormal emotional turmoil that is negatively affecting your life? You see what I mean?

Your dreams arent trying to trick you! All you have to do is learn to understand the language of your dreams and to translate the imagery you see with your dream eyes into useful information you can use in your waking life.