In our weekly Mindful Dreams column, Aneta Baranek of the School of Metaphysics is offering free dream interpretations to The Mindful Word readers, as well as articles on dreams in general.
If you’ve ever been curious about deciphering the cryptic contents of your subconscious mind, here’s your chance! If you would like Aneta to interpret your dream, fill out this form. She will respond with your dream interpretation through this column, published every Thursday. Aneta would love to receive more comments for the dreams interpreted. If you can relate to a dream posted here or have any insights to add, you can post them as comments to the interpretation, or email her at aneta@themindfulword.org.
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DREAM
Hi Aneta,
My dreams were a little horrifying. One was about my house getting shot up by a bunch of people.
The other was about me at work, as the only server for the whole restaurant, serving more than 100 tables.
All these dreams have been painful to go through!
– Juan
DREAMER: Male, 22, U.S.
MAIN SYMBOLS:
House — state of dreamer’s mind
People — aspects of the dreamer
Gun — tool for change
Work — productive state of mind
INTERPRETATION
Hello Juan,
Many thanks for sending in your dreams. It’s very admirable to see you paying attention to them. I understand that without proper interpretation, they might be distressing to you, so let me help by shedding some light on the symbology of dreams. Let me assure you that there’s nothing to fear.
Our minds communicate using images. These are functional metaphors, kind of like the stop sign. For example, a house doesn’t symbolize an actual house, but rather, a state of mind of the dreamer—a “house” where the dreamer’s consciousness is stored. All people reflect aspects of the dreamer—we perceive reflections of ourselves in others. Lastly, work symbolizes a dreamer’s productive state of mind.
The first dream speaks to your perception that you’re under a form of attack (house getting shot up) by many aspects of yourself, symbolized by the people present in your dream.
The second dream also reflects a form of feeling under attack or under pressure (serving the whole restaurant on your own).
APPLICATION
Similar to the dreams we interpreted a few weeks ago, your dream indicates a major change going on in your life that’s bringing about feelings of pressure and being under attack.
Dreams reflect the dreamer’s perceptions of what’s occurring in his or her waking life. Dreams aren’t literal messages, but messages from the subconscious mind that are encoded in dream symbols.
With your dreams reflecting this state of major stress in your life, which is really rooted in your own mind, there’s a need for you to respond to your life’s circumstances. Many fall prey to their circumstances and take on the role of a victim. Liberation, though, is found in responding to a difficult situation with inner change.
If this were my dream, I’d look into ways that would help me slow down and examine any fears that might be coming up. In his book The Tibetan Art of Serenity: How to Heal Fear and Gain Contentment, Christopher Hansard states: “In Tibetan Bon tradition, fear is seen not in the terms of the perceived or imagined threat, but in terms of the response it provokes in us.”
Behind every fear lies serenity; however, before we’re able to experience that serenity, we need to face our fears. I’d suggest reading this book or any other book on exploring how to overcome fear, stress and anxiety.
Dreams are truly a blessing, as they truthfully mirror to us our
current state of being. Our conscious, outer minds tend to be so busy that they render us unable to recognize some of the lessons right in front of us. Dreams, on the other hand, always deliver truthful guidance.
May your dreams illuminate the inner and outer you…
