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Dream Dictionary

Setting

man getting a bottle of ketchup
Photo by Karen Woolstrum on Unsplash

The setting of your dream provides a snapshot of how you are feeling. You can see it as a mirror of your inner world. At times, you can see clearly in the light of Day (consciously) or you may use a Light (exploring hidden aspects.) You may not be facing something or operating in the dark when the dream is occurring in a nighttime setting.

In the forest (subconscious,) you often meet the Characters or guide who can offer clues to your transformative processes. Approaching the forest, which grows from the roots of your beliefs and can be tied to family dynamics, and will represent your attempt to overcome fear and unmask your greater power. Trees are stationary and rooted, suggesting the wealth of your genetic heritage. The jungle is a place within that remains uncivilized. Often you will dream of jungle patterns or decorations in a house as a way of exploring these natural and organic aspects of yourself.

You climb mountains to gain a wider view, while the mountain can also represent how you can remain a prisoner of your beliefs. The desert returns you to an uncomplicated or barren landscape where you can discover the real roots of your sustenance.

Dreams about water occur commonly because water represents your emotions, and how you feel about the changes that you face as you move through life. To dream of turbulent water suggests a sense of emotional crisis associated with moving forward. Any time this type of dream occurs, later, you may dream about being on a similar ship and crossing the water that has become calm. This is representative of the emotional growth that you have achieved. In all of our ancient stories, water is the mysterious reservoir where the hero is to retrieve a treasure. Similarly, raging water often initiates you into a process of self-discovery. Floods and tsunamis demonstrate how emotions break free to undermine the foundation of your beliefs until you are forced to let go. What you thought was solid and what you thought you needed, is washed away as you pursue the basics of survival (well-being.) Water can also represent health and wellness since it is a symbol of the elixir of life.

The Great Sea or ocean is a classic symbol of the home of the unconscious. You may approach its depth to discover its hidden treasures, such as: Fish/Treasure/Sword/Jewels. A symbol is brought forward as clues to your evolutionary journey. If you are in quicksand or ‘bogged down’ in a muddy swamp, you may feel that your forward movement is impeded in some way. Because it is made of the earth, it represents your own ideas and how they may hold you back.

Natural Disasters, like earthquakes and volcanoes portray the transformative power or your emotions rising to the surface in the face of all that you believed to be static. The earth can give way in landslides, which can destroy the symbolic structures you build with outworn ideas. These structures represent the self and how it is evolving to meet the changes in your environment. Disasters associated with the wind, like tornadoes and hurricanes portray the movement of consciousness, and suggests how the hidden continues to stir within you. To dream of a tornado, signifies urges and emotions that have the potential to overwhelm you, and in a sense you are picked up and placed into another context. You are released from your controlling and protective tendencies, which can only keep you re-creating the past.

All symbolism in a dream is important. As you explore the setting that reveals ‘your current mood,’ you will find a representation of where you currently stand in relationship to the changes you are facing.