Levels of Dreaming

I have alluded to the fact that there are many levels to consciousness and the interpretation of dreams. One exercise I have found difficult but revealing is to try and interpret a dream on as many levels as possible. Now, what I mean by this is that I have found that dreams do not mean just one thing, but hidden in the exquisite choice of images and emotions lies many different meanings depending upon which point of view you may take, or what part of life are you attempting to understand. There are levels to levels, incidentally, meaning gradations in terms of the amount of awareness we have of our situation and our role in it, during a dream.

This idea is again much like life in general; that is at certain times in life we may feel we know exactly why we are here and what it is we are �supposed� to be doing- (though I don�t especially like the word "supposed" because it sometimes implies a certain fate or stuckness is involved, and I believe those cases are more rare than not. At other times in life we may not feel we know why we are experiencing life the way we are, and struggle for answers and solutions. Perhaps the answers may not always be available, and this lack of availability I believe is one reason why we dream. I would like to address the idea of levels of dreaming as fully as I can, because I have experienced these levels myself as fairly distinct areas in which my consciousness reaches inward for answers.

That is not to say that all dreams are answers to or contain answers to questions, but that the reaching inward process itself is one way in which our consciousness initiates dreams.

The first level we will more or less arbitrarily designate as level one; the most superficial- since it is activated by the desire to know how the body condition is doing. Dreams on this level usually involve people of various types doing stereotyped behavior mostly of an innocuous character. Sometimes a person in the dream may say something to us and we may not recall what it was, but still wake up and know the proper course to take regarding a health issue, or some personal difficulty. Dreams of this sort are usually short in duration and to the point, and involve knowledge which the person already possesses, though may not consciously be in touch with. It is quite convenient that the knowledge gained in such a dream does not even need to come to the attention of waking consciousness to activate it, because the vast majority of these dreams are not consciously recalled.

This sort of dream is usually produced in areas quite close to regular waking consciousness awareness, and the information needs little filtering or reconstruction to fit into the dreamers usual waking view of reality. Many short term illnesses are cleared up through this sort of dream as well, as the mind is more easily able to direct the body consciousness in restoring the body to it�s desired state. Note that I said desired state; I do not necessarily believe that the body restores itself to it�s optimal condition in all cases . The reasons for this usually stem from beliefs the conscious mind has constructed, most notably that the person is not worthy of feeling the best possible, or that if they did feel their best they would have to be more responsible in carrying out things left undone. Each person will find that they have an idea about how much activity they expect themselves to accomplish, and how much of that they meet and accomplish will be measured by the inner self of the person and the contrasts will be made.

Usually comfort level declines when we have not lived up to this inner expectation. It usually is not feasible to always fufill our inner expectations, but in general I think any person who is trying to improve themselves or live a fullfilling life wants to live up to their inner expectations for themselves because it feels satisfying and good. It probably even releases endorphins, and that is part of what makes us feel so good.

This sort of dream is a reaching inward for answers regarding things of an everyday and personal nature. The superficial dream, then, is probably the most common type of dream we have, meaning that virtually every night we have such dreams, as the struggles and challenges of every day life demand our attention and focus.

The next dream level I would like to define is what we can call level two dreaming; dreams that focus on one�s progress in and through life. I like to call these types of dreams vehicle dreams because I am usually in a vehicle of some sort, like a car, bicycle or airplane. This is one of those levels that can seem so chaotic because symbols in these dreams can change rapidly either from one symbol to another, or the symbol itself can evolve and incorporate a larger amount of information thus expanding the psychological reality of the concept being symbolized. When this sort of expansion and evolution of the dream symbol occurs, the image that represents the quality or emotion being symbolized changes too. This can seem chaotic to the waking mind, because this level of consciousness uses association around which to group symbols, and does not rely on a temporal sequence like a waking event.

Suppose for example, you are concerned about getting a new job, and before falling asleep are reviewing the various possibilities before you. This sort of musing becomes in the dream state a question as to how the job interview will proceed, and whether or not you are likely to get the job. Instead of having a dream of being in the interview, (which certainly could be one possible dream) there may instead be a series of dream pictures one after the other in rapid succession. First we may get a picture of getting an award in a public place; followed quickly by seeing a bank statement with a larger balance than we now have; followed by a lush garden with beautiful flowers. Mixed in with these pleasant images would be flashes of images of a small boat on a lake during a storm; a black wallet flying by in front of us; or of conflicts and confusions in an office. Nowhere in any of the pictures would be included anything concrete about the job or the job interview, but instead the dream would assess our hopes and fears concerning having a new job or attending a job interview. Notice that the emotions raised by the dream images are ones concerning the person and the present circumstances, but the actual dream images or sequences depict events that may or may not happen in waking life.

One of the keys to interpreting this sort of dream is to look at the environment presented by the dream. The dream environment may be a pastoral scene, or a city of some sort even with futuristic buildings; or to contrast, a poor village or a scene or relative squalor and crime. The emotional content of the images will give an accurate picture of what emotions are active in the dreamer�s life and can be interpreted for signs of the future as well. Even though I have called this type of dream a vehicle dream and vehicles are almost always present, the dream may not include actually being in a vehicle, but instead the dreamer will be a witness to something happening on a roadway, or up in the sky.

The idea of a vehicle is a reflection or enactment of where one is in life in the sense that the scenes will depict an event, and the emotions expressed or released will mirror the emotions being experienced in waking life. It is a curiosity to me that rarely will the events of my vehicle dreams depict the actual events in my life, but the emotions the dreams recreate will be very close to my waking emotions. Often I have found myself not knowing what I am actually feeling in a certain situation, so my policy is to sleep on it for at least one night before I make any decision. Upon waking I usually have a much clearer idea of the right course to take. This is partly because I take an active role in my dreams usually, and strongly desire the counsel that my dreams can give me. Incidentally, when I make use of the information gained through this type of dream, I am much more likely to remember more of these dreams.

However, when I do not follow through on the information and awareness gained in the dreams, I will go through a period of not remembering many dreams; and in that sense it is almost as if the dreaming condition itself is aware of my waking life�s choices and responds in kind, in this case, withholding further awareness until that which has been given can be assimilated and applied. The better use we make of the information gained in our dreams, the more interesting and revealing our dreams may be. Many of my prophetic dreams, or dreams which foretell my future, have come when I was making the best use of my dreams.