Interpreting Dreams

A few nights ago, I had a dream about my Dad. His appearances in my dreams continue, much as I wrote about in Thoughts on my Dad and in Recognizing Messages from Beyond Part 1 and Recognizing Messages from Beyond Part 2

He has grown younger. According to Robert Moss in his article Dreaming with the Departed this is a common trait amongst the dead. Moss says that people who die in their senior years often reappear in dreams as if they were around 30 years old, and that is indeed the case with my father.

In my dream, Dad told me that if the family all moved to the lake, there would be harmony among the family members. He was standing beside a lake, on the shore, urging me towards him and to listen to what he was saying. As I felt myself moving forward, towards the water, I awoke. But the dream stayed with me. What did it mean to me?

Dreams are full of symbolism. My memory is not that great, where I can remember what means what in a dream. And years ago, when I recognized the gift of interpreting dreams in myself and for others, there was little information on dreaming, and next to nothing on dreaming with the person who has passed on. So, I relied on my intuition and my ability to walk with the dreamer for guidance.

But that has changed with the Internet so easily accessible, even for something so esoteric such as dreaming along with the dead. Dream Emporium, Dream Moods and Dream Central all have explanations for dream symbols, lucid dreaming examples, and descriptions of what dreams are. It is much easier to interpret a dream these days than when I started this, so many years ago.

But other than to perhaps corroborate what my gut tells me, I still rely on my intuition, having grown used to utilizing it in this way, at least, over the years. The first thing I think about are my feelings during the dream. In the dream about Dad and the lake, I felt alert, wary, and unsure. I identified it as the same feelings I had when Dad told me to do something in my youth that I didn't particularly want to do.

Then I focus on the surroundings...in this case, a lake. The water was still, peaceful and clear, a deep blue, reflecting the sunny day. There were no ominous signs about. But there was a clear sense of urgency coming from my father, who at one point in the dream, stepped into the water to show me there was nothing to fear.

The White Goddess tells me water is a cleansing, healing, psychic and loving element. It is feminine and the element of emotion and the subconscious self, purification, intuition, compassion and family.

There is a lot of cleansing and healing going on in this dream. My Dad stepping into the water and my reticence to do the same shows me that Dad wants to heal the mess he left behind; wants me to do the same. But the hesitance on my part illustrates I don't know how the rift in the family can be healed. I know it can... I believe all things can be healed, if the intent is there. I just don't know how.

There was little communication about feelings in my family when I was growing up, not so unusual for the times. Families quite often just muddled through, putting problems away almost as soon as they appeared. And Dad rarely discussed his inner feelings; not with me at any rate. It wouldn't have occurred to me to reveal how I felt about anything to him, either. There is a whole lake of hidden emotions between us...no wonder I felt wary about stepping into the water.

This dream is a beginning on the path to understanding between the two of us. I have no doubt there will be more dreams and more interpretations that will have to be done between my Dad and I. It would have been easier to do this when he was alive; but neither of us was ready to listen to the other then. It would be nice to have a warm, loving conversation with my Dad.

"The dimension that separates the living from the dead is exactly as wide as the edge of a maple leaf." Handsome Lake, Seneca Indian prophet.

Not very wide at all...