If you have a legitimate interest in your dreams and truly want to uncover what they’re trying to tell you, the first thing you need to do is buy a dream journal. You could probably even find an old notebook around your house that would work beautifully – without spending a red cent.

Most people think they will simply remember every detail of their dreams without writing down the details right away.  Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case.  Many times, important details are forgotten. In mere hours, large chunks of valuable dream details… just ripe for dream analysis… are lost forever.

It’s like priceless dream symbols flying out of the bedroom window!

Another benefit of keeping a dream journal is that you’ll be able to see trends.  If you dream about lost loved ones, snakes, losing things, death, or clowns on a regular basis – it’s information that will prove valuable to a dreamologist (dream interpreter).

Dreaming about snakes once in a while will hold a different analysis, for example, than if you dream about them 2 or 3 times a week.

Below are top 10 most important things about keeping a dream journal:

1. Keep your dream journal and pen near your bed. You’ll want to get the dream out of your head and onto paper as soon as possible. If you have to search around the house for the journal or the pen, you run the risk of “losing” valuable details.
2. Keep your dream journal away from prying eyes! Even though the dream about Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt (or both) may actually hold an entirely different interpretation than expected – you might not be able to explain that to a certain someone!
3. Write down every person who appears in your dream. Even if it’s someone you think isn’t at all important, write them down.  If you’re unsure who, exactly, the person was “supposed” to be – go with your gut feeling. Sometimes dreams are confusing, to say the least.
4. Write down the feelings you experienced in the dream. How you felt during the dream is extremely important to its analysis and interpretation.
5. Write down how you feel when you first wake up. Are you anxious, sad, mad, confused, elated?  How you feel, initially, also carries  a lot of weight in dream analysis.
6. If you remember any particular phrases or “key” words in the dream, jot them down, along with who said them. You’ll know which words or phrases are “key” simply because they’ll stand out.
7. Right before you fall asleep, remind yourself to remember important details about your dream(s). Doing so will help, over time, train you to better remember your dreams and help you to retain the information for longer periods of time.
8. If you can’t remember an entire dream or you’re foggy on certain details, don’t sweat it! Write down what you can remember. DO NOT assume or try to fill in blanks with what you “think” happened in the dream.  If you don’t remember, you don’t remember.  Think about it this way, if it were truly that important and if it were extremely “key,” you’d probably remember!  Just write down the things you remember.
9. Write down colors you recall from the dream.  Colors in dreams are very important! I’ll be adding a dream color chart to Dream Prophesy in a day or two.  You’ll be able to see the different interpretations for the different colors.  Write down each color that you remember. If you’re wearing a white top, write that down. If someone in your dream is angry at you and they’re wearing purple, write it down.
10. Remember the importance of Dream Symbols. When  examining your dream and writing down the details in your dream journal, be sure to list any objects and/or animals that you recall – cats, pillows, birds, toasters, turtles, flowers, etc.

Start keeping a dream journal as soon as possible – it’ll change the way you look at dreams. The information in your journal, combined with the tools and information you’ll find on Dream Prophesy will help you analyze your dreams.  Dream analysis can help you in more ways than you can even begin to imagine.

It can open up a whole new world for you – so grab your pen, you won’t want to miss a thing!

The gorgeous Dream Journal Classic Journal pictured at the top of the page can be bought from Amazon.

Related Articles:

1. Why You Need a Dream Journal Keeping a dream journal isn’t just important for analyzing and...
2. How Well Do You Remember Your Dreams? If you’re serious about dream prophesy, dream analysis, dream interpretation,...
3. Dream Interpretation: Why It’s So Important and How to Approach Dream Interpretation Our dreams can have a great impact on our lives...

This is a common type of dream, but it’s one that few people really want to own up to.

Have you ever dreamed that something bad happened, or was about to happen to someone you love, as you watched?  A recent reader recently sent me a dream to analyze that involved her watching as her husband was robbed by someone dressed as Richard Nixon.

How amazing is that?!

Anyway, she said that she watched as her husband handed over all of his money to “President Nixon.”  She wanted to help her husband, especially since at one point it looked as though he was about to be hit on the head with a bat, but she was frozen in place.

When analyzing dreams,  I often go with my initial gut reaction and this time I felt 110 percent confident with it.  After complimenting her brain on its creativity (!!!), I e-mailed her back something along these lines:

While we often dream about something happening to our loved ones as a reaction to being worried about them (even more than usual) – we often dream these types of dreams when we’re upset with them – even incredibly angry at them!  This dream would be that type of dream.  The fact that the husband was the only one in any sort of danger indicates that he alone is on the recieving end of negative feelings.  The good news is that since he wasn’t actually harmed, the feelings weren’t terribly bad!

Something else that’s interesting is the symbolism of money.  The fact that the husband had to give all of his money away, while the wife retained her own purse and possessions indicates that the negative feelings spring from a financial disagreement, difference of opinion, or even resentment.

The only thing that mystified me was the Richard Nixon mask.  I kept wondering why him?  I went over a few things in my mind, such as what he represented:

1. Trickiness (“Tricky Dicky”)?
2. Dishonesty?
3. History?
4. Maligned?

I simply e-mailed her my thoughts, ignoring our ex-Presidentfor the time-being.  I got an e-mail back within a few hours. It was filled with exclamation marks, because she thought I’d nailed it.
Apparently, her husband had recently spent a great deal of money on purchase that she felt was frivolous. She explained how they’d argued, how she had wanted a kitchen hutch, how he had stormed off to sit and sulk in McDonald’s for 3 hours (I love this guy! – I pointed out how lucky she was that he drowned his anger in milkshakes as opposed to something else!).
Then, she said the magic words that solved my Nixon mystery – she said that on the day he’d gotten his bonus check, he called and said he’d be home a few hours late, that he had to “pick something up.” She thought the something was the kitchen hutch she’d been eyeing for months.  SO, when McDonald’s Mike (not his real name) showed up with a golfer’s dream set in the pick-up rather than a wife’s dream, she was floored.  She said she met him outside and lit into him.  She told him that it all felt like a “dirty trick” – aha!   That’s where the Richard Nixon mask came in!  Tricky Dicky strikes again.

It reminds me of the time my oldest two daughters had a HUGE fight when they were younger.  The oldest one told me the following day that she’d had a dream that her younger sister was attacked and eaten by a crocodile.  I asked, “Awww, are you upset by the dream?” (I was ready to reassure her that it was just a dream, and that nothing like that would ever happen.) My speech wasn’t necessary, though, because when asked if she was upset by the dream, she just said, “No, not really.”  Then she smiled and went outside to ride her bike!

Related Articles:

1. Dreaming About Ex-Boyfriends,Girlfriends, Husbands, or Wives The Last Dance Stretched Canvas Print Buy at AllPosters.com A...

A Recently Submitted Dream for Analysis:

I always dream about not being able to find my way somewhere, or not being able to find something that I knew was there before. I either can’t find my way home, or can’t find my way out of a house, or can’t find the proper road, etc. Last night’s dream – I put my bag in a post office box (that was on the outside of the post office for some reason), and then when I went to find it, I couldn’t. I went up and down streets looking for the box I put my bag in, but couldn’t find it. One other time, I was trying to find my way home and kept walking on different roads that kind of looked familiar, but were not the roads I needed to get home. One other was I was in a house with many rooms, and could not find my way out of it. All my dreams are like this, and I wake up before I find my way. What does this type of dream mean?

Fascinatingly enough, your dreams are actually covering several areas.  They’re taking you by the hand and pulling you in several directions.  It’s a wonder you aren’t completely frazzled!

Dreams of Being Lost

The key symbolism for dreams in which we lose our way (or can’t find it in the first place) is frustration.  It’s a pretty common dream theme, simply because all of us are familiar with being frustrated. Whether it’s in school, at home, at work, or in a relationship – we all know the feeling of wanting something to go THIS way as we sit and watch it defiantly go THAT way instead!

Many Christians will experience dreams such as this when they feel that they’re “losing their way,” or that they aren’t reading their Bible often enough, praying enough, etc.  I interpreted a dream for a lady,once,  who had gone to her Catholic church for over 20 years.  An injury at work left her unable to leave her house for a couple of months.  She had dreams just about every night of losing either her teeth, her hair, her clothes, etc.  Her church was such a huge part of her life that she felt like she was actually “losing herself.”    I suggested that she call up members of her church and invite them over for coffee.  When they found out how much she missed them, a few ladies began automatically coming by after each service – bringing her cookies, drinking coffee with her, and telling her what had gone on at the service.  Is that sweet or what?!   The dreams ended because she didn’t feel the loss so  much any longer.

Dreams of Losing Objects

When we dream of losing something, it’s an indication that we feel we have, indeed, lost something.  Parents who have young children suddenly enrolled in school (whether it’s first grade or college) will have frequent dreams like this because they subconsciously feel that they’ve lost something. Soon, however, they realize they haven’t lost the child at all and the dreams fade away.

On an even deeper level, many people who have made compromises in relationships (personal or professional) will have these dreams because they feel that they’ve lost a piece of themself.

I’d say that your dreams are definitely trying to tell you something.  Any time dreams recur like this, there’s an underlying issue or emotion.  I like to think of these hidden emotions as unopened e-mail.   You know when you log in to your e-mail, it’ll tell you when you have unopened mail?  Recurring dreams serve the same basic function – alerting us that we have undealt with emotions.

When we click on the unopened mail, the message goes away.  We’ve dealt with it and there’s no need for it to bring anything to our attention any longer.

Think of your dreams along these lines.  Spend a little time with yourself (no distractions) and ask yourself what losses you feel – whether they are literal, physical losses or emotional.   More likely than not, you’ll get in touch with feelings you didn’t even fully realize you were having.

Good luck and sweet dreams!

Related Articles:

1. Dream Analysis: Dreams About Losing Things I’ve been having dreams lately about losing things.  In my...
2. Dreams: What Do Inadequacy Dreams Mean? Photographer: Javier Bano First of all, what do we mean...
3. Dreams About Lost Loved Ones – What Do These Dreams Mean? Over the years, the most asked questions and requested Dream...

From I Hate Snakes in Virginia!

I had a dream three nights ago that I can’t shake.  I was in the yard, at a picnic or something like that.  I looked down and saw a snake coming toward me in the grass.  No matter where I tried to run, there he was following me.  I felt so scared and helpless because no matter where I went, he came.

I ran into a circus type tent and thought I was safe.  But then the ring leader, who looked more like a talk show host, held the snake up in the air and started walking toward me with it. The snake still had grass on it and was, at first, playing dead.  Then he reared up and looked really angry.  I knew he was mad that I had tried to get away from him.  Thankfully I woke up before the ringleader and the snake got to me.

I can’t get this dream out of my head and keep expecting a snake to be everywhere.  I hate snakes anyway, so this is a really horrible deal for me.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  It may sound silly, but I don’t even want to go outside.

I can totally relate to you – snakes are one of my own biggest fears, so I don’t think it sounds silly.  You will get over this feeling in a few days, though, so don’t worry about it too much.

A few things strike me about your dream.

1. The fact that you said you couldn’t “shake” the dream and that it is affecting you so strongly that you expect a snake to be “everywhere” mean a great deal.  It takes a particularly powerful and vivid dream to stay with a dreamer like this.  This is almost always an indication that there are extremely strong emotions tied to the interpretation of this dream.
2. Most dreams involving snakes stay in our minds because of a snake’s symbolism.  We associate snakes with satan to a great extent, thanks to the Garden of Eden.  It’s hard to get any scarier than that, right?!   Even thought any animal could have been used to speak to Eve, the fact that satan chose a snake stays with us.
3. Your snake was so persistent!  This is another indication of the importance of this dream’s interpretation.
4. The fact that you said you were scared and felt helpless are huge.

This dream seems to indicate that you are feeling more helpless lately than you have ever felt before.  Because of the impact this dream is having on you, I’d say that feeling helpless is a feeling you aren’t at all familiar with.  The fact that your subconscious mind chose something you hate so passionately (snakes) is a clear indication of the inner turmoil you’re feeling.  You probably aren’t even fully aware of just how much stress you’ve been under or how helpless you’ve been made to feel.

Once you realize that the snake in the grass was merely symbolic for this emotion, you’ll realize that you don’t have anything to fear around the next corner – not even outside!  This snake in your dream only symbolizes whatever it is in your day to day life that you feel helpless against.

When you find a way to deal with this particular problem, you will have won the battle!

Until then, here’s something to keep in mind about snakes – so many  of us are afraid of them, but we can’t name one single person we know who has ever been bit by one.  Yet, most of us can name several people who’ve been bit by dogs or cats – yet we aren’t afraid of them in the least!  Or cars – most of us know of people who’ve been badly hurt in car wrecks, but we get into them every day without fear.  I, myself, have been in 3 car wrecks and have never been approached by a snake EVER, yet I’m terrified of one and can’t imagine life without the other.

Try to focus on solving whatever it is in your life that has made you feel helpless and overcome it.  Don’t dwell on the snake in your dream.  When you do think about it – be thankful!  He may have helped draw attention to something in your world that you need to address before it gets the better of you.

Related Articles:

1. Explosions, Bandages, and Snakes: Oh My! A dream submitted through the Dream Prophesy Comment’s Section: I...
2. Dreams of Being Lost – What Do These Dreams Mean? A Recently Submitted Dream for Analysis: I always dream about...
3. Dreams About Flying and Losing Teeth – A Dream Interpretation Below is a recently submitted dream: I have had some...

If you’re serious about dream prophesy, dream analysis, dream interpretation, and really getting to the heart of what your dreams mean, you’ll need your dream recall to be on the absolute TOP of its game!

• How well do you remember your dreams?
• Do you remember your emotions and feelings during your dreams?
• Do you recognize most of the people in your dreams?
• In the morning, can you recall at least one of your dreams?
• Do you recall the various “symbols” in your dreams?

If you feel that your dream recall needs a little work, I have the perfect solution:  A Dream Journal.  While you don’t absolutely have to run out and buy a new notebook or journal to serve as your Dream Journal – it would be a cool idea.  You could use any notebook you have around the house, of course, but the more “special” you make the entire experience, the better.

Even if you simply go to one of those amazing stores where everything is $1 and buy a notebook in your favorite color – you’re making  a point of taking the entire enterprise seriously, and that’s what’s important.  My first Dream Journal was actually a wire notebook with colorful Lisa Frank dolphins on the front.  Seemed appropriate enough!

Here’s another idea that adds to the adventure.  Find a pocket folder (for mere pennies) to keep with your dream journal.  I’ll tell you what it’s for in just a minute!

Get Started With Your Dream Journal

Once you have your dream journal, go ahead and enter a recent dream.  Include the people who were in the dream, what you were doing in the dream (what you hoped to accomplish or were trying to avoid), the symbols (knives, snakes, balloons, candles, fire, clouds – anything that stands out) in the dream, and most importantly – HOW YOU FELT DURING THE DREAM.  Also, list any and all colors that you remember. List only the top 3 colors you remember – 4 at the most.  Oddly enough, this is very important!

A typical journal entry might look something like this:

I was driving  an old beaten up red pick up truck.  My beloved basset hound, Honey, was in the passenger’s seat.  We were in a huge hurry to get somewhere and Honey could talk.  In fact, she talked practially the whole time.  Her collar, instead of being her normal hot pink one was white.  I couldn’t make sense of that in my dream – though her talking didn’t shock me.  I was confused as to why the collar changed colors.

We were in a huge hurry and I was driving really fast.  We were on dirt roads and passed by a lot of farm houses and brown horses.  At some point, my cat Lanie joined us and could also talk.  He wasn’t in a hurry and wanted us to slow down and get something to eat.  Then I woke up. Hungry.

Main Colors:  Red, white, brown

Emotions:  Rushed, confused, anxious, hungry!

The above dream is actually one of the first ones I ever recorded in a dream journal.  This is actually the VERY dream that began my study of and fascination with dreams.  When I was thinking about this dream the next day at school (instead of listening to my Algebra teacher!), I realized that, underneath it all, I was feeling many of the same feelings in my real life as I did in my dream.  By the time the class was over, a lifelong fascination with dreams and heartfelt belief in the importance of their interpretations had taken hold.

Be sure that you enter your “feelings” as accurately as possible.  Here are a few suggestions:  joyful, sad, anxious, worried, depressed, helpless, surprised, ashamed, agitated, frustrated, curious, confused, powerful, unloved, ignored, furious, hopeful, optimistic, sexy, ugly, brave, etc.  Even if the emotions seem to have NOTHING to do with one another, write them down.

Remember the Folder?!

This exercise adds even more fun to your dream recall and analysis.  Cut out or draw/color pictures that symbolize your dream.  If you have room in your dream journal to tape (or draw) them onto the pages, do so.  If not, clip the images together with a paper clip, then add a little piece of paper with the date of the dream.

Having visuals of the colors and symbols can really help put you in touch with your inner feelings and emotions.

I have many more articles and exercises planned to add to the site that deal with Dream Journals and Dream Recall – with plenty more about images and, even, collages.  So, please grab an rss feed and/or sign up for e-mail updates, so you’ll know what’s been added as soon as it’s here for you.  I just wish I could open up my notebooks (and brain!) and pour everything out at once.  Kind of impossible, though, so I’ll just take it steady.

I’m actually working on a downloadable Dream Journal template for the site, color charts, and a visual guide to dream symbols.   So much to do!

Have a glorious weekend – if you need me, I’ll be right here, typing, thinking, and tweaking away with coffee and chocolate fueling me along.

A Few of the Best Dream Journals We’ve Found:
Adventures in Wonderland Dream Journal
Dream Time Journal

The Dreams II Fabric Poster at the top of the post can be bought at
AllPosters.com!

Related Articles:

1. Keeping a Dream Journal If you have a legitimate interest in your dreams and...
2. Dream Interpretation: Why It’s So Important and How to Approach Dream Interpretation Our dreams can have a great impact on our lives...
3. Dreams: What Do Inadequacy Dreams Mean? Photographer: Javier Bano First of all, what do we mean...