Dreams are a wonderful source of confusion.
Most of them make no sense at all. So much nonsense. Upon waking we are mystified, horrified, amused, befuddled.
But when we were in there, it made so much sense.
Dream dictionaries are only moderately helpful; they are collections of the most common meanings of dream images and generally, if you are a person who thinks deeply about things and marches to the beat of your own funky rhythm, dream dictionaries are going to be about as helpful as the AP Style Guide at bringing meaning to your nocturnal musings.
Dream journals are much more helpful.
Beside your bed, keep a journal and a pen, and one of those book light things so you can see what you are writing. When you have a dream that seems particularly significant, grab the journal and write it down when you wake up from it, as soon as you possibly can. Don’t try to analyze it on the fly, just write it down and get back to sleep.
When you wake up in the morning, also write down any significant images, colors, or feelings you can remember. Yes, dreams shred like mist in the sunlight of the new day. It takes regular practice to capture them. Sometimes they are so nonsensical we wonder why we bother, but do it anyway. With practice, your dreams will start to show you patterns. The ideas will become organized, perhaps loosely, but you will be able to see things emerge.
“Ah, dreamed about teeth again. I need to do something to enhance my throat chakra so I feel like I am being heard.”
You should know yourself better than anybody else does by now, and if you work to hold an awareness of what you are experiencing and feeling, dreams can help you track it, serve as early warnings, or teach you new ways to project yourself into the world.
According to the late Terrence McKenna, Gaia really, really wants to talk to us.
She’s following us around, pulling on our shirt sleeves, waving, clearing her throat, desperately trying to attract our attention. Most people have to be dreaming or be in an “altered state” to be open enough to see and hear her, so dreaming is one of our very surest and best ways to connect with her. This is why it’s important to do the dream work so we can better understand.
Generally speaking, Spirit (whoever it happens to be) is going to use what is there in your space or in your head to reach you. It’s got to be easy for them or it isn’t going to happen. So Gaia is probably going to appear in your dreams as a someone you know, maybe your own mother, or possibly an actor or model with a look or vibe that puts you in mind of Earth-Mother. Other people can appear as themselves, or as somebody else. Sometimes “we” are somebody else in our dreams, too, and that can be significant and maybe point us toward a piece of our internal puzzle we didn’t even know we were missing.
So dream on. It’s something we do naturally anyway, and we may as well get all the good we possibly can from it.