Step 1. E is for Emotions. Your emotional reaction to the dream can be the first clue to its meaning, and sometimes the most important. If you see yourself dying but wake up feeling happy, it is not likely a prediction of your demise. Note your feelings.
Step 2. A is for Action as a Story Line. The story line is not a summary. You “extract” the main action and restate it in new, generalized words. For example, a young man dreams of trying to catch a firefly on a warm summer night. He keeps swatting, yet missing, chasing after it frantically, but it gets away. Out of frustration, he plunks onto the grass and sits quietly. As he sits, a firefly comes near and moving gently, he catches it. The story line is, “Doing something frantically fails but succeeds after they quiet down.” Or, “Someone gets what they want by staying calm and letting it come to them”. The story line describes the overall action yet there is no mention of a young man, firefly, sitting on the grass, and so on. Use words like “someone” and “something” to stay general and not use actual details to describe the action and outcome.
Step 3. S is for Story Matches Life. The question is, "To what in my life or in me (attitudes or emotions) does the dream refer?” as an important communication. In Step Three, take the story line from step two and decide what area of life, trait or attitude, it points to. If you dream of winning a gold medal in a race, see what race you may be winning, like career advancement, racing to fit into a special dress, or winning respect for new skills. The story line should fit an area of your life, and when you recognize that area of life, the dream message often clicks.
| Step 4. S is how Symbols add Detail
If you have ever played a game of Charades - the parlor game where one person silently mimes and acts out a word or phrase to others - then you know Dream Speak. That’s exactly how dreams speak to you, as a pantomime using one image to convey a related meaning. Three main methods of working with symbols are:
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Freud’s Association Method: Go backward in your experiences to find associations with a symbol.
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Jung’s Parallel Association Method: List all your current associations with a symbol.
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Pictures as Word Play: Visual images are often a play on words. For example, "lettuce" can be “Let us”, or a circle can indicate “going around in circles”.
FOR MORE ON SYMBOLS see About Dream Symbols, How Symbols Work and Find the Meaning of a Symbol.
Step 5. Y is how You Take Insight & Apply It
By step five you find an interpretation that rings true. To apply the dream, write down what it invites you to do, become, or change. Does it invite you to work on an attitude or talent, take a step in career or a relationship, solve a problem? Set it down as: “I will take steps to calm down in that relationship”, or, “I will investigate how to advance in my career”. This will make the dream insight concrete. Like building a house one brick at a time, using dream insights shapes your life, character and happiness quotient.
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