Dream Interpretation 14

DREAM 14 

22 December 2011 

Although I haven’t yet seen any noticeable difference in my dreaming patterns as a result of my lucidity ‘triggering’ exercise of regularly meditating on the colour of my fingernails, I have however found it very simple to train myself to naturally wake after a period of dreaming – over the last three nights I have woken at intervals, knowing I have just experienced a dream. Whilst falling asleep, I used the ‘positive affirmation’ technique of conditioning myself to wake after a dream and recall that dream. However, since using this method, I have found that my dream recollections have suffered – I only seem to remember dislocated fragments. My conclusion is that the technique certainly seems to work, but I notice that my lack of recollection is largely due to the fact I’m not yet disciplined enough to make full attempts of recording and consolidating my dream memory when I wake during the night. Therefore, I had better recall of 1 – 2 dreams upon waking in the morning, than now, waking at intervals. This tells me that I need to take a more stringent approach to my dream studies and ensure full recording of any recalled dream fragments during my waking intervals.

The following is the short fragment I remember from one dream I had last night. I know that when I woke up in the early hours of the morning from this dream I recalled a lot more than I do now.

Main environment

I don’t know.

Timing

I don’t know.

Characters

Myself (first person perspective – I did not see myself); a female (unknown to me in the dream and real-life); the presence of another person with whom I was talking.

Narrative

Myself and the other person I was with were watching a nondescript female adult playing an instrument. At first it was a saxophone, then I thought it was a clarinet. The person accompanying me told me it was a recorder, which I accepted. My next view was of a piece of paper. I can’t remember seeing the words and whether they were written in proper English, but I could see lots of parentheses (brackets!). It was a long sentence written about the female musician. Myself and my acquaintance (who I cannot recall seeing in the dream) were discussing where the full-stop should appear in the sentence. 

Potential Triggers

The grammatical reference in this dream may relate to the general idea of ending – prior to sleep, I had had a conversation about the ending of a relationship which might account for the symbol of the full-stop in the dream. Further, I had written a note to PS earlier that evening and during the course of my academic writing, had inevitably pondered the proper placement of grammatical characters. 

Interpretation

Music generally symbolises expression, communication and message; it may represent a ‘message’ to the dreamer from their unconscious mind. Musical instruments in your dream indicate the expectation of fun and pleasures. You are focused on enjoying life and all that it has to offer. The dream also represents talent and your ability to communicate with others. Certain musical instruments are symbolic of sexual organs and thus point to your sexuality. To see or play a saxophone in your dream represents a need to express something from deep within your soul or suggests a deep connection with someone. To see or play a clarinet in your dream suggests that you need to adjust your tone of voice.

To watch something without active participation in a dream symbolises neutrality and passive observation – additionally, a desire by the dreamer to understand what is being represented by the watched object/person in the dream.

The presence of words in a dream is likely to occur if you have spent considerable time reading/writing in your current waking life; or communication with someone is on your mind. Words often appear in ‘twilight’ sleep – when you are just falling asleep or in the process of waking up. To dream that you are writing signifies communication with persons/your conscious mind. Alternatively other interpretations regarding writing within a dream refer to an error in judgement or a mistake that you have made; or a possible metaphor that you are ‘right’ or that your political views are right leaning. To dream about your own handwriting represents your self-expression and creativity. Consider the symbolism of what you are handwriting and how it relates to your waking life. The dream may be trying to warn you against something - as in ‘the writing is on the wall’. To dream that you are studying grammar is symbolic of difficulties in getting your point across and communicating your ideas.

Analysis

This interpretation does not surprise me and appears valid, although it concentrates on the ‘manifest’ content of the dream, rather than an analysis of the latent material. I think I need to develop my interpretative/analytic technique further before I attempt a Freudian-style analysis.