What did you dream about last night? Did your teeth fall out or did you fly? Maybe you died or someone you know did. Or maybe you were back in high school and realized suddenly that you were naked. These are among the most common dreams people report, said Ivy Norris, field director for the Oklahoma Schools of Metaphysics, and they all mean something.
Illustration by Ben Bigler, The Oklahoman
Advertisement
Many dream researchers, Norris included, think that understanding your dreams can lead to significant improvements in your waking life.
"If people know what the symbols represent, then they know what part of themselves that they’re running from or that they need to face or need to embrace,” Norris said. For example, dreams of death represent changes in your daily life, as do babies in dreams. Cars in dreams represent the physical body and can indicate health problems. And animals represent habitual behaviors that can be detrimental and need changing.
People in dreams represent aspects of the dreamer. People of the opposite sex represent subconscious aspects of the dreamer while people of the same sex represent aspects of your conscious mind with which you’re more familiar.
Dreams are a universal connection, Norris said, because almost everyone dreams and a "symbolic universal language of mind” applies to anyone at anytime. Many dreams have very specific interpretations. Here are some of the most common dreams and their interpretations or symbolism.
→Dreams of flying. Dreams of flying represent feelings of freedom that may result from an instance when you overcame a limitation or obstacle. Usually, children have more flying dreams than adults, Norris said, because children are more open to their possibilities, and adults have often accepted limitations imposed by society.
→Teeth falling out. Food in a dream is symbolic of knowledge because food nourishes the physical body and knowledge nourishes the soul. Teeth are a means to break down food or knowledge. When your teeth fall out in a dream, it could signify that you feel ill-equipped to break down the knowledge that you have available, that the way you break things down has changed. That change can be either positive or negative.
→High school dreams. Either you’re woefully unprepared for a big test or you’re naked. High school is a place of learning from the past, Norris said, and dreaming of being unprepared for a high school test can indicate a struggle to access information you need to handle in your life.
Being naked in a dream indicates open and honest expression. Clothes represent how we express ourselves and the face we show the public. If your dream nudity makes you feel embarrassed, this could mean that you need to work on being more open and honest in your daily life. If your nudity doesn’t bother you, you are more comfortable with your self expression.
→Recurring dreams and nightmares. Recurring dreams are your subconscious mind’s way of trying to get your attention. A recurring dream is a step down from a nightmare that is a louder, more insistent way your subconscious mind communicates. If you have a recurring dream, Norris recommends trying to stop in the dream and identify what the dream is trying to tell you. That could mean asking someone who is chasing you what he or she wants as in the case Norris recalls of a woman who dreamed for years that an old, haggard woman was chasing her around her home. When she finally stopped in the dream and asked the old woman what she represented, the old woman suddenly turned into a beautiful young woman and replied, "I represent your question of ‘what if?’”
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Joe, I'm still trying to figure out how you've taken this point I made about a police officer doing something stupid like shooting a snake and having the bullet continue downrange and kill a child into something about kids playing with an adult's handguns. The snake was hanging out of a birdhouse, the officer "consulted" with another officer, asked a bystander if it would be OK to shoot, resulting in a small child being killed when the bullet passed through the snake (duh!!) and traveled about 100 yards downrange. It's no wonder you people are perceived as idiots.
I agree with anonymous about the gender issue. I don't agree with the article on that topic. I also believe each individual has their own interpretations of life and some things that are symbols to one may not be symbols to another. I can say that teeth falling out has represented death in my dreams (and a few relatives). Each individual has their own fears also, their own desires. There are a few interpretations in the bible about crop disasters and successes, etc. I find them as good starting points for understanding our minds but I think we have to look around at our lives and surroundings personally to see how they relate.
As for the off topic posts, can you finish them in email or something? I understand your passions for your beliefs but this is about dreams and interpretations not murder or accidental homicide. I did find a site you guys can discuss gun rights at if you'd like: http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/should-the-dc-handgun-ban-have-been-overturned Then maybe we can all be content with our discussions.
Jason, you totally missed the point of this thread. Paul started this thread, not me. My point was exactly that...Paul used this forum to attack all kinds of gripes he had about Oklahoam. You can be cynical about getting in involved with our local governments and citizens asking for correct responses in the Oklahoman. There is nothing trivial about what's been going on with the shooting and killing of children because of irresponsible gun owners. Be a part of the solution, Jason:
GUN ACCIDENTS
Recent cases of gun accidents involving children in Oklahoma:
• On Dec. 29, 13-year-old Michael Contway was shot and killed while he and another 13-year-old were playing with loaded handguns near Chandler.
• The 3-year-old grandson of a former Forest Park police chief shot and killed himself in October with a gun he found in a room where he was put for a nap in Midwest City.
• In July, 12-year-old John White was shot and killed by a 14-year-old friend while the two were playing with a loaded revolver at the friend’s grandfather’s home near Luther.
• A 3-year-old girl was critically injured in May after a 5-year-old boy accidentally shot her in the leg with a .45-caliber handgun he found in a Lawton home.
• A 17-year-old was killed in April when he was accidentally shot in the head in Wagoner as a friend moved a pistol across a bed and it fired.
• A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the foot in Oklahoma City in September 2007 after the child wandered into his parents’ bedroom and found a loaded .45-caliber pistol inside a box next to a bed.
• In March 2007, a 6-year-old boy was killed inside a sport utility vehicle in Oklahoma City while he and several other children were playing with a shotgun.
• A 10-year-old boy shot and killed a 14-year-old playmate in June 2006 in Cement while the two were playing a game of "cops and robbers" with a .357-caliber handgun.
• A 14-year-old boy suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head in January 2006 while he and several friends were handling a loaded firearm in Anadarko.
So, Joe, you use a totally unrelated article about dreams to continue to troll for you pet topic - the tragic death of a child in a shooting accident. I bet you think you're a regular American hero for calling up the DA's office and trying to insert yourself in the criminal justice system, huh? Folks, we got us a real Walter Mitty on our hands here.____In point of fact, no one is going to be charged because the circumstances of the case, which I just hear on local TV, were such that this was really nothing more than a tragic accident - all the silly intercessions of "Joe, Norman" notwithstanding.
All I can say is research past articles for "Contway" in upper right corner of this webpage. Read my comments about this senseless shooting of a child. And, then you will know how I feel about stupid parents who let their kids play with guns. I am one of the individuals who actually called the DA office in Lincoln/Pottawatomie Counties and pointed out the error of the assistant DA in the newspaper and the existence of state statutes prohibiting giving a child a handgun.
My point in making fun of glass half empty people like you, is that you take an article like this one to poke fun at Oklahoma. Then, people like you sit back and don't actually do anything to change the way things are.
You, sir, are part of the problem not the solution.
Please research and see my comments before responding.
Have a nice day.
One other thing I forgot to comment on: the notion that people in your dreams represent aspects of yourself is quite in keeping with the Jungian outlook (which is in my opinion the best model we have for dream interpretation). However, it is misleading to say that people of one sex in your dream represent the unconscious and the other represents the conscious. Rather, it's more that certain archetypes manifest to you in the guise of a certain sex: the Anima (the femanine archetype, which is not so much conscious in women, but more integrated than it is in men) will always manifest as a woman, for instance, while the Animus (the male archetype, more integrated in men than in women) manifests as a man. The Shadow (the archetype containing the rejected [often, but not always undesirable] aspects of our personality) will manifest as the same gender as the dreamer. This is problematic for the view put forth by the article, as the Shadow is a manifestation of the unconscious.
Big Daddy, I believe in prophetic dreams also. I've had several. One where my grandma (mamal) was in a wheel chair and saying goodbye. Within a month she passed and the last time I saw her was in a wheel chair. She didn't use one when I dreamt the dream. I had a recurring dream where my boyfriend wouldn't carry me or help me walk. Always something wrong with my legs in my dreams. He broke up with me during a huge situation that I was having troubles with. The dream stopped then. It was in my opinion, warning me of him not being supportive concerning my delimma. The tornado dream I've not figured out except each time I end up in a crunch after dreaming them so I guess maybe it's also prophetic in a sense it's warning me of trouble, same with dirty water. Dirty water has been in dreams prior to a delimma that concerns days instead of regular delimmas. When I dream someone else is driving my car, it's about me not feeling in control or a situation in the near future someone else will take control and if I'm uncomfortable in the dream about it it'll usually be a situation I don't want controlled by someone else. I have met folks in dreams before meeting them also. Once I dreamt of a hand and I shook it and he said "Hi, my name is Mark". Next day I met a Mark who offered me a job and I sure needed it. Thank God for prophecy.
One other thing I forgot to comment on: the notion that people in your dreams represent aspects of yourself is quite in keeping with the Jungian outlook (which is in my opinion the best model we have for dream interpretation). However, it is misleading to say that people of one sex in your dream represent the unconscious and the other represents the conscious. Rather, it's more that certain archetypes manifest to you in the guise of a certain sex: the Anima (the femanine archetype, which is not so much conscious in women, but more integrated than it is in men) will always manifest as a woman, for instance, while the Animus (the male archetype, more integrated in men than in women) manifests as a man. The Shadow (the archetype containing the rejected [often, but not always undesirable] aspects of our personality) will manifest as the same gender as the dreamer. This is problematic for the view put forth by the article, as the Shadow is a manifestation of the unconscious.
Hey, this question is just for Joe. Joe, a simple yes or no answer will suffice: in the scenario I mentioned that made you send your reply to me, did it or did this not happen as I described??
The problem with trying to interpret dream content, which is well illustrated in this article, is that the encoded meanings of dream symbols are not necessarily archetypal, and don't translate exactly from one person to the next. A dream about teeth falling out is a good example: equating food to knowledge through the function of nourishment is a valid interpretation, but only within the context of the one dream in which it occurs. In another dream (especially from another person), falling teeth could represent another concept entirely, depending on the context.
Another good one is nakedness. I like the notion of open/honest expression, but it's just as likely that nakedness (in a social environment, for instance) represents a lowering (or stripping) of defenses, making you more vulnerable.
The point I'm getting at here is that you can't take dream symbols to mean static, objective concept without regard for the specific context in which they appear. Some dream content will indeed be archetypal, don't get me wrong, but the form of these archetypes is less important to the interpretation than the context in which they appear.
In short, you can't develop a universal language of dreams, as dream images hold vastly different meanings between individuals (and may manifest differently within the dreams of the same person).
Steve, it was quite a fiasco, just goes to show you the intelligence level around this state. If a police officer is this dimwitted, and they're supposed to be trained in firearms use, and understand knowing whats downrange(especially in a NON THREATENING scenario), just think about the IQ level of the general populace running around here.....
Joe, I know it's probably a major embarrassment for you to have to acknowledge that something like the cop shooting the snake hanging out of the birdhouse happened here in okie, but it did. I'm POSITIVE there weren't any branches or sticks around for the officer in question to use, and I'm SURE there weren't any trees nearby for him to get one from to use instead of his sidearm, that's why the little boy wasn't seen down on the dock, because there was nothing in the line of sight. Now, where I come from, it's pretty well known that a 9mm round will go through flesh the thickness of a snake and keep going after, but I guess they weren't aware of that here in okie. I do also seem to recall there were 2 officers present for this event, and that the DOK reported the officers asked the landowner (or a bystander) if THEY thought it would be ok to shoot the snake. If you like, Joe, I can go to bubbaworld and confirm that, because they have all the stuff like stupidity in okie tucked away, and they even store the links to the original stories in the event of people like you not believing. Would you like me to go and confirm it for you, or would you rather just stay another okie with your head stuck in the sand and continue to try and avoid the truth about this state while poking fun at me??
The idea that we all have the same dream vocabulary and the symbols in dreams mean the same in all individuals is bogus. This is what untrained people will say who are acting more like road side attraction palm readers than scientists, psychologists or medical practicioners. A person has to decide what the symbols mean to them in order to interprete dreams. Also, the Gestalt interpretation that people are all parts of ourselves has to be understood in context, too, and the gender of the person is not universally symbolic of anything, either. For a real understanding of dream interpretation read up on the professional literature and leave the fortune telling for the school carnival.
Funny coincidence! I dreamed that these posers named Paul and Cooter (is that a name?) pretended to be Oklahomans and posted hate-mail to newsok.com on every article. Wow, what a bad dream. Oh-no! It wasn't a dream...darn.
the teeth dream is very familiar and the flying. it is amazing how many people have so many similar dreams. After reading several posts and posting at http://reamz.com you can see how many people dream very similar.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that one....hey, they can add that event to the rattlesnake roundup this year...the birdhouse shoot....everyone has to stand in the path of the bullet, whoever gets hit wins a free plate of snake meat!
I had a dream that everyone could drive, everyone followed the speed limit or faster, everyone used their turn signal, everyone didn't rubberneck, everyone wasn't fat, stupid, dirty and smelly, everyone hated NASCAR, everyone took care of their kids instead of letting DHS kill them, all the roads were free, road construction took months instead of years, education taxes were actually applied to education, judges didn't use penis pumps, kids didn't shoot each other with their parents guns..............then I woke up and realized I was still in Oklahoma.
Dream interpretation is another so called "science" that has little basis in reality. While you are sleeping, the brain processes and stores information in ways we still do not completely understand. I believe in most cases the dream images we see are byproducts of the brain's nautral activity. I have, however, been reminded that on at least one occasion, dreams for me have had some basis in reality. The night before my Mom died I dreamed very specifically how I was notified that she had passed away. It was one of the few dreams in my life I actually remembered. When I awoke I figured it was just stress related because she had been very ill. As it turned out, my dream was prophetic because what I dreamed was exactly the way it went down later that morning when I was notified my Mom had passed. My interpretation is I was given a one time gift that helped prepare me in a fashion for my Mom's passing.
How far philosophy has fallen! This is metaphysics? No. Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy which studies the fundamental nature of reality. Thanks to Kant and his successors, philosophy has self-destructed, falling to the point where the general public sees no practical benefit from it whatsoever. Why? One of the reasons is the basic question genuine metaphysics concerns itself with: is reality real? In other words, is there such a thing as an objective reality which exists outside of and independent of consciousness or is reality a product of consciousness itself? Kant and the "philosophers" who followed him held that reality was the creation of consciousness, therefor there are no absolutes and anything goes. This has left the most important branch of philosophy - morality - wide open. Human beings have a fundamental need to understand how to live their lives. If they can't get the answers they need from philosophy, they will look elsewhere. This is the reason for the current rise of religion. Is there a philosophy which says there is such a thing as objective reality? Yes, there is, and it is called Objectivism. To learn more about it, read the works of Ayn Rand. For a brief indication of her ideas, you can visit http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_intro
I have found two areas to be different. One was the flying dream, it meant to me a way of escape, to get above my problems that I was facing. Then the being naked meant to me that I was feeling exposed and vunerable in an area or for a situation. It's good to know about the recurring dreams though, I never knew what that meant. Dreams are so interesting!
Fitness and Nutrition
Visit NewsOK's latest Know it and find out why proper diet and exercise are key.
Multimedia
More Info
Your turn
Send us your dreams
Experts from the Schools of Metaphysics in Oklahoma City and Tulsa want to interpret your dreams. In our new column, "Ask the Sandman,” your dreams will be analyzed and printed in the Life section every Tuesday. To have one of your dreams interpreted, send it along with your age, gender and initials to Dreams@opubco.com or mail it to Dreams, P.O. Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK 73125.
For more information about classes at the Oklahoma Schools of Metaphysics, call 228-0506 in Oklahoma City or (918) 582-8836 in Tulsa.
Another view
Not all dream researchers believe in the strong symbolism of dreams. Some take a more pragmatic approach to dream research. Learn about the research of G. William Domhoff, a University of California at Santa Cruz professor who has studied dreams since the 1960s.
Page 3D
Related to this story
Articles
Researcher says dreams correlate with age, gender 01/04/2009 Not all dream researchers agree about the symbolism of dreams. Ivy Norris, field director of the Oklahoma School of Metaphysics, said she believes almost...
24
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).
As for the off topic posts, can you finish them in email or something? I understand your passions for your beliefs but this is about dreams and interpretations not murder or accidental homicide. I did find a site you guys can discuss gun rights at if you'd like: http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/should-the-dc-handgun-ban-have-been-overturned Then maybe we can all be content with our discussions.
GUN ACCIDENTS
Recent cases of gun accidents involving children in Oklahoma:
• On Dec. 29, 13-year-old Michael Contway was shot and killed while he and another 13-year-old were playing with loaded handguns near Chandler.
• The 3-year-old grandson of a former Forest Park police chief shot and killed himself in October with a gun he found in a room where he was put for a nap in Midwest City.
• In July, 12-year-old John White was shot and killed by a 14-year-old friend while the two were playing with a loaded revolver at the friend’s grandfather’s home near Luther.
• A 3-year-old girl was critically injured in May after a 5-year-old boy accidentally shot her in the leg with a .45-caliber handgun he found in a Lawton home.
• A 17-year-old was killed in April when he was accidentally shot in the head in Wagoner as a friend moved a pistol across a bed and it fired.
• A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the foot in Oklahoma City in September 2007 after the child wandered into his parents’ bedroom and found a loaded .45-caliber pistol inside a box next to a bed.
• In March 2007, a 6-year-old boy was killed inside a sport utility vehicle in Oklahoma City while he and several other children were playing with a shotgun.
• A 10-year-old boy shot and killed a 14-year-old playmate in June 2006 in Cement while the two were playing a game of "cops and robbers" with a .357-caliber handgun.
• A 14-year-old boy suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head in January 2006 while he and several friends were handling a loaded firearm in Anadarko.
All I can say is research past articles for "Contway" in upper right corner of this webpage. Read my comments about this senseless shooting of a child. And, then you will know how I feel about stupid parents who let their kids play with guns. I am one of the individuals who actually called the DA office in Lincoln/Pottawatomie Counties and pointed out the error of the assistant DA in the newspaper and the existence of state statutes prohibiting giving a child a handgun.
My point in making fun of glass half empty people like you, is that you take an article like this one to poke fun at Oklahoma. Then, people like you sit back and don't actually do anything to change the way things are.
You, sir, are part of the problem not the solution.
Please research and see my comments before responding.
Have a nice day.
Another good one is nakedness. I like the notion of open/honest expression, but it's just as likely that nakedness (in a social environment, for instance) represents a lowering (or stripping) of defenses, making you more vulnerable.
The point I'm getting at here is that you can't take dream symbols to mean static, objective concept without regard for the specific context in which they appear. Some dream content will indeed be archetypal, don't get me wrong, but the form of these archetypes is less important to the interpretation than the context in which they appear.
In short, you can't develop a universal language of dreams, as dream images hold vastly different meanings between individuals (and may manifest differently within the dreams of the same person).
Funny coincidence! I dreamed that these posers named Paul and Cooter (is that a name?) pretended to be Oklahomans and posted hate-mail to newsok.com on every article. Wow, what a bad dream. Oh-no! It wasn't a dream...darn.