Dream Analysis with Michael Sheridan

For Beyond 50's "Spirituality" talks, listen to an interview with Michael Sheridan, the founder of the Aisling Dream Interpretation. Sheridan is a renowned authority on decoding dreams and has done that for thousands of people all over the world.  He'll talk about understanding these inner symbols and finding purpose in your life. 

On average, we dream 2 - 8 hours within a 24-hour period are spent in the dream worlds.  Of the more than 2,000 dreams we'll have this year, all of them are meaningful, wrote Sheridan in his book, "How to Intrepret Your Dreams and Discover Your Life Purpose." 

He adds that dreams are the language of Soul.  Through dreams, the soul comments on all aspects of our lives.  The Key to a healthy, happy and successful life is handed to you many times each night.

As a basic truth, dreams focus our attention on the present moment of what needs to be understood and addressed that's going on in our life.  They offer a road map of where you need to be if you understand the symbols of the map. 

In the dream state, the symbols are given to us as metaphors, requiring the use of our right brain hemisphere to see the bigger picture of the dream sequence and any interrelationships between the symbols.  To decode a dream's full meaning, we would also need the left hemisphere side of the brain that specializes in language and analytical thinking.

Everyone and Everything in the Dream

Everyone within your dream, from the persons and their personalities, within your dream, is a reflection of yourself.  This extends to everything that goes on as well.

Men in Dreams - Male characters may indicate your reaction to men in general; that particular man; the male aspect of yourself; your father; intellect, idea or mode of thought; healing agent, guide or entity; or a former life.

Women in Dreams - Female characters may indicate your reaction to women in general; that particular woman; the female aspect of yourself; your mother; emotions; healing agent, guide or entity; or a former life.

Sheridan recommends that you pay attention to "what aspects are represented by objects, location, adults, children, animals, colors, emotions, activities and puns."

Colors in Dreams:

Black - Means negativity, fear anxiety, hatred, resentment, guilt, depression (no hope/faith).  Black and white as a combination indicates that you view the subject matter of the dream in black and white terms.

Blue - Means spirituality, religion, art, culture, philosophy, attitude to life itself.  When you see negative colors with blue, you are being asked to remove these from your philosophy.

Brown - Means earthy, practical, of the Earth.  Dark or dull brown indicates an unenlightened or depressing earthiness, such as a materialistic viewpoint that include denial of spirit.

Cream - Means acceptance, tolerance, a growing maturity or need for tolerance. 

Green - Means need for healing, harmony, balance, reconciliation (within yourself or between you and others.  Dark green or green and black show difficulty with sharing and indicate jealousy, envy or rivalry.  Green and red as a color combination always symbolize your heart and circulatory system.

Grey - Means uncommitted, uncertain - 'grey area.'  Mental denial of emotion, depression.  Grey clouds can indicated depression, either present or imminent.

Gold - Means spiritual healing, creativity.

Orange - Means drive, ambition (mix of yellow and red).  Energizing color, especially in career dreams. 

Peach - Means Empathy.

Pink - Means love, need for unconditional love, usually mother love or love for mother.

Purple - Means nobility of purpose, spiritual leadership, spiritual teaching, regal, power, authority in spiritual matters.  Mauve indicates endurance, while lilac indicates responsibility.

Red - Means joy, sexuality, aggression, animal passion, fun.  When mixed with black, the meaning is negative.

Silver - Means intuition.

White - Means hope, faith, purity, confidence, enlightenment.  White, when mixed or associated with other colors, purifies and refines their meaning.  To dream of navy with white is an attempt to heal your negative philosophy of life(navy) by giving you faith and confidence in the future.  The soft or pearl white indicates the gift of prophesy.

Yellow - Means mental activity, intellect.

A Link Between Cause and Effect

"All the symbols in a dream are linked to show cause and effect.  This is main problem with just using dream dictionaries to interpret a dream.  All symbols in a dream create a context which affects the interpretation of other symbols," Sheridan explains.

"Unconnected symbols, people, emotions and events are linked in a chain of cause and effect.  Use this to show why you are ill, depressed, cannot get on with your spouse, boss, partner or why your career is not getting off the ground," he concludes.

Taking Personal Responsibility

When you take into account that everyone and everything within your dreams is about you, then your progress moving forward or lack of progress on the inner is of your own doing to take full responsibility.  "You are always responsible for what happened, is happening, can happen or will happen in the dream," adds Sheridan.

Avoidance

Whatever is avoided in a dream is usually unresolved in your outer life.  Dreams can be healing by allowing us to move toward completion and wholeness - to address what we avoid through fear and suppression within us.  It does this "by drawing scattered aspects of your personality together," included Sheridan.

Better Dream Recall: An Exercise to Try

1. Get a glass of water that is placed nearby, like a nightstand.

2. Put your hands around the glass of water without your fingers touching.  Allow the energy flow between your hands.

3. In your mind, tell yourself that you will remember your dreams.  You can even ask for understanding or to receive an answer from a dream,

4. Pick up the glass and drink half of the water within it.

5. Upon awakening, drink the other half of the water.

This exercise can help you to remember your dreams better.  It is similar to potentizing a homeopathic remedy using your own energies.  You are simply programming your mind for better recall.

---