Last month I was asked for a dream interpretation involving dream symbols of houses, storms and lightening. 

The dream is as follows:

“In the dream i am with a lady friend and we are walking down a road near the home where i use to live.  In the distance i see a terrifying storm cloud gather. I grab her hand and run towards to my old house. As I run to the house for protection, my lady friend goes to go in house next door and a lightning bolt just misses her, she is ok,then the storm quickly vanishes.I find this a very deep dream,would you be able to interpretate this for me?”

My response:

I can give you some impressions and thoughts on your dream, but ultimately only you can interpret the dream.

Dreams are messages from our own consciousness, and they dance within the context of our own lives – therefore it’s impossible for anyone but you to be able to glean the full, true meaning of the dream.

I’ll give you some ideas about the symbols in your dreams.  After thinking and meditating upon these symbols, I’m sure you will be able to formulate some answers from you psyche.

Let’s take your dream bit by bit, delving deep into each symbol.

You and your lady are on a a road.  Roads in dreams are symbolic of direction, navigation, purpose, goals, and destinations.

When we are moving in an easterly direction in dreams it is symbolic of communications, new beginnings and matters of the spirit, as we symbolically see the sun rising in the east.

Dreaming of houses deals with the body, as well as a desire for security and safety. The condition of the house in your dream represents how you truly feel about your current situation. If the house is in ill-repair or disarray, you need to take a close look at your health. If you are building a House, you should expect visits from old friends and you’ll make new friends. A picture-perfect house means you are ready to settle down into a more stable situation. In your case, a familiar house indicates a need to get back to your roots, surround yourself with comfort, create an environment of stability, as well as people and situations that make you feel safe/taken care of.

Interpreting storms in dreams gets tricky.  My symbolic lexicon identifies thoughts with sky and clouds as the element of air runs a symbolic parallel with thoughts and the cosmic consciousness.

That a storm is brewing in your dreams may indicate challenges, problems, mis-communication, misunderstanding, or conflict within the mind.  This may include an inability to make a decision or holding grudges (just as clouds accumulate, so too do thoughts).

Rain storms are symbolic of water, and water symbolism deals with cleansing and emotional stirrings.  The dream may indicate an accumulation of unclear thoughts need to be washed away from your psyche in order to continue on your path.

Lightning is symbolic of a stroke of genius, clarity, or ephiphany.  It is also symbolic of action, power, and masculinity.  Many dream interpreters consider it to be a spiritual oracle as native peoples have established lightning as a “sign from the gods” in cosmic consciousness.

I believe if you think about all of these dream symbols, and really invest the time to gather your own personal understanding of them and how they relate to your life experience, I know you will find profound meaning in your dream.

Dreams are windows into another world of knowledge.  When we take the time to meditate upon the meanings of our dreams in relation to our lives, we are looking into a bigger picture that provides us with incredible insight.

Other pages of interest:

Symbolic Meaning of Water

Dream Symbols

Nature Symbols

Symbols and Signs

I got an email from a gentlewoman who was dreaming of deceased people, and she requested some clarity on this issue.  I respond thusly,

Dear Dreamer,

You are going to hear a million different reasons and explanations about dreaming of the deceased (or people who have passed from this physical plane, if you prefer).  All of these explanations are slices of the truth, and so you owe it to yourself to find the meaning that sits best with your own spirit.

In my life experience I have come to know the nature of energy (including the life force that is “human”) never dies – it simply passes from one phase to another.  We see it in all of nature.  Energy simply cannot be destroyed – it is universal law.

With that foundation, we can make the next assumption that our connection with other people (connections are a type of energy) will not die either – even if their physical bodies have ceased on this earth.

Are these people that have passed away coming in your dreams to give you a message?  Perhpaps….there are many philosophies out there that will tell you this.

The psyche deals with mortality in interesting ways – this is due to our own deep rooted beliefs as well as the collective conscious’ perception of death.

Perhaps you could also entertain the idea that you are a receiver of energy.  If our energetic connections with people never cease, then it would make sense that there are places within our own psyche that will recall the energy of those who have passed.  In this light, perhaps your own inner self is sending you a message, and using the imagery of those who passed as a message.

Recall the personalities of those people in your dreams.  Is there a predominant theme?  For example, was one person a healer?  Perhaps this is a message for more healing in your life.  Was another person always angry? Perhaps this is a message to point out your own anger, and how you may work to defuse it.

When we dream of those who passed, it may also be our inner selves telling us to die to the things that no longer serve us.  In other words, dreams of people who have passed me be a message for us release grudges or ditch bad habits.

You have brought up an enormous phenomenon – books have been written about this phenomenon, and will continue to be written about it.  What is key, is that you invest the time to determine the meaning to your own personal satisfaction.

I can promise you one thing, however: These dreams would not come to you if you yourself did not have the answers to their meaning. 

You know – just give yourself the time, patience, determination, and thirst for knowledge – the answers will come.

I got an intriguing post from a reader who requested a dream interpretation .

Here is a recap of her dream:

“The main parts of the dream were about three buried bumble bees, and one ruby slipper, buried by a shaman, in order to ’summon’ me? I came to him with utter confusion about finding three bees and a ruby slipper.” To which I respond…

Dear Dream Queen:

I’m happy to regurgitate the impressions I am shown about your dream. However, it is always you who is the interpreter – and only you are able to apply the meaning of your dream to your own life situation.

By translating the dream into how it applies to your life you are able to join two worlds – the mundane with the mystical. By joining these two halves to make a whole, you essentially lift yourself into a higher state of consciousness. With that kind of gravity, you can see why you really owe it to yourself to investigate all angles of meaning to your dreams.

That said:

Slippers or shoes are typically dream symbols that indicate our path in life and they ask these questions of us:

• Is the path I walk congruent with my beliefs?
• How is my spiritual walk?
• How do I feel about the direction my life is taking?

I’ve written an interesting post on shoe symbolism and lore here.

That your slipper is buried may indicate there is neglect within an important aspect within your life-walk, or something that you may wish not to reveal to others. Alternatively, buried slippers may hint to a meditative state – a time of resting from action and contemplating the path you’ve strode thus far.

That there is only one slipper may indicate a sense of either incompleteness or a narrow minded approach to your life’s journey (only moving in one direction with resistance to other options).  One slipper may also indicate taking the first step as we see an aspect of number one in numerology deals with new beginnings.

Rubies – (including ruby colored shoes or ruby slippers) are symbolic of the passion that sparkles brightly within our selves. For many of us, the subconscious mind associates the ruby with life, passion, and action as it’s deep, rich color is linked with such primitive forces as blood and fire.

The dreaming mind’s reference to gems speaks of unlimited potential and our inherent ability to create exquisite beauty by working hard towards our heart’s goal. We gather this analogy from the back-breaking work in mining for gems, and then undertaking the arduous task of forming the gem into its finished faceted glory. This is analogous of the chiseling of the soul…chipping away at the superfluous parts of ourselves to retrieve our innate finery.

Offhandedly, does the Wizard of Oz have something to do with the symbolism of your ruby slipper? Is there some kind of symbolic archetype there that your subconscious is tapping into? Are you looking for a way back home (philosophically speaking)?

Bumble bees in dreams speak of:

• industry,
• action,
• communication, and
• our ability to consciously choose the results we want in our lives

Bees also point to spiritual gifts as we incorporate the treasures of (golden) honey as their industrious byproducts. When we dream of bees it may be an indication that we are ready to communicate our spiritual gifts, or perhaps we should more clearly recognize the treasure the resides within us.

That your bees are buried may indicate you’re holding yourself back, or your voice (communicating your needs) is stifled for whatever reason. Alternatively, buried bees may hint to a hibernation, a time of holding back in self-reflection and I speak more of this later.

Even the number of bees may assist in identifying what kind of concepts the subconscious (dreaming) mind is presenting. Three is symbolic of creativity, and joining together higher aspects to create a unified whole – an end product (whether it be wholeness, art, enlightenment, or accomplishing a goal). I’ve written more on the symbolic meaning of three here. – it might be worth a gander.

Shamans are archetypes of primitive power. These beings can breathe in-time with the pulse of the earth. Likewise they move in-step with the primal rhythm of the Mother (earth, that is). That he is summoning you may indeed be a literal translation – your higher self – or the part of you more in-tune with the Divine may be calling you forth on a new path (harkening back to the symbolic slipper).

This symbolism combined with the earth (in the burying bees & slipper) bring about an intuitive glimmer that speaks of needing to be more rooted in the core of your beliefs. I’m talking about anchoring, rooting, and becoming wholly centered within your own Source of power.

I’m particularly fascinated with the burying aspect of your dream – not only can this be symbolic of holding back, or covering up – it may also indicate a need to ferment, or a time of hopeful germination. Are there aspects of yourself that are still in development (like seeds buried in the ground waiting for the right time to spring forth)? Or, do you have ideas that need to compost a bit before you can develop them?

I hope these ideas give you a bit of a nudge in a direction that might help you apply more personal meanings to your dreams. I know you will be able to read this and weave many tapestries of personal understandings that will weave through your daily life.

I would encourage you to continue to develop your own understanding of the many aspects of your dream life and then lay these meanings on top of your life situation like a template.

By doing this we can see through the transparencies and begin to formulate meaningful insight into the greater context of our lives.

Thanks for posting your dream, and for allowing me to reflect upon it.

Namaste,

A.