The only way to become an adept of any tradition is to become completely fluent in the symbolism of that tradition. The only way to become fluent in the symbolism of a tradition is to work with it. Just as we must practice our drills and conversation skills when learning a foreign language, the same applies to symbols.
Meditation and rituals are working aspects of symbols. Surrounding ourselves with esoteric art, making drawings, or copying and illuminating images in our notebooks is the process of imbibing, or immersing ourselves in a symbolic environment. Dreams and visions are the act of conversation and dialogue. It is here that we must learn to observe, listen, and remember so that we can interpret our dreams in a manner practical to our spiritual practice.
When interpreting dreams, four things are important:
1. Consistent symbolism.
2. Writing the dreams down.
3. Regular practice.
4. Using planetary hours to aid interpretation.
Consistent symbolism means giving the same meaning to a symbol, color, or sound and keeping it within its tradition, not seeking meaning elsewhere. This is difficult for many who seek to be eclectic and multicultural in their path. While it is fine to be broad-minded and tolerant on the intellectual level, at some point you have to make a decision about what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. This applies to the material domain as much as the psychic and the spiritual. If you choose to speak to someone using French vocabulary and Chinese grammar, with German conjugation thrown in, don't be surprised when they don't understand you. The same applies to our subconscious when it acts as the conduit between our mundane consciousness and our superconsciousness. The subconscious is synthetic. It does not rationalize. The more you fill it with, the more it will attempt to harmonize and make sense of the various disparate parts. If this is done as part of a specific system, then progress is made. If it is done haphazardly, then confusion results. Our ability to understand our dreams and the symbols they contain is a direct reflection of our personal integration. Consistency may be difficult-and boring at times-but it is the key to progress in this area.
Keep a notebook in which you write down symbols and their meanings. Use it as your personal dream dictionary. By doing this, you train your subconscious to use specific symbols in a specific manner so that they are meaningful to you.
To start the process, you can use some symbolic seed material. This includes:
A Dictionary of Symbolism, by J. E. Cirlot
The Mystery of the Cathedrals, by Fulcanelli, translated by Mary Sworder (The American edition is also known under the title Fulcanelli: Master Alchemist.)
The Alchemical Mandala, by Adam McLean
Godwin 's Cabalistic Encyclopedia, by David Godwin
The Tarot of the Magicians, by Oswald Wirth
The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century, by Stanislas Klossowski de Rola
If it is important enough to dream, it is important enough to write down. The act of writing down a dream, even a fragment, is a message to the subconscious that this information is important and to keep it coming. By writing down our dreams, we "fix" the "volatile" message that our Inner Mercury, or Messenger of the Gods, is bringing us.
Dreams can be stimulated through a variety of practices that fall under the broad heading of dream yoga, or "Union through Dreams." This union is with none other than our own Inner Self. Through repeated practice, we can come to communicate directly with this aspect of our self, transcending even dreams and symbols in direct language and experience.
Dream practices can be very simple and direct to be effective. The following method will assist in jump-starting your dreaming memory and even dream lucidity. Astral projection may also occur as a result of this practice. The nice thing about dream practices is that we must sleep, so spending a few minutes as we lie in bed directing our consciousness to assist us in our work is about as passive a practice as there is on the path to enlightenment.
1. As you lie in bed, focus your attention on your throat, behind the Adam's apple, where the thyroid gland is. Imagine a sphere of brilliant orange or red-orange light. This can be small, but it radiates a large sphere of influence in its aura. This sphere can extend from just above your sternum to below the bridge of your nose if you want to imagine it. Otherwise, simply stay with the brilliant sphere of light.
2. Verbally, silently, or in a whisper, recite the following affirmation: "Tonight I will dream, and I will remember my dreams." This affirmation can be made more specific with experience to include the following: "Tonight I will dream, and I will become aware that I am dreaming." Or it can be used to continue with a dream that left off from a previous night: "Tonight I will dream, and my dream will continue from this point [imagine the end of the dream you wish to use as a pickup point]." You may repeat this three or seven times with confidence that you will dream.
3. Write down any dream experiences you have during the night.
One of the most confusing aspects of dream interpretation occurs when dreams appear to be fragments of other dreams and we seek to link them together but don't know how. We may have a dream on Monday, another on Tuesday, and a third on Friday. We write them down and line them up like chapters in a book, but instead of making any sense, it looks like we pulled three chapters at random from a book on history, a romance novel, and a physics textbook. We convince ourselves that it is hopeless and that we will never understand our dreams, and we go back to forgetting them. However, just as planetary energies affect our alchemical and meditative work, they also affect our dream work. If we took those three "chapters" and, instead of lining them up, put them back in the proper "books" in which they belong, we could begin to make sense of their messages. For this reason, when you write down your dreams, keep the planetary day and night in mind. Saturday at sunrise until Sunday at sunrise is ruled by Saturn. Therefore, all dreams on a Saturday night or early Sunday morning, before sunrise, are influenced by Saturn. Dreams in the morning-at or after sunrise-will be influenced by the new planetary energies. In summertime, in areas where daylight-savings time is used, the sun may rise at 5:00 a.m. If you sleep until 7:00 a.m. and know that your dream occurred just before waking, it is important to analyze it in relation to the new energies. However, many people dream sometime between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., thereby eliminating this problem.
Once you record a dream, make sure that you connect your dreams according to the planetary days. A dream on Saturday night should be followed by any dream that may occur on each succeeding Saturday. The same applies for each of the remaining days of the week.
These dreams should be read as chapters, then, in your personal "planetary dream book." They should also be reviewed prior to sleep to stimulate your subconscious with the leaving-off point of the last dream as the starting point of the next dream in the series.
As an example of an alchemical dream interpretation, the following dream was experienced by a practitioner of alchemy while performing a specific operation. The dream occurred on a Sunday night in April, during a waxing Moon, with Mercury retrograde. The weather was very damp and chilly.
"I am in the basement of my house, distilling a product. It is not clear if it is red wine or another tincture, but the color is dark and rich. The basement is different from normal, in that it is all dirt; brown predominates, and the space is completely empty except for a small distillation setup before me and the stairs behind me. They are not directly behind me, but instead are at an angle and go up and to my (back-facing) left. To my (front-facing) left is a bare light bulb on a cord.
"I reach for the light bulb with some hesitation, as something doesn't feel right. I realize that some force or energy is present with me. I turn and run up the stairs toward the exit. Just as the door is about to close, I force it open, and in doing so experience a sphere of energy around me of tremendous power. I stop and feel proud of my achievement-an almost `showed you' attitude-then exit."
Interpreting a dream is easy once we identify the key symbols and link them together like words in a sentence or ideas in a story. Here are the key symbols as identified by the dreamer in this dream.
Basement of my house-House is "Beth" in Hebrew, and also the Moon. The basement is the supporting structure, or foundation (Yesod). This is the dreamer's subconscious.
Distilling a product whose color is dark and rich-A work of purification has reached a critical or possibly end stage.
All dirt; brown predominates-The place of "work" is the material world. This dream conveys a very concrete lesson.
Empty except for a small distillation setup before me-The lesson is simple and the teaching direct. There is nothing to distract the dreamer's attention.
Stairs are behind me at an angle and go up and to my (backfacing) left-The dreamer is isolated. Leaving is not simple. Left is the direction of mercy, or divine grace. It could also be a symbolic direction in the language of the birds, that is, "left" as in past tense of "to leave."
To my (front-facing) left is a bare light bulb on a cord-Light, similar to the tarot card of the Hermit when the dreamer reaches for it. The outer light is touched and left behind, and the inner light must be relied upon when the force of the dream is awakened.
Experience a sphere of energy around me of tremendous power-The energy aroused is absorbed, or assimilated in some fashion, but is more indirect than direct.
I stop and feel proud of my achievement-From fear to pride in a split second! Human folly.
The dreamer is purifying a product that relates to the Inner Self, connection to the root of his being. Progress requires greater isolation and inward presence, but also a connection to the concrete and material. The work awakens great energy and potential, but also with it great fear of the very thing that is sought. The mind must cease to be afraid of the energies that give it life. Once aroused, these energies cannot be escaped but must be absorbed and assimilated. The absurdity of the dreamer's ego is that it moves from fear of its own creation to pride over vanquishing it inside of an instant. This hints at the dangers of human activities in the esoteric realms. The greatest threat to all spiritual work is pride. The test must be repeated. Much of the symbolism hints at the tarot card for the Hermit: Yod, Virgo, Mercury, Earth, ascent, light before and above or at the level of the head, Mercury retrograde.