by Ronnee Ruselle

With analysing your dreams, the most important thing for you to do once you have broken up the information and taken note of what is in the dream is to look at each piece of it and say: "What does this mean to me?", "How is it significant?" and "What could it represent?".

These questions are crucial in analysing your dreams and they are what makes the difference between a true dream analysis and a guess.

The other important factor is to note whether each thing is negative or positive. This can tell you so much. I once had a client who dreamed about a tiger. The tiger was so big and fearsome and came right up to her and roared deeply and loudly at her. Normally it would be a fearful situation. I asked the client how she normally felt about tigers. She was afraid of them. When I asked her how she felt about the tiger in the dream and she realized that she felt no fear whatsoever from this tiger and that realization changed the entire feel of the dream for her. She realized straight away that the tigers roar was to show how strong and powerful it was. We then went further into the analysis and she discovered that the tiger was protecting her, rather than being threatening. The dream made her feel protected and safe.

The list below will give you possible meanings to what elements of your dream could mean. This is only to help you brainstorm possibilities, not to tell you for certain what they mean because you are the only person who can know that. Use them to give you a general idea of how you need to look at the information in your dreams in order to successfully analyse them.

• Something or someone that is close to you in relationship or location in your real life may be showing that the issue at hand is close to you.
• Anything about your home or those you love intensely such as family may represent something to do with yourself if those things are very close to you...indicating that it is an internal issue - very close to you = within you.
• Something to do with friends, neighbours, social events and community may represent something outside of yourself physically so you could look issues to do with your appearance, behaviour, life or anything that others can see rather than yourself internally or something to do with day to day life.
• Something in your dream that is not immediately connected to you such as an animal you don't have, the world, nature, words - anything of that nature may be from a source outside of yourself so it could be a message or it could be about someone else.

Keep in mind that often dreams don't represent what is actually happening, but your perception of a situation so if you feel that you're failing in a situation that you're really doing okay with, or if you are fearful of something, then your dreams can reflect that.

These are in alphabetical order. If you think of any that should be added, please contact me and let me know as it would be a huge help to others.

Coping - Dreaming about a situation that you are coping fine with, that in real life would make you feel fearful or insecure, is a very positive message that you are dealing with the situation around you or a message that you can.

Characters - Whether human, animal or otherwise, when you have a character in a dream, it often will be representing yourself. If it does, then take a good look at the character and see what the most outstanding or recognizable thing is about that person or creature - ask the question, "What does this mean to me?" It can be reflecting a behaviour of yours or suggesting that you may need to adopt certain behaviours etc. It may also be representing someone you know who has similar characteristics or features.

Chasing - Chasing dreams where you're being followed or chased indicate that you may have been avoiding something and that it's getting close to the time that you will have to deal with it. Think of it as something catching up to you.

If you're chasing something, it could be showing you that something is out of your reach and this may help you realize whether you need to try harder, change your tactic or direction, or even give it up. It could also tell you that you need to chase.

Direction - This can give you an indication of whether something is coming towards you or away from you. If something is moving in a side-ways direction, it could be indicating that you need to look around you because the issue is 'in-line' with you so it's nearby - possibly beside you. Something that appears to be moving in one direction and then veers off is usually an indication that you need to change direction or look in a different direction for what you're seeking.

Floating - This can have varied meanings depending upon it's location, how you feel about it and whether you're alone or distant from help etc. Look at the situation objectively and as with other movement indications in a dream, it will tell you whether it means that you're free, or relaxed and enjoying yourself, whether you're stranded or some other meaning.

Flying - The most common cause of flying dreams - particularly if you are the one who is flying and it's very realistic as if you're actually experiencing it - is astral projection. In other words, you ARE flying. It could also mean that you are experiencing a feeling of freedom.

Home - home or something within yourself - something very close to you. What happens around the home can have themes to do with betrayal, support, breaking out and more and these things will show you that something like this is happening to you personally or within you.

Movement - Movement can be very important in a dream especially for the characters within it (including yourself). If something is very still, then it indicates a lack of movement in some area so taking into account the other signs in the dream, you may need to stand still or to make a move. Something in your path can represent a blockage or be getting your attention. Whether you can get over or around it will tell you whether you can easily get around the current issue it represents or whether you need to stand still and deal with it or perhaps try another avenue. It could also reflect how you're feeling if you're feeling like you have no options available to you. This may not be the case though, so carefully analyse the rest of the dream.

Recurring Dreams - Recurring dreams are an indication that there's an issue around you that has not been dealt with yet. If you experience them in a row, you'll find that the issue is still around you. Sometimes you may experience a recurring dream from one you've had before - even years ago or as a child. This is an indication that you have a person, emotion or a situation around you that is similar to one you had when you last had the dream. If you can remember what was happening around you the last time you had the dream you can work out what the emotion is that you're feeling or what the situation is that you need to deal with eg. You may have felt 'vulnerable' when you first had the dream so the new dream could be telling you that you're feeling vulnerable about something.

When the dreams finally stop altogether, it is an indication that you've dealt with the issue once and for all and can be free of it.

Size - The size of a thing in your dream makes a difference and this one is fairly simple - if it's small, then the issue or the urgency or even the timeframe is small or short. Something about it is small or perhaps unimportant. Same goes for size - if it's big, then the issue may be big or it may be important. A big size can also mean that the dream wants you to take notice of that particular thing.

Speed - Something moving fast of course will represent an element of speed within the dream. This can be related to time such as not having much time before the event happens, something is coming towards you quickly or moving away from you quickly which may require some quick action by you. Of course, a slow movement may indicate that there's no need to rush or slow movement by a character within the dream may be a way of indicating that it is not a threat to you.

Unexplored Regions - Such things as large mountain ranges, jungles, outer space or anything at all really that has a feeling of being 'unexplored' will suggest that you are heading into the unknown or something you've not experienced before - literally an unexplored area of life for you. The feeling that comes with it could indicate how you are feeling about this unexplored part of your life and that could tell you what the dream's message is about.

Winning - This one is pretty obvious. If you're beating up the monsters, if you outwit a clever opponent or win in some other way in your dreams, it means that you are succeeding in some way. What it is that you are winning at will help you see whether you're winning within yourself or in your life in some way.