As human beings, we tirelessly search for meaning in our lives. We love to make sense of every action, reaction, cause and effect and uncertainty tends to make us uncomfortable. It seems that in these times we live in most people are yearning for the same thing, a sense of purpose and meaning in their lives. When it comes to dreams this can be particularly true. Upon waking from an intense or confusing dream we tend to wonder: “what could that possibly have meant?”

Almost as long as humans have been dreaming we have been assigning our dreams some type of meaning. As far back as Ancient Egypt there were ordained dream interpreters, whom the Pharaoh would consult, heeding their warnings and advice, honoring the wisdom of dreaming. Through the years, our method of assigning meaning to dreams has evolved to be more personal and psychological in nature. Some view dreams as a window into the psyche, the human mind expressing desires and fears. There are many different perspectives with which to look at dreams and their “hidden” messages and ALL of them can be true and useful. Actually, nowadays it is accepted that there are many possible meanings intrinsic to a single dream.

We are entering a new phase in our humanity, where compassion, love, respect, and open-mindedness are increasingly important aspects of our development. These values are quickly becoming essential to our relationships and our lives. The principles of receptivity, diversity, integrity, and dignity are especially crucial in the context of Dreamwork and dream sharing. It is no longer acceptable for an outside authority to assign a single meaning to another’s dream. In our dreaming community, there is a standard for how we treat each other and how we treat each other’s dreams, a sort of Dreamer’s Code of Ethics.

I encourage you, in the world of Dreamwork and dream sharing, to take to heart these guidelines and ensure that our gardens of dream exploration stay beautiful and fruitful:

• Do no harm, be careful, conscious and intentional with your words.
• Confidentiality; do not share another’s dream without their permission.
• Always ask permission to explore another’s dream.
• The only authority or expert on a dream is the one who dreamed it; he or she always has the final say about the meaning of the dream or whether to continue exploring the dream at any given moment.
• Explore dreams with a mood of respect, reverence, and openness to many perspectives.
• Avoid projections by using the language “if this were my dream I would…”
• Every dream may have multiple meanings/significance.

Thank you for doing your part to keep our Dream Gardens a safe space for dream sharing, dream exploration, and dream cultivation.

Sweet Dreams!