Long ago when the world was young, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision.  In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and teacher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language that only the spiritual leaders of the Lakota could understand.

As he spoke Iktomi, the spider, took the elder's willow hoop which had feathers, horse hair, beads and offerings on it and began to spin a web. He spoke to the elder about the cycles of life...and how we begin our lives as infants and we move on to childhood, and then to adulthood.  Finally, we go to old age where we must be taken care of as infants, completing the
cycle.

"But," Iktomi said as he continued to spin his web, "In each time of life there are many forces--some good and some bad.  If you listen to the good forces, they will steer you in the right direction.  But if you listen to the bad forces, they will hurt you and steer you in the wrong direction."  He continued,  "There are many forces and different directions that can help or interfere with the harmony of nature, and also with the great spirit and all of his wonderful teachings."  All the while the spider spoke, he continued to weave his web starting from  the outside and working towards the center.

When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the Lakota elder the web and said.... "See, the web is a perfect circle but there is a hole in the center of the circle."  He said,  "Use the web to help yourself and your people to reach your goals and make good use of your people's ideas, dreams and visions.  If you believe in the great spirit, the web will catch your good ideas-- and the bad ones will go through the hole."

The Lakota elder passed on his vision to his people and now the Sioux Indians use the dream catcher as the web of their life.. It is hung above their beds or in their home to sift their dreams and visions..  The good in their dreams are captured in the web of life and carried with them...but the evil in their dreams escapes through the hole in the center of the web and are no longer a part of them.

They believe that the dream catcher holds the destiny of their future..

*        *        *        *        *

There are many aspects to Dreams that a witch can use -- primarily the fact that the dreamworld is an area in which the Divine can speak directly to us, using symbology personal to our own psyches.   So how do you go about understanding your own dreams?  Well, the best place to start is by training yourself to remember them in as much detail as possible.  Keep something by the bed to help you record your dreams as soon as you wake.  Some peopel like to record their dreams using a dictaphone or other taping device.  If that works for you, then so much the better, but if not a simple notepad and pen will do just fine.   (Personally, I think that speaking your dreams is convenient, but if you want to go back and review it...  paper is better.  Who has time to transcribe thier dreams?)

As soon as you wake, write down everything you can recall from your previous night's dreams.  Just start scribbling...  some people like to create a list of keywords and then go back and piece together the full story.  This way minimizes the chances of forgetting a key element as your brain comes back into it's conscious functioning again.   I, however, find I get more detail when I just write it as if it is a story.  This may be because my dreams tend to be plot-oriented, like a good fantasy novel.

If you can't remember the dream, don't worry.  Instead try at least to remember the feelings you had during the dream;
was it distressing, joyful, peaceful...?  How did it make you feel, both during the dream, and when you woke up?  If this
prompts any snippets of recollection of the dream itself, write these down too, and see where you get with it.  But the
more relaxed you are while doing so, the easier you'll find it to recall.

These brief memories of dreams may not in themselves prove helpful, although they may give you an insight into how
you are feeling generally; we store up more inside than any of us care to admit.  The purpose of writing down what
little you can remember is more to gradually train your mind to hold the dreams for those vital few moments after
you've woken in order for you to be able to write them down.

SilverRavenWolf bemoaned the fact that in her household she could never get enough quiet time when she woke up to write down her dreams.  So she trained herself to remember them when she took her morning shower.  Then, when she emerged from the shower she would dry off and then sit down and write in her journal.

You may say: "But I don't have dreams".  Sorry to tell you, but that's scientifically proven nonsense!  We all dream
each night, whether you recall doing so or not.  Its just how we are hardwired.  However, it may take you longer to access the knowledge that comes through dreams. For you, you may find that from time to time you wake with a particularly vivid dream still in your mind, which stays with you all day where you'd normally have forgotten it in an instant.  These are the ones to pay particular attention to, as they often carry the most important messages.

And so onto the interpretation itself...

Although I have attached several lists of the various symbols found within dreams, together with the interpretations of each symbol... I hope you have learned better than that by now!  It is easy to bankrupt yourself on books giving just such lists, but perhaps my wisdom will be a little more helpful, and a lot more relevant to you as an individual.  Because all of the 'pre-fab' lists generally have one key factor missing from them... Your own individuality as a human being.  Take, for instance, an element such as fire.  For one person this may represent cleansing, health, vitality and strength... and yet for another it can mean quite the reverse; annihilation, death, destruction...  It is for this reason that I never like to place my own interpretations on the dreams of another.

This is the area I personally find deeply fascinating, as it really is truly unique to each individual.  The key to interpretation is to metaphorically peel away the layers one by one, gradually revealing the whole picture.  I tend to start with the largest and most basic section first; the emotions.  Look first at how you woke up feeling.  Were you feeling positive, negative, depressed, happy, energetic?  This is a vital key, as a seemingly negative dream may well be telling you of a beneficial outcome, or vice versa.

Then take a look at your emotions within the dream.  Again ask yourself how you felt during the dream, together with how other people (if any) seemed to be feeling.  This is often a handy way of pointing up underlying emotions which you may not be aware of; you may be feeling trapped in a job or relationship which is damaging you, or missing out on an area or direction in life which has the potential to make you deeply happy.  It could be that you have an important decision which you have been hesitant to make, and the clues to the right choice are provided in the dream.

Once you are satisfied that you have thoroughly established the over-riding "feel" of the dream, it's time to start looking in more depth.  For me, the next section I look at is the location and setting.  Think carefully about what the environment of the dream means to you, and take extra care not to be swayed by what it may mean to others.  For example, to one person a desert may signify barrenness, while to another it may mean peace and solitude.  Throughout the whole process, it's vital that you look only at what it represents to you as an individual.  Any other way is simply not being true to yourself, and likely to produce less satisfactory or helpful results.

Next take a look at any other "characters" in the dream.  Start with any people you encountered.  Did you know them in real life?  If you did, don't be fooled into thinking that it necessarily means it was that person, but look instead to what that person represents to you.  The same applies to any animals you encounter.  If you don't know the person or animal involved, think upon the energy of the character.  Even if they had a smile on their face, you could have felt uneasy around them, or suspicious of their motives.  These things are all important to note as part of your overall analysis of the meaning of the dream.

Once you have the basic components generally understood, start to look at the events within the dream.  Where did the decisions or actions you made take you?  As with the whole analysis process, take time to think precisely what each
aspect represents to you.  You may have found yourself in a place that was bleak and desolate in your eyes, only to find
that talking to a particular person (again, remember it may not be the person themselves, but the type of person they
represent to you), picking up a specific object, or selecting a door or path, leads you to a place which is filled with joy
and abundance as you see it.  These are all indicators as to the right action you need to be taking in your life.

Now it's time to get on to the juicier part of the dream; the more surreal aspects to it.  Did you notice any strange, or out of place objects or characters?  Our unconscious minds have an amazing capacity for the surreal, and often it is these elements which hold the biggest truth behind the dream.  Once more, forget what common interpretation may say, and focus on what that object or event means to you.  Often it is a quite obscure link to other people, which is totally obvious to you.  A bit like playing a word association game; it doesn't have to make sense to anyone else, it's what it means to you which is important.

Once you are truly satisfied that you have been thoroughly through each layer of the dream, it's time to start piecing together what you have learnt into the message that you feel it was trying to convey.  It is particularly important at this stage not to allow your own ego, hopes and fears to stand in the way.  You may hope that the charming stranger with pots of money, who gazed adoringly at you was to be the new love of your life, but if you picked up something suspicious in their energy, it's far more likely that you're being warned not to be sucked in by them, or they'll con you out of your savings!  Let the events tell the story for you, and take some time to sit with it if you feel it's particularly important to your life in the present, past or future.

Hopefully, by this point, you should feel satisfied that you have gained the answers you seek from the dream.  Or at least have learned all that it had to teach you.  However, modern living often means we are woken mid dream and never get to hear the most important element.  If this is the case for you, or you are left confused about an aspect of the dream, I would strongly suggest you read the piece on Pathworking as a means to exploring the dream further and finding out more of the message it brings.

Sweet Dreams!
Ma'at
copyright 2001

For further reading:
A to Z Symbology
A Bestiary of Dream Animals
Constructive Dreaming -- NOT (an opinion)
Confronting your Dream Demons
The Dream Eye -- an article by Tony Crisp
False Awakenings
They Have A Name for It (an excerpt)
Healing Through Dreamwork
Creating A Dream Journal
Lucid Dreaming -- very long (3 articles)
The MILD Technique
Peer Group Dreaming
How to Make a Dream-Enhancing Pillow