Dream Interpretation Made Simple BY Colette Toach

Dream Interpretation Made Simple

Colette Toach
Apostle and Spiritual Mother
Apostolic Movement International

The Way of Dreams and Visions

I was an unusual kid. I was the only one on the block who had the ability to interpret dreams. No, I was not super spiritual, I was just blessed enough to be born into the right home. From a young age I understood the basics of dream interpretation as my father taught them to me.

Every day friends would come to me with their dreams. I could easily explain what they meant or if they had no meaning at all.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that learning to interpret dreams is easy enough even for a child to master. It does not take years of study or deep psychological training. In fact with a few simple principles, you will be well on your way to interpreting dreams for yourself and for others.

In this article I am going to get you started and by the end, you will have in your hands the tools you need to interpret dreams starting the next time you wake up with a dream that you remember!

The Basics

Everyone dreams. Both believers and unbelievers dream. So what makes the difference between the dream of a believer and of an unbeliever? The difference lies in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. While everyone dreams, not everyone receives messages from the Lord like we can as believers.
So the first building block of understanding dream interpretation is to understand that dreams are a natural function of the human soul! There are dreams where we are expressing our desires or living out the conflicts we have faced during the day.

These are a natural function of the soul that lets out all of the tensions and pent up emotions that we held back. Even an animal has dreams like this! Just watch a puppy sleeping and you can only imagine what he must be dreaming. Twitching and making sucking sounds, you can imagine that he is dreaming of fighting with his brothers and sisters for a chance to make it to mom!

The Purging Dream

Well humans experience the same sort of thing. When you have dreams of accomplishing magnificent things or living out your fantasies you are experiencing what is called a Purging or Cleansing dream. Everyone has them and they are by far the most common.

In these dreams you will have intense emotions and can even wake up crying or laughing. These dreams do not have an interpretation. They are just an expression of your feelings and desires.

The Garbage Dream

Not all of our dreams are purging though. It is a fact that in today's society we are confronted with more input than any of our ancestors. Daily we are being bombarded from all sides. From TV, news Media and radio to what you hear from the pulpit enter your mind at an alarming rate. With so many voices shouting at you all of the time, if we did not dream, I can imagine that we would have an input overload!

Garbage dreams take care of that. They work through everything you have been putting into your mind. In many ways it is a way of your mind ‘sorting through the junk.' Everyone has these kinds of dreams, however as believers you will find that if you start getting into the Word, you will have more of these dreams.

This is a good sign! It means that your mind is throwing out the junk and making space for the Word of God that you are now putting into your spirit.
These dreams are quite simple to identify. They have lots and lots of scene changes and are quite confusing. They do not have a single message and can contain lots of different characters and symbols.

They can also include real situations and things that you are experiencing right now! They will reflect the circumstances that are surrounding you, the things you have been reading and the conversations you have had.

These dreams have no meaning. Just thinking of them as a ‘sorting pool' for your mind.

The Internal Dream

This is the first category of dream that starts to bring a message and both believers and unbelievers can have them. These dreams are conditioned by your life experience, culture and gender. So not every symbol means the same thing to everyone!

Internal dreams are fairly short, have a single message and you are the star character in the Dream.

So when a friend came to me and shared a dream, just using the principles below, I could give a pretty good interpretation. It was literally, child's play. So are you ready for it?

Dream Interpretation in 4 Easy Steps

In my book The Way of Dreams and Visions I give a full teaching on each step you need to take along with additional Dream Categories. However over here I am just going to give you a quick summary. This should be enough to whet your appetite and give you what you need to interpret your dreams right away!

1. Everything is Symbolic

Every character, object and building in your dream is symbolic of a part of yourself and your life. This one principle alone changes your entire view of dream interpretation.

It is a common mistake for people to misinterpret the people and objects in their dreams as the real thing. This is a big mistake! If I dream of Aunty Pat throwing a cream pie in my face, I certainly do not have to fear visiting her for Thanksgiving!

It is symbolic and Aunty Pat is a picture of a part of me. If Aunty pat is an aggressive woman that tends to dominate others, then she could represent my will in this dream. Identifying the characters in your dream is the very first step to gaining an understanding of what your dreams are saying.

In fact just by identifying your dream category and then identifying the symbols, you will already have an idea of what your dream is speaking about.

This goes for buildings, animals or any kind of object in your dream. If you dream that your house is being broken down, you do not need to rush out and buy more insurance. Your house is just a picture of your life.

This opens up a whole new world to you! There are many common symbols that crop up in our dreams.

2. Good is Great. Bad is...well...bad.

Understanding what the characters in your dream represent is just the first step. It is also very important to determine if that character is playing a positive or a negative role in your dreams.

This alone can turn your interpretation right around. If I dream that my house is being torn down, it can be positive or negative. If your house is being torn down so that something bigger can be built, it means that you are in a process of growing spiritually and mentally in your life right now.

However if your house is being bombed by terrorists or torn down by a storm, it means that you are facing some severe attack in your life right now and that you are falling apart.

Do you see what I mean? In both cases... the house is a symbol of your life. It does not speak of your actual house and you do not need to fear a sudden invasion of terrorists ok?

3. Everything is About You

It's your dream. It's your life. It's about YOU! Another big mistake that people make is that they think if they dream of someone else that the dream is for that person. It's a bit ridiculous actually. If you dream that your co-worker falls pregnant, I would certainly not rush to them and announce the good news!

Not only will you be wrong, but every time you head for the coffee machine the other co-workers might suddenly find a reason to be somewhere else...

Hmmm, I get the feeling that some folks reading this might have made this mistake a few times. Not to worry though! There is hope.

Keep in mind that because the characters in your dream are a picture of yourself, that the dream is a message for you. These dreams are a depiction of what is going on inside of you right now and often also refer to events that happened in the past.

Either way, you are the star of this show and it's all about YOU!

4. Identifying the Message

It is important to remember that an internal dream has a single message. If your dream has lots of characters and scene changes, then it is a garbage dream and does not have an interpretation. By identifying the symbols in your dreams and determining if they are given in a positive or negative context, you are armed with everything you need to identify the message.

Beyond the Basics

I have only covered the dream categories that apply to everyone. Believers experience way more than this because of the Holy Spirit within them.

They can also experience Internal Prophetic Dreams and also External Prophetic Dreams.

These dreams are a direct message from the Lord where the characters and objects in their dreams are symbolic of something in the Word!

For example very often your father in such a dream is a picture of God the Father. Your mother could be a picture of the Church and your spouse could represent your recreated spirit in Christ or your relationship with the Lord Jesus.

This is a very exciting realm and one I cover in detail in the Way of Dreams and Visions book. For now though I want to get you started with basic dream Interpretation. So I will put this particular subject on hold.

Practical Project

1. Make a list of all the people that seem to turn up in your dream. Next to each name give a description of this person and how you feel about them. In light of that, what part of yourself or what part of your life do you think they symbolize in your dreams?

2. Think back on one of your most recent dreams. Write down each of the characters and symbols and try to determine if each speaks of something positive or negative.

3. What is the final message of your dream?



The Way of Dreams and Visions

God is speaking to you in your dreams...

Did you know that your dreams have a meaning? From the very beginning of time the Lord spoke to His people in dreams and visions.

In the New Testament this ability has become even greater and instead of a select few - every single believer has the ability to understand what God is saying to them in their dreams. However does this mean you have to wait for a dream to hear God? Read more