Have you ever had a dream that just ... stuck out ... in your memory? One that perhaps you still remember, years later?

Most of the time, we dream ordinary dreams at night. We may or may not remember them, we may or may not write them down, they may give us ideas on how to solve a problem, or they may simply re-hash our “stuff” from the day.

We all have dreams - sometimes we don’t remember them and we think we don’t dream. But scientists assure us that we dream, nevertheless.

Here's the thing: there are many different types of dreams. And each type serves a different purpose. This line-up of dream types is from the book The Mystical, Magical, Marvelous World of Dreams  by Wilda Tanner.

1. The recurring dream. “Dreams repeat themselves because we have not as yet gotten the point.” (p.33)

2. Flying dreams. These dreams often occur just before you go into a “lucid dream.” Flying dreams often have a spiritual quality to them.

3. Lucid dreams. This is when you‘re aware that you‘re dreaming! You‘re fully asleep and dreaming, but you know that’s what’s going on. These dreams don’t happen very often, but when they do they‘re worth remembering, writing down in a journal, and perhaps analyzing them at some later date. They could have important information for you.

4. Dream fragments. I call them “snapshots.” Once I woke up and all I remembered was that I was wearing a short pink skirt and crossing a street to go to a jazz club. That was the whole dream, yet I remember it years later. At the time I was a singer, and was having doubts about my career. The dream fragment was enough to give me a feeling about the situation.

5. Swimming dreams, depending on your personal relationship with water, can mean that the dream message coming to you is spiritual. Author Wilda Tanner says to look at the water: is it clear? is it cloudy? is it calm or turbulent? This can give you “clues” about your spiritual life.

6. Dreams about the future. Very rare. We don’t usually dream about literal events that will happen. Occasionally, yes, but usually a dream about the future is a what-if scenario, or a worry dream.  

7. Message dreams. If a message is coming to you from a loved one on the other side, you will know it. I’ve had those dreams, and there’s no way to describe them except that you know in your heart that’s what it is. After my husband passed away, he came to me many times in dreams. Sometimes they were just dreams I had of him, but other times, I do believe he was there to tell me something or to reassure me that his Spirit is living on.

8. Vivid dreams. Now these can indeed be important messages about your current situation or even about the future. Whenever you have a dream with unusually bright colors and textures, and symbols that include spiritual archtypes like the sky or the sea, it’s important to pay attention to the dream. Even if you don’t understand the message, write it down as best you can, and ponder it from time to time. The message will come to you. Never discount a vivid dream.

9. The dream-within-a-dream. This is where you dream that you‘re dreaming. If you have this type of dream, it’s telling you to wake up - I mean, wake up and see what’s going on around you. There’s something important in your life that you‘re ignorning.

What other types of dreams have you had, and what purpose do they serve for you?

Namaste,
Suzann
author, Midnight Tequila , available at [Link Removed] 

photo by Svilen Milev

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