Dream symbols are personal so dream dictionaries can be very misleading. It’s better to reflect on a symbol for yourself, asking a few questions.
For example:
Why do people wear sunglasses?
(What’s your initial response to that question, Susie?)
Here are some suggestions:
People wear sunglasses to protect their eyes from bright sunlight, to hide behind, to hide crying eyes, to hide their feelings (stopping others from looking into the windows to the soul), to look cool, to drive safely …
Then keep reflecting on the symbol:
For example: if you wear sunglasses inside or in dim light, you cannot see clearly; if you wear Polaroid glasses you have increased depth of vision.
In reflecting on the symbol you may come up with some totally personal associations, for example:
An old boyfriend was wearing sunglasses when he lied to you, and you somehow have never trusted people wearing sunglasses since.
Okay, so, back to your dream:
You asked if your grandmother could SEE the “ugly picture”, so you set yourself up to dream about seeing. The dream showed her wearing sunglasses, so do you think she could see the picture?
What picture would she see if she took her glasses off?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and ugliness is in the eye of the beholder. Everything is in the eye of the beholder – all is coloured by your perception. You, your grandmother and everyone else involved or interested in your situation are likely to have a slightly different view of it.
The most helpful insight is to know what YOU see, both consciously and unconsciously and your dreams can help throw a light on this. Once you understand your view, you can see how it evolved, how to change it or how to learn from it.
Your dreams can throw light on your situation. Is the message of your dream that you are hiding from the light, filtering out the truth?
You will find it helpful to read ‘A visit from spirit?’ in Dream Alchemy, pages 212-8 and ‘I can't see clearly’ in Dream Alchemy, pages 257-62.
Artwork:
Take a large piece of paper and draw or paint a large circle in the middle. Divide the circle into eight sections like slices of cake. Around the edges of the paper draw or paint eight pairs of glasses. Some may be sunglasses, some may be reading glasses, some may be fun-fashion glasses, some may be more like telescopes, some more like microscopes – just let your imagination run a bit wild and silly. You might even like to include a keyhole to peer through, or a camera lens to zoom.
Take eight days to complete the alchemy in this way:
Day 1: Pick one of the 8 pairs of glasses. Close your eyes and imagine looking at your ‘ugly situation’ (the one mentioned in your dream request) through those glasses. Just relax and let a picture unfold. Then open your eyes and draw or paint that picture in the slice of ‘cake’ nearest that pair of glasses.
Day 2: Do the same for the next pair of glasses.
Continue in this way for the next 6 days, until you have 8 different views of your situation drawn or painted in your circle.
Important:
Do your artwork dream alchemy practice alone. This is your contemplation time. Exploring your feelings as you do your artwork is an important part of the alchemy.
How does this work?
By working with dream elements and symbols in art form you are communicating with your unconscious mind in its own language to create change, to explore your feelings or to resolve past issues.
More details on Artwork as a Dream Alchemy Practice in: “Dream Alchemy” by Jane Teresa Anderson, pages 333-4.
Jane Teresa Anderson
