People in Dreams
One of the most common symbols in dreams is not doors or teeth but people. Whether it’s a dream about a specific person or featuring a large crowd, we dream about people because there are such complex ties and meanings between individuals. The subconscious uses symbolism to communicate, and a person is a symbol abundant in meaning, they don’t just represent a single emotion or archetype. Depending on the time of my life, I may understand my mother’s presence one way as a young adult and in the opposite way in my forties.
When determining what a person or group of people might mean in my dream, I first ask myself what they mean to me metaphorically. I understand every person who appears in my dreams to be a part of myself. Do I see them as resilient, hypocritical, generous? Or do they embody an archetype like the mentor or student? If they represent generosity and are showering me with gifts and love, I ask myself what I’m doing that makes a part of myself feel like it needs to give me something. In this case, I’m probably depriving myself of an emotional need, and my subconscious is trying to tell me to pay attention.
Intuition is extremely important when reading dreams. There are plenty of guides that will tell you why you are dreaming about your coworker, your ex, or your mother, but it’s your job to go further and ask what that particular person means to you. Dreaming about someone from your past can either mean that you are processing an aspect of your relationship with them or a past way of thinking/belief has resurfaced in your present life. To determine which interpretation is correct, you’ll need to ask yourself some honest questions about whether you feel resolution and peace or turmoil and angst about the person from your past.
Your intuition will tell you when the reading is right.
Because of its high subjectivity, dream reading should only be one aspect of a spiritual practice. I also write in my diary, do tarot readings, meditate, process verbally with my Circle, and research psychology. In many ways, I think of my dreams as a compass. They give me a general direction, but it’s up to me to find or create the path.
