ON-LINE BOOK : Hundreds of real dreams
A BASIC INTRO to what dreams are about
BASIC TECHNIQUES to interpret dreams
DREAM DICTIONARY A to Z of symbols complete with essays on symbols in everyday real uses
BASIC SYMBOLISM - DREAM SYMBOLS : Basements - Your boss - Best friend - Babies/pregnant - Brothers - Cafes - Cars - Castles - Children - Creative dreams - Clothes - Churches and cathedrals - Deaths - Demons,witches and goblins - Dogs - Drink and drugs - Farms, gardens and plants - Factories - Fathers - Faucets/taps/pipes - Food - Earthquakes and volcanos - Foreign Countries - Grandparents - Guards - Guns and knives - Horses and animals - Hauntings - Hospitals - Hotels + huge buildings - Houses - Locks - Men(unknown) - Military - Money - Mothers - Monster - Mountains - Movies - Music - People - Police - Phone - Politics - Planes and flying - Prison - Rivers - Rapists and intruders - Railways - Roads - Schools - Sea - Sex - Shops - Sisters - Skies in dreams - Skyscrapers and tall buildings - Snakes and spiders - Space - Sports - Street - Teeth - Tidal waves - Time - Toilets in dreams - Towns and streets - Trees - Water - Weddings and engagements - Windows - Work
OTHER SUBJECTS: external causes of dreams : Music in dreams : Premonitions : Telepathy : Specific dreams : Synonyms in dreams : Children's dreams and dreams about your child : Recurring dreams CASE STUDIES : 1 2 3 4 5
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CHURCHES : Churches are often quite easy to understand. They link to some moment the day before when you totally believed something which was later proved wrong. But at the time you absolutely 'believed' this. But churches can also link to your sense of commitment and belief regarding important issues and parts of your life. If you have a strong faith or your religious beliefs were tested on the day before the dream then obviously the dream can link to your religious belief.

KEY WORDS(Pick a quote which captures your feelings right now. Think especially of the day before the dream) :
- "I really believed it"
- "I was convinced she felt that way"
- "I really believe in him"
- "my commitment to"

HOW TO USE THESE SYMBOLS : CLICK HERE
FULL DREAM DICTIONARY : CLICK HERE

ESSAYS
CHURCHES in dreams : Real dreams help show you how to understand the meaning of churches within your dream.
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DREAM STUDIES : Real dreams about churches
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THE DREAM I find myself in an old colonial neighborhood (you'll understand if you have been to the western parts of India). I am strolling in a market. Suddenly I find myself perched upon the spire of a church like building, almost dangling for life. I could see the world around me and my heart was pounding. I start scanning the ground for help and to my surprise I see my manager signaling me to jump down, assuring me that he'll catch me. I was so high up on the building that I could not hear him but only see him signaling me to jump. He seemed very sure and he was even munching a sandwich.

Somehow I couldn't trust him, so I began a perilous clim down the sides of the wall. I remember a few sections of the wall where the descent became particularly difficult. I remember muttering a prayer and lowering myself a step at a time. I finally reached a safe distance off the ground and simply jumped off safely - again thanking Jesus in my native tongue.

THE REALITY The dreamer had just gained a promotion. But many people at his workplace were saying that he gained the promotion because he was favored by his boss. One of the dreamers main rivals was even now directly responsible to him. So the dreamer was really going to have to prove his abilities. His new job was not going to be made easy.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "I have just gained a promotion. But everyone is saying that I got this because I was favored by the boss. Now I have got to go out and convince everyone and its not going to be easy"

THE INTERPRETATION Many dreams which feature your boss will actually symbolise some work issue that is on your mind. Dreams link in with recent events and feelings so look for the issues that are dominating your mind at work. If some work issue is nagging away at you then its likely that the dream is about that. The dream will symbolise your thoughts about this issue.

The dreamer was in an awkward position at work. He had gained promotion yet some colleagues felt he had been favored. He knew he was going to have to prove himself and convince others of his worth. His colleagues believed that he was favored but the dreamer himself did not see this was so clear cut. On several occasions he had been looking for support from his boss but had not received it.

Markets are places where we pick up bargains and in this dream they maybe symbolise the ease with which the dreamer achieved his promotion. He had achieved this in some peoples opinion too easily. It was due to favoritism.

Churches symbolise great beliefs. In this case they maybe link to the great belief amongst several people at the dreamers workplace that he had achieved this promotion because of favoritism. He knew that on the ground he would not be given an easy time by rivals. That is symbolised here by his difficulty in getting to the ground in the dream.

In the dream his boss does not go overboard to help him and that maybe links to his own doubts about his boss. He had received his help in getting the job but he had been warned by others not to trust him blindly.

Religion and Jesus are also major symbols here. Jesus was a teacher who had to go out into the world and convince many people who were skeptical. He symbolises how the dreamer had this same need to convince skeptical people of his own ability to do the job.

Symbolic Meanings
CHURCH : "things which people believe in - having to overcome the belief that he has been given the job because of personal contacts"
COLONIAL : "taking over territory which someone believes is theirs by right"
MARKET : "achieve something cheaply and without much effort - its believed by others that he got this job without putting in the effort "
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DREAM TIP: Always look to the day before to understand a dream. Dreams concentrate on small changes in our emotions and feelings. Think about those new feelings and then try to understand a dream symbol in that way.
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THE DREAM I was being chased by someone. I'm not sure who was chasing me at first but the man eventually turned into my husband. I was at a school first but ran toward the church that I attended as a teenager. I kept running and hiding. There was another man who said he would help me. I remember five scalpels. I opened a vent in the floor and dropped one of the scalpels down it to see how long of a drop there was. It must have been about 10 feet more or less. So I jumped down the vent and landed in the activities room of the church basement. I picked up the other 4 scalpels before I jumped thinking I had better take them with me so I could be safe. The second man helped me stand up. We heard footsteps upstairs and ran into a hallway. The man said, "Run out the side door and we'll head toward McDonald's." I was confused because there was no side door in the church basement and there was no McDonald's within walking distance in my hometown. There is one about 2 miles from the church but he didn't mention having a car and I thought he meant we were to walk or run there. We ran to the side door and there was one but it looked like the regular door upstairs. The footsteps were gaining on us. I remember thinking that we couldn't be in the basement at all.

THE REALITY The dreamer bumped into her ex the day before the dream. He made a sexual proposition towards her realising that she was separated from her husband. It was a somewhat crude suggestion though. The dream was also dissatisfied with her husband as well and felt that he too was treating her like a piece of meat sexually. He seemed to have developed a kinky interest in porn web sites. The dreamer was also questioning her faith. She used to visit church regularly and was an active member in bible reading. But now she was increasingly disillusioned with the church.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "I was propositioned yesterday. Now I realise that my marriage is over. "

THE INTERPRETATION Often dreams are about little incidents which affect our emotions from the day before. In some way the dream defines some change in our beliefs. The sexual proposition seems likely to be very strongly linked to this dream.

This was a difficult dream to interpret. It was obvious in some way that the dream linked back to this meeting with her ex lover. But how exactly. There was some immediate indications of sexual involvement. The dreamer recognised scalpels as possible symbols for sexual partners. The dreamer had had only four sexual partners so in some way this confused her. But the scalpel is an obvious link into the dream. It symbolises the surgical way that the dreamer had been propositioned by her ex lover.

Basements are strong symbols. They usually link to hidden feelings that we are bottling up such as grudges. They link to hidden raw emotions - strong misgivings. But this is in some way a church basement so thats a complex symbol. Churches link more to our own personal strong beliefs. This dreamer had previously been a strong believer but now she was even thinking of changing religions.

In this case the church basements probably sums up her initial emotions at been propositioned. She was still married and it was against her natural instincts to cheat(even though they were separated). So the church basements represents the intense negative feelings she felt at even been propositioned. Initially she runs here to the church because it represents her initial reaction which was guilt.

But dreams capture our changing and complex emotions and later the dreamer leaves the church. So she in someway abandons those strong beliefs of loyalty in marriage. This indeed marked the turning point. Later in the dreams its important that she recognises that she is no longer in the church. That is a possible recognition of that relationship now been over - her marriage was now dead and so those loyalties.

The hallway is a symbol of transition. It shows that the dreamer is in a period of change when her views are starting to move. In this case it refers to emotions. This proposition marks firstly the death in her mind of her marriage but later the dream also deals with her thoughts on the sexual proposition from the day before.

McDonalds is very much a fast food restaurant. It provides some quick pleasure but it is far from deep and meaningful. That shows that what was been offered to her when she was propositioned was not deep and sensitive sexual love. It was basically a meaningless encounter.

Note also that the house was upstairs. Upstairs often refers to thoughts that we are constructing in the higher parts of our mind. Hence when the house is upstairs it shows that these thoughts are how she imagines something to be. In this case its her imagining the sordid sexual experience that was to come if she accepted the offer.

Symbolic Meanings
2 : "a choice between two clear options"
BASEMENT : "feelings of guilt"
CAR : "the dreamers direction in life and progress towards her goals"
CHURCH : "the dreamers beliefs and commitment in her marriage - she realises it is over"
HALLWAY : "a period of transition - the dreamer is entering a new period after the end of her marriage"
SCALPEL : "surgical and unemotional - she was basically offered a sexual relationship in a clinical way"
UPSTAIRS : "how you imagine something will be"
VENT : "relieve tension"
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DREAM TIP : Dreams will focus on things that are important to you right now. In many cases they will be symbolic representations of the very issues you wake up thinking about. Those issues maybe small conversations from the previous day. It depends what your mind is focusing on. If you think a lot about work then it could be about that. Try to isolate the issues you are thinking about and interpret a dream in that way. Look for evidence in the symbols of the things dominating your mind.
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THE DREAM I dreamed that my husband and I went to my childhood church and he was going to play his trombone for the special music. There was a couple of other brass players who were going to play with him but it was going to be a simple affair where they played a basic hymn one time through from the hymnal, nothing fancy. (We live overseas and every year when we visit our parents my husband is asked to play his trombone and he does). I was in the rest room when my father's best friend's daughters came in and were fixing their hair in front of the mirror. I was comparing them (this one is prettier but the other is still very pretty, this one is smarter but the other is still very smart, etc.) Then it was time for church. I sat on the left side of the church in the back. The church was filled to capacity. I did not realize it was filled because people came to hear my husband. Normally it is a quiet, sleepy little country church that is never filled. Also, when I was growing up, it was a formal church where everyone wore their "Sunday Best" and even small children were taught to sit still and listen. They were not allowed to look around, draw pictures, fidget, chew gum, whisper, or heaven forbid sleep. In my dream, it was still that sort of a church. We formally sang a few songs and then the music leader stood up to announce the special music. He said the church had been waiting "10 years" to hear my husband play since the last time he played. In my dream I think had a struggle with my dream state and consciousness because part of me was like "we go back every year so why is he saying that?" but the "me" in the dream was sitting there hearing the information as though it were true. Then my husband and the other brass players stood up to get their instruments (in real life my husband always plays at this church solo). Now the dream gets strange. In this formal church, these brass players were dressed in flashy suits with bright blue ties. They looked like they were going to play somewhere besides church. As they walked to the front of this church a few people began to stand and give them an ovation. Others hesitated as I did, and finally by the time they got to the front, the whole church was standing and giving them an ovation. I thought, "wow, now they must have a lot of pressure to do good to get a standing ovation before they have even played one note!" The energy began to build and the left side of the church began a "WAVE" while they continued clapping! I saw my father's best friend in 2nd pew from the front left side. He looked like he did in his younger days (he only has one leg) and he was doing the Wave too and that amazed me (not that he was young but that he was doing it with only one leg although I knew he is the type of person to try anything). (Interestingly I had another dream about this man 1 week ago where he made a friendly visit to me overseas and helped me clean my house). Since everyone else was doing the Wave, I thought, "what the heck, I'll do it too" and joined in. Then the right side of the church waved on cue. The whole church was doing the Wave over and over as the players got their music set up. Then some members of the right side of the church began stomping "Doom Doom DOOM! Doom Doom DOOM" (the beat from Queen's "We will rock you". I saw my husband and he was smiling as he felt the energy and expectation of the people. So he said to the other players that they need to put aside the quiet hymn they selected and really play so as not to let the people down. He said they would improvise "When the Saints Come Marching In". Then he said in a loud voice "1-2-3 LET IT RIP!" (This is something he nor anyone else would ever say in that church, yet no one blinked an eye). Then my husband and the trumpet players began playing "When the Saints Come Marching In" as it has never been played before. The marvelous and incredible sounds they were making through their instruments was beyond belief. That church was rocking! What in the world could that dream mean?

THE REALITY The day before the dream the dreamer made a great breakthrough with her six year old son. She thought her relationship was on the brink of falling apart. The dreamer asked her husband to help mediate with her son because he had such a fantastic relationship with him. But he was too busy at that moment. She then decided to chat things through with him. Eventually she made a major breakthrough and he fell asleep in her arms.

DREAM MEANING The dream captures the following feeling within the dreamer - "I have had a major breakthrough with my young son. I seemed to be growing apart from him. But last night we had a good serious talk and we seem to have sorted everything out. He fell asleep in my arms. Now I get along with him in the same way my husband does"

THE INTERPRETATION The general rule with dreams is that if something major happens the day before then you interpret the dream on that basis. The dream has captured your thoughts and feelings on that. Its important to make some simple connections but in most cases the dream is best understood as your mind working through these new feelings.

One good connection here is the trombone. Dreams use associations and at that moment in time the trombone was highly associated with this incident. The dreamers husband was busy with his trombone at the time. Its not a great connection but its a connection.

Most importantly dreams capture emotions and changes in them. Here we can establish a perfect match and conclusive link to the real life event. The emotions in the dream perfectly match those in reality. The way the house is filled with joy perfectly captures the situation as it unfolded.

The dream also features music. Music often is highly symbolic and refers to how well people are getting along together. The music perfectly matches the progression of the dreamers relationship with her son that night. At the end they were bringing the house down.

The dream also features an extremely formal setting. That maybe matches the way in which the dreamer started off having a strict talk in which everyone had to listen even if they did not want to. Later on when tensions had eased this strict way of communicating was not so enforced. But when he was not willing to listen he was made to listen and to talk things through.

Also the dream takes place in the dreamers church. That is the home of her beliefs. Her son is been made to sit and listen - just as she was made to sit and listen without fidgeting in her childhood. He would hear what she had to say and take notice. That was the only way that she had to communicate with him. Actually during this whole episode he resisted talking. The dreamer asked her son if she could do anything. He cried back that nothing could be done - no one can do anything. So this dream captures the sense in which he had to be made to listen.

The other points in the dream also captures emotional feelings. The point when applause break out for no reason kind of matches the way the dreamer felt. She felt like applauding herself and her son. It was spontaneous. She felt like they both needed to be praised for what they had achieved in coming to a new understanding.

Symbolic Meanings
BEST FRIEND : "an ideal situation"
CHURCH : "a serious and committed belief - the dreamer reaffirms her commitment and belief in her son "
DRESSED : "best clothes - suggests the dreamer has shown a real effort and is taking something seriously"
MUSIC : "getting along well - establish a rapport with her son"
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DREAM TIP : Think of dream symbols as words or phrases such as churches can represent the word "belief". Then write down several quotes which capture the things that you have been thinking about recently and especially on the day before the dream such as "I honestly thought that my coworker was talking about me behind my back but now I know its not true", or "How should I approach the report I have to write?" , or "I have been trying to offer advice to my friend but she does not want to listen". Now look at those quotes and see where the word "belief" seem relevant. Try to establish similar connections for all the symbols.
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CONTACT : If there is a dream that you think you understand and do not mind sharing then please feel free to e-mail me at hairybobby2000@yahoo.co.uk - I would be glad to place it on the Internet here as a source to help other people understand dreams.