“In each of us there is another whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves. When, therefore, we find ourselves in a difficult situation to which there is no solution, he can sometimes kindle a light that radically alters our attitude – the very attitude that led us into the difficult situation.”

C.G. Jung

Dreams have always fascinated us and invited us to wonder about their meaning. Ancient cultures revered dreams as messages from the gods — we’ve always intuited that dreams come from a realm beyond and contain profound insights. When we wake from a dream perplexed, relieved, shaken, or amused, we know we have had an encounter with something essentially other. But what do they mean?

Most modern schools of dreamwork follow the theories pioneered by C. G. Jung. Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist who collaborated with Sigmund Freud in the first decade of the 20^th century and later went on to establish his own school of psychology. If you’ve heard the terms “shadow,” “synchronicity,” “introvert,” “archetype,” or “collective unconscious,” then you are already at least a little familiar with his theories. Jung’s focus on dreamwork as a tool for psychospiritual development coupled with his rigorous approach created a way of engaging dreams that is both practical and profound and has continued to be vitally relevant.

Like Freud, Jung believed that dreams come from the unconscious. He felt they communicated unique perspectives that can move us forward, get us unstuck, and help us grow. Dreams contain the wisdom of the unconscious and they nudge us nightly toward our unfolding into the fullest version of ourselves. There is a catch, however. The dream maker doesn’t have access to the directed thinking of consciousness. It communicates in symbol, image, metaphor, and emotion. Learning the language of dreams takes practice, but it’s a skill that can yield rich dividends. There are several steps you can take to extend yourself to the dream maker so that you can begin to understand its messages.

1. Write Your Dreams Down Each Morning

Dreams tend to evaporate quickly. You’ll have the best chance of remembering the dream if you write it down as soon as you wake up. Get a dedicated dream journal and keep it by your bed. Recording dreams each morning is also likely to improve dream recall – you may begin remembering many more dreams if you take this practice seriously.

When you’re in the habit of writing your dreams down, you can begin to work with them. Interpreting dreams requires considering the images from a variety of different perspectives. Let’s look at how this works using a dream.

Peter was a physician in his 50’s. After a long career, he felt burnt out and disillusioned. Beginning in adolescence, he had worked hard to get into a good college, then into medical school, then to make it through residency, and then to be a good doctor. Now, all that effort seemed a bit empty. What could give his life direction and meaning when there was no longer a clear goal? Around this time, he had the following dream:

The Gold Watch

I’m holding my gold watch and notice that one of the tiny screws has come out. While I try to find it, several other pieces of the watch fall off and I realize I will need to take it to a watchmaker. There are two old men who fix watches. They have set up their shop in a hotel room. They are irascible and taciturn. They look at the watch and tell me that it’s a cheap movement and not worth fixing. I point out that the case is made of gold. They tell me that it’s just gold plate. I point out to them the 14- karat stamp, but they tell me that is only true of a small part. Most of it is just gold plate. They hand me my watch back in many pieces. The crystal is cracked, and it wasn’t before I brought it in. I complain to them that they cracked the crystal, but they insist I gave it to them like that. I am leaving with it in a plastic bag, upset that my watch is in pieces and that they don’t understand its value.

2. Begin by Gathering Associations

Jung was clear that dreams cannot be understood without the associations of the dreamer. Dream dictionaries provide set meanings for common dream symbols, but these do not take into account the personal significance that any given element might have. What matters is what the image means to you. Therefore, begin working with your dream by making a list of key dream elements, and then note the memories, feelings, and associations connected with each one. You’re looking for the essence of the person or thing, so there’s no need for a lengthy list. A few short sentences that feel emotionally resonant will usually suffice.

In his dream of the watchmakers, Peter listed “watch,” “watchmaker,” and “plastic bag.” Peter noted that the watch in the dream was one that he purchased for himself with money his grandparents gave him after he graduated from college and was headed to medical school. His grandparents had been children of immigrants and had longed to have a child or grandchild become a physician. Peter had finally fulfilled this dream. The watch was an image of the culmination of several generations of striving and ambition. It represented academic and professional achievement, the values he had inherited from his family and that had guided him through the first half of life. He went on to note that the irascible watchmakers reminded him of a man who owned a jewelry and watch repair shop that he sometimes went to. He didn’t trust the man and felt that he overcharged for his work. Finally, Peter stated that he frequently used plastic bags for storage of food and other inexpensive items. They helped him stay organized.

3. Try To Find the New Perspective Being Offered

It is difficult to interpret our own dreams because the dream maker has a very different view of things than our conscious mind does. It might tell us something we would never have considered on our own. It might even tell us something that is hard for us to hear because it challenges cherished assumptions. Dreams will always tell us something we don’t know – or don’t want to know. Peter woke from the dream and felt certain that it related to a recent interaction at work where he felt that others were trying to take advantage of him. The dream seemed to portray a familiar story of being unseen and undervalued, and didn’t bring anything new to conscious understanding. If we wake from a dream and think we already know what it means as Peter did, we can be pretty sure that we haven’t received the dream’s message.

We tend to “side” with the plight of the dream ego – the I in the dream. Peter was very unhappy with the watchmakers when he woke up and considered this dream. However, dreams invite us to consider wildly different perspectives. For this reason, one of the best ways to get started with a dream is to ask yourself, what if the attitudes and assumptions of the “I” in the dream – the dream ego – is wrong?

Waking Peter was just as upset with the watchmakers as dream ego Peter had been in the dream, but he asked himself the question, what if “I” was wrong in the dream and the watchmakers were right? Then he could see that the watchmakers were telling him that the watch – something that he had cherished and believed to be of great value – was worthless. It had fallen into pieces and wasn’t even worth reassembling. The values that had served Peter so well during the first half of life – symbolized by the watch – were now worthless. As he neared retirement, it was time to orient to life in a new way.

4. Assume the dream is about the inner world

Dreams usually comment on things in our inner world. They point out a faulty attitude or draw attention to ways we are deceiving ourselves. We often initially respond to dreams as if they were about the outer world. Peter felt angry with the two watchmakers in the dream and assumed the message was about those in his outer life who had tried to deny or fleece him, such as the man who owned the watch repair shop. But the dream was opining on the state of inner affairs, letting him know he was clinging to values that had outlived their usefulness.

When we look at dreams this way, we assume that all elements in the dream are part of us.The watchmakers are a part of Peter’s psyche, albeit an unconscious aspect he doesn’t know very well. This is usually true even when we dream of people known to us. Most of the time, friends, colleagues, and family members represent aspects of ourselves. Dreams do occasionally comment on dynamics in outer world relationships. If we dream of someone close to us who is part of our daily life and that person appears in a realistic manner, the dream may be alerting us to something going on in that relationship of which we are unaware. Even so, these dreams likely show us something about ourselves – how we are behaving, or perhaps what we are not seeing. Most of the time, however, dreams concern themselves with inner reality.

5. Note Any Universal Themes

Jung developed the idea of “archetypes” or psychic universals to help understand why powerful images turn up repeatedly in world religions, myths – and in our dreams. For example, the archetype of the wise old man shows up fairy tales and other mythic stories. Think of Gandalf, Dumbledore, or Merlin. In this dream, the watchmakers might be considered examples of the wise old man archetype – albeit cranky ones. The dreamer doesn’t want to hear their message, but their perspective is wiser than his. There are numerous archetypal motifs that can turn up in dreams – the lover, the trickster, death and rebirth, the mother, the test, and many more.

6. Notice images of shadow in dreams

Jung coined the term “shadow” to describe those parts of ourselves that have been deemed unacceptable. He defined shadow as all those things we don’t want to be. Jung noted that the shadow often shows up in dreams as a person who is the same sex as the dreamer. Siblings, friends, and coworkers may play this role in our dreams. They often represent values that may have been excluded from consciousness. A woman in midlife who had struggled professionally dreamt that she was in a car driven by her sister. The car careened dangerously through city streets at high speeds. When the dreamer examined the dream, she identified that her sister – who in waking life was professionally successful and achievement oriented – was an image of her shadow, her split-off and unacknowledged ambition. The dream let her know that her unrecognized “drive” was showing up in her life in potentially dangerous ways.

7. Look for the Arc of the Story

Like many dreams, Peter’s watchmaker dream is a story with a beginning, middle, and an end. Jung noted that such dreams have a structure very similar to classical drama, with an exposition, climax, and resolution. Paying attention to how the dream drama unfolds can help you note patterns and dynamics. Peter’s dream begins with a realization – a tiny screw has come out of his watch. As the drama develops, attempts to retrieve the screw result in further damage to the timepiece. Finally, Peter recognizes that the problem is beyond his ability to repair. The dream reaches its climax when the two watchmakers deliver their assessment – the watch is not worth fixing. The unsatisfying resolution to the dream reveals that Peter’s precious watch has fallen apart. Noting the development of the action over the course of the dream highlights Peter’s initial hopes and contrasts those with his disappointment at the end.

8. Pay Attention to Emotions

Many dreams grab our attention because they elicit powerful feelings. Upon awakening from the watchmaker dream, Peter felt irritated and disappointed just as he had in the dream. He was upset! In dreams, we may be angry, joyful, excited, or of course scared. Noting dream feelings can give us a clue as to the dream’s meaning. Positive emotions in dreams can generally be taken at face value. If we feel happiness, calm, or enjoyment, it is usually the case that the dream is presenting a positive development in the inner world. Aversive feelings such as anger, disgust, or fear often show us how we might be resisting growth and signal that we need to find a new attitude in waking life. Peter’s anger at the watchmakers revealed his resistance to letting go of the values represented by the watch.

9. Look for references to past, present and future

Dreams can feature images from our past and present mixed together in ways that are surprising or nonsensical. Peter’s dream referenced an important moment in his past – when he was graduating from college and fulfilling the hopes of his immigrant ancestors. The dream contrasts the attitude of this earlier moment and that of his current situation. Because dreams concern themselves with our psychological growth, they are always prodding us toward our future. The dream is saying, this outlook from an earlier time no longer fits. Something else is called for as you move into this next stage of life.

Jung felt that one of the important functions of dreams was alerting us to possible future potentials. Dreams have access to the vast amount of information we absorb each day below the threshold of conscious awareness. They can sometimes make use of this to indicate probable outcomes and can therefore provide a warning when we are headed in the wrong direction.

10. Explore images of anima and animus

Opposite sex others often occupy a special place in dreams. They may appear as mysterious and alluring romantic or sexual partners, or persecutors and tormentors. Jung posited that we each contain elements corresponding to the psychological principles of masculine and feminine. The psyche uses the image of our inner opposite to depict our unrealized potential.

A woman who had completed her doctoral dissertation and was feeling a profound sense of accomplishment dreamt of going to a party where she met a male friend. The meeting was full of mutual delight. They embraced and she sat on his lap. In waking life, the dreamer’s friend was a soulful, artistic person. The dream showed an inner union with her creative potential that amplified and celebrated her recent achievement.

11. Note whether there are transpersonal themes

Sometimes dreams contain imagery related to the transpersonal center of the psyche that Jung referred to as the Self. The Self is the deep part of us that has an awareness of our destiny. There is a timeless quality about the Self and a sense that it holds a much broader perspective on our life than waking consciousness. Jung once noted that we could call the Self “the god within.” Experiences of the Self are always tinged with awe, but they are not always positive. The Self may show up in dreams as a majestic or terrifying animal, a divine child, or even a religious figure.

When Peter worked with this dream, he recalled the metaphor of God as a watchmaker – the deity who created an infinitely complex universe and then stood back to let it run. The analogy implies a God removed from his creation, one who does not concern himself with individual suffering. This image possibly echoed Peter’s sense of desolation at facing the last third of his life unmoored from the values that had given him structure and meaning until now.

12. Look For the “Click”

No one can know if an interpretation is correct other than the dreamer. As you work with your dream, a sense of its meaning may bring about a subtle bodily shift, an “aha!” experience of meaning opening, or even a release of emotion, positive or negative.

Dream interpretation builds a relationship with the dream maker, our inner companion. When we have this relationship, we are never alone. The dream maker will faithfully show us when we are off course, point out where we are deceiving ourselves, and provide comfort when we are heartsick. Peter’s dream encouraged him to let go of the old attitude so that he could embrace a new perspective. In the months that followed, he stepped back from his work to have more free time, something he never would have done when he was younger. He found that he savored this new outlook on life. He took up new hobbies and felt more relaxed and joyful than he had in many years.

The wisdom of your dreams is a resource that is always available to you. With commitment and attention, soulful conversations with the dream maker a

No one can know if an interpretation is correct other than the dreamer. As you work with the dream, a sense of its meaning may bring about a subtle bodily shift, an “aha!” experience of meaning opening up, or even a release of emotion, positive or negative.

Dream interpretation builds a relationship with the dream maker, our inner companion. When we have this relationship, we are never alone. The dream maker will faithfully show us when we are off course, point out where we are deceiving ourselves, and provide comfort when we are heartsick. Peter’s dream encouraged him to let go of the old attitude so that he could embrace a new perspective. In the months that followed, he stepped back from his work to have more free time, something he never would have done when he was younger. He found that he savored this new outlook on life. He took up new hobbies and felt more relaxed and joyful than he had in many years.

The wisdom of your dreams is a resource that is always available to you. With commitment and attention, soulful conversations with the dream maker can offer guidance and creative possibilities.

An abbreviated version of this post was published at Psychology Today.