Something strange has been happening since I started this project. For the last three nights I have had nightly vivid dreams. I do dream often, but it’s usually only once or twice a week. So in today’s post, I’m sharing how I approached interpreting a dream I had last night. Get ready for things to be extra weird 🙂

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100 Liminal Days is an experimental project of embracing my current transitional season after exiting my business by sharing an honest, real-time account of my self-initiation experience in daily posts. I’m sending shorter weekly recaps only via my newsletter. Visit Day 1/100 to learn more and sign up in the footer of this page to get the weekly recaps delivered to your inbox.

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First, I’d like to share some context to what I mean by dream interpretation and why I consider this an important tool as I embark on this journey. Using the guide created by Robert A. Johnson in his 1989 book, Inner Work, dream interpretation can be a way to deeply understand our own psyche and to identify blindspots in our waking life. I’ll outline the step-by-step process in this post, but first, let’s clarify what is not meant by dream interpretation.

True dream interpretation is not using a dream dictionary, and it is not googling “what does my dream mean?”.

Seriously, throw out those books and do not read those web pages that Google is serving up. Those sites are designed to just make money from ads and will not bring you any closer to understanding yourself better.

Learning to Interpret My Dreams

Last summer, I first learned about the practice of interpreting dreams from being in The Dharma Artist Collective. At first, the way I was doing it was by using a custom ChatGPT one of the members had created based on Johnson’s method. Designed to ask you questions to help you interpret your own dreams, this GPT did a pretty good job. I didn’t know anything about dream interpretation, but as I followed the five step process the GPT guided me through, I found myself amazed with what was coming out of the process.

Then more recently, Erick Godsey launched his own custom GPT programmed with Johnson’s method called GodseysDreams, mostly because the previous one wasn’t set up with enough information to keep it true to the process. This new GPT is much better, but truthfully, like everything else delegated to AI, nothing beats doing the work yourself.

In the Mentally Fit class, we learned how to do the interpretations ourselves because dream interpretation is a very personal process, and the results of doing this without the AI tool have been exponentially more powerful for me. (Important note: Godsey created the AI only to make this more accessible and better than the initial student-made GPT that was floating around the DAC, but he highly recommends doing this yourself.)

Robert A. Johnson’s Dream Interpretation Step-by-Step Process

This process is from Johnson, but I want to give Erick Godsey credit for teaching it to me. I haven’t read Inner Work yet, but what I’m sharing here was part of the Mentally Fit class I just finished. If you are interested in enrolling in the final MF class ever being offered by Godsey, it starts October 7th. Message me if you want in.

Every dream is trying to communicate to you. No dream is too little to get something beautiful from it, and your dreams can help you discover parts of you. Even nightmares are trying to bring your attention to something you need to look at in your life. There are no “bad” dreams.

It’s also important to note that no dream means just one thing. You can revisit old dreams and redo the process to extrapolate new information that is relevant for your current season.

And lastly – and most importantly – 99.99999% of your dreams are symbolic, not literal. If you dream of an apocalypse, you are not a prophet predicting the end times. Your dreams are always about you. (Don’t ask about the .00001% chance that they are literal. That’s over my head, but just know that your dreams are essentially never going to have literal interpretations.)

Dreams are symbolic, not signs. A sign is literal communication – think of a stop sign. A stop sign means only one thing. Humans place stop signs at intersections so other humans know to stop there.

A symbol can be interpreted various ways. So get used to using the language correctly so you remember that a symbol can represent something. We don’t say, “this dream means…” We say, “this dream may be trying to tell me…” So let’s get into it.

Step 1: Catch It Alive

This step is the most important step to do as soon as you wake up from the dream – write or dictate the dream in first person as if it is happening right now.

I’ve created a free Dream Lab Notion template which is the exact template I use to document and store my dreams and their interpretations. Feel free to copy it and use it!

However, I’ve found a couple of challenges with capturing my dreams.

1. Waking up in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning and dictating a dream when your partner is sleeping next to you isn’t ideal.
2. Grabbing my phone before I even get out of bed is counteractive to my goal to reduce screen time, especially in the mornings.

Of course, you could use a small reading light and handwrite the dream into a paper journal if you prefer, but I like having my dreams in digital format so I can reference and search more easily.

That said, I type my dreams into Notion when Emily is home, and when she’s gone, I use the voice-to-text button in Notion to just rattle off the dream quickly before I get up. And I really try to do this before I even sit up in bed. When I wake up, I lay there for a moment and ask myself if I remember any dreams and document as soon as I can.

Sometimes, like today, I didn’t remember my dreams until I was doing a specific thing that reminded me of a part of a dream. So I wrote it out later in the morning.

Help Remembering Your Dreams

If you have trouble remembering your dreams, you are not alone. A lot of people say they can’t remember their dreams. A few quick things Godsey recommends to try if you want to remember more dreams:

• Pray before bed and ask for a dream. If you don’t have a Higher Power to pray to, just direct your request to the dreamer within you.
• Avoid alcohol or cannabis at least 4 hours before bed.
• Read fiction before bed to activate your imagination.
• And if all else fails, drink a lot of water right before bed so you wake up in the night to go to the bathroom. (You might only dream about needing to pee at first, but it’s worth a try if you really want to dream!)

Step 2: Image Symbolism

For this step, list the key images from your dream. Then, spending time with each dream image separately, write down the first spontaneous thought – the symbol that comes to mind.

You’ll go back to each dream image again, three to four times.

It’s important not to string symbols from the previous symbolism. For each round, bring the actual dream image to mind and see what your first spontaneous thought is. Write down the symbol. Then bring the original dream image to mind and do it again. You’ll do this at least three times, but oftentimes, the fourth try brings the one we’re looking for.

After you’ve done this for each dream image 3-4 times, highlight the one that surprises you or startles you.

Step 3: Associations

Now that we have the symbolism for each dream image, we are looking to identify what part of ourselves each image/symbol represents in us. This is why a dream dictionary isn’t going to work for you. Everyone is different. Every person isn’t going to say the same symbol for each dream image either. The goal is to understand what part of ourselves these symbols represent.

A word of caution: people you know who appear in your dreams are not representative of that actual person. Those people are symbolic of a part of YOU. So, if you dream that your partner cheated on you, it’s not about your partner and probably not even about your relationship. It’s about a part of YOU that is betraying your truest self.

Step 4: Interpretation – The Click

Next, is the actual interpretation. Now that you have these symbols and you have determined what part of you each one is symbolizing, you are ready to listen.

What is this dream trying to tell you right now?

Sit with the dream and ask yourself this question. I’ll admit that sometimes it may still feel confusing, especially if a dream was long and had a lot of symbols. But usually, by the time you get to this step you can interpret the dream. The interpretation should be simple and something you can state in one to a few sentences. The first time I interpreted my dream on my own using this process, I was looking at the symbols and associations and at first it looked like another language. But as I sat with it and continued to ask the question internally, suddenly, “the click” happened. I could see what this dream was telling me because I started crying. The tears came because it pointed out a fear within me that I didn’t realize was there. It was powerful and gave me something new to work through in my waking life.

Step 5: The Ritual – KISSS

This is a step you might be tempted to skip after you understand the dream’s message, but this step will help you remember more dreams and maybe even create some fun synchronicities in your life. The final step is to perform a small act to let your dreamer know you are listening.

KISSS means to keep it Simple, Subtle, and Solitary. Do it alone and don’t over think it – think of it as a quick little nod versus a grand gesture. For example, the night before I preached my first sermon at The Vine Austin, I dreamt that I was not prepared and showed up to church wearing this silly T-shirt I have that has a face of a big cat wearing red glasses and it says “Meow We’re Talkin'” in big red text. My ritual for that dream interpretation was to wear this T-shirt at home before I got dressed for church.

Last Night’s Dream and Interpretation

Okay, I’ve spent most of this post teaching the dream interpretation process, but I’d still like to share the dream I had because it is relevant to this project. (As one might expect after dreaming three nights in a row immediately after starting a big self-initiation!) This also might help you to see the process in action.

Step 1: Catch it Alive

(The dream written in first person)

There is a lot more to this dream that I have already forgotten but there is one part I remembered when I was marking the moon phase in my daily tracker.

I have been at a gathering of some kind – I think maybe for my Dad’s baptism which I’ve been planning IRL. It’s toward the end of the event (the parts I don’t remember came before this) and most people have already left, but a few are cleaning up and I’m helping.

I am in a kitchen at the end of a long hallway and I poke my head out around and down the hallway. I see a little blonde girl at the end of the hallway, and my immediate reaction is to hide back in the kitchen because the party is over and I get the sense she wants something.

Then the girl is at the doorway of the kitchen and I can’t avoid her. She asks me for ice cream. I tell her I’ll see if there is anymore, and I ask another woman washing dishes in the kitchen if we have anymore ice cream. She says yes and points me to the freezer.

I dish out a serving of ice cream, and as I’m giving it to the little girl, we are now outside during the daytime. She is looking at the moon, and I feel compassion or love for her as I’m handing her the ice cream. I tell her, “that moon is waxing gibbous” as she looks at it in awe, holding her ice cream.

For some reason I am tearing up as I write this…I will interpret this one today.

Step 2: Image Symbolism

(First spontaneous thoughts for each symbol in the dream; 3-4 rounds; highlight the one that surprises/startles)

• Kitchen – Comfort, Nourishment, Family, Connection
• Little Girl – Inner Child, Me, Innocence, Curious, Learner
• Woman Washing Dishes – Mom, Motherly Figure/Archetype, Care Giver, Helper
• Ice Cream – Favorite Treat, Joy, Sugar, Pleasure
• Waxing Gibbous Moon – Daytime Moon, My Favorite Phase of the Moon, Awe and Wonder, Preparation

Step 3: Associations

(What part of me do each of these symbols represent?)

• Kitchen/Nourishment – The space I am creating for myself through this self initiation
• Little Girl/Learner – The part of me that is curious and untainted by the worries of the world. The innocent part that just loves being a child and exploring and wondering about everything. My inner artist.
• Woman Washing Dishes/Mother – The part of me that has committed to nurturing this little girl who is the inner child artist.
• Ice Cream/Pleasure – The part of me that just wants to be a child and enjoy the pleasures of life. Or maybe ice cream represents the feeling of embodying this childlike spirit. Yes, that’s it.
• Waxing Gibbous Moon/Preparation – [I don’t know why I keep crying about the moon. This part makes me cry each time I look at it.] The waxing gibbous stage is the one before the full moon and is the current stage of the moon right now. The moon’s light is increasing, representing growth, building momentum, and taking action. This is representative of this process of 100 Liminal Days.

An Extra Optional Step: Active Imagination

Because I kept tearing up when I wrote about this dream, I knew it held something significant for me. There is an additional process in Jungian psychology called “active imagination” that you can also do with your dreams, and at this step, I tried it. I won’t write out the details, but to do this, I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. Then I simply imagined myself back in the dream.

Instead of watching the dream like a movie, I changed the story by imagining myself first going to the little girl and having a new conversation with her. I asked her why she visited me, why she asked for ice cream after the party was over instead of during the celebration, and if she had anything else she wanted me to know. I imagined hugging her and telling her goodbye, and then I took her ice cream bowl and spoon to the woman at the sink washing dishes. I had another conversation with the Mother figure and asked her similar questions about why she was here and what else did she want me to know.

In both conversations, I just let my imagination flow. Both of my dream characters had more to say, and it helped me further understand what the dream was trying to show me.

Step 4: The Interpretation

(What is this dream telling me right now?)

 Here’s what clicked for me as a possible interpretation of the dream:

I must not stop this project until it is complete. I will want to stop and it will be hard at times, but to heal my inner artist, I must integrate this entire process. I am in a preparation time, and fulfillment is coming soon – not only at the end of the 100 days, but sooner. With it comes healing. Be gentle with myself when challenges come.

Step 5: The Ritual

(What will I do to show the dreamer I am listening?)

I will eat ice cream under the waxing gibbous moon tonight. (Just a little.) Sunday brings the Full Corn Moon – signifying a season of harvest. I will trust that a feast is coming.

Wrapping Up

Interpreting my dreams is not for entertainment (even though it’s fascinating!) It’s to provide insight on my blindspots and create opportunities to guide my inner work with more intention. What I notice about this dream in terms of the blindspot it’s calling my attention to is that I need to be prepared for resistance through this project, but remember that following through with the full commitment is how I integrate this process into my real, every day life. The first few days of this have been exciting to me and I am enjoying the unfolding that is happening as I write. But I appreciate the chance to keep going with my eyes wide open, knowing that I will encounter some challenges as the days go on.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, dreams are not meant to be viewed as signs with literal meaning. They are symbols to help me understand myself, my inner world. This dream is showing me that I already know this won’t be easy but if I do the thing I set out to do, healing will come through the process day by day. When I encounter those challenges, I’ll go back to the “kitchen” where nourishment can restore me. I will be gentle with myself in this process.

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