There are thousands of symbols, and it depends upon the context of one's own personal dream as to what they all mean for him or her. Look at it this way: a dream is like a puzzle. Although there are several pieces that are quickly pieced together because they are so obvious, the puzzle isn't complete until all the pieces are placed together bit by bit. Then you have the complete picture. Until then, you'll only have disjointed images that don't add up to anything coherent, and you'll still be confused.
Dream Symbols: One Piece of the Puzzle
Symbols in dream interpretation are just one piece of the puzzle. Each piece or symbol fits together and makes a complete picture. The entire dream tells the story, not just one or two symbols picked out of it. Each individual will have different nuances affecting the dream, such as daily influences perhaps integrating into the dream.
Daily Influences on Dream Symbols
For example, let's say you saw a movie yesterday about a vicious grizzly bear, and it was frighteningly graphic. Then later that night, you dreamt about a bear. This would be less meaningful than if you suddenly had a dream about a bear one night, without prior influences. That could be entirely different.
Universal Meanings in Dream Interpretation
When interpreting dreams, the first thing everyone should consider is the typical universal meaning of the symbol or dream image. For instance, death symbolizes the end of something that's ready for change and a new beginning. Most people start out highly resistive to changes of any sort and see any upcoming change in their life as something foreboding and scary. Death dreams are usually about change.
See also: Puzzle, Change, Bear, Death.
[1]Although mind and body may be a total unity, and the separation in language merely a convenience, despite its unity, our being has a number of interacting systems. The action of the heart on the other systems is obvious, and the influence of emotions on the organs is also becoming evident. What is not so well established is the importance of the feedback occurring when we gain insight into our own functioning through understanding a dream.
Dreams and Self-Regulation
Although our being is already a self-regulating system, the ability to turn consciousness inwards to make clear aspects of unconscious function appears to increase the efficiency of self-regulation. This is shown in the first example of reptiles, lizards, and snakes, where David finds a long-standing neck pain and gains insight into its cause. In this way, we might be seen as a conscious organism which not only reprograms mental patterns or habits, but to some extent can also renovate or change body efficiency.
See also: Dream Analysis, Dream Processing, Reptiles, Snakes, Lizards.
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