As you probably know, dream signs are reoccurring elements of your dreams. They can be literally anything – from objects, people or situations to all sorts of other (more or less unusual) things that you stumble upon while dreaming. The problem is that we usually take things for granted so much that we don’t notice them no matter how crazy or obscure they may appear.
They can be divided into two groups: collective and personal dream signs.
Collective dream signs are the ones that appear in everybody’s dreams from time to time – i.e. malfunctioning electronic devices (mobile phones, lights, household appliances etc.), neglected or faulty public toilets, teeth falling out, being naked in a crowd or at a public place, being late for important meetings and similar nuisances. Personal dream signs are, on the other hand, the ones specific for each individual dreamer and your task is to look them up.
When searching for dream signs, pay special attention to
1) recurring elements of your dreams (things you often do, people or objects you often see, animals, events etc.),
2) things that are not possible in waking life (objects changing shape, appearances of ghosts, spirits or other unusual beings, “superpowers” like flying, breathing under water, walking through walls, being super-fast or super-strong etc.) and
3) places and locations you often dream of (note that there are places in dreaming that you can’t find in waking reality, yet you can still visit time and time again in your dreams).
The easiest way to begin with when searching for dream signs is to start looking for the collective dream signs first. They are almost certainly to appear in your dreams sooner or later and besides that you will begin to notice other reoccurring elements as well while reading and re-reading your journals. Once you recognize them and write them down, your task is to try and recognize them in waking world. In order to do so, you’ll have to pay attention to as many things as possible about what’s going on around you. By doing so, you’ll have to be in a state of heightened awareness which is also a great practice for your dreaming.
Whenever you recognize a dream sign (be it in waking life or in your dreams), make it a habit to do a reality check.
Reality checks are dreaming maneuvers to see whether or not you are dreaming at the time of testing. It is quite simple, really – just stop for a moment, drop everything you were doing and take time to look around yourself carefully if there is anything out of the ordinary. I find it best to perform a reality check in situations that happen to me regularly – i.e. when I enter a room, when I wash my hands, flip a switch and alike. After some time of testing reality in your waking life the maneuver will sink into our subconscious mind and you will begin to perform it while dreaming. And that’s exactly what you want to achieve. 🙂
Even though reality checks do increase your chance of becoming aware within a dream, it may happen that you fail to recognize your surroundings as a part of your dream world. To avoid such failures it is best to use a combination of two or more different tests at the same time.
But whatever you do and however you do it – never forget to have fun! 🙂
Until next time – happy dreaming!