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What Your Dreams Can Teach You
By Alex Lukeman
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0871319438/healthtalk00/

Online Chat Event Hosted by Terri Ramacus 

EVENT INFO:

Alex Lukeman, author of "What Your Dreams Can Teach You" and "Beyond Blame," joins us for a serious discussion on dream interpretation. If you would like to understand what your dreams are really about, you won't want to miss this Chat conference. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Alex Lukeman has an in-depth background in psychology and a keen understanding of individual and group dynamics. He is a highly effective and skilled facilitator, expert at guiding people through the challenges which arise during times of change. He has over 20 years of hands on experience in personal counseling and group facilitation, and is an expert in the art of Dream Interpretation. 

Mr. Lukeman comes from an entrepreneurial background. He attended Dartmouth College and Boston University, focusing on psychology, language and the geo-political context. He is currently pursuing an independent Doctoral program in psychology. He has extensive experience conducting seminars, workshops and retreats designed to help clients discover and evoke their personal and organizational vision, and has spent years in private consultation practice with individual clients and select groups. Alex Lukeman is the author of "What Your Dreams Can Teach You," and "Beyond Blame: Reclaiming The Power You Give To Others."

CHAT TRANSCRIPT: 

Alex Lukeman: Hi folks, and thanks...Just a few comments before we get into the dreams,OK? 

Alex Lukeman: The biggest thing is to remember that you have something within you that knows what the dreams means... I call it the dreamer within. To get to it, you have to relax and shift your awareness to the place that can interpret dreams. Also, the symbols in the dreams are unique to you, personal to you, and you are the one who knows what they mean. Ok, lets go. Any dreams? 

Question: I had a dream that this young man named Alex that I know in college . . .Took a razor and made a neat one inch slice down his right wrist . . .But didn't bleed. That's when he said: "If you were to do this, you would bleed. I can do this because I'm already dead." What does that mean? 

Alex Lukeman: The first thing is to ask you what the person Alex means to you in real life. Real life images have symbolic meanings. tell me? 

Q: Well, I really like him. . .sort of a lot. But I can't have him because a very good friend of mine likes him and has for a while. Although I know that he doesn't like her. 

Alex Lukeman: blood is about life..your attraction to him isn't being returned, is it? 

Q: Well, he doesn't really know how I feel. 

Alex Lukeman: you seem to have cut yourself off from him because of the situation...if you let him know how you feel, what would happen? 

Q: I know that it wouldn't change our friendship, but I do know that if I told him and my female friend found out, she would want to murder me. She gets upset now with me just being friends with him. 

Alex Lukeman: I think you may need to back off and wait...not a great sign that he's dead in the dream and you're alive...cutting the wrists is like a sharing of the same life force, but he's dead and you're not...so you need to maybe think about looking elsewhere for a focus for sharing your life force with someone else. make sense? 

Question: Alex, a male friend had a dream about me.....I was a vampire (the blood-sucking kind).....and he was not at all upset about that... but he WAS upset by the fact that I "shared" him with other vampires. All the other vampires were women, no less 

Alex Lukeman: ok, another dream about blood and life force...always powerful to dream of vampires, who represent so many mythic and powerful images of immortality and death to our psyche... 

Q: He said that he liked it when I bit his neck and sucked his blood (gross). 

Alex Lukeman: he doesn't want to share his blood with anyone but you, right? 

Q: yes. He said that the dream was enjoyable until I started sharing him with other vampires 

Alex Lukeman: and he doesn't want you to share "vampire" stuff with anyone else, right? 

Q: right 

Alex Lukeman: is he jealous in real life? 

Q: BIG TIME 

Alex Lukeman: right. so your dream is just pointing out to you what you already know.. This guy wants you to be monagomous. Does it fit? 

Q: Yes, Alex. Thank you very much.... 

Question: I dreamed I was supposed to have surgery and on the way to the hospital, the car went off into a lake.....I struggled with my seatbelt, afraid I would drown...i have dreamed that I died drowning before. 

Alex Lukeman: A tough one...everyone should pay attention, we sometimes get stressful dreams like this. Surgery is to cut something out, go inside, remove something, right? 

Q: yes 

Alex Lukeman: so there must be something going on in your life when this dream took place, not so good...The car is the way you get through things , around in life, your "vehicle"... Now the car goes into the lake...lake = water...water = unconscious, unknown... the seatbelt holds you into the vehicle...you can't get out of it...does this feel like we're in the right area? 

Q: I was able to get out of the car before the water rose 

Alex Lukeman: oh, good...so that's a hopeful image, you are being told that you will be OK, you will not be submerged in the unconscious or whatever, just frightened silly by the kind of upset it represents. 

no kidding. Thanks for your input, alex 

Question: I often dream of snake trying to bite me (big and small) but some of them, am able to kill, some able to bite me, what does it mean 

Alex Lukeman: Freud would love this one...are you familiar with his ideas about snakes? 

Q: I know about him but no 

Alex Lukeman: ok, snakes are seen as phallic symbols...but its not that simple ...snakes are also about WISDOM so snakes can, in this dream, be about sex or about wisdom, sometimes they're not separate...what do you think they're about? 

Q: maybe sex or maybe wisdom 

Alex Lukeman: ok, so look around in your outer life and make a connection...if you're wary, trust your judgment and wait until you're sure. When it feels safe and nurturing, go for it. OK? 

Question: I dreamed that I lived in a house with Drapery adorning the patio in hues of yellow, navy, and white flowers. There were lots of plants inside the house and out. I knew it was home. There was this older lady sitting on the patio on a rocker. She was smiling and laughing... People and faded images... But it was warm and the inside meshed with the outside. There were plants and fabrics and chairs 

Alex Lukeman: a beautiful dream, I'll bet you felt good when you awoke? 

Alex Lukeman: what do you mean, the inside meshed with the outside...not clear 

I couldn't separate the two 

Alex Lukeman: the place that is like home is where you feel best, nurtured...the old lady---is she someone you know? 

: No she was a Stranger I awoke wondering what it meant 

Alex Lukeman: ok, so she most likely represents a part of you that is wise and mature, knows the score about life...the fabrics and signs and plants suggest a very complex mind and a sense of order...are you complex and orderly? 

Very. What does all that mean then? 

Alex Lukeman: so the dream is telling you that you must pay attention to your own nature, i.e., that you need to consciously appreciate something about the images of the dream, the old lady...is laughing at something...what? 

Does sound nurturing and actually those are the things in life I am working on.... Learning to nurture myself 

Alex Lukeman: I have to move on, but...I think that you are being shown an aspect of yourself which says that you need to appreciate and honor self. OK? 

Question: Hi Alex..I have had this dream for many years... I am small and at home... I have a puppy hidden in the back yard.. I can't let anyone know I have the puppy.. I have had the dream for 20 years.. when I have dreamt it I know it is a dream... I feed the puppy and then I wake up... for the last ten years I haven't had the dream.. I wonder why it stopped .. thank you 

Alex Lukeman: repetitive are very interesting, and mean that there is a message that you need to get... the psyche keeps repeating so you will understand. You may have stopped because 1.) you "got" whatever it was you needed to know/get or 2) you were not yet ready to integrate it so the psyche stopped for a while... 

I don't remember how I was feeling when the dream started it became a very comfortable dream tho 

Alex Lukeman: the puppy probably represents something in you that needs care and nurturing/support...you fed it, which is good...maybe you don't need to any more? 

ah ha thanks 

Alex Lukeman: by the way, folks...there are lots of major extras we could get into with each dream...this format demands a very quick hit and not an in-depth look. 

Question: I keep having this recurrent nightmare of being recalled to active duty (USN), usually always intertwined with a dreamed relapse episode. 

Alex Lukeman: were you in the navy, combat? 

navy, no combat 

Alex Lukeman: what does relapsed episode mean? 

in hostile fire areas.... 

Alex Lukeman: sounds like a warning dream because you are, perhaps, stressed out in outer life...too much to deal with., True? 

partially, but things seem to be in order. Sometimes, I dream that I've fallen out of a helo, but I am able to fly and float. 

Alex Lukeman: ok, so the navy represents external rules, boundaries, authority etc... you might be having some conflict with having to do things according to someone else's ideas. Yes or no? 

always 

Alex Lukeman: so when this nightmare comes up, it gets your attention and tells you to find a different way of looking at it, i.e., it's suggesting by implication that you acknowledge the stress of having to...do it by other's ways and that you can find a different way to look at it...drugs means you're getting caught in unconscious dynamics...make them conscious, OK? 

Question: I was at a school..(elementary)..I was about to enter when a man stopped me & asked"do you believe in God" yes , then "do you believe in Jesus" yes, then he let me entera long corridor of doors poorly lit all the doors were closed but behind them i knew was lots of blood and death 

Alex Lukeman: good dream...school is where we learn...where you will learn is through the interaction with God and Spirit 

Alex Lukeman: blood and death behind but learning and spirit before. 

Question: I have repletive type dreams of my mother, and being back in her house. Fish, boats, glass, & water are usually in them too in some form. I'm trying to save the fish or I'm asking someone if they want to travel in my boat on the clear lake or muddy rushing river. Maybe I've got too much on my mind? 

Alex Lukeman: two different kinds of trips...clear lake is calm and neat, but muddy rushing river is another story...you are facing a decision here about tow different paths...mother = first authority and first image ... of the feminine...this has to be about a choice that you are facing which involves something about the feminine and how it looks/acts in the world. Yes? 

My goodness, probably. You wouldn't happen to know what I should chose would you? 

Alex Lukeman: maybe too much on your mind, but i'd bet that the "too much" is about too many choices going one way or another 

I think you're right. Thank you. 

Alex Lukeman: muddy water isn't clear but it's probably a lot more exciting 

Question: I've had dreams where I'll be in a normal every day situation and all of a sudden, I'll be nude. At first, I feel somewhat defiant... and then I start to feel very self conscious. What's the deal? 

Alex Lukeman: this is a classic kind of dream...usually means we feel inadequate or unprepared, exposed...any challenges for you lately? 

yeah, i've taken on a leadership role. I guess that explains it, Thanks 

Alex Lukeman: ok, so that's enough to make anyone feel insecure. all the dram is saying is that you need to acknowledge that you feel this way and appreciate yourself while you are doing it 

Question: The only recurring dreams i've ever had are recent ones. Having dreams about Tornados. Had 4 or 5 now. Can't seem to find an interpretation anywhere. I would appreciate the help. 

Alex Lukeman: Tornados...VERY powerful.. did you see Twister?...a natural, unstoppable force. Are you upset about something, in outer life? 

no - did not see twister - not upset either 

Alex Lukeman: are you undergoing some inner struggle or are you feeling that your life is about to go out of control? 

the only thing i can think of is my pursuit of psychic development taking classes etc. 

Alex Lukeman: emotions are in this image...whirling...pursuing psychic development can literally open up the door to a maelstrom of thoughts,, feeling, energies...something's coming down the road for you and your best bet is to ride it out! 

Question: -3 nights in a row-i am watching my baby girls burning in a house not trying to save them, but i can feel my heart being crushed, i hear the firemen say they are dead 

Alex Lukeman: chased...feeling at effect of others, life situations...depends on YOUR life. I'm sorry you've had such a distressing dream...Baby girls represent something in you, not the actual girls themselves except as they are precious to you. So fire is transformational, consuming, terrifying...something must be making you fell really threatened. What is it? Something is urgent for you to understand, or you would not have this dream. anything else in the dream? 

threatened with the fact I could lose custody 

Alex Lukeman: yes, that's it!!! ok, you really do feel terrible about this. I have only one answer for things like this and that is prayer. Prayer works, if it comes from the heart. Just really get in touch with your deep love for your children and ask God to help you... sounds corny, but it works...you will be ok no matter what happens. So trust that it will work for the best and ask for help. I wish you well. 

****This concludes tonight's Chat conference***