Often times I get these reactions when I say that I interpret dreams: “oh, I don’t believe that dreams can tell the future, they are just non-sense of the mind”. Other times I get a very different response: “really? I love dreams!”, and they start sharing the one dream that stayed in their memory for life. Why such different reactions? Although they both refer to Dreams, they are talking about different things. The first one is talking about the dream as a crystal ball and they see the interpreter as a fortune-teller, while the second one believes dreams come from their own mind and they see the interpreter as an analyst.
Both these ways are best explained by the Kabbalah in Judaism. When the ancient kabbalists explored the mystic world, they referred to it as “entering the Garden”. Garden in Hebrew is called PaRDeS*1 They used the word Pardes, Garden, both as a metaphor and as an acronym for the 4 levels of depth in which they would understand this wisdom.
P Pshat it means simple and refers to the subject in a direct or superficial manner.
R ReMeZ it’s used to say something indirectly, alluding to it through something else.
D DRaSH is a whole story or metaphor that needs study to understand it in depth.
S Sod it means secret and refers to the hidden or unknown knowledge.
The first group of people above, are reacting to the Pshat and Sod approaches to Dreams, while the second group are responding to their Remez and Drash. The first group is saying that in a superficial level the dreams make no sense. And they are right, dreams don’t make literal sense. However, even on this simple approach we can find direct relations from the dream to something that happened to the person in waking life, a movie they watched or a person they recently saw.
This simple level is not to discard as it can bring a crucial layer of information to the analysis. Yet, we shouldn’t feel satisfied on this level either, even when it already brings light to some questions, because there is always more to find in the dream when we are open to search. The first group of people above, when they say they don’t believe dreams can tell the future, they are also referring to the Sod level of understanding dreams, the one that acknowledges, or denies, the secret aspect of it. This level refers to prophesy, it claims that something in the dream talks about some events that may happen in the future. We find these dreams in the Bible and some sages’ stories. Dr. Robert Lefever, like many others in the field, regrets that great confusion comes from Joseph’s dreams and his predicting interpretations, and that we should ignore this level of interpretation, not believing it even exists. Can dreams tell the future? now a days? to regular people like us? Over and over we encounter dreamers that report synchronicities from their dreams to their waking lives, some in small details, some with life changing events. We can’t discard these ones either simply ignoring that they occur. It is important for those of us that have experienced this kind of synchronicities, to be heard and understood. To be reaffirmed that we are not alone in these experiences, and that they are not an invention of our minds. This secret level is the most profound and deep that a dream can have, but the vast majority of the dreams don’t even have such a layer. They simply have no meaning whatsoever in relation to the future. They only relate to the past. Regardless how hard the dreamer wants to find such meaning, they simply lack it. Fortunately, I must add. I have personally experienced these dreams both when the synchronicity was a very pleasant one, and when it was a tragic one, and although I wrote that dream down and analyzed it with my therapist thoroughly, I couldn’t foresee the tragic event only until after it happened, and the connected dots were evident. Unlike many like Dr. Robert Lefever, I know that very few dreams have hints of the future, I know they are very exciting when the synchronicities are favorable, and they are extremely disturbing when they are fatal. But they exist. I also know that, just like Joseph in the Bible “was told” the meaning of Pharos’s dreams along with the dream itself, we have no way to figure out the meaning of a dream at this secret level by analyzing it like we do in the 3 levels prior. Instead, we have to “receive it” like Joseph did. Either we know it or we don’t. If after seconds of being asked, the dreamer doesn’t respond with its meaning related to the future, it’s because the dreamer didn’t receive it, and neither did the analyst. All further efforts made to understand the dream are in the first 3 categories and cannot cross that line. The last one remains a secret, unknown to us, for good.
My approach to dream analysis is to assume that the dream presented to me, like the vast majority, lacks a meaning in the secret level, therefore I don’t even go there. This is the best way I can assist with a meaningful interpretation. I listen to all the dreamer has to say, including those who suspect their dream is predictive or have evidence of it. Having said that, those who are expecting a fortune telling approach from the analysis should not contact me, since they will not get that.
On the other group, we had those that responded to the subject of dreams with a self-exploration approach, interested, already understanding there is much to get from their analysis. This group is eager to dive in the symbolism and metaphors their minds bring to the surface during the dream state. They are the ones ready to walk into their garden, and I am excited to escort them.
*1 The vowels in low case letters are for pronunciation only, but they are not a part of the letters of the Hebrew word.