Knowing How To Interpret Dreams

Should we bother taking the time to interpret dreams? Are there any hidden truths for us? Can dreams come true? Or are they just picture shows that occur as the mind sorts through the plethora of sensory information we feed it constantly?

Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, seems to think that the most powerful dream symbol is the one that matches our preexisting beliefs, but regardless, people around the world believe their dreams have some kind of meaning.

In another dream research study, 270 men and women from across the U.S. were asked how they interpret dreams about people they know. Study participants ascribed the most importance to pleasant dreams about people they liked. If they have pleasant dreams about people they did not like, they chalked it up to randomness.

Similarly, unpleasant dreams about people they disliked were given more weight than unpleasant dreams about people they liked. "In other words," said Morewedge, "people attribute meaning to dreams when it corresponds with their pre-existing beliefs and desires."

Behavioral psychologist Deirdre Barrett, PhD from Harvard Medical School has been studying dream phenomena and how people interpret dreams for more than a decade.

"Many of our waking thoughts are really trivial and repetitive and some are profound and meaningful. I think dreams are the same way. Some may reveal hidden truths, but some are just noise," she concludes. Her research suggests that people use dream time as an opportunity for problem solving.

In one study, she asked students to think about a homework or personal problem they needed to solve as they drifted off to sleep. First thing in the morning, she asked them to remember dreams and write them down as soon as they woke up in the morning.

After a week, half the students reported they dreamed about the problem and half of those students arrived at a solution for the problem.

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Emotions And Emotional Fulfillment Inspire The Meaning Of Dreams

Scientifically speaking, dreaming occurs during the REM (rapid eye movement) phase of sleep, which occurs approximately every 90 minutes during sleep. This state of sleep is also found in fetuses and hypnotized patients. It's believed that the average person spends as much as two hours each night in the deep world of dreams.

However, people who are extremely depressed or stressed may spend six hours or more dreaming each night. So how does one find the meaning of dreams? Is there any scientific dream analysis or research being done to help us interpret the meaning of these vivid, surreal experiences?

Psychologist Dr. Joseph Griffin PhD discovered that the meaning of dreams is particularly inspired by emotions and emotional fulfillment. For example, if you became angry with your spouse, shouted at him and then made up, then the "emotional expectation" was played out.

Therefore, you are unlikely to continue to dream about this conflict. However, if you were upset with your boss at work, but you had to repress your feelings for fear of losing your job, then you will suffer an emotional build-up with no outlet -- besides your dream world.

Later that night, you will likely dream out a metaphorical scenario that releases the dam of emotions, completes the emotional circuit, and leaves your brain fresh for the following day. "Dreaming is like an emotional flush system," Dr. Griffin summarizes.

It's tempting to try to dissect every dream symbol we encounter and ponder the pieces. However, it's possible that time to dream is simply necessary to refresh the body and mind for the next day.

"One thing to consider is that dreams are physiological events that involve not just the brain but, to a varying degree, the whole body, though generally not our voluntary muscles," says Craig Webb, executive director of the DREAMS Foundation, a non-profit organization in Montreal.

He explains that the meaning of dreams is sometimes just to help us on a physiological level to "rebalance body and brain chemistry, but without necessarily offering a lot of insights at an interpretive level."

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Looking For Meaning With Dream Interpretations

In the ancient worlds, indigenous people believed in the power of dreams as a symbolic way of interpreting their world. Religious texts tell of individuals who received prophecies in their dreams that changed the course of their lives.

Many people in the modern world would like to derive meaning from their dream interpretations, but have trouble remembering their dreams.

Next, you should look at the dream types while assessing different dream interpretations. Guiding dreams might outline issues you're dealing with and offer guidance. Repetitive dreams suggest that there's something you're avoiding or not quite understanding. Archetypal dreams might serve as a symbol of your emotional state.

Nightmares may frighten you into addressing a certain situation. Lucid dreams, where you are consciously aware of your dreams, may reveal that your meditation practice is finally paying off.

Paranormal dreams contain information your senses don't typically pick up and are associated with emotionally-charged events. Big dreams offer you a vision of life beyond your daily, personal concerns and are more common to intellectuals.

Dream interpretations are often used in therapy to facilitate self-realization and help people begin to think more introspectively. The surface level of your dreams -- the people, the places, the things -- is closest to your consciousness.

Emotions, attitudes and symbols reflect a deeper level of dream consciousness. You may dream of fulfillment, which reveals secret desires you have not acted upon. For instance, some people dream of kissing a movie star or getting back together with an estranged spouse.

Urges may be revealed, forgotten memories stirred up, opportunities brought to light. Dreams are an excellent vehicle for progress in your life if you commit to pondering and understanding them.

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The Tarot Question And Open Reading

The tarot reading generally follows one of two formats, which are the question reading or an open reading. In a question reading, the client will arrive with a specific question in mind, with a designated area where one needs guidance.

Perhaps the seeker is wondering if his or her mate is the right one or whether to continue following the same career path. The reader of the tarots can then give advice to help the seeker make the right decision.

Open readings are more open-ended and cover larger aspects of one's life. People who are getting married, graduating, starting a family or beginning a career often choose this reading to glimpse into the future.

The Minor Arcana, like a regular card deck, contain four suits: wands, swords, cups and circles or pentacles. Each suit (numbered one through ten) represents a certain approach to life.

For instance, the wands indicate creativity, action and movement, while the swords indicate intellect, thought and reason. The cups are the suit of emotion and spirituality, and the circles or pentacles represent practicality, materialism and security.

Aces of any suit in the deck represent positive forces. For instance, an Ace of Cups embodies love, emotion, intuition and intimacy, summing up the best of the Cups suit. Tens represent the ultimate conclusion, so a Ten of Cups would lead to marriage, joy, peace and family.

Court cards (King, Queen, Knight and Page) point out how we should or should not approach our situation. For instance, the knight is immature and unbalanced, impetuous and extreme, while the king is mature, authoritative and practical.

Beginners learning tarot divination will start by examining each card to describe the meaning. Next, the medium will look at how the preceding card, the current card and the next card build off one another.

Do they conflict with or reinforce each other? Are there any patterns? Over the course of the reading, central themes will emerge. Readers will pay close attention to the seventh and eighth cards in the Celtic cross spread to gauge if the seekers are projecting their beings in harmony with how others view them.

Sometimes reversal cards can be read too (where upside-down cards carry different meanings). The tarot card ten shows the final outcome but card five can indicate an alternate outcome if the seeker redirects his or her thinking and actions.

Tarots can be an enjoyable way to peer into one's life and identify patterns or possibilities.

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Psychic With A Tarot Card Deck

The tea room smells of old spell books, exposed wood and smoky incense as curious seekers walk through the door. In the front of the room, a barista serves up chai tea and aromatic coffee.

In the back den, the psychic medium serves up predictions of the future, love help and psychic advice with the help of a tarot card deck. Seekers have asked their bankers, their shrinks, their family members and their friends for advice, but nothing brings such comfort as an intuitive glimpse into one's soul.

Readers say interpreting a tarot card is part intuition and part symbolism. There are books, like Arthur Edward Waite's "The Pictorial Key To The Tarot" (1910), Paul Marteau's "Le Tarot de Marseille" (1930), Paul Foster Case's "The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages" (1941) and Aleister Crowley's "The Book of Thoth" (1981), all which have made a large impact on the tarot reader community. By analyzing symbolism, readers can help seekers recognize themselves in the cards and can tap into age-old wisdom.

While tarot card interpretation is a very personal thing, it is fun to look at the symbolism. Often the Fool (number zero) represents adventure, innocence and youth, yet the Fool can also imply impetuousness, immaturity and inexperience.

The Death card (number thirteen) can be a sign of hardship, fear of change, stagnation or an ending. The Devil (number fifteen) symbolizes animal lust, vice, addiction and loss of control.

The Moon (number eighteen) indicates tension, confusion, deception, feeling lost and anxiety. Anyone can learn astrology tarot, but it can be really refreshing and fun to see just what the medium clairvoyant has to say about you!

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Connecting With The Psychic

Finding the psychic for you can be tricky. Where does one find a gem, amid rocks? After all, there are many shysters out there trying to swindle people out of their money with vague prophecies and abundant generalizations.

It is wise of you to approach the medium with a fair amount of skepticism. Yet you just may be surprised by the end result, particularly at a time when no one can really make heads or tails of the nation's situation. To find psychic advice, there are many places you can search.

Another way to find the psychic that fits you best is through a telephone session. During the 1990s, the "dial a tarot reader" industry was a thriving one. It seemed you could never escape the Miss Cleo ads on television!

Quickly, more and more names began popping up and the back pages of local city papers were stuffed with phone numbers of fortune tellers. Today this industry has largely moved online, with every online psychic offering a phone number and a $2/minute surcharge.

While phone advice is attractive to both the psychics and the clients for its sheer convenience, those minutes could quickly add up if you are not careful.

Those who are extremely skeptical may only find the psychic for them through referrals from friends or in popular culture. For example, John Edward or Sylvia Browne can be discovered performing their psychic abilities before audiences on television.

Other famous, trusted psychics include: Allison DuBois, Anastacia of the Mountains, The Psychic Twins, Celeste Minerva, Helen Duncan, Jules Kennedy, Uri Geller, Ricky Wood, Adam The Healer, The Psychic Monk and James Van Praagh.

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Most Popular Psychics

Psychics have become extremely popular in American culture. They are featured in books like Stephen King's "The Dead Zone" and Robert Heinlein's "Stranger In A Strange Land." They appear in movies like "Big" and "Scanners."

The Marvel comic book series features Jean Grey, who is believed to have psychic powers and Alice Cullen in The Twilight Series possesses extrasensory abilities. Additionally, many psychics now have their own TV shows, such as John Edward, Sylvia Browne and Uri Geller.

One of the most famous contemporary psychics is John Edward from the TV show "Crossing Over," where he delivers messages from the deceased to their relatives in the audience. John's family noticed his gift when he was just a boy, as he seemed to know detailed family history that occurred prior to his birth.

At age 15, he met a New Jersey medium clairvoyant who told him his destiny was to further his talent and become internationally known for his psychic abilities. After writing six books and three audio books, traveling numerous circuits and securing a syndicated TV show on the Sci-Fi Channel, it is clear that the predictions were accurate.

There are many different kinds of psychics out there. Some can read tarot decks to answer a seeker's questions or paint a portrait of the future. Others have prophetic dreams about assassinations, elections, natural disasters or other events. Some can speak with the deceased or deliver messages from beyond the grave.

Others can perceive ghosts and past events through their extrasensory perception. Psychic phenomena occurrences continue to fascinate America as we attempt to understand our mysterious surroundings and comprehend inexplicable coincidences and revealed truths.

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Finding Your Path With Tarot Cards

Readers of tarot cards can be found in almost any city these days and, in fact, fortune tellers are becoming quite popular nowadays. In these uncertain times, people are visiting for love help to ask, "Is he/she the one?"

Or "Should I get that divorce?" People are coming for financial advice, asking, "When will the market rebound? Should I seek a new career path? Will I get a new job soon?" This year, many people are wondering what is in store for them and their country.

There are seventy-eight tarot cards in a deck, which are divided between the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. The word "Arcana" translates to "profound secret" and aims to illuminate a path for the seeker.

The Major Arcana cards symbolize archetypal human experiences like strength, justice or temperance. Additionally, there are figurehead cards that symbolize feelings, motivations and personality types. "The Fool" card, for instance, may reveal someone who is childish, impetuous or innocent in his or her approach to a situation.

Or "The Devil" can show selfishness, ego, addiction, a loss of control or someone trapped in a pattern of vices. The Minor Arcana cards reveal how the seeker will react to the situations depicted by the spread of the cards, based on his or her personal nature, background and lifestyle. For instance, a cup or a chalice shows an emotional approach to decision making, whereas a sword reveals a more rational, reasoned manner.

Regardless of whether one truly believes in psychic ability or not, tarot cards are a fun way to look into the future. For love help, financial advice, decision making assistance or confidence building, a visit to the psychic can help!

Seekers need not have a specific inquiry in mind, though. Often people traverse to a tea room just to get a glimpse into the struggles and triumphs of the year to come.

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Extrasensory Skills Of The Clairvoyant

The clairvoyant is someone with super-human abilities to gain information about a particular object, location or event through their senses. The word "clairvoyance" comes from 17th century France and translates to "clear visibility."

While the study of parapsychology is often controversial and inconclusive in the scientific community, there are a number of individuals who believe in psychic phenomena.

According to CIA intelligence specialist, F. Holmes "Skip" Atwater, a 1972 report detailed how the KGB invested more than $21 million dollars to fund parapsychology research in areas like telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, telekinesis, remote viewing and other powers associated with the clairvoyant.

In response to emerging Soviet threats, US military forces deployed a special investigation unit of their own. They honed in on the psychic phenomena of "remote viewing," where a person could describe in great detail or sketch out a remote place, event, person or thing, which could feasibly help the military swoop in on their targets.

"Folks want to believe that the paranormal is for real," says Martin Gardner, one of the founders of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Believing in powers of the clairvoyant can give some individuals hope that psychic powers are within each one of us, if only we can train ourselves to awaken!

If enough people awaken, then there will be a shift toward a more spiritually conscious society, an end to war and poverty, and a progressing world. For others, psychic phenomena is a way to explain otherwise inexplicable experiences, events and sensations.

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Seeking Psychic Advice

All around America, people are looking for answers. When will the housing market rebound? Where is my place in the job market? Should I make a new investment? Will my retirement be secure?

We used to have certain trustworthy sources for information; the media, headhunters, our banker, the president, our realtor and economic forecasters, yet now our confidence in tradition has been sullied. More and more people are looking to unconventional sources for wisdom and some will even go to a psychic for the first time.

There are many reasons to seek psychic advice. "I have been so busy because of the stock market," says Ana Anaya, one Albuquerque psychic.

"I have a lot of people who have lost their jobs." She says that her clients include doctors, lawyers, millionaires and billionaires to the average middle class American, the elderly, divorcees and people who have just walked out of jail.

There is much skepticism for the average psychic. On one hand, there are skilled professionals who work as detectives for police departments. On the other hand, there are those who are jailed for swindling money from the vulnerable.

Before receiving tarot card readings or choosing a psychic medium, prospective seekers should check out the clairvoyant's credentials. While licensing is not mandatory, most states offer certification programs from the Association of Certified Psychics, the Psychic-Union or the International Certification of Psychics.

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