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Dreams For Peace
Dream Interpretation, Therapy, Transformation
Richard Hastings
Richard Hastings is an expert in change work and dream work and author of Dreams for Peace. He is a Baha'i and currently lives in Vancouver, BC. Read more...
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Dreams For Peace 
This is a response to Mary’s dream,
The easiest way to work with a dream like this when you wake up is to get out of piece of paper and then first describe the sinister girl who was following you to do harm in full detail. The more detail the better because it is her negative nature that is the clue to what to do with the dream. The next thing is to describe your reaction. Your reaction is to have a really bad feeling inside and not feel free as if probably you were constricted.
The purpose of having the dream is for you to start becoming the person inside that is exactly the opposite to the person following you and then you will be unconstrained and act freely without fear.
So you ask yourself what is the opposite of being sinister? It has something to do with being a positive presence in the world. Describe to yourself who you are when you are a positive presence in the world and then be unconstrained in being that person.
The is a reply back to Ruth. You are probably being shot down by a person who is probably American, but small in terms of his thinking and being. He wants to exclude you, shoot you down, so he can feel bigger inside. Shooting someone else down is always a sign of being “small” inside.
Thanks Richard but why would the guy ask me if I’m native american?
I had a vivid dream last night where, i was in a oublic place, and someone told me that there was a girl behind me, hadn t i noticed?… So ideed looking back i saw a girl who was kind of sinister and i felt she was following and hanging on me, likea burgain. I was trying to forg her existnce but every once in a while i looked back and ralised she was always there, and i couldn t get rid of her. She gave me a horrible feeling, a lack of freedom, something like this that i cannot pretty well explain. What could this mean?….
Ruth,
The reason that the deer is on the field is to remind you that the key to most sports is running like a deer would. It is good that you are Ethiopian. What keeps you from participating more fully is being shot down and told you shouldn’t. Shot down is a symbol for put downs. You just need to ignore those and run a lot.
I had a dream that I joined my school’s soccer team. One girl did not want me to join cause I was failing in Math. When we were going to practice in the field I saw this large statue of a deer with huge horns and underneath it were words written in Amharic (I’m Ethiopian btw) I could read them but there was one word I could not understand so I googled it on my phone. Then this short guy with a blue shirt stated shooting bullets at me then asked me if I was native American.
I had a dream of lice on my mothers hair. I was coming her hair over the toilet bowl. What does it mean. My mother passed away for over a year now.
Hi,
My name is Eddy and I had a dream last night that was very vivid. All my senses were present. I can’t remember a lot of it and parts are fuzzy but I’ll try my best to describe it.
I can’t remember how it began, but I remember being part of a sort of group of young adults, teenagers and older kids that had been recruited by an organization to be trained. We all arrived uneasy and uncertain about this place. We were the first group to ever go through this experience. Everyone in our group had special abilities or “powers.”
I honestly can’t remember the abilities. I think we all had different abilities but only because of what came easiest to us. I think we all had the same potential in what abilities we could attain. We just began with what came to us naturally. It was difficult gaining different abilities, some more than others.
I remember this young group practically lived in very big place that we were allowed to leave. It was a big place that was like a gym to train us to become warriors. To train acrobatic abilities, sports to train our athleticism, coordination, and fighting abilities. They also helped train us on how to develop our abilities. Our group was of about 15 to 20 people, male and female between the ages of 9 to 23. I’m 23 in real life. I’m not sure what age I was in the dream. I just remember our group became very close. Like a family growing and learning together while being closed in this place for a long time. I don’t know how long it was were in there. It was at least a year, could have been a lot more. Anyway, we came to a point where we were going to graduate and we received medals of achievement and we were all celebrating. We believed we were going to be let out. Then they announced that we were going to train a new group that was being brought in for an unspecified amount of time. We were upset because we wanted to get out and enjoy our gifts. Then when they showed us how we were to train our new students we were disgusted because they wanted us to pretty much torture them into becoming ruthless monsters. The new group was mostly children. So we rebelled and fought back, taking over the complex. We all stayed there that night celebrating and assuring the new group we would train them properly. Meanwhile we all ate pizza and drank soda while we told stories and played games. Eventually I went down to an underground soccer field with my little brother who was suddenly in my dream and was one of the group members. My little brother is in my dreams very often. In fact whenever I can remember my dream he comes in at some point. Anyway we played soccer and we used large plastic cups to mark the area of the goals. For some reason I filled my cups with watered down coca cola and set them right side up, his cups were empty and we’re upside down. We played for a while and eventually someone called us. While leaving though I saw an image on a screen with a girl I used to be friends with in real life many years ago. She was naked and I just looked away, but it bothered me, leaving a lasting impression. Well we ended up leaving and we regrouped with everyone else and planned our future. We had to find a safe place and a system to care for the kids. Like who would be in charge of who and who would provide for them. I was one of the leaders being one of the oldest and more well balanced. The dream continued for a bit but it gets very fuzzy and I can’t remember much to make sense out of it. I found this dream enjoyable but strange since I usually don’t remember my dreams or don’t remember at all.
This is for Eddy’s dream. Thanks for sharing this dream. So part of the purpose of this dream is wake you up so that you will see the current state of affairs in the world at large and then begin to do exactly the opposite. The dream is analogous to a lot of training even like schools in the world. The training can be really great, you develop as a team and individuals, but then you are called on to do the negative work of what the ownership or top wants. It is what happens in corporate systems where the motive is basically greed on the part of the ownership like the way a lot of sport is in the world right now.
You are not playing for the love of the game. You play for the selfish interest of someone else.
So your brother comes in the dream because you recognize that you have a responsible to help train and guide him along a good path which is what you attempt to do in the dream. This is fantastic. The problem overall is how to develop as a group and individually and then use it in a good way without being affected by the ways of the current culture of the world. It requires being detached from the world especially the greed.
What I would take away from the dream is that you have a natural ability to work hard to develop skills and work really well in a group. Now you have to be find a good path, detached from the world of greed, to implement it.
Let me know if you need anything clarified. You can send questions by email @ dreamsforpeace@gmail.com.
Hello. I have been keeping a dream diary lately. Last night I saw the one I describe beneath, and for some reason since I woke up I feel this is a very important dream. I would appreciate some help!
So, I had a dream where I was cleaning fish (mackerels). Some of the fish had inside them other fish of the same kind, ie they had eaten them. I found that gross in my dream, especially when I cleaned one mackerel that had inside its belly 2 other smaller mackerels. So I was so surprised and I asked my father how come that happened and what we should do with the fish. He said that we should throw away the first fish and we’d better keep the other , the smaller ones that were found inside. He seemed to be aware of this situation in general, while for me it was the first time I encountered such a thing. Then he took himself that big gross fish that had eaten 2 other and threw it away.
Also, in my dream i remember feeling i wanted to help and contribute so i decided myself to clean the fish.
Before I went to bed I had alcohol for a couple of hours so I was quite dizzy
I have been strongly anxious and pressured lately in my real life.
Thank you in advance,
Maria
This is a response to Maria’s dream.
Hi Maria. Whenever you have a dream about fish, you can immediately begin to think that you have something important to teach or impart to others. This is like the metaphor in the Bible where Jesus tells the fishermen that he wants to make them into fishers of men. It is not accident that His first disciple was a fisherman. So what happens in your dream is that the big fish has gobbled up the little fish and that is really gross to you. The big fish gobbling up the little one is the state of the world culture right now. It is what corporations and individuals do as if it is good business. The little fish do not have a chance because there is no fairness in the laws and ways of the world. The anxiety that use alcohol to quell is the worry that you are going to be gobbled up also.
The reason that you have the dream is that you have inherited a capacity, one that your father has, but wasn’t fully able to develop, to change the culture around you. In the animal world it is natural for the fish to gobble each other, but it is not natural in the human world. It is against our natures. Your job is to help create a civilization that is based upon equity and equality so you are going to have to deal with your worry and disgust in the proper way so that you transform yourself into who you are meant to become.
The world really needs someone like you because you have great capacity for creating unity.
Okay, so I have been having nothing but weird dreams for a while now. And, well they aren’t necessarily nightmares, they aren’t good dreams. The most recent one was a few nights ago. I was on vacation with my family and a bunch of college kids- just a bunch of random people. We were at a beach house. All of the sudden, I go outside and there’s this white, red-eyed bunny sitting there with weapons strapped to its back. Then, everyone starts panicking and running inside because it starts killing people. We get in and barricade the doors and try a bunch of different ways to stop it. Then, my sisters go outside and it’s gone for a while, only to return later and drag someone outside.
Like I said, weird and somewhat disturbing but I never wake up startled or anything. Is there something wrong with me? All of my dreams are like this now. Like, I’m on these quests fighting bad guys and stuff. I do play a lot of video games but I’m usually not thinking about that when I’m laying down for bed. Usually I’m thinking about characters I’ve created and am developing their stories in my head. So, what’s with this and how do I stop it?
This is for Sarah’s dream.
In this dream a rabbit is a symbol for the development of the virtue of gentleness. Gentleness is the emotion that we need when we are helping others deal with difficult things. The problem is that the rabbit has weapons which means that the virtue of gentleness is associated with being in a protective mode. Your form of protection is fighting rather then flight or avoidance.
It just means that during the sensitive period when you were developing this virtue something bad happened like you were treated roughly or expected to be tough when you needed to be gentle.
The work for you is to let go of the protection so that you can use this great virtue is a positive way. Let me know if you need some help with this process.
I am in a huge house and have been babysitting and now the owners arrived and its time to go. Just as my daughter and I are leaving I find this 5-6 page long letter taped on the wall with so many things she wanted us to do before we leave. My 9 year old daughter flips out because she wanted to go play. I just say we have to take the list and do what she wants. It’s her house. The details on this list are incredible. She lists where to put certain things, like one kind of cup on one side of the cupboard and another on the other. It does feel overwhelming because it seems like it will take days to do everything. But I get started.
Hi Chris,
Thank you for sharing your dream on this open forum and for welcoming any help. I don’t know that what I write can be of any help, but in reflecting on the interpretation Richard gave for your dream, I recalled a similar dream I had many years ago when I was using a lot of will power to make positive changes in my life. The dream was so similar I thought I would share in the spirit of unity, since that is the theme of the solution Richard offered.
In my dream, I am standing in a special location in nature, one that had a lot of positive memories for me as a child and for others who were close to me growing up. It was in nature, near a little river, lots of trees and foot paths.
In real life I grew up in a home where the others living there were not able to see my True Self or help me to bring it out, just because of their own past histories, etc. So the feeling I often had was like being oppressed, not able to be the “real” me because I was always defending myself. Anyway, in the dream, I am standing there and someone who was oppressive to me in childhood approached and this person behaves like the possessed girl in your dream (a lot of ego-based actions). So then there is this Holy Man who appears beside us and He also signals to hold hands in a circle. But He shows me this way to cross my hands over my torso and asked the possessed man to do the same, which he does. Then the Holy Man holds His arms in the regular way to hold our hands. And my feeling when waking was that there could be unity in the spirit even if there couldn’t be unity in the physical world. At the time before this dream, I had been making choices which would have led me down the path to be an adult like the possessed person and the dream interrupted that and showed me that by being more like the Holy Man (or priest) that I could be loving, compassionate, courageous, truthful, enthusiastic and lead a different life altogether, one that would honour and support my True Self, so that I didn’t feel oppressed anymore.
I think it is really interesting that these two dreams were so similar and I thank you for sharing yours openly because it brought a powerful message of unity to the day.
Chris, Possession in the dream world or in real life means that one is caught in the holds of their own ego. It is so strong that it is like another being inside of them. Priests try to get the ego to leave the person, but the real job is to unblock the positive self that the possession is holding down.
Holding hands in a circle is a symbol of being united which is what the possessed girl really wants to feel, but is held back by the ego that is so strong in her. When you realize how powerful unity is, you will see that it can undo possessed egos.
I had a dream that I was sitting amongst a group of people. A priest was standing a few yards away from the group. Through the crowd a possessed girl came through. As the possessed girl walked through, the priest asked me to take her hand. I was reluctant. Eventually, the priest, the possessed girl, and I all held each other’s hand to form a circle or triangle. Then the priest said, “we must have it come full circle, so that it is secular.” It seemed that all of us holding hands was an attempt to help the possessed girl, but I’m not completely sure. I hope there was some meaning behind it. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Christine,
This morning I read your dream with the metaphors of swimming, hair, and an old house. I like what Richard said that the purpose of the dream is to recognize your own inner power. The 6 qualities he listed at the end of his interpretation are such wonderful virtues! The fact that you had this dream means that these qualities are ready to be used more in your day-to-day life and that by practicing them even more you will discover a lot of amazing beautiful things in yourself and in life.
The reason I wanted to write to you is because I too have had mafia dreams and dreams of old houses. The dreams sometimes left me feel like I wanted to give up. Sometimes when Richard would write an interpretation and a solution for me I still really wondered how to do such things that he suggested such as “looking and feeling your positive qualities like courage, compassion, honesty, creativity, love, determination, etc.”
I wondered if it might be helpful if I just shared a few ideas that are useful for me. I would be interested in hearing from you if they are useful for you too.
When I had a dream that was full of fear, like being in an old house, with someone powerful chasing me, it made me feel like I had no options, was trapped and had no where to go. Richard’s dream interpretation always showed me something positive either about the dream image or about my real life experiences so what I would do was really put a lot of thought and attention to the positive thing which would give me some hope, inspiration, and understanding.
In your dream the your hair is the symbol of beauty. The fact that someone else sees your true beauty and is stunned by it seems to be the key for this dream. It makes you give up and then you surrender to the man who you first thought was powerful and scary but then think maybe is nice.
To use courage, compassion, honesty, creativity, love and determination here in the dream it would be that when someone sees your beauty you are okay with that and you also don’t give up. That feeling of standing strong in yourself right before you decide to give up is the moment when all of your own power can be really big, when you can feel your own inner power, as Richard calls it.
For you, feeling your inner power may be like realizing you have lice and feeling irritated about it but also knowing lice is an easy thing to take care of that can be done playfully and you can be relaxed about it. They die easily with a good treatment and usually don’t come back.
Hi sir richard i saw that ur interpreting people’s dream..can u please interpret my dream?i just cant understand what is the meaning of this.. i dreamed that im going for a swim and this gay man which looks like he works at the parlor checked my hair and found out i have lice and lice eggs on my hair so im surprised,i said it was so embarassing and i didnt even know i have lice on my hair,after that i decided to go for a swim,then i realize that im in a vacation with my family and relatives,we are staying at a resort and the house were staying in were old and lots of rooms in there its like a dormitory..then my cousin invite me to jump into the pool,but we’re going to jump from the terace its from the 2nd floor of the house to the swimming pool,she already jump into the pool,while im about to jump on the pool i realize i need to change my clothes before jumping into the pool so i went inside to change im looking for a vacant room to change thats when i notice the house is old and some people that i dont know,are also staying at the resort and having a vacation,then after i change i jump into the pool,while having a swim some of my relatives are shouting that we need to get out of the resort because the owner is coming and they told me the owner who’s young handsome and powerful i think he is some kind of a mafia have a huge crush on me,but i dont even know this guy in real life..i think the guy is more like in his 30’s..he said that he wanted to own me and for me to be with him for the rest of his life,i dont even know the guy so i freak out,he’s with 4 guys i think its like they are his body guard, or friends then i fanaly realize that the reason we are at the resort because he invited my family and relatives together with me at the resort to propose his admiration to me..then me and my cousin and some of my friend run they are trying to hide me from this guy,im so scared in my dreams that if he finally catches me that he will hurt me,while walking on this fire exit stairs,these guys which i think his friends,saw us so they try to go upstairs and my friends run downstairs and push them down leaving me on the upper level of the stairs of the fire exit, i saw the guys not hurting my friends so it was a relief for me to see they are not bad guys, while im at the upper level of the staircase i saw an old guy on the roof having hugging a sexy woman the he saw me and at my dream he is stunned by my beauty.. then i finally gave up so i went downstair and the guy finally catches me, then he ask me why am i running away from him,he told me he will never hurt me,i finally realize that the guy was nice..i hope u will interpret my dream is this realted to my current relationship,im having a problem with..here is my yahoo account.. tquimque@yahoo.com..thanks
Christine,
The purpose of your dream is to recognize your own inner power which is symbolized by your hair. Hair is symbol of inner power which is the power of your beautiful self, not necessarily in a physical, but more in a spiritual sense. When you swim in a dream it means trying to connect to other people in a relaxed and more playful way. The lice in your hair that you are embarrassed about means you have some small unseen things that keep you from recognition your power. The other part of the dream explains it. The part that explains it is that you are in an old house being pursued by mafia type guy. The old house is the old culture in which the guys are the powerful ones and women are the weaker ones. The fear is that a strong guy is going to come and dominate you which is the old way. When you are playful and relaxed in your relationships and recognize your own inner power (how beautiful your self is), then you don’t have to be afraid of the old style mafia-type relationships. Looking at the inner beauty means looking and feeling your positive qualities like courage, compassion, honesty, creativity, love, determination, etc..
Hi so I recently had this dream, more specifically I had this dream last night and it was about my dad who passed away a year ago and basically I ran into him at the mall but he was avoiding me? In my dream I touched his face to see if it was real and it was but then he quickly turned around and left fast as if he didn’t want me to see him? I would like to know what this means, please and thank you so much!
This is for Sheila’s dream,
If you look at my response to Rachel Aquilina’s dream about her father, it is very similar. There is a part of you that is like your father that you need to develop. He comes into your dream to remind you that that part is alive and well, but you quickly forget about it soon thereafter. The fact that you ran into in the mall means that when your life is concerned primarily about material things and purchases that you cannot keep him and his positive qualities in your mind for very long. Think about the best thing you liked about your father and then integrate it into your life.
In the dream I am on the bank of a river. I wanted to feed the fish but only had an avacado and had no knife to cut it so I threw the whole thing in thinking it would at least decompose and feed something. But then something under the water ate the whole thing whole! I watched really closely and the creature began to emerge. At first I thought it was a big fish but then it showed itself and it was an enormous pelican. It would come up and then go back and just parts of it would show at one time. I could see the whole avacado in its neck as a bulge. I worried at first that it would choke but then realized it was okay because it’s designed to eat large things whole. So this pelican just moved about in the water and I watched intently waiting for it to emerge entirely, eager to see it fly. It didn’t look beautiful to me. It was dark, and boney, and awkward. But I was captivated by it because of its size.
This is for the other Rachel’s dream,
Pelicans dive in deep to feed themselves, then they soar in the sky. This is a metaphor you can use for yourself. Dive deeply into how you are going to get inspired like through holy writings and then soar in the sky in a big way. The more you do it the less awkward it will be.
This is for Efty’s dream: Seeing Serial Killers outside a House
I wanted to share two ideas I found useful in Richard’s Dreamwork approach that may apply to your dream as well regarding his solution which is to seek out relationships based on equality, rather than status. The first is that the idea “Dreams For Peace” is a reminder that when we interpret a dream using his strategies we can find a way to bring greater peace into our lives. When a dream image comes with a lot of fear, like a nightmare, it is a good thing because it signals to us an opportunity to use courage to bring more peace into our lives. The solution to a nightmare is to apply the positive opposite action. The thing about a serial killer of relationships is the persistence of the action, that it repeats again and again. The positive opposite of that would be to be persistent in creating great relationships again and again. The fact that your dream begins with you and your closest friends means you do have the skills and abilities to create close, loving relationships which bring peace to yourself and others. The solution to the dream then is to be persistent in using a lot of courage to create new relationships or expand on the other ones. When you are aware of the difference it is easier to make the choice when and if to say yes or no to a gold necklace.
Hi,
I have been dreaming this dream for like 4 times. In this dream I am dreaming about my father who have died 18 years ago. In this dream he is hiding in a room and when I find him he tells me that he is still alive but to don’t tell anyone. Can you please answer my question thanks.
Thanks
Rachel
This is for Rachel’s dream,
The best way to think about this dream is that the part of you that is like your father is hidden inside of you very much alive, but reluctant to come out. The reason you have the dream is that now is the time for that part to come out and be a part of you and active in the world. If you had a good relationship with your father, you can ask him for help in bringing that out.