Free Dream Interpretation
For a free dream interpretation, leave a comment here or email Richard directly at dreamsforpeace@gmail.com.
Also think about supporting the Community Transformation Foundation. See the link on the site.
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...
Exciting New Ebooks Available Now!
Start transforming your life now with the: 19 Day Transformation Program
Dreamwork: How to Interpret Your Dreams and Transform Your Life.
Coming Soon: Daily Change
Dreams For Peace 
Hello Richard,
In my dream I was walking in a burning stone town along a grey path that was untouched by flames. Beside me was a snake, about two or three inches taller than me, dark brown with a tinted green underside, and talking to me.
As we were walking and as I was listening to the snake, he levitated some books that appeared in my hands and threw them into the flames. I was very unhappy about losing the books for some reason but I continued following and listening to the snake along the path. A short while later the snake stopped and said something to me while staring me square in the eyes. It was at this time that the flames turned black and I woke up. I cannot remember what he said but I think it was a warning of some sort.
Thank you,
Crystal
This is a response to Crystal’s Dream.
Hi Crystal. This is a really fascinating dream. Thanks for sharing it. I hope other people read this comment. Talking snakes are like the Garden of Eden myths(metaphors) in the Bible. Isn’t it interesting that a snake can talk in a dream, but not in real life? I think there is a sizable population that believes that snakes once talked like people, but it really isn’t the important thing. The important thing is the message that a snake conveys in a myth/dream. When you have a lot of flames in a dream, the first thing you should think of is your mind or your mental activity. Flames and heat like in your dream signify overheated minds. In this case you are walking through a town untouched by the flames. It means that while others are easily overheated in their minds which means that they do not have the virtue of remain calm, you have that ability. What the snake is warning you about is the darkness in people’s actions when they allow their minds to be overheated. They lose their rational faculty and become easily swayed by whoever has the biggest or strongest voice.
Snakes are the symbols of change or transformation and they usually appear first in a major change process in one’s life. In your case it is about how to have a positive effect on a group of people that are so easily overheated. What you need to wake up to is your inner wisdom which in this case is the snake. The snake lets you know when it is safe to proceed and when it is not and you need to listen to it. Otherwise the bad characters will trap you in their blackness. You represent a threat to the status quo because you have the virtue of calm and can walk a path pretty detached from others. Let me know if you have some other questions about your situation.
In my dream I was sick, much like I am now. My mother and sisters were caring for me until it was time for the hospital, while in my hospital bed I started hallucinating that the iv was going right through my arm and the pain felt so excruciatingly realistic. Next thing I remember is the nurses rushing to me in the dream.
Then appearing outside, chatting with with this girl, I haven’t met her before in today’s life but in my dream she was my friend. I asked her if she was an angel and she said she was whatever I wanted her to be. I was taken and shown to my loved ones, grandparents, aunties, cousins, Zaidyn and a little girl of Darbys. Within my dream I asked if TY would be there when I crossed over into heaven and this friend stated that I could have anyone there for me as I needed. When I woke, I had been in this state for only 45 minutes and woke at 4 am. When I opened my eyes I just layed there like I was paralyzed, analysing the dream I had and going over ever possible little detail. Now here I find myself writing it out at 4:30 in the morning so that I won’t forget this dream and maybe find out one day what it means.
This is a response to Laurel’s dream,
Laurel, In this dream the first part is about your current situation, both mentally and physically. The sickness causes you to think in a pessimistic way about life full of pain. In the second part of the dream you are shown what life will be like for you when you don’t have the illness or pain anymore.
The key for your healing in a spiritual sense is to think more like you were doing in second part of the dream. That is to dwell on the positive aspects of the loving relationships you have with other people. It is the connections that you have with others that make you well in a spiritual sense and that is the important thing to dwell on, even when you are ill. It will be like a healing balm.
Hi Richard
Lately I’ve been having dreams where I posess powers. In one dream i could levitate and i was trying to prove i could do it. In another dream on a seperate occasion i had healing powers and i was healing someone. In another dream i was able to move objects with my my mind. In every dream i feel surprised that i am able to do these things and feel very powerful. Why am i having such dreams?! Thank you Richard!
This is a response to Sandi’s dreams,
When you possess a power in a dream and feel astonished or surprised, it is a very positive thing. This is the way we are supposed to feel when we have gifts that come to us. It is a result of grace and not from our own doing so astonishment is the right feeling that keeps us in a position of humility about the gift. It allows us to respect and use it only for the benefit of others. These dreams tell you that you have a lot of hidden powers inside of you that help you transform the life of others. It is really exciting, but also means that you have a responsibility toward them. Levitating is a symbol for being able to uplift yourself, to get yourself in an up state of mind which is the key to implementing the healing aspects. Moving objects means that you can arrange circumstances mentally to achieve a lot of positive goals.
Hey there, I tend to have vivid dreams but a couple have stuck with me over the last couple years. Once I dreamted I was a scuba diver in Fiji, swam to New Guinea and there was some treasure in a concrete pool type slab in the ocean floor. At the time I honestly had no idea really where either island was, let alone that they were right next to one one another. It moved me so much I looked it up on a globe a few days later and have been stunned ever since. Any ideas of an interpretation or the significance of factual unknown knowledge in a dream. I believe we’re connected to all knowledge but am interested in your opinion.. Thanks so much!!
This is a response to Brittany’s dream,
In this dream it is really important for you that you are a scuba diver. Scuba diving is a symbol that means that you are capable of going deep into relationships with others and in the spiritual domain. When you do this, you can connect with people really easily even though they are not from your ethnic background. You have what the world needs to create peace. In a way the dream is showing you what your responsibility is for the rest of your life toward humanity. God has given you the gift of being able to connect others and create a united world.
Hi Rachel,
My name is also Rachel and I have been applying Richard’s Dreamwork to gunman type situations for about 6 years now. I would like to share an experience I had when I started applying this strategy that he mentions to you about being positive even when others around you are negative. I hope that you may find it helpful and encouraging in your relationship with your brother and in your path of being positive and uplifting others.
When I first started applying Richard’s strategy in 2010 of having great ideas and uplifting others, it was because there was some negativity and back-biting going on for me at work. I learned through studying my dreams and applying Richard’s solutions that even when there was criticism and ugly comments from those around me, I could truly change the direction of my life by feeling grateful for the things I did have and expressing that to others and also to notice the really great things people did and tell them I saw it. So for example, even if someone did 10 negative things – when I saw the one good thing I would tell them how amazing that was. This is not an idea I made up myself but one that goes back thousands of years. When we see something ugly and can ignore it, then it is easier to see something great and get excited about it. I think now that you have had this dream it means you are able to do this, even though it may be difficult at times.
For me, the practice of Richard’s idea of being really positive even when others are really negative happened at work but I think for you the practice will come with your brother (and in your family?) When I applied this idea it changed my life. I”d like to tell you what I mean by that.
The way that this idea of being positive even when others were negative changed my life is that before applying this dream interpretation strategy I was in the habit of always trying to avoid either making others feel bad or doing things that seemed to prompt others to say things that showed they were trying to make me feel bad. After receiving this advice from him after having a dream (nightmare) about a gunman, I found I could more easily see what I truly wanted to do in my life and go for it regardless of what others were thinking or saying in front of me or behind my back. At first when I started changing I was still affected by the negativity, but after a while, I started moving towards the direction of my positive dreams and visions for my life and those I love that when people were negative it was a bit easier to detach and let them have their way of acting even though it was different than my way of acting.
What I’d like to add to what Richard commented is the helpful idea that he taught me that the positive opposite of the negative nightmare is the solution to feeling better and going for great things even when you or someone you love is being hurt by random people or those who you don’t even know.
Since the dream is about one gun pointed directly at someone you love and making a silent but damaging shot, we could flip that around to mean that the positive action you can take is to move in one pointed direction towards something you love and going for it with a strong, direct and clear focus. Since the gunman came really close and made the shot you can say that is for you to move really close to what you want and then go for it strongly with force (which is having a clear intention and complete trust in yourself to achieve it).
The other thing is about the silence of the shot. If you feel fear by the silence then it probably means you will benefit most by being silent about the change in direction you make even though that may be challenging or scary to do that. The reason is that by facing your biggest fear you will develop the greatest strength. It may also mean that you actually already do this naturally and with ease and is not necessarily a fear at all but something you are already good at. In that case, the dream is saying go for it and do what you know how to do best and trust that the results will be healing and transformative for you and your brother.
When I had the dream of the gunman years ago and did the work Richard suggests I found it really helpful to move towards and live in a state of Peace. I often recalled the title of his book is “Dreams For Peace” and felt really encouraged by that. When we can find greater peace inside ourselves, even though it sometimes feels impossible or that we are alone in the process, we actually discover we are not alone at all and can have such a powerfully positive influence on the world around us, in our relationships, in our families.
I hope you find this helpful, Rachel, and if you feel comfortable I invite you to share more in this forum if you try out some new ideas and want to share with others. I think you must have some really great things to share that can uplift people and would be so happy to read of some positive results of the things you do.
Dear Milena,
There are a couple of things I think it would be great to consider about this dream. It will make a huge difference about your life and the way you proceed. For some reason the world culture has developed this really funny and bizarre idea that if you start dating someone, you have to treat the relationship as if, during the time you are dating, you are a married couple. So, even though the guy you are dating is probably not the one you will marry, you cannot try out anyone else because it goes against the “rules of dating exclusively one person.” He believes he has exclusive rights over you and you believe you have rights over him.
The disadvantage of this type of dating is that you don’t get a wide range of experience to test out various people and learn from your experiences. You are locked into a rigid set of expectations. In your case you are not even around the guy. He is far away.
The dream says that you are attracted to something in the other guy who is not your boy friend, but the rules of dating say that you cannot explore what that attraction is because you are already “temporarily married”.
So what I think you should do is to have a more liberal view of relating to others including being more open to having relationships with other guys. You don’t have to get physically involved because that becomes an addiction especially for the guys. But you need to have a lot of experience in relating to others. That is the message of the dream.
In the spiritual worlds there is no such a thing as exclusive relationships because everything is inclusive. You definitely need to include more males in your life.
Richard
I’m in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend for around 7 months. He’s my first boyfriend. Around one month ago a friend from my French course asked to meet up for studying and I told him I can’t and then we talked a bit about why we decided for the course and I mentioned having a boyfriend to which he replied I broke his heart. We didnt talk much since then. Some time ago I had a dream in which he was and I hugged him in it. Yesterday in my dream I was holding hands with me. I want to know what it can mean. I’m not thinking about him during a day so I have no idea why he appears in my dreams. Please try to explain this to me. Thank you in advance
Oh thank you so much for your reply
Dear Richard. I recently had a dream of my grandfather who passed away many years ago when i was a child. In my dream he re-appeared as a ghost in the physical form of a human. We were sitting at a woodem table with many children. I felt as though we all came from a school and everything was rustic. He was at the opposite end of the table laughing and chatting with the others and i felt a little left out or jealous. He looked at me and i felt as if he was sending love to me to cheer me up. I felt a gentle peace within this dream. Could you please interpret this dream. Greatly appreciated.
This is a reply to Anonymous about your grandfather.
It is always great to get a positive dream about someone who has passed away because it is like they have returned to be with a short while to give you something positive. Positive dreams from people who have passed on gives us a lot of reassurance that life continues on even after this life. In this dream your grandfather is showing you laughter, love, and joyfulness are the important things in life. They are what bring us true peace and happiness. He wants you to do what he is is doing in the dream which is to bring good cheer to everyone as if they were like children in a school. That is the work of your life right now. It is really the great work. You have a bit of an issue about feeling left out, but it is not a devastating issue so when you feel it, you can just let it go and then go for bringing joy to others.
Richard
Hello, a dew days ago I had a dream in which I found myself suddenly realizing, that the last months I had been taking wrong pills. Namely, I had had the impression that I was using painkillers, while I was actually taking the next day pill. When I realized it I freaked out because I knew how detrimental these pills are for the hormones and the menstruation. I was thinking that I would never have a menstruation again, I was trying to contact all of my doctors to see what I could do. They were telling me I had received huge doses of the contrary of the growth hormone but they didn’t really care as if it was or I was of no importance.
I find it hard to make concrete connections of these dream components with my real life..! any help?
This is a reply to Lisa’s dream,
The structure of what you are doing is something like this. You think you are relieving pain, but really you are preventing growth of something new inside. Doctors don’t care because they are not interested in growth and new development. You can think of it as a spiritual thing rather than a physical one. It is sort of like drinking alcohol. People think they are relieving pain, like the pain of the day or when something bad happens, drinking temporarily relaxes you and makes the pain subside, but really the pain is not dealt with so it keeps you from understanding where the growth is. Pain and growth go together because pain signals where the growth is going to come from. Not sure how you take try to alleviate the pain, but it is a good metaphor to realize that it is preventing some really fantastic growth. Pain is where the door will open for you. Feel the pain (usually emotional pain), understand where it is coming from, and then find the solution to it, which is the new positive energy. Feel free to right back if you have some questions.
Richard
Actually I just remembered, in between the shooting and my sister crying, I semi woke up and thought ‘thank god that was just a dream’ then I fell back to sleep, then that’s when I dreamt my sister and I were inside. I woke up properly and thought ‘oh that was a dream too!’ Then I got out of bed and had breakfast. So strange. I don’t think I’ve ever had a dream continue after I wake up.
Thanks for reading
Hi I had a really upsetting dream last night that felt so real and I almost cried from relief when I woke up n realized it was a dream.. I’m not violent what so ever n I just don’t know why I would dream something so horrible.. But me n my brother in law who I love dearly were just enjoying each other’s company on a grassy area somewhere (no idea where it was) then all of a sudden we saw a guy with a pistol in his hand walking past us on the footpath, my in law said “is that a pistol” then the guy stopped walking, aimed the gun at us then took a shot and missed. Me n my bro lyed down while I held his head in my arms to protect him (this is upsetting me to write this!) then the shootist came right up to us and shot my bro in the head. It was a silent shot. Next second I know my sister is inside with me in my house in disbelief, crying. (kind of looked like her but with really long hair) then I woke up THANK GOD! Help me? ;(
This is a response to Rachel’s dream.
Being shot in a dream is the same as being emotionally shot down or put down really badly. You are your bother-in-law are both vulnerable to this, but he more so than you. Since he was shot in the head, it represents having great ideas, but then having them shot down by random people or people he doesn’t know.
Your brother-in-law and you are at the first stage in being able to deal with being shot down. In this stage anyone is capable of putting down your ideas or plans and then you are killed by the put downs. What you need to develop is a kind of armor-like body that just deflects the shooting down comments by others so that you are not affected by them. This is a pretty important process so you should do all you can to learn about how to do this. As you progress you can have great ideas, uplift others, and be totally unaffected by criticism and ugly comments, but it is not easy work as the putting down process is very hurtful.
Hi there, I am being murdered a lot in my dreams. Usually I’m someone else. Someone very strange. At first I wont realize its me until I look down and see a knife in my chest. I wake up scared and breathing heavy and its takes me a minute to get out of it and come to.
I also have been dreaming about finding a baby.
Being murdered in dreams has to do with being really hurt in relationships probably to the point of losing them. Being hurt in a relationship is like a shock to the system that is why it takes a while to come out of it. Being murdered in a dream is not like real life. The way you have to learn how to deal with hurt from what people do is to let the pain go. When you let go of relational pain, brand new doors open up to you in ways that you never thought possible. When you hold the pain, then nothing new opens.
Mainly this dream is about the need for you to make some positive moves in your relationship with your “crush”. As long as you do not act more positively with her she is going to go off and be as if she were dead to you or she is going to be with another guy. Time to get busy. You can learn a lot by actively doing positive stuff with her.
I was in a class after school with my crush, and she was crying to the teacher about how she was going to die alone. I suddenly saw myself and I told her she wouldnt die alone because someone would be by her side without her knowing. Then as if in a movie flashback i was watching her going to a beach with a guy and they were boyfriend and girlfriend. they started to swim and a storm came in he got to the shore but she got pulle back into the water and she never came back up.
So I’m confused…
A horrible nightmare, I can’t ssaehake; i was awakened to helicopter shineing search light into apt. I went calling 3yo grandaughter. She was not here. Went down to find her. Saw a fenced area with building supplies, gate locked, kids crawling over gate. Saw black girl on curb, she missed school bus, pink back pack on sidewalk. I was afraid kids would be hurt, went to get help, woke up.
This is for Robin’s Dream.
The fear presented in the dream is that a strong force from outside like govt, is putting the light on you in a seemingly threatening way. It makes you immediately protective to try keep younger people safe. The way to look at this dream is to believe that you are at the start of a really positive process, but this dream is at the far end of the opposite of where you are going. It is what you are most fearful of when you deal with where you are going. Where you are going is to the process where you see yourself as an amazing person like a huge light from within (as opposed to a negative one shining on you from outside). Then you take that light and help bring illumination and positive things to others instead of having to protected. In most cases like yours you have a history of people not really validated your gifts inside (your inner light) so there tends to be fear of things be shined on from the outside. The way to start on the journey for this dream is to validate the positive parts of yourself.
Last night I dreamt that i had come out in a rash on my face, but when I washed my face the rash wiped away like dirt but before I arrived home in my dream I found a bat on the floor (animal) it was hurt and couldn’t fly but after picking it up I held my hands out and it flew away.
This is a response to Aarron’s dream. The structure of this dream, Aarron, is that what seems to appear really bad at first or second sight, is really not as bad as it seems because it is so easily taken care of. It is a great lesson for you to have in day to day life because you probably have a tendency to make things worse than they are. Bats are terrific animals because they control the mosquito population.
Dear Richard
I had a dream that I was in my x job I was on the floor picking up collecting my beautiful stones diamonds crystals assorted shapes designs colors I had a bucket where I put them in along with other belongings I had left in the job
My x workmates were in the bsckground talking then my future man boyfriend walks in he a chatting with my x workmates …. I was ashemed so I ignored him …. & it bothered him so he slowly kneeled down & asked me what had happend …. If I am k ….. Then on top of my crystals diamonds were an old pair of boots I had left there as me & my boyfriend chatting one boots fell down he picked it up looked the size & he said to himself he will go later get one or something now he knows the size
He continued working I left as I left I passed a garden where the grass was all new it was still like muddy with hey I nearly tripped two crystals fell out a circular amythdt & red ruby square one I felt bad to walk on the grass since it was new I said to myself I am so sorry I am stepping on new grass I am only picking up my crystals & did so there was a fox & another animal … The fox looked at me & gave me full respect & I left ….
What does this dream mean ?
This is a response to Heather’s dream,
Heather, the bucket of beautiful stones and diamonds, etc., represent the really positive aspects of your being. It is if you are mine full of precious gems inside of yourself. The problem is that you have been careless or had an accident in which the gems are spilled over the floor. This has to do with being careless about your inner qualities on the inside and then feeling ashamed about being with your boyfriend. The boots symbolize the work you need to do to respect yourself and value just how amazing you are, but you seem to be careless with the work also.
So the fox is telling you to respect and value yourself, but you also need to be clever so that you can really live fully out of the many gifts that you have. When you see yourself as really valued, then your relationship with your boyfriend will be wonderful, but if you are careless with your gifts it will be a disaster. Work hard to see how great you are and how many gems you have.
Dear Richard,
I would like to ask you about a recent and rather disturbing dream I had. So it begins in this lady’s house and she’s playing with her baby. All of a sudden, she starts strangling it and of course it ended up dying. After killing her infant, she wrapped it up in a blanket and shoved it under a piece of furniture. That same day one of her family members came over and noticed the dead baby and called the cops on her and the mother was taken into custody. As you can probably imagine, I woke up feeling disgusted and horrified. The weird thing about this dream is I was merely a spectator, I’ve never seen any of these people before. If you can help me interpret this dream I would be very grateful. It has been plaguing my mind lately and I need some sense of closure.
Thank You,
Brianna
This is a response to Brianna’s dream,
Hi Brianna. The problem in the dream, as you so aptly point out, is not what the mother is doing, but what you are not doing. You are simply sitting around and watching. In real life there are millions of mothers who are daily killing their baby’s spirits. They way they do this is by emphasizing the negative aspects of their children, what is wrong with them, then they children grow up dead to their true selves because they do not know who they are. What you need to do, according to this dream, is to be really active in finding the positive in others and emphasizing it so much. This is what gives life to a person’s spirit. Believe me when I say that lots of people walk around like zombies because of how their mothers have treated them. You have the chance to do something amazing by finding the positive and helping mothers give their children positive experiences.
Dear Richard I had this awful nightmare and figured it would mean something, just wondering if you could interpret it.
I was stabbing my friend but he continued to not die and i went and grabbed my dog bringing it over to my friend then i went outside and got my brother asking for help but i saw a burning boat through the fog and then it came into clear view with a jet flying above it after that i saw a mortar in the sky and hit a few houses down from where i was, the burning boat turned into a burning fire truck spraying water everywhere even though it was on a lake and was floating, so i pulled my brother in and he screamed and started to run when an explosion happened right behind me sending me flying after that i went into the basement leaving the dog and my best friend upstairs and went into a nuclear fallout shelter right underneath the house that had alot of food and drink and stuff to keep us alive after that men came knocking at the door and my brother turned on a camera which happened to be in a garden gnome which i then noticed they were from an enemy country. Then i woke up
This is a response to Daniel Gunter’s dream,
The purpose of this dream is to get you become more consistently friendly to other people. The dream shows you what are the obstacles in your mind and how things are associated. Usually when you need to develop a fairly new process, you get a dream showing you the worst stuff. This is because development is always based upon the principle of dealing with your worst issues first. When you change those, then your life changes dramatically. It usually takes some doing.
The big problem immediately in the dream is that you are stabbing your friend. This means that, on the one hand, you are trying to kill a friendship, but on the other you are trying to bring your dog over and also get help. So really the dream is trying to get out why you kill friendships rather than being more consistent and persistent with them.
The rest of the dream explains why. The lake is supposed to be a symbol of positive relationships but your lake is full of attacks and explosions. What this means is that you have had a history of relationships probably when you were younger that were explosive and hurtful so instead of being able to be consistent in your positive relating you are going down into your protective self to keep out of danger.
The solution to a dream like this is to realize that the present tense is not like the past. You need to go through a process that helps you let go of the past memories and live in the reality that you can have really positive friendships and relationships. When you do this, everything will change for the better. Your life will totally change.
It seems like you could benefit from some help in getting through the bad memories.
Richard