Today, let’s really dig in and find out about symbolism in our daily interactions with animals and nature.

How a Caterpillar Helped me Climb a Mountain

Not too long ago, I was hiking Mont Tremblant in Canada.  And let’s just say the ol’ hiking boots had not been out of the closet in quite awhile.  Huffing and puffing toward the end of the hike, I had serious doubts about my ability to make it to the top. And I was starting to have hallucinations about the gondola waiting there to take me back down the mountain.  As I stopped for my umpteenth rest break (Did I say how much I love my patient husband?), out of the corner of my eye I saw a small green caterpillar hanging by a silken thread from the tree just in front of me.

I had been listening to Ted Andrews’ audio book Animal-Speak: Understanding Animal Messengers, Totems, and Signs and thought this would be the perfect time to tap into some “animal medicine”.  At this point, I was game for anything, anything at all, that might help me.  So, thinking back over what I knew about caterpillars, I realized they:

1. Are not in a hurry to get places, they go at their own pace. (Slow down and you’ll get there, Kris.)
2. They take the journey an inch at a time.  A children’s song popped into my head— “Inch worm, inch worm. Measuring the marigolds” (Kris, just take one step at a time and breathe.)
3. They focus on what’s in front of them.  They don’t look ahead 200ft and get discouraged by how steep it is.  (Focus on just the next step and don’t worry about what is ahead of you, Kris)

The next steps I took, I embodied the medicine of the caterpillar.  Step by step, inch by inch focusing on just the next step I moved ahead.  Before long, I turned the corner and BAM I was at the top!  Just like that.  Now, I”m fairly sure that caterpillars don’t drink beer but I did.  It was a big one, too.  Then I enjoyed a spectacular view from the gondola as I rode down the mountain.

Now its Your Turn

Animal symbolism is a great tool that you can use, too.  Here’s how:

1. Pay attention to animals that cross your path. -   Not every animal is a sign so use your judgment and see what resonates.  You get to decide. If something is meaningful for you, adopt it. If not, move on.  This is all about having a language or a tool that helps you grow and connect.
2. Stop!  What were you just doing? – As soon as you see or hear an animal, remember what you were just doing or thinking.  Yep, this will require you to keep track of your thoughts. They can be slippery little suckers but you can do it.  It’s also good practice for being present in the moment.   If you get recurrent animals sitings such as a cardinal in the back yard, then you come in and your husband is watching a Cardinal’s game on TV, then you hear a news story about a Cardinal in the Catholic church visiting your town,  pay attention and see if the ’medicine’ of the cardinal has something to tell you about a current situation in your life.
3. Research the animal. – You can Google the animal on the web and find more about it.  There are several websites dedicated to animal symbolism.  Use them only after you have worked with the symbolism yourself a bit and researched the basics of the animal.  Because we are all individuals, we assign different meanings to symbols in our lives.  As with all symbol interpretation, take others’ interpretation as input and not authority.  You are the best judge of what a symbol means to you.

Again, this is more of an art form than a science.  At the very least, you will learn to slow down, take in the moment, and appreciate the beauty of nature.

Let Me Hear From You

I would love to hear your experiences with this symbolism technique.  Please post a comment below and let me know how it goes!

Absolutley, according to Ted Andrews who is widely considered to be the MacDaddy of animal symbolism.  As a symbolism junkie myself, I was thrilled to discover my inner Dr. Dolittle through Mr. Andrews’ audio book Animal-Speak: Understanding Animal Messengers, Totems, and Signs

Animals show up often in my dreams and I’m guessing yours too.  They can be intimidating (snakes anyone?) or confusing, “I was pregnant but then, instead of a baby, I had a litter of puppies!”.  Here are a few basics to help you get started working with animal symbolism in your life.

The Basics

Animal totems are believed to be a guiding essence that reflect and remind us of certain characteristics of that animal in our lives.  We can have one or more and they follow us throughout our lifetime.  Discovering your animal totem(s) is more of an art than a science.  Here are a couple of questions to help you uncover what yours may be:

1. What animal(s) do you dream about regularly?
2. What animal(s) have you been fascinated with since you were a child?
3. What animal(s) are on your ‘must see’  list when you visit a zoo or aquarium?
4. Do you have any animal collections such as figurines, pictures, etc?

Pick one or two animals that seem to resonate most or have an emotional pull on you.  Then, do a little 3rd grade homework assignment and find out more about that animal. What are their traits, behaviors, and habitats? Do these characteristics resonate with you?  If so, you might have just tapped into your animal totem.

How Animals Speak to your Life

My recurrent dream animals are rattlesnakes (with an occasional cobra or three) and mountain lions.  Although they scare the bejeezes out of me, I am always strangely compelled to visit the snake house at the zoo.  As I investigated more about snakes, I found that they have some interesting qualities:

1. They have a keen sense of smell.
2. They grow as long as they live, shedding their skin as they outgrow it.
3. They are warm blooded, meaning that they are affected on a survival level by their environment.

Andrews calls these qualities ”the animal’s medicine” or the essence of the learning you can receive from the animal totem.  Looking at these characteristics, I can see in my own life I have developed a keen sense of ‘smell’.  I can easily ‘smell’ it when things are not right or people are being deceptive.  By embracing this behavior, I have learned to trust that instinct instead of blowing it off as my ‘crazy imagination’.  Just as a snake sheds its skin, I can also embrace my tendency to learn, grow and move on instead of beating myself up for not sticking with things.  And finally, I am learning to be very careful with my personal environment such as who I surround myself with, groups I participate in, and am even getting outside more often.

You can leverage the animal’s medicine further by putting a picture or a small representation of your animal in your line of sight.  This will remind you to embody these traits.  I don’t think I want a live rattlesnake or even a picture of one but a black diamond might be a good logo for my business.  Get the idea?  Be creative and have fun with it!

What About you?

What animal shows up in your life again and again? Start paying attention.  You can probably learn a few new things and get a new perspective on your life.

I would love to hear about your animal totems and dreams!  If you need a little help with the symbolism of your animal or would just like to share, post a comment below.

Next post… How to interpret animal symbolism and energy in your daily life.

Dream Symbols

If you are prone to sickness, or suffering a disease, look through your dreams for symbolic representations of your physical condition. For example, you might see a balloon about to burst under pressure when you’re suffering a headache, a stack of bricks out of alignment when your spine is out of line, a cloudy or murky pond when you’ve got a bladder infection, an off-key or raspy musical instrument when you’ve got a throat infection, a blocked road or pipe when you’ve got a blockage such as a blocked artery or constipation, a toxic waste factory polluting a system when you’ve got a liver or kidney problem, or an invasion or war dream when you’ve been invaded by a virus, or when your immune system is fighting an infection.

These are NOT definite symbols with strict meanings, as any of these symbols can come up in dreams that have nothing to do with physical disease, so don’t use these to diagnose your physical condition. Instead, use these examples as guidelines to help you identify parts of your dream that seem to mirror your physical condition. Once you have found your personal symbol of your disease in a dream, the healing magic begins with a dream alchemy practice. This is what to do.

Visualise Healing

Visualise the dream situation healing, adding an uplifting emotion. For example, visualise a blocked pipe unblocking, and its contents flowing smoothly, feeling the elation of the release. Or visualise the high-pressure balloon that was about to burst breathing out gently, just enough to relieve the pressure and feel the light-hearted, happy balloon lift and fly. Or visualise the stack of bricks being gently stretched and reset into alignment, feeling the joyous freedom of a new flexibility.

Keep up your visualisation for several weeks, always making sure to add and feel that uplifting emotion. What you are doing is communicating with your unconscious mind using its own language, the language of your dreams. Your unconscious mind then takes your healing cue, and helps heal the emotional or mental cause of your dis-ease by changing the disease-causing beliefs and feelings. Watch your dreams for feedback on your healing progress.

Extract from 101 Dream Interpretation Tips, Jane Teresa Anderson (paperback)

Dream Board 101

Here are the basics of a dream board.  To begin, put pictures words or other embellishments on a poster board or paper that represent things you want in life.   When you’re finished, display the board where you can see it every day.  Then, depending on your perspective, either through the magic of manifesting a la The Secret or the practicality of focus you will begin to see your vision come to life.  It’s fun and creative and at the very least will make you smile when you look at it.

How to Use a Dream Board to Work with Your Night Time Dreams

Step 1:  Notice all the symbols in your dream that stand out to you in some way. Place pictures representing those symbols on the board and label them with a word that captures the essence of the symbol for you.

Example:  Pictures of a red car labeled ‘Freedom”, clouds labeled “refreshing rain’, your mother labeled ‘rules”

Step 2:  Then identify a color or colors that best represent the emotion of the dream. Put it on the board and label it with the emotion it represents.  It is OK if you have more than one emotion/color combination in the dream.

Example:  Color red labeled  ’excitement” or ‘danger”

Step 3:    Ask yourself, “If this dream were asking me a question, what would that question be?”  This may take some guessing or poking around until you find a question that seems to fit. Put this question at the bottom of the vision board.

Example:  ”Why are you hanging onto old ‘rules’ that limit your options and freedom?” or ”Why are you ignoring your own well being and  making dangerous choices?”

Step 4:  Be honest and look deeply to identify the answer to the question.  Write the answer at the top of the vision board.

Example: ”I am choosing to limit my freedom to make other people happy.” or “I am choosing to behave dangerously because I want to make a statement to others that they can’t control me”

Step 5:  Write down 3 action steps in the left hand margin of the board that better support your goals. 

Example:
1. I will have an open discussion with X about my need to make some time for myself.
2. I will set aside 1 hour a week to pursue my interest in writing.
3. I will make healthy choices based on what is right for me.

Using these 5 steps, you will be on your way to making positive changes in your life and learning to decode your own personal dream language.  Way to go, dreamer!

This is your opportunity to wake up to the incredible source of information your true self is communicating to your each night. Then you can design practical strategies to act on that knowledge.

How to Use this Website

Visit our Blog Page to find tips and strategies designed to help you decipher your own unique dream code.  I encourage you to comment on these posts, ask question, and share your own insights.  Really we are all learning together.

If you have an especially fun, scary or funky dream.  Hop over to the ‘Share Your Dream” post and tell us about it.  I’ll give you some ideas and tips to get you started decoding your dream.

Visit the Products Page for books, audios downloads, worksheets, and other products to help you work with your dreams.

Most of all enjoy your dreams.  Dreams are a gift!  Working with your dreams is the fast track to creating and living a passionate, authentic and happy life.

In 12th grade English class, my teacher told the room “I decided long ago to be a participant in life and not just watch it go by.”  Of, course we all rolled our eyes but now I get it. Thank you Ms. Knight!  Too many of us are watching our lives go by from the living room sofa or  “it-pays-the-bills” job or even from our cars as we drive the kids to yet another activity.  Here’s a question.  What have you done for YOU lately?  Yeah, me too..

So let’s start working with our dreams and uncover what our true selves really want to be up to on this planet.  Start by asking yourself , Who did I come here to be?”  Then click over to the Products Page  and get the tools you need to become it!

You can also share your dreams with us or learn about dream interpretation techniques and strategies to get into action around your dreams on the Blog Page.

Dream it. Do it. Live it. Give it!  Start today!

We love dreams!   This site is designed to help you understand and live from the nighttime variety of dreams. But we are huge fans of the daytime ones as well. The big visions you have for yourself, wildly inspiring goals, living the dash, and bucket lists. As a matter of fact, we believe that working with your nighttime dreams are critical to achieving the daytime dreams.

Join us on the Blog Page, share your dream with us, visit the Product Page and let’s go for this dream thing in a BIG way!

How to Remember Your Dreams Tip # 1

If you are have trouble remembering your dreams, try keeping a small pad and pen or voice recorder by your bedside.  As soon as you wake up, stop and think to yourself “What was I just doing?”  give it a minute to come into focus.  Once you get a ‘hit’ focus on it, no matter how silly it may seem and allow it to expand.  Review it in your mind… THEN record what you can on paper or into the recording.  Fill the big things in first (I was drivng a car) after you have the big pieces in, then you can fill in the details (it was red and going way too fast.  I was missing my left shoe and couldn’t find the brake pedal) .

Dreams are a gift.  Start paying attention and they will start showing up powerfully for you.

Were you driving the car or riding in the passenger or backseat?  Just like the saying goes “taking a backseat” or ‘being a passenger in life” means that you are not in control of the situation.  Your dream may be telling you that you are not in control of some aspect of your life.

What kind of a car is it?  Is it a sleek fast moving speedster?  Or a gianormous van that is build for ‘carrying’ lots of people and stuff.  If your driving a speedster, does it feel good or too fast and out of control?   Think about it in these terms and you will begin to find insight into what you need to resolve in your waking hours.

We are just getting started.  In this ”Understand your Dream” space I’ll give you some resources and tools that will help you work with your own dreams.  Dream dictionaries can only take you so far.  To get the most out of your dreams, it is really up to you! 

Dream on!