What kind of interpretation sources are used by this website?

For many of us, dreams pose questions which need to be answered and clarified. Often enough, we try to better understand our dreams, their origins, their meaning and their purpose. By answering the questions our dreams provoke we find peace of mind and certainty in our lives.

There is plenty of evidence indicating that people’s interest in dream interpretation is as ancient as mankind. For those seeking to deepen and enhance knowledge about themselves, the world and humanity, dreams have always been a part of self-reflection and learning. It comes as no surprise that dream interpretation has become a complex, sophisticated and growing resource base for us to access this abundant volume of knowledge about human subconscious experiences.

dream about traveling

The relationship between what we dream about and what these experiences could possibly mean has been studied and documented by a number of famous psychics, world-renowned psychologists and social science scholars. In particular, the last two centuries have produced a wide variety of dream interpretation publications and reference sources based on the information accumulated over many centuries. These efforts would not be successful without the inclusion of cultural heritage and pieces of knowledge collected across nations and regions nowadays serving as the foundation of dream meaning interpretation and analysis.

Generally speaking, we can define a dream interpretation source as inherited, diverse and extensive body of existing knowledge which provides us with the best available answers in response to our dream meaning interpretation inquiries.

At DreamLookUp.com, we draw upon existing  psychological theories of dreaming experiences, translated literature, mythology, symbolism as well as the ancient philosophies of mysticism, theology and spirituality. These areas of human knowledge represent the major part of sources which help us share meaningful and insightful answers to the most commonly experienced dream visions and symbols. Quite often, the results of interpretation related to a particular symbol or vision experienced in a dream can bear striking resemblance across different sources, both geographically and on the temporal scale. However, the wide diversity of sources used by DreamLookUp.com sometimes has its implications. Namely, it is hard to find a single and precise interpretation for one particular dream vision or symbol. Rather, multiple interpretations are provided, each reflecting a different dream interpretation angle, based on specific details related to contents of the dream and the source consulted. The purpose of our “Extended dream interpretation” option is to offer dream interpretation alternatives and additional details. The content of extended meanings will slightly vary from or complement the main interpretation as they provide additional details to the main message both in depth and scope.

To access the extended interpretation of your dream (if it is available for this particular dream symbol you are searching), simply click the “Envelope” icon appearing next to the dream’s emotional charge icon on the right hand-side of the main interpretation message. This additional information will help you get a more insightful look into what this particular dream may be telling you.

dream about familyPerhaps all of us remember the time of our childhood when we had a vivid and memorable dream. We would wake up distressed and anguished, or excited and thrilled by the magic and fun we had just experienced in our dream.  We would then rush to our parents to share this dream, seeking understanding and comfort. We wanted to know what it meant. We wanted to know if it was real, if it had a link to reality. “Is the dragon still here mommy?”, we might have asked. Dreams have intrigued and touched us in a profound and very personal way. And the only available source to interpret dreams back then were the people closest to us, the people we looked up to, admired, respected and trusted. These people taught us everything we wanted to know and passed on their dream interpretation knowledge to us. Commonly, these would be our parents or guardians.

During adolescence, with more knowledge and practical experience acquired, we begin to attribute dream visions to certain events which we previously experienced in real life, while awake. We also tend to associate our dreams with particular personal emotional experiences, with our subjective psychological lives. We still want to know where the dragon is, but this time around we seek more insightful and profound answers to the questions created by our subconscious mind. Once again, we might turn to our closest friends and ask for their opinion. Some of us share our dreams with professionals like psychologists. But most commonly and frequently we choose the easy access, no embarrassment and complete privacy when we consult dream interpretation literature and online information sources, one of which is DreamLookUp.com.

All of these sources suggest that there are similarities, parallels and close relationships between our dreams and wake lives. Consulting the right source at the right time could help us analyze what our dream means and what consequences this interpretation might have on our everyday existence or on the lives of people who are important to us.

How do dream interpretation sources evolve?

The origins of dream interpretation can be traced back to ancient times with sufficient evidence of their presence and obvious importance throughout a number of geographic locales. The ancient cultures based their principles of dream analysis and interpretation on the knowledge and practical experience which existed hundreds of years before their time. Dream visions were always considered as a way of communicating with the divine. Our ancestors believed that Gods were the ones responsible for sending these subconscious messages to be later decoded and delivered to dreamers. And because it was becoming more and more difficult to keep track of these symbolic meanings as the time passed and their number grew, dream interpretation books started being compiled from these very early times.

Other early dream interpretation sources regarded dreams as prophetic messages for the future. According to these beliefs, dreams spoke of possibly upcoming events and could be used to guide the growth, development and success of the dreamer as well as the entire mankind.

As more information became available to the general public and religion started losing its once ubiquitous influence and power, dream interpretation shifted from being regarded as solely divine and sacred. Dream meanings were increasingly referred to as revelations connected to the past and the present events retained and superimposed into our subconsciousness. Dream visions began to be considered as being capable of showing us possible outcomes and repercussions in reality, rather than rigidly predestined and bound-to-happen future events. 

dream interpretation answersSome  popular dream interpretation dictionaries we included as our basic sources are compilations of the early-mid XXth century pocket-size dream dictionaries which became popular at the peak of interest to everything mystical and supernatural. During this period, women also often sought gypsy people’s guidance and advice for dream interpretation. For example, when the circus or carnival came to town or a folk festival took place, visitors would seek advice from fortune-tellers. They wanted to have a glimpse of what their future might look like or to better understand their visions.

Clairvoyance and esoteric knowledge often went hand-in-hand with interpretation of common dreams. The gypsies further offered their visitors protection against the evil eye and other bad omens. It was at this time that Sigmund Freud argued that dreams were a form of wish fulfillment. Dream interpretation began relying on dream interpretation science pioneered by Freud and Jung for in-depth exploration of the human psyche and subconscious experiences.

DreamLookUp.com could therefore be considered a multi-generational knowledge database. It offers dream meanings with a rich historic and folklore background. It is also a mostly experience-based source. We turn to personal experiences and practical knowledge in order to find the answers to most commonly-experienced dreams. That is why many of our interpretations are not tied to a particular author and therefore do not contain a direct reference to the original source. Inspired by what is available out there, we combine experiences and reflections to refine and improve our compilation of dream meanings. DreamLookUp.com offers a unique approach to dream interpretation based on common and time-tested dream interpretation sources.

Are these sources reliable and worth consulting?

There are many believers who insist that dreams merely represent random neurophysiological reflections of what is happening to us in our wake lives. The idea about dreams having a deeper meaning and influencing our lives is strongly opposed and rejected by some authors who treat dreaming experiences as a byproduct of memory and cognition. Despite the wide array of theories and opinions, our team believes that dreams contain meaningful messages and accurate revelations about our existence.

Most present-day dream dictionaries published both in print and online are a combination of the work derived from traditional, ancient classics, folk manuals, views of mysticism and modern dream meaning interpretation theories. The most commonly used sources are available on the website from such famous authors as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Nostradamus, Miller, Loff, Hasse, famous psychic and clairvoyant Eastern-European fortune-teller Vanga and other popular dream interpreters.

At DreamLookUp.com, we are adopting insights and practical applications from all of these sources. We are making a collective effort in looking at the dream universe, comprised of intertwined dream meanings, symbols and associations, and placing them under one roof: our extensive and growing dream interpretation database. We combined all these sources of knowledge together with the intent of offering our visitors a different approach to dream analysis. This systematic classification of each dream symbol ensures simplified method of deciphering and unraveling the mysteries associated with your dreams.

What sources of dream interpretation do you use?

Where do you turn to when you are perplexed by some strange and unexplainable vision that you had in your dream? We would be pleased to read about your own dreaming experiences. What kind of a strange dream have you recently had, how important a particular dream was for you and how might some of these dreams have changed the course of reality? As a visitor of this website, you are our most valuable source of dreaming  experience and knowledge about dream meanings. With your support, we can keep on further expanding the existing knowledge about dreams and their meaning.

This website makes the process of sharing your experiences very easy. You can find some great sources by using the Archive section of the website. There you will find a compilation of user-shared experiences coupled with our commentary. You are invited to participate in ongoing discussions. Lastly, each dream interpretation gives an opportunity to use the available discussion tool for you to share your own opinion about a particular vision or symbol of interest. You can also find us on Facebook.