Dreams and Interpretations

By: Athene Raefiel, 

Using dreams and their interpretations is an art that can easily be developed to assist in our spiritual development. Using our dreams can aid us in understanding different elements of our lives and ourselves. With the world around us continuing to rev up its pace, requiring more and more of our time, things such as sleep and dreaming are sacrificed.  Many people discover that they are just too tired to remember their dreams, let alone give time to interpreting them for their usefulness.

Dreaming and its importance has been around and used by a variety of cultures for many centuries now. Some indigenous tribes such as the Senoi in Malaysia always begin their day having breakfast and discussing what had been dreamt about the night previously. This included what the children had dreamt as well as the elders. Such cultures and traditions are beginning to fade, as are the jungles in which they live.

Dreams hold different connotations to different people; this is commonly due to the diverse backgrounds and religious belief individuals come from. Though to some people dreams represent mysterious and prophetic things, to others they simply tell the tale of daily life.

It is interesting to know that in many cultures where dreams are held almost sacredly, there are special rituals and prayers of protection used to take someone to a special dream state of the highest order. This is true of the Native American Indian tribes who have used Peyote as well as Vision Quest journeys to bring on visions as well as sacred dreams.

Dreams are an interesting tool for spiritual growth because they herald various stages of advancement for the true seeker of spiritual advancement. When one learns to remember and study their dreams they begin to realize that dreams can come in many different stages and levels.

Once a person actually delves into the study of dreams, they discover what a vast area of learning they have embarked upon.

In dream studies, there are areas of learning called Creating Dreaming, Lucid Dreaming, Astral Dreaming and even Prophetic Dreaming. Though many people think that Prophetic Dreaming always involves imminent disaster or devastation, this is not true. Dreams of this nature would come from the Astral Plane and are usually fear based and tied into frightened emotions. Though they may actually manifest in the physical, can simply mean that the individual who had the dream, accidentally tapped into an astral level of the collective whole and saw some of what was there. There are those who proclaim to make a practice of such dreaming but it has no real value to one who is trying to progress spiritually.

Most dreams are basically random thoughts and activities of daily life. Often in dreams it can seem as though we are simply rehashing what we went to bed to forget. The result being that we do not wish to remember our dreams. This is one of the main reasons that individuals should take the time to purify themselves and space around them before falling asleep. I believe this is why so many teachings tell people to say prayers before bedtime.

So much is tied up in superstition and myths when it comes to dreams that few venture into the study because they feel it is too mysterious and holds little reward. But dreaming and learning how to use our dreams helps us to learn about ourselves in new and different ways. When we learn to Lucid Dream is it is expressly fun and informative.

When you Lucid dream you are actually watching the dream take place and can actually control or change what goes on in the dream. You can even change it to another dream if you wish. Some believe that lucid dreaming is the highest level of dreaming because they now have control over their dream state. This is not true. Control is still an element of the lower self and is a need by the physical self. By the need to continually control your dreams, you block your own expansion within the dream realms. Lucid dreaming is fun, yet, as with all metaphysics it is simply one more level to learn about and surpass. When you truly understand that spiritual evolution is about surrender and allowance then you choose to exceed and excel even in your dream state.

Interpreting a dream begins with the desire to interpret what the dream means. When we have a strong desire to do or learn something, it is as if our inner self begins to work with us to help us fulfill that desire.  In fact, if we take a dream we had and see each person in the dream as some aspect of our lives and ourselves, we will always be amazed at what perception we realize from this dream when awake. Remembering how we feel in our dreams helps us tremendously when interpreting the meaning of the dream. Different feelings often color our perception of what something means to us. Feeling fear as opposed to safety creates a very different meaning when interpreting a dream. Rarely do people take into account that they are actually aware of how they feel in a dream unless it is fear based.

Most remembered dreams that are fear based are often called nightmares. There are different phases of sleeping and the dream-state is believed to occur while in REM, or during rapid eye movement. Though many of us understand that during the night our astral body also travels to the astral plane, others don’t realize that you also bring memories back, dreaming about them after this traveling. Some of the things that dwell in the lower astral plane are demon-like energies and entities. When passing through this level in our dream state we sometimes attract their attention and they want to attach to us. This can easily be remedied by simply saying some mantras before going to sleep and when you awake, along with your prayers to anchor the light and love of the Divine.

Dreaming in black and white or color also helps us define our dreams and the help they give us. We rarely even remember a dream unless it has some important significance, so if it is in color we are more apt to take notice. Even when we do dream in color, part of the dream may be both color and black and white. This is certainly an attention grabber and something one would easily remember.

Dreaming in color often means that you are having an astral dream. Since there are different levels of astral dreams, the types of colors that you experience in the dream can help you identify what level of the astral you are in.  When the colors are vibrant and luminescent you have reached into the more heavenly planes of the astral. Here, it is as if all your senses are heightened and awake as you experience yourself seeing, feeling, touching and even smelling while in the dream-state. During such dreams the sense of aliveness and beauty bring about amazement and awe for the dreamer. This is quite different from Lucid Dreaming.

Other things to look for when remembering dreams is if you can identify other people you know, or have known, in your dream or are the others in the dream strangers?  If they are strangers, how did you feel about them in the dream? Did you feel comfortable with them being there or fearful? This is an important aspect of dream interpretation because very often our companions in spirit will participate with us in our dream state and help us in this way. In the dream they most often appear to regular looking people and we feel genuinely comfortable with them being there. Very often they guide us to various experiences in the dream.

Sometimes we will have a dream and see an Archetype such as and Angel or Ascended Master. People often claim to have dreams with Jesus, the Virgin Mary or a Guardian Angel coming to them. These people are actually reaching into a very intimate sacred place of love and have a great desire to receive grace and love from the Divine.

Another dream we often hear spoken about is the dream a family member has when a loved one has died and crossed over. When this person who died comes back in a dream it is to either let the family know they have made a good crossing and are safe and doing well, or if they come seeking help and guidance because they are lost and feel trapped.

If the dream is that of the family member asking for help then it is imperative that the family seeks help to aid this individual soul to cross over into the next dimension of its incarnation. There is nothing worse than being stuck in between worlds. I liken it to a fog bank where you feel despair and fear that you are still alive but cannot find a way of being in any familiar place or with familiar people. After awhile these souls begin to walk the earth feeling displaced and exiled by both worlds. Simply someone knowing how to help this soul find its way to next plane of existence for itself can avoid so much of this.

So our dreams tell us a lot more than we realize and it is often better to pay attention to them. This may not be necessary or feasible daily, but it certainly is when we feel a pull that they are telling us something valuable. Then we might want to honor such a nudge and perhaps even journal our dream memories for awhile.

Dreaming is a powerful method of tuning into your soul consciousness, sometimes called the unconscious mind. Once you have the ability to traverse the various levels of consciousness in your dreams you will find that things such as past life memories even begin to surface. Dreams in and of themselves are simply another tool to enhance full awakening and awareness of spirit and it is a very powerful one.

We are seeing the results of what happens when so many people die of unnatural causes and return to the Earth plane to re-establish themselves karmically to learn and grow.

When we die there are a number of places we go depending on our own evolution and soul awareness.

If we die and have no soul awareness we are not transported to the same places as those who do. Not understanding or believing in soul consciousness determines us going somewhere that nothing grows or becomes. It is a type of Limbo where we can easily be born quickly as a baby. There is no learning or advancement as the person has not yet learned anything of its eternal essence and must quickly return with a hope they will discover this in a new incarnation.

I often speak of many creators which can bring confusion to those who believe in the “One True God”. Ultimately there is energy and energy creates new and different energy that ultimately creates a variety of Hierarchies. What chain of command we belong to will eventually be discovered if we choose to search for it.

We have many different chains of relatives, this being similar to looking at a variety of helixes looking like strands of DNA. Because we are multi-dimensional beings we have memories to access from many different lifetimes with many different experiences.

While some discover they have Extraterrestrial Families, others discover they are Angelic beings. Indeed, we are as varied as the leaves on a plant. No matter who our creators and families are in spirit, they are all aware of one another, the Universe is an open pathway to communication through telepathy.

Telepathy is the one matrix we all have access to. We may not know it but we are all communicating with one another on some level right now. Fear is the energy that is currently dominating the 3D and is and has spread like a bad disease that encompasses humankind and others upon our planet.

There is so much possession of negativity and demons currently that it is often mistaken as Mental Illness. Most people are not even aware that possession is real. The old saying that if you don’t believe in it, “it cannot hurt you”, is a misconception in life. We are easily possessed by things good as well as bad everyday with total ignorance.

The spiritual teachings of the importance of raising one’s vibrations is so very necessary if we are to protect ourselves from the ravages of life. When we are sucked into the prevailing feelings surrounding us, we become disoriented and overwhelmed.

Surrounded by pain and sadness can be devastating, when attached to, and us being sensitives tends to easily allow us to get sucked in. We cannot help one another by drowning together, though so many do just that believing this shows they care.

We must learn to care for the energy of Love and heighten our vibrations if we are to stay afloat this lifetime. Love must be discovered and developed like caring for a garden, which you are. You need become love to understand love and quit trying to define it, instead encompass yourself with it and let it seep in.

Are you finding it hard to stay centered and on task in this energy? Just want to throw caution to the wind and have a good time for a while? Then perhaps you need to do that! We too often take life and ourselves too seriously; at times we even make playing a chore. Relaxation is not a state of doing nothing. Relaxation is a state of truly enjoying whatever you are doing, including nothing. I know very few people who can truly enjoy the moment and allow it to be all that they need or want. There is no trick involved with this, just good old fashioned know how. Remember when you were young and whatever you were doing at that exact moment was all that you needed to be doing? Well try being that way again and see if you like it. We all get in a hurry for tomorrow and forget to live today. In the Zen teachings, the key of a joyous tomorrow is the fulfillment of the life we live today. When we get ahead of ourselves we do nothing but try to catch up. When we are stuck in the past we don’t even relate to the present, we are always separate. When we experience the moment, we live presently and without worry, or concern. This inner peace experience is worth all the time in the world. There is nothing for you to do in your life but live each moment fully. Survival is a fact of third dimensional reality that we have already accepted and integrated into our daily living. Do not let it determine who you are or how to define yourself. Be true only to the center of love and light that you are. Be the child of light you were designed to be, and trust that, that is all there truly is. Enlightenment, love, and playfulness, these are the experiences you need in the moment. Become one with them.

Soulmates

Almost everyone we meet in life is a soulmate on some level. We are all part of a soul group and have known each other from past experience. We discover somehow if we need to finish and complete things with others or if we are to re-unite and stay connected for important periods of time.

There is a misconception that a soulmate is to be a partner in this lifetime. Partners help us recognize who we are and help us develop in a great way of being ourself. Our Spirit Guides and Teachers of Light are also our Soul mates. We are related to them as well as them to us.

Soul has over soul, has over soul and so on. This is how we are all connected. All soulmates are not in our life to bring us joy but also to help us with our lessons this lifetime.

Higher Self or Spirit self is different from soul mate. Higher self is spirit essence and directly connected to the All that is, often called God. As we raise our vibrations we meet various groups of people upon our path. Often we outgrow certain friends and family that we love. This is natural and should be embraced.

We change as well as our lessons within soul. Sometimes we even move into a new soul group. Again this is a natural process. Remember Love and Light are synonymous.

Moving into Fifth Dimensional Consciousness

The Etheric Body – Plane of Cause and Effect

First in order to move into a new level of consciousness one must have had the training of the Fourth Dimension well in hand. It is through the learning of Unconditional Love that we ascend the staircase to the higher more spiritual levels of self.

The Etheric planes have to do with more invisible bodies. To clarify further, we can now access true consciousness through greater levels of telepathy and understanding. These have no physicality like the lower centers are tied to. Here we begin to travel the expanse of mind and universe without judgement and need. Our acceptability of non-form can now evolve more readily.

Experiencing our Etheric self allows us to reach into dimensions of consciousness that bring new learning and adjustment in life. Realizations become more important as does new understanding of what we are learning takes place.

We must become aware of how we are Higher Self before we can become aware of the Etheric. Here is where the law of Cause and Effect develop true meaning and awareness. We must become Clairsentient before we become Clairvoyant of Clairaudient.

Clairsentient is where we are working through our inner senses rather than our outer; this is how we develop degrees of understanding through the feeling and intuitive self. Still it takes time to interpret the language of our Spirit Guides and the Universe. This learning and development are necessary before we experience the Etheric Plane.

The Fourth Dimension

The Heart Chakra

The Heart Chakra also known as the Fourth Dimension is the balancer between the lower three chakras and the upper three. Until one fully knows how to operate in the fourth Dimension they cannot move to the Fifth.

The Heart Chakra is definitely the Yin Yang symbol and holds the balance between Conditional and Unconditional Love. As we grow up we learn about Conditional love which is a need to be needed. We seek the attention and approval of others to find our worth. When we move into the Unconditional part of the Heart we learn how to love without attachment. We learn how to accept and allow rather than judge and react.

When we can love ourselves and others unconditionally, we reach deep into our understanding self where kindness fills us with a desire to serve rather than be served. We begin the quest as healers and teachers of Love.

We must learn to love unconditionally before we can move to the Fifth Dimension of Cause and Effect, also known as manifestation.

As we grow and develop spiritually we cannot jump past any dimension without fully understanding its purpose in our life. Just as we go through the various grades in school, so must we learn at each new dimension, grade, before skipping ahead.

Learning at the Fourth Dimensional vibration is the key to understanding how the Universe operates and how we are that same Universe. This is where we learn balance between the physical and spiritual realities.

What is Initiation ?

Archangel Raphael through Athene Raefiel

Initiation is brought about by the cyclic process of karma. Karma, the plane of cause and effect, says there must be balanced in the body, mind and soul to ascend your current plane of existence and continue your spirit journey.

Everything and everyone must adhere to the laws of each plane of existence; in order to do so they must experience what these laws are. These laws must be realized in order to be known and only through the experience of living can this be done.

Initiation is known to be testing experiences to help us expand beyond our current perception and understand a greater part of the whole. Our experiences have happened over many cyclic lifetimes both out of body as well as in physical.

When you understand that basically everything you experience in life is some sort of initiation you soften yourself to allow the changes and opportunities initiation brings. At this time a major initiation encompassing the planets and their teachers is occurring. Initiation on one plane of existence must be realized on as many planes of self that are identifiable through the many levels of consciousness you each possess.

Let us speak of past life initiation as an example. For many incarnations there have been many discoveries that you now take for granted as always being there. For now they are. But these have been developments over many eons of time and the opportunity for you to adjust your own karma is now accelerated into this one or two lifetimes.

So many say to us that they are doing their spiritual work and therefore cannot understand an illness or handicap they find they must endure currently. Few take into consideration that this life can be a culmination of various experiences they were unable to heal at another time.

Knowing as we do that soul is the record keeper of all experience allows you each to travel within soul and remember what past lives were about. Let us give you an example.

Perhaps you see a lifetime where you were a soldier and had to have your legs amputated due to your wounds. In this life time you may have the opportunity to heal and make peace with this experience by losing your leg and wearing a prosthetic leg.

To make peace with yourself on all levels you must forgive the experience of losing a body limb and stop seeing the experience as being bad or punishment of some kind. Instead the loss of a limb in this incarnation can allow you not only to walk again but also to heal the soul feelings from the previous incarnation.

Another example is to find an imbalance in the body such as cancer or diabetes. Looking to other lifetimes you will find that you died from such things, yet in this incarnation there are a variety of measures you can take to still live a fulfilling life. Though you go through the initiation of the same experiences as before, this time is an opportunity to make peace with the fact of being handicapped medically, yet saved from the fate of dying.

Now to elaborate on the tools and knowledge that can be used on a soul and spirit level this incarnation, the awareness and development of awareness can aid you in becoming your own healer and balancer in life.

To bring forth balance there needs be adjustments, not only in the body but also the emotions and the mind. A full initiation can require many tools you have garnered along your path. Meditation, yoga, automatic writing and the ability to forgive are very powerful.

To bring your whole self into balance when you lose a limb or have a chronic disease you must be willing to understand that like any vehicle this may take an entire life of adjustments to maintain that peace.

You are each a growing and flowering plant in life. When you do not receive the right nutrients to keep you healthy you will suffer low immunity which in and by itself can bring many other problems.

The mind in and of itself can be an asset or detriment depending on how you utilize it. Feeling depression is a given this lifetime because you are subject to the mass consciousness. Only by identifying your own individual consciousness can you find the power within to assert your awareness to your lower or rational mind.

You have been given and taught the basics of survival through the mass consciousness, but not happiness nor contentment.  These tools are found in the emotional and intuitive bodies. Healing and balancing the emotions are necessary to evolve and learn on a spiritual level. To be stuck in the same old feeling or resentment will hold you back from progressing most powerfully.

Due to the fact that you insist and require security in all things, you stop yourself from allowing and taking chances. You cannot look into the unknown if you shield yourself like a child from it; this brings about too many missed opportunities.

Learning, developing and growing take great resolve and dedication. It is only through your trials of initiations that you develop and hone such skills.

“Search and you shall find”; initiation is a journey you must take alone and hope you have the tools to sustain you through these growth spurts.

Yes many of you will say that you already know this to be the path yet few have become the path that they endorse. All roads lead to the center so it is therefore necessary to center daily.

When you call forth your higher self and soul as well as all the parts of self and spirit, you are centering. When you sit in the quiet and listen to the still small voice within, you are centering. When you heed your intuition and follow it you are in the center of the path. When you become the path you center with all the universes, teachers, guides and god self that helps you balance the many levels of consciousness you are experiencing.

The greatest opposition to truth and peace lies within your fears. Facing your fear is initiation.

To move beyond all that you think, or have thought, is evolution and consciousness.

To fear the inevitable is self-sabotage. To bravely stand in the strong winds of time and heal within them is finding peace. The more you learn about yourselves as consciousness the freer you become.

You were not created to be confined, controlled nor manipulated by life and circumstance. You were created to achieve awareness through god consciousness. Though it appears that the suffering never ends, why not let it end for you and teach this valuable lesson to others.

When you die you will be free of physical vehicle but soul memory does continue. There is no escaping the karmic path and death does not relieve you of your own mistakes and pains in life. To fear death is to fear change and to believe death to be an escape from the truth is just nonsense.

So often we hear that when a loved one dies they have finally found peace. When in the loss of loved ones they receive more love and prayers at one time than perhaps ever before, this is a proper send off and very helpful to the soul as if takes its next steps in evolving.

Without initiation there would be no evolution and without evolution there would be no need to live. The soul gives us life, hope and determination. By denying you are soul beings is equivalent to being programmed robots.

Initiation is perpetual growth and expansion. To experience the many degrees of self that are consciousness you must be willing to go through the initiations that will bring you there.

Initiation= progressive transformation.

Each of you are unique aspects within the light of life.

The Spiritual Quest Begins

Our three lower chakras represent all the conditioning and attachments developed in life. While developing through the lower chakras we experience only through the carnal nature which is our need to survive. At this stage, the acceptance and approval of others is how we determine our successes and failures in life. The love we learn about through the lower chakras is a need to be needed.

Pain and suffering bring about growth and development making them major components of survival. Because like attracts like, we are continually attracting others to ourselves who feel and believe the same way we do. It is only through such experiences that we learn how to change and overcome the past. When stuck in a conditional state of awareness life lessons are experienced continuously. It may be a different time, a different place, or individuals with different faces, yet the lessons are the same. This type of cyclical experience often brings about feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, depression and despondency.

When we begin using and developing the upper chakras, we awaken spiritually. We now discover there is more to life than simply going through the day to day motions. Removing the invisible blindfold from our eyes, though hazy at first, a new picture begins to unfold.  Feelings now emerge, signaling us that something very important has been missing in our life. We feel as if we have been under a spell that has now been broken and we are free to explore life in a new way. A new day dawns as we realize that the inner self has been asleep for a very long time. As we stretch and yawn, we may begin to notice a feeling of emptiness inside. Often an intense inner feeling of “wanting to go home” surfaces and we realize that it is the home inside that we are seeking, the center of life and light within that we are.

At first, these stirrings seem a bit foreign. We may feel like strangers in a strange land. A feeling of vulnerability creeps in as our instinct to survive struggles to control, always warning of dangers lurking in the unknown.

Because our conditional self is entering uncharted territory, the awakening self and the survival self suddenly seem to be at odds.  The newly awakened spiritual part of us has not had a chance to develop, where as the conditional self already has very strong ingrained beliefs.  The new self is fragile and volatile, while the more established instinct to survive insists on dominating.

For some, the battle already is over. The memory of the past, of how hard it is to change, dominates and they immediately succumb to their old ways of being.  The change necessary to explore the new self seems too costly so they surrender to the dominant¾their old dysfunctional comfort zone.

For others, self-realization has been long awaited and no matter what obstacles change may hold, they know it is time to explore the new dimensional reality within. Gathering all the inner strength they can muster, they forge ahead with great determination and perseverance.

The self contains all the answers and awareness of the inner enlightenment we seek. The journey of enlightenment is always about the Self. All one needs do, is find and develop the tools necessary to tap the inner self and discover the spiritual being within.

It is easiest to begin by seeking out self-help books and learning techniques of concentration and contemplation. Reading everything you can get your hands on that interests you spiritually will open many doors.