How to Interpret Your Dreams (symbolically/allegorically)

[dreamintonight]

Hi everyone, just thought I'd share something I learned on another site while reading an allegory of the fallen angel Satan (its not what you think- lol)

So the author was saying a good way to interpret scriptures like the bible, and specifically with allegories is with symbols that represent spiritual or non-tangible truths. And if you think about it, the same stuff can apply to dreams. by the way, we know in many cases that parts of the bible can be verified with archeology so in that case, the passage is true in regards to history of the people, places and things involved...

After all isn't scripture like the bible, koran, etc. full of "crazy" imagery just like our dreams? As Moses and the parting of the red sea, the locusts, the plagues against the Egyptian pharoah, horses/chariots from the sky, snakes, and I can go on and on and on...

Anyway this is what I got and I want to share it w/ you all...

Note: the author was interpreting a passage of the book of Ezekiel in which would normally be misinterpreted to be literally about the King of Tyre but the passage is actually alluding to the fallen angel Satan (emoticon- lol)

(don't have to read passage below to learn to interpret your dreams, you can skip this)

"Ezekiel 28:11-19 (KJV). Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more."




"Just what is allegory? In his book entitled, Basic Bible Interpretation, which was required college course reading, Dr. Roy B. Zuck, summarizes allegory as,"a narrative or word picture which may or may not be true-to-life, with many parts pointing symbolically to spiritual realities." In other words, it is a symbolic representation of a spiritual truth.

[[Me: the allegory in the passage is that the king of Tyre alludes to Satan...and the symbols surrounding this allegory are like things like this: "Thou [Satan] hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created."]] (not using markers correctly)

A good example of an allegory is this:
The blindfolded figure with scales is an allegory of justice.

See actual image here:
http://www.hitechcj.com/sitebuilderc...ustice_003.jpg
Or see attachment in post.
This is the article I took this information from:http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/4255/study24.html
(may be hard to understand or digest- mind you i've studied religion on my own and in school for a long time so i'm used to those words already)

...You may ask:
'What's the difference between an allegory and a symbol?'

An allegory:

1) a symbolic narrative (just like the passage above)
2) The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form (here an allegory is like a symbol)

A symbol (as a person, place or thing; noun):

1) a thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.
2) mark or character used as a conventional representation of something, e.g. a letter standing for a chemical element.

think that the two go together in a dream. the allegory is the overall meaning I suppose (scratching head now). and the symbols are that within the allegory, which makes the allegory make sense.

I hope this helps. I'd appreciate any comments to know if it helps somewhat...

oh and i will try to post a link to this on the 'dream interpretation' forum as many people browse there...

[Wolfjk]

Hi Dremintonight,
Interesting post! what has it to do with dreams? Dreaming is a control system that communicates between the subconscious and conscious mind of the sleeper. Allegory or symbol is always based on the sleepers experience and one can't put down a blanket rule that is understood by all. Religion is used by the subconscious of the sleeper as it is experienced and might mean different things to different people. As you can see there are many different creeds and religions about. People throughout the ages had and still have different ideas about gods and objects of worship.
The way to interpret dreams is to look at each individual dream separatly and try to guess what the subconscious is trying to tell the sleepers conscious mind. Not easy.
Cheers Wolfjk

[dreamintonight]

I agree. Thanks Wolfjk.