As an avid dream-worker: I don't think there's really any one concrete way to know - and even in the dream dictionaries and online sites, it's still only a starting-off point. Then there are the archetypes, which are pretty common for everyone (as in "elements of the collective unconscious") like the wise old man/woman, child, trickster, the maiden, animus/anima etc. If I had even a fraction of the knowledge my t does on dreams and dream work, I'd be so thrilled!! And I believe that everyone's psyche has it's own language of symbols and there are different ways to work with those symbols. Active Imagination, dream re-entry, shamanic journeys.... are my favorites. I've also created a sand tray one time to try to illustrate a dream. That one turned into a long-standing 'place' that I go when I journey.

One of the (many) things I've learned from my t about dream work is when you're helping someone else figure out a dream, to always start with "If it were my dream, I would think about...." because everyone's dream-language is so much their own. It's fascinating stuff, I think, listening deeply to your inner world by working with your dreams. I keep a notebook and pen next to my bed so I can scribble down every little scrap of dreams that I remember. Sometimes I get a few words, sometimes for those "big" dreams, they come with so much detail, that I sit up in bed and write 2 full pages front and back to get it all down. I have many notebooks filled with dreams from the 4+ years I've been writing them down now.

But yeah - sorry I get carried away on this subject - I think when you have figured something out, it just feels like this big ol' ah HA! to me, where something just so resonates you feel it down to your toes. That's how I know when I've got it right.

Could you tell this is one of my favorite subjects of all?