Dreams

And the symbols for self-understanding

by Charles Rubin 

                  Dreams are an important and often overlooked source of information as to what is going on in our lives. Each dream is a nightly report card on how we’re handling our waking hours. That's because every time we drift off into the sleep state, we are temporarily vacating our earthsuits, in order to retrieve valuable information from our guidance. Say you dream of winning the academy award and an audience of 10,000 people rise from their seats to applaud you. That would translate into something like: "Hey, you’ve been doing a fabulous job during this 24-hour period here on Earth." Conversely, if the next night you find yourself plunging into the center of the earth, it’s like: “Oops, screwed up somewhere”. If you’re swimming in turbulent waters, you are smack in the middle of an emotional crisis. Cars in your dream are you. If you’re driving, you’re in charge of your life. If you’re a passenger, you aren’t. A house is you. Look to see if it’s a mansion or a little rundown hut. The grander the house, the more powerful you are.

                      Dream symbols are both simple and complex. They’re simple if you look at them in the common-sense way, and complex because you are apt to misunderstand what you are dreaming. Example: Say you are a woman who is dreaming that your husband is having an affair with a glamorous desperate housewife. You might wake up and yell into the ear of that snoring no-good husband of yours, and demand a divorce. What you are failing to understand is that you were not dreaming of your husband being unfaithful, you were dreaming of you, as you are all the characters in your dream (unless the character is someone who died or a celebrity--and more of that later). Sex dreams are common. If you dream you are making love to someone of the opposite sex or even the same sex, it has nothing whatever to do with sex. It’s merely that you are merging with the feminine creative or masculine sides of yourself. In my field as a dreamologist, I find that there are many women who need to take on a more assertive role in their relationships and jobs. And many left-brain men who  need to take up something more right brain and creative. Flower arranging anyone?

                Dream symbols are what they seem. If you dream you are having a baby, then that is a new part of yourself emerging. If you dream you are being killed, you are killing off some part of yourself that is no longer useful to you. 

                Bathroom dreams are also common. Sitting on a toilet in Macy’s window while in the nude is simply telling you that you are daring to be you, letting go, and are not a phony. Feel a bit self-conscious sitting there letting go in public? What is it you’re hiding? 

                One of the most enjoyable dream symbols is that of flying. Just shows you are soaring. Any time you are going downward, you are going in the wrong direction (again just for that 24 hours). There are many people who believe they never dream. Impossible. They, like everybody else dream, only they tend to sleep too soundly to be able to access their dreams for wakeful interpretation. The best method of changing that pattern and belief is to conduct a nightly ritual. By simply sitting on the side of the bed before going to sleep and saying “I will have a dream tonight and I will remember it and I will write it down as soon as I wake up in the morning”. This practice tells your computer brain that you are starting a new regime and in time you will remember your dreams even if you sleep like the dead. Have a yellow legal pad and pen and a copy of Betty Bethards’ “The Dream Book: Symbols for Self-Understanding” on your bedside table.

               Speaking of sleeping like the dead, the only thing that prevents us from actually dying in our sleep is a thin silver cord. It's our lifeline, so to speak, and each night our souls travel out of our bodies and later it's what reels us back in again. Sometimes in a nightmare state (a dream trying to get our attention) we’ll try to wake up, but find that we’re paralyzed, powerless to awaken, which is true. When in REM sleep, we haven’t yet returned from "out there" to our vehicle (body) and are in a state of paralysis which may make us panic. Older people mistake this for a stroke, which it is not, but they are sometimes also offered the option of “staying out” which affords them the luxury of not awakening--a lovely way to go. I'm not exactly elderly but I've had the “option to go” dream. It is very peaceful and tempting. Incidentally, that silver cord is the same exact one that eventually severs when we so-called die--except that there is no death--we're merely going home for that period of 160-200 years before reincarnating (unless we’re in our 23rd and final semester--or lifetime--at the University of Earth). Remember, there was never a time when we weren’t here and there will never be a time when we’re not here. Twenty-three semesters or lifetimes on earth is just an educational aid.

                Numbers pay a big part in deciphering what our dreams mean. Consider a dream in which you are in Texas. Just add up the letters/numbers and you’ll get a message. A=1 (new beginnings), B=2 (balance masculine assertive, feminine creative, C=3 (balance body, mind, spirit), D=4 (one to one relationship), E=5 (change), F=6 (spiritual/codependency, G=7 balance of the seven chakras, going within, luck, mysticism, H=8 money, power, prestige, cosmic consciousness, I=9 completion, J=1, K=2, L=3, M=4, N=5,"I" it equals 9), Z=8. So, therefore, “Texas” totals 15 which equals 6. This is the number of spiritual consciousness--and uh, oh: Codependency. So be loving and spiritual, but let others benefit from their own tests and lessons.  

              Just days before my darling wife, Betty Bethards, the author of “The Dream Book” and the person who brought all of the above information on dreams to the public arena--with the help of Dr. Jung--went “home,” I dreamed of four 10s.  I commented to Betty upon awakening—“hey, I just dreamed of four 10s” and she said automatically “New beginnings with experience.” 

              I haven’t mentioned the number 10 with the other numbers; it’s a kind of special number reserved for old souls and it means: New beginnings with experience. Little did Betty or I realized the full extent of this stark dream message that in less than a week both our lives would be changed forever, that she would be graduating and that I would be thrust into a traumatic existence of dealing with the Inner Light Foundation, the foundation that Betty had founded in 1969, on my own, without her. With the fact that there were four 10s, I also (later, after Betty’s departure when the impact of the dream hit me) factored in the 4: the one to one relationship, which showed there would be an earthly end to our time together due to the new beginnings for both of us. Through the “experience” promised in the number 10, I have survived in order to keep Betty’s brilliant light shining. That’s because I’m an old soul who’d been prepared for this situation in some other lifetime.

             I earlier touched on the visitations in our dreams of people who have passed over or who are celebrities. In the former case, those are actual visitations--our loved ones just “dropping in” to tell us that everything is great and not to worry. I often dream of Betty--and after a very long time after she left, I removed her pillows from our bed as I didn’t need a Mt. Everest of pillows all piled up. That night, Betty visited me wanting to know where her pillows were. I then realized she’d been visiting me all along during this most devastating time. Needless to say, the pillows are back.

            Now about celebrities such as Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt visiting you--you might even find yourself uttering “I must be dreaming” in total surprise. They represent your guidance. And what if you have the entire cast of The Sopranos giving you some advice? Maybe you’d better listen carefully to what they have to say. Other times, guidance will appear with blurred faces. Even without facial expressions, you’ll know whether they’re pleased with you or not. Better listen to them as well.

           All dreams are positive. Everything in the universe is positive. It may not seem that way, but it is that way. Dreams are there to guide you and give you comfort. If you don’t use them and understand what they are saying through the symbols, you are shunning free spiritual help. People, from the beginning of time have worked with their dreams. The Aborigines of Australia discuss dreams with their families and friends every morning. The word “dream” pops up in popular music--sometimes every  other word. The idea of dreams implies hope, new beginnings, joy, peace. A person wouldn’t ignore the use of an arm, a leg, a brain, but somehow the use of dreams, a tool for living a more complete life, a tool that keeps us on the straight and narrow, is often neglected.

          You are what you dream. To make the most of your journey here on earth, decipher what the symbols mean for you and you will create a higher level of consciousness. It’s fun, too.       

          Charles Rubin is a noted dreamologist, numerologist, channel, author and  lecturer. His late wife, Betty Bethards, was the author of “The Dream Book: Symbols for Self-Understanding” which Charles publishes and uses during his frequent radio call-in shows.

Betty Bethards Speaks on Dreams

Betty: We are spending 10 days out of every month in the dream state; That is a third of our lives. If you are not using dreams as your free tool you are losing out on all that help. It's our hotline to God and it's the easiest way in the world to get your own answers and see how you are blocking yourself and where you are going off in wrong directions. They are so simple to learn. In "The Dream Book" I show 1,650 dream symbols and as you work with it, understanding your dreams becomes a snap!

The purpose of the Inner Light Foundation is to teach the meditation and to get people working with their dreams and doing affirmations and visualization work for total health; body, mind and spirit. Your dreams give you insight into what you are doing. You don't take them literally, they are all symbols. So, It's just the greatest free tool, because you can't color your dreams. In our waking state we are deaf and blind; we are not seeing and we are not hearing how we set ourselves up. So, the dreams come through, and everybody in the dream is us and as you begin to see that, it all makes sense.

Betty: Everyone dreams, and everyone can recall their dreams if they tell their mind that they want to. Unless you have a nightmare, something that scares you to death; then you will remember it! Tell yourself you want to remember your dreams and you will. Your mind does what it's told to do. Write your dreams down. It just takes practice like anything else.

Some people sleep too heavily, but we can usually catch a dream in a nap time or in a motel room in a strange bed. When we sleep lightly we are more apt to get a recall from it.

Betty: It's as simple as just sitting down and saying "I will have a dream, I will wake up and write the dream down, I will remember it."

Tell your mind. Your mind will do whatever you tell it, So tell your mind what you want and you are going to get it.

I don't like to be awakened by the alarm clock, it's too big a jolt coming back into the body. So I will say "wake me up two minutes before the alarm." You can set your clock by it! (laughter) I wake up two minutes before exactly.

Betty: I think everyone has a dream at one time or another of being chased, and we are running away from something. That's telling us we are running away from some fear that we don't want to look at or deal with. The dream is saying "turn around, look at it, resolve it!" Now, when you start running in slow motion, or you can't run at all, it's like you're in cement, God is saying "you WILL look at this NOW!" (laughter) Like Now! Another common dream symbol is teeth falling out; it means we are not verbalizing what we are really feeling, what's really going on inside.

Snakes in a dream are very scary to people, but the snake is the symbols of the Kundalini, or the Life Force; God within Man. Look at the AMA symbol, it has two serpents entwined on it; for true healing to take place you've got to have mind, body, and spirit. You've got to have that energy up! So, when you are having a dream with a snake, your spiritual and creative energies are really coming into focus.

If we dream of fish, or a fish, it means we are in need of more meditation.

Animals always represent parts of ourselves. A dog represents our masculine part, a cat is our feminine.

If you have bugs crawling all over you, you are letting little things bother you.

A rat gnawing away means ONE thing is gnawing away at you.

A tidal wave means we are going to get dumped emotionally. (laughter) Stop and see what you are doing and correct it. It's there for you to see what's happening in your life and your are to pay attention and change this!

Cars and houses in a dream always represent us. They are very common symbols. If you are upstairs in your house your dream is telling you about your creative/spiritual self, on ground level, it's telling us about our daily life, and the basement is sexual energy.

You will also want to note the color of the house. The Dream Book covers all the meanings of the colors.

If you dream you are in a car, you will want to see who is driving it. If you are sitting in the back seat or the passenger side it is telling you that you are on in control of your life.

If you are on a motorcycle, skateboard, bicycle or skis, it’s telling you that you are out of balance; get in balance.

Anything flying, whether it’s a plane, helicopter, UFO, whatever, it’s talking about the spiritual creative part of yourself. If you are in a plane that crashes, you have just lost your energy. You cannot create and that’s what it is telling you.

Anything on water has to do with the emotions. Stop and see if the water is clear or if it’s quite. If there are a lot of waves it means you are up and down emotionally. It’s telling you to stop, look around, and correct it.

With any reoccurring dream that people have, if they write down what they are going through in their life right now, they will see that every time they have the dream it’s the same lesson. It’s like god is saying, "Come on, you’ve done this before; look at it!"

Betty: Nice dreams, which comprise the majority of our dreams, go in one ear and out the other and people think "Well, isn’t that nice" and won’t have a recall at all. When God wants to get your attention, he will scare the Hell our of you! (laughter) And Boy! When we wake up we will remember every single symbol. As you work them out you will realize that there is absolutely nothing negative in that dream. It’s a very important positive message for you. Isn’t it a shame God has to scare us to get us to look! (Laughter)

Betty: Here’s what I do when I have a situation that I am not seeing with clarity. I will sit on the side of the bed and say, "O.K. God, I need some insight into this problem. I will have a dream that gives me insight, I will wake up and write the dream down, I will remember the dream." Most people who are working with dreams will ask a question at night and they will get their answer. Not only in one dream, but in three or four. They will all have the same information but presented in a little different way. That way you know it’s coming right through. "Just ask and ye shall receive." That’s what the Bible says. What they didn’t say is, "If you don’t ask, you don’t get!" (laughter) Just formulate your question in your mind; I repeat it three times.

Betty: O.K., Know it’s a dream, ask for the highest teachings that can be granted and this will stop the dream and they will come through and give it to you direct, then you will be able to consciously bring it back and have a recall on it. That’s the great exciting part!

Betty: People are trying to do this lucid dreaming stuff and I’ll tell you something, we have freedom through our waking state to make choices and controls in our lives. In our dream state we are supposed to shut-up and let God show us where we’re not seeing it! And if we are manipulating that dream state we are going against it. God thinks much bigger than we do! He can show us so clearly if we shut up and listen.

Betty: You always add the numbers up numerologically - they will give you a message. I have the meanings of numbers explained in my book. If there is a lot of greenery, trees, flowers in your dream; it means you are really growing. If you are in a desert, it’s barren; it means no growth is happening in your life. It is very important to look for color. Everybody does dream in color even though they say "No, it’s black and white." The more creative we are, the more colorful the dream will be.

Betty: If I am having a baby in my dream, it’s a brand new part of myself coming into being that I’ve never known before. If I am pregnant, say six months, it means in three months a new beginning will happen.

Betty: As I said before, you are going through the same lesson each time you have the reoccurring dream so if you can pick up what the lesson is - you know it’s a rerun of what you have been doing all your life.

Dreams often come in three parts. The first part is giving you the timing for the lesson. If you are dreaming about the house you grew up in, or your grandmother’s house, it means you have been running this same number on your self since this time.

The second part of the dream shows you what is happening around that lesson now.

The third part of the dream gives you the answer. So, if you can’t recall anything, if you grab onto the end and at least get some symbols you can start putting it together. As people really wake up and hear that, "Hey! This is free help direct from God; don’t turn your nose up at it!" I mean this is powerful help and it changes your life. If I could have had one tool as a child, I would have loved my Dream Book.

Betty: It means that there is a war going on within yourself. A lot of Viet Nam Vets think they are having flashbacks to Nam. It has nothing to do with that; it means right now, in your life, there is a war going on inside yourself. Get in there and resolve it. Make peace with it, correct it. It’s a wonderful thing when you can understand that.

Betty: It means I am letting other people’s aggression nip away at me and I am not standing up and being assertive.

Betty: That’s a wonderful symbol because it means you’re not phony; what people see is what they get. Clothes are always symbols of the roles we play. So if I am nude it is saying , “Hey, this is me!” we all love people, are drawn to people who are straight-forward and up-front, because we know where we stand. Most people play roles because they are afraid you won’t like them if they don’t. (laughter)

Betty: At night we are all out of the body and we do fly, we don’t walk on the other side. And another thing, if you notice, you never open your mouth to talk to anyone else; communication is telepathic.

A key thing to emphasize is at night we all go out of the body, we are in school; we are taught and trained. When we come back in and we dream of falling, its a bad landing.

When you wake up in the middle of the night and you can’t move your body or yell (this terrorizes elderly people, because they think they have had a stroke) it’s because you are out of the body. At Stanford Sleep Center they say people are paralyzed. I guess you are paralyzed -- you are out of your body! When you hop back into your earth suit, you can move it.

When we leave our bodies we leave feet first going out through the crown chakra and come back the same way. When you can’t move, you think you are in the body but you are not. THINK yourself back through your feet and you can move or yell or whatever.

Betty: This is God’s way of letting you know that you have all the answers. Left to ourselves, we will rationalize and intellectualize that we can’t possible know the future.

So when we have a precognitive dream it’s as if God says, "explain this one away if you’re so smart! Go inside and learn what else you can find out!" All the wisdom in the world is within us. God was smart! People have gone to the tops of the mountains and the traveled the depths of the oceans; what better place to hide truth than within Man! He would never think to look in himself. (laughter) When we go within, all answers are shown.

Nobody can stimulate and entertain audiences like Betty does. Her gutsy, down-to-earth teachings give people a real jolt of energy.

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