The closest thing we have to a collective unconscious is the World Wide
Web. It is vast, it is out there, and you only become aware of what it
contains when you dial it up. Virtually anyone who has access to the technology
can or has put up some pearls of wisdom on a website, whether commercial
or of personal interest.
The beauty
of viewing the World Wide Web as a dream dictionary is that it is so easily
accessed from the privacy of your own home or local library with only
a minimum of computer knowledge. To discover what your dreams mean to
you, simply select a search engine and enter a set of keywords which describe
your dream and it is quite likely that you will receive at least a page
of hits.
When you search these sites for clues to the meaning of your dream, their
immediate significance may be unclear, but what you can assume is that
you are connecting with a corner of the giant electronic brain where some
similarities and shared interests do exist.
A printed dream dictionary typically only gives meanings for individual words or concepts. These meanings generally go beyond the literal standard dictionary offering, (e.g. A dog is a four legged animal of the canine family), but where do the dream dictionary meanings come from and why should they apply to you? Are they ancient? Archetypal? Mythological? Or simply clichés?
One thing you can be sure of is that words analyzed individually lack context. The World Wide Web allows you to look for all relevant ideas at once to obtain an interpretation for the whole dream. And these interpretations are far more satisfying with a greater probability of being life changing.
Consulting a printed dream dictionary is like visiting a museum. You may look at the exhibit, read the caption to see what it is, but you can’t play with it or take it home. The World Wide Web on the other hand may offer a concrete interactive future. The sites you find may offer holidays in the desert, courses in karate or they might simply be a news item or thought piece which alters your view of the world. Many sites are contactable so you can continue your dream in waking life.
The single concept dictionary interpretations are for a bygone age which did not have access to this superb tool. The sites you find may finally assist with the true meaning of dreams - that is - the expansion of the mind. Dreams take you out of the ordinary. Now this can be followed through to actually expand your experience.
"Why did I dream this?" is the wrong question. It is more useful to ask: "Where is this going?" Dreams offer you directions. The World Wide Web is the best way to follow these directions.
We will probably never know the actual meaning of dreams, (a search resembling our quest for the meaning of life), however with this tool we can attempt to convert our nocturnal adventures into possible earthly experiences.
Test it out now! Describe last night’s dream in the Google window, click on Google Search, and make the connection.
The one gripe
is that today’s search engines have fairly superficial capabilities.
We need search engines which can trawl the subconscious depths of the
web to find those hidden meanings – the ones without a commercial
imperative and totally devoid of any meta tags to flag their existence.