THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL MELTDOWN, which focused on Wall Street and the American economy, dominated most of the top headlines for 2008. In January, we were talking about runaway food and oil prices, which rose to over $147 a barrel. And by December, the discussion had changed from inflation to deflation as the economy weakened and oil prices fell below $40.

In March 2008, Bear Stearns, a venerable, blue chip investment bank, suddenly went belly up and the rest of the year banks went from lending too much to anybody to not lending anything to anyone. The U.S. government became parent to the undisciplined excess of corporate adolescence. To date, the U.S. government bailout has cost more than the Marshall Plan, Louisiana Purchase, NASA's lifetime budget, the Korean War, the invasion of Iraq, the Vietnam war, and the New Deal... combined.

All of this was been touted in the media as a financial collapse.

Perhaps there are other ways to look at this. Perhaps there is more here than meets the eye, more that can only be seen by the intuitive eye of perception.

Dreams give us that intuitive sight. Dreams occur when the waking Conscious Mind is at rest - sleeping. These inner world dramas are created by the inner self, a part of mind called the Subconscious Mind, as mini-myths for the dreamer and about the dreamer. A dream's purpose is to offer feedback to the Conscious Mind concerning its present state of awareness. You can think of these inner level dramas as evening news reports with a decidedly personal slant. Dreams are modern morality plays that, when decoded, offer the dreamer valuable insight for peace, contentment, and security.

At the College of Metaphysics in the United States, we receive dreams from around the world each day. We study their content for what they tell the individual dreamer about the state of his/her consciousness and we note trends indicated by many dreamers over days, weeks, or months. These dream trends offer a window into our collective consciousness as human beings that the Global Lucid Dreaming Experiments (GLiDE) seek to document.

Since early last year, those of us living in the U.S. have experienced an awakening concerning our value - our collective worth as a country. Because the economics of the U.S. are both a symbolic ideal and a pragmatic presence throughout the world, what happens here immediately affects the global economy. This connection is reflected in some of the dreams we receive from people in countries outside the U.S.

Take a look at this dream we received in March 2008, the month media began to note the changes occurring in the economy. The dreamer, a 32-year-old woman from the Philippines, states she is "married to an Australian man and still I'm here in the Philippines coz I was refused for my partner visa." Here is her dream.

I had a dream that I was on my way to my husband's place. Then Ii see myself that I was already in my husband home and I'm alone 'cuz he is still at work.(1) So what I did is I go to the kitchen and I prepared to cook.(2) When I'm cooking I feel the home is so silent it's very lonely.(3) After a minute my husband arrived and I saw him bring a lot of green vegetables.(4) So what I did is I went going out and I see our neighbor which exactly my husband neighbor in Australia that I use to talk all the time. Then what I did is I call them into our house and I give them my gifts of bags,(5) and set of jewelry that in reality I plan that when Ii coming I really give them the same gift.

As a dream symbol, jewels universally symbolize value. So does money, stocks, credit cards, anything that is used as an economic means of exchange. How these appear in a dream gives insight into what the dreamer believes is of value in his or her life.

This dream concerns the dreamer's value. It makes five distinct movements. Here are these movements interpreted in the Universal Language of Mind. First, the dreamer travels to her husband's home which she has told us in waking life is in Australia, a different country. This symbolizes the dreamer's willingness to draw upon subconscious mind. She does this by thinking, using the knowledge she already has which is symbolized by cooking in the kitchen [2]. She comes to a point of emptiness in her thinking. There are no more thoughts to think and this quietness disturbs her [3].

This is the moment when her Subconscious Mind, symbolized by her husband, brings a new level of understanding to the dreamer [4] which leads to a generosity of spirit because the woman knows she has something of value to give to others [5].

Contrast this upbeat message with a dream we received in May from a woman in Kansas.

I dreamt of lots of jewlery. I had hoards of it.(1) My friend lost her diamonds and I saw where they were. They were shining so bright.(2)
- Female, Kansas, 35

The dream imagery here reflects the polarity existing in any economic structure: the haves and the have nots, the wins and the losses, the inflation and the deflation. The dreamer has jewelry, her friend - an aspect of her outer Self - does not. This dream tells the dreamer that her values are shifting. She is seeing her own self-worth [1] at the same time that she experiences being out of touch with what is most valuable [2]. This dream might be a personal prompt for the dreamer to use the Universal Law of Proper Perspective, putting what is most valuable to her as the priority in her thinking as well as her actions. Certainly the present economic climate is prompting everyone to evaluate how we spend own time as well as our money. We are determining, more consciously, what experiences are worth.

When dream symbols concerning value appear in your dream, questions to ask yourself include:

• What was the most important thought I had today?
• What was my most important action?
• How did these harmonize with the values I hold in esteem?
• Why do I value one idea more than another, time with one person more than someone else, a specific possession over another?
• Where did these values come from? Have they served me well? Might I do better?

Answering these questions opens the mind to possibilities, affording the dreamer the advantages of hope-filled expectation. The alternative of "losing your diamonds" can be debilitating when fear or doubt have a place to take root.

WHY SOME DREAMS CRASHED

As entered the fall season, the dreams reported to www.dreamschool.org changed significantly. Headlines like "Spiral of Fear Shadows Wall Street," "Fear of Recession Decreases Buyers Appetite," and "Worry Dogs Investors" inspired the attitudes described, as well as reflecting them. Suddenly, our collective sense of worth took on an emotional quality that was demanding our attention. For some, their dreams followed suit. Anxiety, fear, distrust, and animosity found itself into dreams as the number of nightmares reported more than doubled in the weeks during the stock market and housing/mortgage crashes.

Through four decades of study, dream researchers have found that nightmares tend to occur when the dreamer has ignored or neglected dream messages. This is in keeping with the head-in-the-sand mentality that is driving the economic woe-attitude. Just as some are experiencing the current economic reorganization as a waking nightmare rather than an opportunity to learn and grow, some dreamers report being chased, stolen from, or lost in their dreams.

When values are comprised, trouble soon follows. Cheating on tests will not give a student knowledge of the subject. Taking drugs to disconnect the registering of pain will not rectify the source of the imbalance. Lying to a friend, parent, or business associate will not nurture trust and happiness, and robbing from Peter to pay Paul will not bring financial freedom and security. If we compromise our values, our dreams tell us so.

In the final three months of 2008, the desire to get rich quick on someone else's dime, or to renege by declaring bankruptcy and letting the chips fall where they may, began catching up with some. One dreamer was drowning in murky water, while another's daughter was killed by a drunken driver. Dream-friends turned into enemies and neighbors became suddenly vindictive. What did these "unpleasant" dreams have in common? The dreamer's feeling of helplessness. The dreamer did not know how to make a difference in the outcome of his or her dream. Not so coincidentally, the beyond-my-control mentality was in keeping with the media view and assessment of the economy which these dreamers were exposed to during their waking hours.

A 26-year-old male from North Carolina emailed two dreams that reflect how troubling our dreams can become when left unheeded. He began,

I have been waking up feeling sick to my stomach the last few weeks because of the dreams I have had. I wake up feeling unrested, but more importantly upset and guilty.

The first one is a fairly short dream that wakes me up immediately. I don't ever remember the circumstances that lead up to this, but I end up killing my dog with a knife. It starts off that I hurt her in some way and I don't think she will be able to live. So I get a knife and start stabbing her. She will not die, and continues to look at me as I am doing this...and I start to cry and wish I would not have started doing it. Sometimes people around me are pleading with me to stop... crying as well. I wake up feeling sick that I even thought like that and cannot go back to sleep... Then I go hug my dog.

The emotional punch of this dream leaves this man questioning his own thinking, his own sense of what is right and wrong. He is so disturbed by the dream that he cannot disassociate from the images long enough to return to sleep.

He goes on to describe the second dream where he participates in a raid under the eye of a "dark and mean man." He and others kill with guns or knives, then blow up the houses and ride away like modern cowboys. He ends his email with,

The one brooding dark gang member always seems to be the instigator. He never talks or gives any direction, though seemingly the leader. He walks out of the fire in the burning houses after they have exploded. These dreams scare me. I know I am not capable of murder, but I would like to find out what these dreams mean.

In the Universal Language of our dreams, death symbolizes change. Who is dying, how, and when tells the dreamer what is changing and why. In these dreams, the dreamer is doing the killing. This lets the dreamer know that the change the dream is addressing is one he is aware of making. It has not been forced upon him. For instance, he may be awake to the fact that his company will probably be downsizing while mentally asleep to the reality that he will probably be among those to be let go.

He is not, however, aware of the ramifications of the change, as symbolized by the dark, mean man and other gang members participating in the dream-raid. These other people are aspects of the self that he has been unaware of, not willing to face, yet they are important to him in making these changes. Maybe he quit his job without finding another source of income first. Or maybe he invested in houses expecting to turn a profit that will probably not happen in the near future due to the economic shifting of the greater picture. Mortgage payments are coming due and he needs a different source of income. Now.

Change is the answer, and death in a dream symbolizes change. What is inconceivable to the dreamer in waking life, becomes meaningful in the context of dream symbology. This man is learning what changing the self means.

Sometimes in life, we find we need to change what we like. Ideas, actions, and habits we'd rather keep but have in reality outgrown are now subject to review and possible change. The current economic shift is striking this note for all of us. This dreamer's first dream, about killing the dog he loves, symbolizes that he is making this kind of change in his life. A habit he is very fond of has become expendable for him. This is not an easy change for him to make. His level of attachment to the habit is strong and he doubts his ability to make the change. In this current changing marketplace, his dream-dog could be as harmless as giving up morning lattes or as difficult as breaking a penchant for gambling.

MAKING THE DREAM EXCHANGE WORK FOR YOU

Dreams are both personal and universal in their scope. Arising from within Mind, they speak to us in a Universal Language which is why studying other's dreams is both fascinating and rewarding. Dreams are an exchange of energy between the inner and outer Self. When we listen to our dreams and respond, we open ourselves to receive the next message. In this way a cycle of Self awareness is created.

This cycle is very much like the economic structures we, as thinkers, create in our waking world. We use money as a means to exchange goods and services. You have a talent or skill valued by someone who gives you money for a particular product or service you are willing to provide. This is true whether you are a seamstress making clothes, an artist painting a portrait, a cook at a diner, or a physician setting a bone. We use our time and energies in the service of our fellow citizens. Our reality depends upon a receiver for what we have to give. It also depends upon us receiving what others give. We give and receive according to our talents and skills. In a world comprised of Self-aware individuals - from all backgrounds, cultures, races, religions, ages - every life is valuable.

As this more enlightened level of thinking becomes the norm, we will find the courage to view the economic ups and downs as less of a punishment for the past or a threat to the future, and more an opportunity to be the change we would see in the world.

What might this change look like? Read this recurring dream from a female dreamer in the United States. She begins,

I dream the same dream at least monthly. We sold a house nine years ago and currently live in a beautiful home that my husband built (literally) and I do not miss the old house at all.

In my recurring dream, we (for some reason) buy our home back from the current owners and when we go in we see the destruction and filth. The focus is always on the kitchen. (We had just refinished the kitchen when we sold the house.) When we go back and see it, it is disgusting (falling apart and dirty). I can't believe they lived like this and I am stressed at everything that we need to do again and how much it is going to cost.

This dreamer is beset by her past. The opportunity to reevaluate patterns of thinking that she thought she left behind arises each time she is exposed to something new. It would be like a 30 year old constantly judging herself by high school or college standards, symbolized in the dream as buying back the old house. The refinished dream-kitchen that is in ill repair represents the dreamer's temptation to belittle the accomplishments of the previous decade. For this reason, we know this dream is a message about the dreamer's sense of self-value.

Why does this dream reoccur? The answer is in the symbology of the dream itself. Each time the dreamer tries to meet new situations with the old thinking, she feels ill-equipped to meet the challenge (everything that we need to do again), worrying about her worthiness (how much it is going to cost). Any time cost, money, jewels, stocks, or any medium for purchase power appears in a dream it indicates value or worth. Changing her mental attitude will cause this dream to stop.

For this dreamer, the change will come through keeping her mind in the present, focused on creating a new sense of self-worth. The present is where all creation occurs. The resentment of repeating experiences will be replaced as she begins to live in the now. Finding value in the present moment, frees us from false judgements about the past. It also eliminates the stress resulting from not knowing what the future will bring.

As we make these kinds of changes, our dreams may take on the quality reflected in this dream from a 50-year-old female living in Canada. Watch for how the diamond ring and purchasing power symbolize the dreamer's worth and what she values in life.

I dreamt that I received a beautiful diamond ring from a past love, (who is now happily married and I am great friends with both). It was absolutely beautiful, I was shocked because we were not dating and had not seen each other in months. I then left my home and went to the emergency room for blood tests and met my aunt who lives in the US, (I'm in Canada) she said she bought me a beautiful pair of pants, they were quite lovely and way too big, but I decided to wear them because I loved them, (I changed into them in the parking lot of the hospital, broad daylight). The dream then switched to my dad's bedroom which is down the hall from mine at home, and there was a beautiful baby sitting in a car seat on his night table, it was crying, which is why I went to my dad's room in the first place. Then I woke up.

Self-value is a theme in this dream. It is explored through dream-people who represent aspects or qualities the dreamer possesses.

This dream unfolds in three movements:

1. the diamond ring from a past love,
2. pair of pants from the aunt, and
3. baby in dad's room.

Let's examine what these movements indicate in the Universal Language of Mind, the dream language. The day before this dream the dreamer [1] saw the value in a previous experience. When this experience was needed, the truth of what she had understood came to light as symbolized by the hospital blood tests. The conscious aspect of the dreamer which her aunt represents is the part of self that wants to put this understanding to use [2]. This new idea [3] is in harmony with the dreamer's higher self.

The movement from past love to aunt to baby conveys an understanding that the dreamer has brought into the waking, conscious mind. This could represent a virtue such as patience, or a skill like charisma. The dream lets the dreamer know that she values this quality, and found it useful the previous day. This valuable quality produced a new way of thinking that helped the dreamer build an inner sense of authority.

As society learns the lesson of temperance, we may realize our cup is half-full and lemons can make delicious lemonade. Right-sizing work forces can open the door for new entrepreneurs to "be born." What causes this "to be" is our attitude. Being self-sufficient in economic times such as these requires character and planning similar to that required for businesses to grow at other times. When the old ways no longer produce what we desire, it is time for new ways. When this is happening in our waking life, babies begin appearing in our dreams.

Dreams of pregnancy, birth, and babies ranked seventh in the top ten themes of 2008. Whether it was a response or reaction to the economic collapse of financial institutions and the wobbling of Wall Street, people are finding ways to make a fresh start. This dream, one of the first of the new year, is where we'll begin next month. What do you think it means?

I was in a hospital waiting room talking with a large woman who was telling me she had had 22 children. I was amazed because she really looked good and not very old. I do not recall why I was there. When this woman left I turned around for my purse and it was gone. Of course I was frantic and searched the entire floor hoping that it had been discarded and that only the money was missing and not my credit card, license, etc. Since this dream I have had two others in which I have lost my purse. Any ideas as to what this means?

Many of us recently celebrated the move from 2008 to 2009. Dreams of involving pregnancy and birth are in keeping with the traditional collective consciousness of New Years resolutions. An on-going GLiDE this year is focusing on the first dream of the new year in cultures around the world. How will the dreams of January 1st compare with the Chinese dreams of their new year on January 26th or the Buddhist's dreams on May 2nd? With your help we hope to discover the answer. You can participate in the "first dream of the year" experiment by visiting www.dreamschool.org.

You are welcome to contribute a dream for interpretation. Send your dream to dreams@dreamschool.org and be sure to note that you are a PLW subscriber. Until next month, sweet dreams!

© 2009, Dr. Barbara Condron

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Since 1977, Barbara Condron has made guest appearances on radio and television shows and been interviewed by newspapers here and abroad. From WGN in Chicago to WGNO in New Orleans, from PBS Latenight in Detroit to BBC Radio in London, her expertise in her subjects and her ease as a public speaker have made her a media favorite especially on call-in shows. Her affection for using media to connect people was behind the National Dream Hotline®, the annual weekend of sharing dream research sponsored by the School of Metaphysics, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to developing spiritual potential. She served as International Coordinator for the hotline from its inception in 1989 to 2000.

In 1997, Barbara created www.dreamschool.org to share School of Metaphysics research and answer questions from dreamers online. Now she is pioneering global dream awareness through heading the Global Lucid Dreaming Experiment at the College of Metaphysics in the Midwestern U.S. The experiments seek to collect the largest body of experiential knowledge to date concerning specifically, lucid dreaming, and to analyze the data making it widely known. Her books include The Dreamer’s Dictionary and Every Dream is about the Dreamer. She also created the documentary Ten Powers of Dreaming, a study of dreams that have changed the course of history.