Back in April of 2008 I woke up with a dream where I saw an economic machine that was broken from top to bottom. I knew that hard economic times were coming and I told my husband to sell his stocks. I’d not ever given him stock advice before, but I felt so strongly that some challenging times were coming that I repeated it again. He shrugged it off. I repeated the warning a third time and added, “If you don’t plan on selling all of your stocks, then at least make sure you have enough cash to get through the tough times ahead.” He did. In October 2008, the stock market crashed and like many people almost half of his wealth disappeared overnight. 

This is not the first time that I’ve received warnings about situations and upcoming events through dreams. I’ve also received advice on how to approach projects in creative ways and for my first book, I dreamed the structure that would make it work. A month later I found an agent and five months later I signed the book contract with my publisher. I know a man who uses dreams for investing in the stock market. They can also help with job and employment advice. This is spirituality at its most practical.

Dreams are more than just gibberish. Dreams at their highest and best are our souls speaking to us. They open the doors to creative ideas. They provide warnings and protect us from difficult situations – when we pay attention and learn to work with them. One of my favorite stories comes from Elias Howe, inventor of the modern sewing machine. He could not figure out how to get the needle to function. Needles always had the holes at the top. But in two dreams, Howe found himself in a situation with men holding spears shaking them at him. He noted that the spears had holes in the tips. In a second dream the men threw the spears at Howe and again they had holes in the pointed ends. When he awoke in the morning he understood that the hole for the needle needed to go into the tip and viola the modern sewing machine was born.

Authors, inventors, artists, business people and mystics have relied on dreams for guidance. Dreams have revealed new stories, images and ideas that have helped humanity advance. On a personal level they also protect and warn. Dr. Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, said that he couldn’t wait to get up in the morning and see what his imagination would toss up to him.

Many people tell me that they do not dream. Studies show that everyone dreams about thirty minutes of the ninety minute sleep cycle. But most of us don’t bother to cultivate them. There are several ways in.

1)    Repeat, “I’ll remember my dreams,” before falling asleep. Edgar Cayce said that autosuggestion helped to bring dreams into waking consciousness.

2)    Don’t leap out of bed first thing in the morning. Take a moment and linger in bed. Focus on a feeling, an image, a color or a scene. Begin to work back into the dream from the last image or feeling that you may recall.

3)    Keep a journal by the bed and write down any impressions or images that you recall. It’s also possible to “seed” dreams. That is to ask to dream about a problem for guidance. If you’d like guidance on your future work, surround yourself in white light or a prayer of protection and ask for it before going to bed.

4)    Begin to work with symbols, the language of your soul and explore what they mean to you. A symbol dictionary may help you to understand the history and cultural meanings of symbols, but you will need to explore what feels most appropriate to you given your situation. A tree for a landscaper may relate to his work, while for me it often reflects my spiritual state of being.

This takes some effort, but the rewards will be worth it. Happy dreaming!

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.