From the view of a mountain range to standing on a beach, or being at your grandparents place to a school, each place conveys and symbolises the environment of the situation that your dream is about.
The stage can be identified by either using your association or logic and reasoning.
If you have an association with the place, summarise this association and see if it fits the message of the dream. Otherwise, use logic and your chain of reasoning to help you identify the place.
For example, maybe your association with school is that you are a teacher ‘career or personal work’, or maybe you think school is an ‘indoctrination’. Try using your association if you have one and then you explore the collective meaning, which would allude to a lesson, learning or knowledge.
The condition of the environment will help you understand more to what the place is symbolising. Recall colouring, quality, objects, etc.
- What does a scenery or stage in nature symbolise in dreams?
- Why did you dream of that place?
- Dreaming of a house
- Dreaming of a retail outlet
- Dreaming of school
What does a scenery or stage in nature symbolise in dreams?
From the view of a mountain range to standing on a beach, each scenery conveys and symbolises the environment of the situation that your dream is about.
The stage can be identified by either using your association or logic and reasoning.
If you have an association with the place, summarise this association and see if it fits the message of the dream. Otherwise, use logic and your chain of reasoning to help you identify the place.
For example: A Beach
Why is a beach a great backdrop or stage for a dream?
- A beach is where the water and land meet symbolising the spiritual and physical self.
- There are tides consistently flowing in and out, symbolising motion, different levels, and a period of time.
- The sand is a shifting and changing element symbolising movement and change.
How would you define what the beach symbolises using your own words?
You then need to consider other things about the backdrop or stage of the beach.
- Did you have any feelings towards the place? Feelings will reflect feelings in waking life, and this helps you identify what the dream is about.
- Do you remember anything else? Rocks for example could symbolise ‘rocky’ or ‘obstacles.’
- Did you notice the condition of the place? The condition gives you a duality equation. Were things good and the water was flat in glistening or were things not so good and the water was rough.
These extra things will give you more detail to the original symbolism of the place.
Using the beach as our example, if the beach is symbolising movement and change and you remember large rocks scattered across the beach and the ocean was calm, these extra details would add ‘various obstacles’ (scattered rocks), and ‘pleasant’ (calm ocean). So overall, the beach is symbolising a period of movement and change with various obstacles, but pleasant.
So, when you’re looking at the scenery or the place that you’re in within nature try using your chain of reasoning.
For example, a harbour; the harbour is a place one finds shelter. This could be showing you the place you are in right now is sheltered or sheltering yourself would be an ideal place for you.
Seeing a mountain range, is this showing you an obstacle or barrier that is ahead of you.
Desert, this could be symbolising desolate and barren or is it a play on words, maybe your feeling deserted.
The place itself plus objects and the condition of the place will show you the environment around the situation the dream is about.
Another thing to take into consideration is the different ways in which the stage is used within a dream from act to act. What I mean by this is that your dream may have one stage for the entire scene or you may move around the stage seeing more areas.
For example, walking along the beach, stopping, and interacting with friends, then walking to a house at the end of the beach but on the way, you pass big boulder rocks that are in the water, and a pier. The journey and the changes will connect and be part of the message. Don’t leave anything out when translating your dreams. It is all telling a descriptive story.
And another way that dreams play out is where there is a complete scene change whereby the scene stops and another one begins with a completely new stage or backdrop. This splits each scene very noticeably. I refer to this as an ‘act within a scene’. Each split can be likened to a sentence of your message by taking that particular backdrop or scene and the actions, etc, and compiling a sentence and then doing that with each act.
Using the ways of Tibetan dreaming, these scene changes are where the body is moving chakras. So, something that you can look for is the emotion that is governing each act.
To summarise, landscapes and waterscapes reflect the environment of the situation the dream is about. Either your association with the place or logic will identify what the place symbolises. You can gain extra detail to add to what the place symbolises by your feelings towards the place, what else you noticed and the condition of the place.
Why did you dream of that place?
From a childhood home to a place you once lived in or a place you went to on vacation to a retail outlet, your association with that place will be what it symbolises. Consider your feelings towards the place, the atmosphere and the purpose of the place. Travelling from one place to another will show you your movement, direction and steps in the matter the dream is about.
For example, I dreamt of travelling from one city to another. In waking life, I had lived in both cities and had moved from the one I did not like to the one I did like. In my dream I had travelled from the one I liked to the one I didn’t like, the dream was showing me I was not going in a good direction and I would not like the end result of what the dream was about.
The condition of the place will show if it is symbolising a positive or negative angle.
Figuring out why you dreamt of a place may take a few dreams to understand what it is symbolising. When you have identified why you dream of a place, it will most likely continue to symbolise the same thing every time you dream of it. Can I suggest you have a list of places that appear in your dreams and when you figure one out, you can add what they symbolise next to the place and refer to it when they appear again. This will not only be a reference list but will also help you understand your dream dialect to identify other places quickly.
I found a connection and pattern with regular houses that were the stage in my dreams and they are listed below. In regards to my childhood home symbolising ‘life path’, this may be because I was fortunate to live in this home until I left home. Subsequently, my childhood suburb symbolises my ‘life lessons’.
If you have a regular house that you used to live in reappear in different dreams frequently, consider that that house could be symbolising your life path. The significance of why that house continues to be the stage in your dreams, maybe because it was the first home you owned or you lived there for a long time. Try using a few dreams where the same house or place is the stage to find a theme.
Below is a suggestion for the place that is a stage in my dreams that symbolises ‘life path’, identify what place that symbolises this for you and interchange my suggestion of the childhood home and suburb to your place and you can follow your life path and lessons alongside your growth.
Childhood home alludes to life path and progression.
Childhood suburb alludes to life path lessons.
My childhood suburb appears whenever the dream is about my life path lessons, could this be because as a child I learnt my first lessons and the suburb is a great place to symbolise this?
This is any place that is in your childhood suburb (the mall, park, streets, etc).
A shopping mall in your childhood suburb alludes to options in regards to a life lesson.
An intersection in your childhood suburb alludes to a decision in a life lesson or you are at a position in a life lesson that you need to pass through.
A community hall in your childhood suburb alludes to a life lesson that somehow is connected to a collective aspect.
Travelling from one place to another in your childhood suburb will show you your movement, direction and steps in the life lesson.
Dreaming of a house
Dreaming of a house can represent life in general or the mind.
Each room symbolises the different ways that they are used, their functionality and the reason that you use the room, for example, a toilet can symbolise ‘elimination’. The furnishings symbolise the atmosphere of the matter or their functionality.
Things outside of the house symbolise the outer perspective on a matter.
The condition of the house, rooms, and furnishings will show you a positive or negative angle.
For more information, examples, and suggestions…
Dreaming of a retail outlet
If you have ever worked in a retail outlet and this appears as the setting, you will need to discern if it is about work, that particular time in your life that you worked at the retail outlet or the suggestions below.
For example, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry starting as a retail assistant and later being a territory manager calling on pharmacies, so when I dream of a pharmacy, it is always about my career or personal work. Although I have not worked in this industry for a few years and no longer align with the industry itself, my dreams still use it as a stage.
Another thing to consider is the retail outlets that you go to regularly. For example, if you buy your lunch from the bakery every workday, what do you associate with the particular bakery that was dreamt of or bakeries in general? this could be symbolising ‘an essential need, or main nourishment (physical or internally via information etc)’.
Besides the retail outlet, the condition of the place (tidy, empty, full, cluttered, dusty, etc), the actions during the scene (what you were looking for, what you bought or returned what you tried or ate, etc), the objects within the retail outlet, their detail (size, colour, etc) and the condition of the objects will give you more information to the message of the dream.
A petrol station shop alludes to your energy or a stop along your journey to gain something.
Pharmacy alludes to medical health. As there are different areas and categories within a Pharmacy, why you were there, what you did, actions, dialogue and objects will expand on what is being conveyed.
Supplement store alludes to a deficiency or to strengthen an aspect, probably the physical health.
Healthfood store alludes to health. Physical health via food or mental and emotional health via information, podcasts, influencers, etc.
A convenience store or what we call a dairy here in NZ alludes to convenient and taking shortcuts.
Supermarket/grocery store alludes to consumption and nourishment. Physical consumption and nourishment via food or mental and emotional consumption and nourishment via information, podcasts, influencers, etc.
Bakery alludes to basic, pleasing or too much of something unhealthy. Physically via food or mental and emotional via information, podcasts, influencers, etc.
Coffee shop alludes to stimulation or a break.
Café alludes to consumption. Physically via food or mental and emotional via information, podcasts, influencers, etc.
Restaurant alludes to consumption. Physically via food or mental and emotional via information, podcasts, influencers, etc.
The type of restaurant will add more detail. For example, a Japanese restaurant alludes to a spiritual aspect and if you don’t like the cuisine then the restaurant may be symbolising ‘you will not like this outcome from consuming this’, what ‘this’ is will be shown in the surrounding elements.
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Shopping mall alludes to multiple options.
Department store alludes to a variety of options. Your opportunities may be presented in different sections or maybe you are compartmentalising your options.
Clothing store alludes to your outer persona, character, style or the purpose of the specific piece of clothing.
Shoe shop alludes to your movement along your path.
Is the dream showing you your style of movement, do you need to get back on your path, or maybe you need some motivation and dream of buying some sports shoes?
The type of shoe shop (fashion, running shoes, etc), the condition of the shop, the type of shoe, the detail of the shoe (colour, etc) and its condition, the price, actions and dialogue will give you more information about the message of the dream.
Photo by Derick McKinney on Unsplash
Furniture store alludes to character, style of a matter or aspect, or the particular furniture’s purpose.
For example, shorts or pants allude to ‘support’ as they cover and protect your legs which supports your body.
Magazine stand alludes to periodical information.
The type of magazine you interacted with may give you the subject.
Bookstore alludes to information, research or wealth.
The type of bookstore (modern, second hand, etc), the condition of the bookstore (crowded, dusty, messy, etc), the area or book/s you interacted with and the condition of it, the price, actions, and dialogue will give you more information about the message of the dream.
Toy store alludes to amusement, pleasure, entertainment or the characteristics of a child.
Photo by Norbert Tóth on Unsplash
Gift shop alludes to your gifts and talents or tools to use in a matter the dream is about.
The condition of the store (empty shelves or full shelves, good nice selection or broken and dusty products, etc), the merchandise you interacted with and the condition of it will show you the ‘gift, talent or tool’ and the state of it.
Flower shop alludes to the design and arrangement of your gifts and talents.
The type of plants, the details (colours, etc), and the condition of the plant (vibrant and blooming or withered and dying) will show you the ‘gift and talent’ and the state of it.
Sports store alludes to physical actions, competition, the game of life or the wordplay of ‘playing games’.
Hardware store alludes to hard work in a matter, repairs or maintenance needed or suggests tools for you to use in a matter.
Is the dream showing you that hard work is ahead of you, or does the tool you interacted with, actions and dialogue show you where you need to repair, maintain or help something in your life?
Antique store alludes to the past, something old or something of value.
Dreaming of school
If you have no personal associations with school then the dream symbolises learning and knowledge.
Your associations could be authority or indoctrination or if you go to school or are a teacher, then use this angle to understand the message of the dream.
The below suggestions focus on school symbolising learning and knowledge…