Dreamscapes - House

Van Gogh, The Parsonage at Nuenen by Moonlight

When I first started recording my dreams, the first pattern that emerged was the setting of a house. I found myself in a friend's house or a stranger's house, a childhood home or a boarding house, dormitory, condo or hotel. The action varied - there were people I knew or didn't know, various activities and conflicts. But the theme was undeniable.

The most common interpretation for this dream symbol is that the house represents ourselves. Different rooms in the house are different aspects of the dreamer. The basement is the unconscious, the most hidden part of a person, where we shove things to get them out of the way, then forget about them. Cleaning out the basement in a dream could indicate a time to sort through the past and its effects on the present. The upstairs may represent the rational mind, while persistent dreams about the bathroom might indicate a need for emotional cleansing.

To dream often of a childhood home may mean that there are unresolved issues, as is the case with other homes from the dreamer's more recent past.

For a long time, my dreams took me to so many different types of houses, it was hard to get a handle on what was going on. Sometimes I would be in a place, then realize that, for some reason, I could no longer live there. Then I would remember I had another home to go to. In the final dream like this, I was actually able to recall, in the dream, my current address (although not without some difficulty). I also had one dream where I found myself in a home that I clearly understood to be my own.

I still travel to different dream houses; but it's nice when the unconscious gives us a nod that we're headed in the right direction - slowly, gradually, eventually finding our way home.