Throughout the world’s sacred texts are many references to the human body being the “temple” of the soul. Although I’ve never dreamt of temples, my dream life is full of houses. Over time these various houses, in all states of grandeur or disrepair, have projected themselves as representative of the current condition of my soul – body, mind and spirit.
Mansions and Crumbling Remains
Occasionally the house I occupy in my dream is grand, sitting on acres of lush rolling hills. Waking from these dreams, I feel bolstered with confidence, trusting that I’m expanding my consciousness, including possibilities of abundance. They inform me that my soul is growing and I’m doing a good job of claiming my place in the world.
Other times I’ve dreamt of being in a home that belongs to my family of origin. The interior walls are crumbling and I can see through the entire house, nothing hidden from my view. These dreams let me know that I’m dismantling the emotional structure of my childhood, that my soul has an unrestricted, clear perception of my life.
Exploring Room by Room
Most frequently though, I dream about houses one room at a time: stuck in a bathroom with no way out, doing the dishes in an unfamiliar kitchen late at night, climbing the cold concrete stairs out of the basement, or sitting in my bathrobe alone in a sparsely decorated living room. These dreams encourage me to delve deeply into exploring one aspect of my soul.
The details of the various rooms are always different, but there are only so many types of rooms in a house. During the past thirty years I’ve explored each room so many times, they’ve developed into consistent indicators of where and how I need to focus on taking care of myself.
The remainder of this article is my room-by-room projections of the “Temple of My Soul” – the house that God built for me.
Kitchen
Have you noticed that when you have family and friends in your home, they tend to congregate in the kitchen? Instinctively they know that the kitchen is the heart of the home! This is where we prepare the food that nurtures them, and ourselves.
In my dreams, the size of the kitchen, windows, lighting, cleanliness, food, dishes, appliances, guests – they all speak to me about my heart. Am I opening my heart to others, sharing freely? Am I tending to the needs of my own heart? Am I feeding myself (on all levels) a healthy diet? Do I feel lighthearted, or am I harboring darkness? Does something in my heart stink, or does it smell fresh and inviting? Am I hiding my heart from the view of others, or is it open for everyone to see?
Bathroom
The basic purposes of a bathroom are to cleanse dirt and odor from our skin, eliminate waste from our bodies, and perform personal grooming. Our skin is our largest organ, serving as a protective barrier between our delicate interior organs, and the world. And if we weren’t able to eliminate toxic waste from our bodies, we would die within days.
Bathroom dreams ask me to consider if I am adequately releasing things from my life that are no longer supporting my health. I may be holding onto damaging emotions, need to release out-dated spiritual beliefs, or even assist my physical body in it’s elimination process. These dreams also encourage me to look at how I am putting on make-up, masking my true self, or covering up parts of myself that feel like blemishes.
In my dream bathrooms I look for mirrors, windows, cleanliness of floors, toilets and showers, and even the color of the room. Lack of a mirror indicates that I’m unwilling to look at something. Colors may speak to the attitude I have about letting go. One time I even dreamt of a bathroom with no door. That message was strong: you are not leaving this room without letting go of something or cleaning up your boundaries!
Dining Room
In my waking life houses, the dining room has always been used for formal occasions (dinners for holidays and celebrations) or entertaining business acquaintances and guests with whom we don’t share personal connections.
The dining rooms in my dreams usually speak to me about the nature of my relationships with people and events. In waking life I may see someone as a close friend, but they show up in my dream dining room and I have to consider if the relationship needs to be reevaluated.
On occasion I have dreamt of having a dining room meal associated with a waking life event that felt insignificant. The dream encourages me to see this event as meaningful, to take a closer look at it and create a ritual to honor its place in my life.
Bedroom
In family homes bedrooms separate children from each other and from parents, giving each a personal space. They are the rooms where we retreat for privacy, where we rest and rejuvenate with sleep, and where we share our deepest intimacy in a partnered relationship. And in some cases, they are rooms where emotional, physical or sexual abuse take place. Bedrooms are loaded spaces!
My bedroom dreams speak to my personal boundaries, my relationships with family members, my ability to give myself rest and repose from the world, my intimacy with partners, and the unhealed places in myself that I tend to keep private from the world.
The details in bedrooms are numerous: clean/messy, light/dark, spacious/crowded, uplifting/somber, furniture, personal belongings, mirrors, doors, etc. They all speak to the nature of my closest relationships – including how I relate to myself.
Living Room
This is the most commonly used room when everyone in a household wants to spend time together. The living room is open to guests and family alike; a room for mixing energies and sharing stories. Generally, in a living room you share only the aspects of yourself that you are willing to expose to everyone who is present.
I have very few dreams of living rooms, and when I do they are usually filled with chaos. There are so many people in the room, and so much activity that I feel uncomfortable. This discomfort informs me that I am easily overwhelmed in a crowd, and need a low-key environment to truly enjoy myself.
Living room dreams can be an indicator of introverted or extroverted personalities and/or phases. My dreams consistently remind me that I am by introverted by nature, and need time alone to process information. Others may enjoy busy living room dreams, indicating a more extroverted personality.
Basement & Garages
These are the great storage and dumping grounds of a household! Garages and basements contain the things we use seasonally, or infrequently, even items we no longer need, but are afraid to throw out all together. Occasionally we stash things away, just to put them out of view when company is coming, with the intention of dealing with them later. Unfortunately, later is often much later.
When I dream of garages or basements they typically represent old forms of consciousness, old ways of thinking that are no longer serving my highest good. I may have put beliefs aside, out of view of my conscious mind, but really I’m storing them away, just in case my new beliefs don’t work like I hope.
Cleaning my basement is literally scrubbing out the dark corners of my consciousness with the intention of tossing out old beliefs, making space to totally embrace a new way of thinking.
Attic
This is where Grandma and Grandpa’s stuff is stored. The treasures of the generations that came before me are packed carefully in trunks in the attic, revisited occasionally with nostalgic feelings. There might also be an old family secret hidden away in the attic. Discovering this secret may be shocking or painful, but in the end it adds depth to my family history, and creates a sense of richness about myself.
When I visit attics in my dreams, I’m looking for generational family information. I might need to call a relative and ask clarifying questions about past events. Or, perhaps I need to examine how I’ve packaged history away. Is it accessible? Has it been too long since I last looked at my family’s treasures? Is there something in the attic that would help me understand myself better?
Questions for Exploring Your Dream Homes
The next time you dream about a home – anything relating to a home – I encourage you to ask these basic questions:
What is the purpose nature of this room in a waking life house?
What is my personal history of this room in waking life?
What is taking place in my waking life that relates to the purpose of this room?
What is happening in my emotional/spiritual-self that relates to this room?
What clues does this dream room offer that could direct me in better understanding my waking life?
Throughout the world’s sacred texts are many references to the human body as the “temple” of the soul. Although I’ve never dreamed of temples, I often dream of houses. These various houses, in all states of grandeur or disrepair, represent the current condition of my body, mind, and spirit – my soul.
Mansions and Crumbling Remains
Sometimes the house I occupy in my dream is grand, sitting on acres of lush rolling hills. Waking from these dreams, I feel bolstered with confidence, aware that my consciousness is expanding to include greater abundance. These dreams inform me that my soul is growing and I’m doing a good job of claiming my place in the world.
Other times I’ve dreamed of being in homes that belong to my family of origin. The interior walls are crumbling and I can see through the entire house, nothing hidden from my view. These dreams reflect how I’m dismantling the emotional structure of my childhood, that my soul has an unrestricted, clear perception of my life.
Exploring Your Dream House Room-by-Room
Most frequently though, I dream about houses one room at a time: stuck in a bathroom with no way out, doing the dishes in an unfamiliar kitchen late at night, climbing the cold concrete stairs out of the basement, sitting in my bathrobe alone in a sparsely decorated living room listening to beautiful music. These dreams encourage me to delve deeply into exploring one specific aspect of my soul.
The details of the various rooms are always different, but there are only so many types of rooms in a house. During the past thirty years I’ve explored each room so many times, they’ve become archetypal symbols for where and how I need to focus my attention to take care of myself.
The remainder of this article is my room-by-room symbolism for houses as they relate to my body, mind and spirit.
The Kitchen
Have you noticed that when you have family and friends in your home, they tend to congregate in the kitchen? Instinctively they know that the kitchen is the heart of the home! This is where we prepare the food that nurtures them, and ourselves.
In my dreams, the size of the kitchen, windows, lighting, cleanliness, food, dishes, appliances, guests – they all speak to me about my heart. Am I opening my heart to others, sharing freely? Am I tending to the needs of my own heart? Am I feeding myself (on all levels) a healthy diet? Do I feel lighthearted, or am I harboring darkness? Does something in my heart stink, or does it smell fresh and inviting? Am I hiding my heart from the view of others, or is it open for everyone to see?
The Bathroom
The basic purposes of a bathroom are to cleanse dirt and odor from our skin, eliminate waste from our bodies, and perform personal grooming. Our skin is our largest organ, serving as a protective barrier between our delicate interior organs, and the world. And if we weren’t able to eliminate toxic waste from our bodies, we would die within days.
Bathroom dreams ask me to consider if I am adequately releasing things from my life that are no longer supporting my health. I may be holding onto damaging emotions, need to release out-dated belief patterns, or even assist my physical body in it’s elimination process. These dreams also encourage me to look at how I am putting on make-up, masking my true self, or covering up parts of myself that feel like blemishes.
In my dream bathrooms I look for mirrors, windows, cleanliness of floors, toilets and showers, and even the color of the room. Lack of a mirror indicates that I’m unwilling to look at something. Colors may speak to the attitude I have about letting go. One time I even dreamed of a bathroom with no door! That message was strong: you are not leaving this room without letting go of something or cleaning up your boundaries!
The Dining Room
In my waking life houses, the dining room has always been used for formal occasions (dinners for holidays and celebrations) or entertaining business acquaintances and guests with whom I don’t share a personal connection.
The dining rooms in my dreams usually speak to me about the nature of my relationships with people and events. In waking life I may see someone as a close friend, but they show up in my dream dining room and I have to consider if the relationship needs to be reevaluated.
On occasion I have dreamed of having a dining room meal associated with a waking life event that felt insignificant. The dream encourages me to see this event as meaningful, to take a closer look at it and create a ritual to honor its place in my life.
The Bedroom
In family homes bedrooms separate children from each other and from parents, giving every family member a personal space. They are the rooms where we retreat for privacy, where we rest and rejuvenate with quiet and sleep, and where we share our deepest intimacy in a partnered relationship. In some cases, they are rooms where emotional, physical or sexual abuse take place. Bedrooms are loaded spaces!
My bedroom dreams speak to my personal boundaries, my relationships with family members, my ability to give myself rest and repose from the world, my intimacy with partners, and the unhealed places in myself that I tend to keep private from the world.
The details in bedrooms are numerous: clean/messy, light/dark, spacious/crowded, uplifting/somber, furniture, personal belongings, mirrors, doors, etc. They all speak to the nature of my closest relationships – including how I relate to myself.
The Living Room
This is the most commonly used room when everyone in a household wants to spend time together. The living room is open to guests and family alike; a room for mixing energies and sharing stories. Generally, in a living room you share only the aspects of yourself that you are willing to expose to everyone who is present.
I have very few dreams of living rooms, and when I do they are usually filled with chaos. There are so many people in the room, and so much activity that I feel uncomfortable. This discomfort informs me that I am easily overwhelmed in a crowd, and need a low-key environment to truly enjoy myself.
Living room dreams can be an indicator of introverted or extroverted personalities and/or phases. My dreams consistently remind me that I am introverted by nature, and need time alone to process information. Others may enjoy busy living room dreams, indicating a more extroverted personality.
Basements & Garages
These are the great storage and dumping grounds of a household! Garages and basements contain the things we use seasonally, or infrequently, even items we no longer need, but are afraid to throw out all together. Occasionally, we stash things away, just to put them out of view when company is coming, with the intention of dealing with them later. Unfortunately, later often never arrives.
When I dream of garages or basements they typically represent old forms of consciousness, old ways of thinking that are no longer serving my highest good. I may have put beliefs aside, out of view of my conscious mind, but really I’m storing them away, just in case my new beliefs don’t work like I hope.
Cleaning my basement is literally scrubbing the dark corners of my consciousness with the intention of tossing out old beliefs, making space to completely embrace a new way of thinking.
The Attic
This is where Grandma and Grandpa’s stuff is stored. The treasures of the generations that came before me are packed carefully in trunks in the attic, revisited occasionally with nostalgic feelings. There might also be an old family secret hidden away in the attic. Discovering this secret may be shocking or painful, but in the end it adds depth to my family history, and creates a sense of richness about myself.
When I visit attics in my dreams, I’m looking for generational family information. I might need to call a relative and ask clarifying questions about past events. Or, perhaps I need to examine how I’ve packaged history away. Is it accessible? Has it been too long since I last looked at my family’s treasures? Is there something in the attic that would help me understand myself better?
Questions for Exploring Your Dream Homes
The next time you dream about a home – anything relating to a home – I encourage you to ask these basic questions:
What is the purpose nature of this room in my waking life house?
What is my personal history of this room in waking life?
What is taking place in my waking life that relates to the purpose of this room?
What is happening in my emotional/spiritual-self that relates to this room?
What clues does this dream room offer that could direct me in better understanding my waking life?
Our culture is rough on you if you look “foolish.” You know this if you’ve ever felt humiliated on April 1st. But the original definition of fool wasn’t one of ridicule. The true meaning has been twisted over time.
Really, how are you ever going to grow if you don’t take a few risks? Our greatest inventors believed in possibilities that seemed outrageous and often found themselves labeled as foolish. Consider how the Wright brothers must have been judged by their neighbors, pushing that “winged thing” up and down the beach. And yet they persevered through multiple attempts at their dreams before they found success.There is a rugged man on the sidewalk with a scruffy, day-old stubble. He is close to my age, starting to gray, wears a worn leather cowboy hat, and has no legs.
