Pisces Season Special: Astrology and Dreams
In the realm of the dreamtime almost anything can happen. Strange worlds emerge that in our waking lives, we might never even be able to imagine. Our dreams are a surreal landscape that have the potential to offer us insight and inspired guidance, if we only make the time to listen.
Almost everyone has had dreams of flying, being chased, or showing up naked for an important meeting. These common dreams give us insight on the rights of passages that we all share, such as birth, sex and death. Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, referred to the terrain of shared dreams and symbols as the “collective unconscious” and believed that everyone tapped into this realm at one point or another during their dreaming time. The collective unconscious is the shared soul of humanity, uniting all of us in a sort of great cosmic soup. In this invisible but potent space, we speak a common language that goes beyond the external differences that sometimes separate us in the waking world.
In astrology, the world of dreams is associated with the 12th house, which is the home of mystery, spirit and the release of the ego. In the 12th house, there are no divisions or separations between things, instead, boundaries and external differences dissolve and everything comes together to form a united whole. As the house ruled by the sign of Pisces, there is a watery veil that flows through this realm, distinguishing it from the external world. The language spoken here is the language of symbols and spirit. Non-linear and diffuse, the 12th house communicates best through images and impressions, rather than words. Navigating the 12th house is easiest when we are able to let go of attempts to control and instead open up to the wisdom spirit has to offer us, regardless of the form it arrives.
Mining the 12th house terrain for its treasures is most successful when accomplished through the realm of symbols. As we navigate the surreal landscape of this Piscean house, the symbolic language of astrology can serve as a particularly potent tool for gathering insight and understanding into the realm of dreams. Astrology allows us to decode and access information and guidance from our dreams that we might otherwise miss.
By knowing which dream symbols are associated with which astrological archetypes, it’s possible to understand your dreams in a way that directly taps into the vocabulary of the 12th house. As you become savvier at identifying how the signs and planets show up in your dreams, you can reach beyond the veil of the 12th house and “hear” the stories that are being communicated to you through this mystical realm.
Read the dream symbols and associated astrological archetypes below to see if you recognize any of them from your dreams, then explore how these stories are playing out in the different areas of your waking life.
(Note that some of the signs are both ruled by the same planet, for example, Mercury is ruled by Gemini and Virgo. Read both of the signs for greater insight on these symbols.)
Astrological Dream Symbol Associations-
Aries/Mars-warriors, the military, the head, rams, horns, fire, heat, rashes, babies and young people.
Taurus/Venus-gardens, farmers and farming, the throat, fruit, massage, bulls, earth/dirt, luxury items such as jewels.
Gemini/Mercury-twins, talking, thieves, teachers, students, neighbors, teenagers, siblings, butterflies (and other flying insects), the lungs.
Cancer/Moon-mothers, breasts, the stomach, cooks/chefs, babies and children, the moon, food, the ocean, crabs.
Leo/Sun-lions, the sun, movie stars, the heart, luxury items, gold.
Virgo/Mercury-wheat or grains, the digestive/elimination organs, teachers/mentors, servants, writing, doctors/health practitioners.
Libra/Venus-love, marriage, scales (of justice or to weigh food, other items), sweet foods, art and artists, fashion, kidneys.
Scorpio/Pluto-plumbing, anything hidden underground (oil, gold, coal, caves), death, birth, the phoenix, scorpion and eagle, detectives, sex and sexual organs.
Sagittarius/Jupiter-foreign countries and people, the centaur/archer, guru’s/spiritual teachers, judges, adventurers, thighs.
Capricorn/Saturn-the hermit or sage, bones/the skeleton/teeth, mountains, death, goats, elderly people.
Aquarius/Uranus-lightning, rebels, teenagers, revolution, storms, ankles, astrologers, technology, computers.
Pisces/Neptune-rain/water, plants, animals, spiritual teachers/mystics, fish, feet, musicians, poets, artists, photography, film, alcohol and drugs.
Your Astrology Chart and Dreams
As you work more closely with the symbolic languages of both dreams and astrology, you may discover that your dreams are showcasing a longstanding issue that is related to your innate temperament or personality. This issue could be associated with the qualities of your natal sun sign, or of a sign that is particularly strong in your natal chart. For instance, if you have your Moon, Mercury, Rising and Venus in Virgo (though perhaps your Sun is in Leo) and have long wrestled with issues of perfectionism, service/work or self-esteem, you may find that you go through a period of dreaming about Virgo symbols such as digestive organs or the teachers and mentors in your life. Your Leo sun sign may show up in your dreams almost as a side act, with lions or hearts making an entrance in the midst of the Virgo symbols. This Virgo/Leo dream encounter is offering you the opportunity to heal using the homeopathic adage of “like curing like”. Thus the issue that you confront in yourself is presented to you in your dreams in a symbolic story.
Like homeopathic remedies, which condense substances into a more concentrated form, our dreams can also present our issues to us in a greatly exaggerated manner. We may find that our nighttime visions inflate and heighten the drama around a particular pattern or issue, making it stand out almost in relief. Using astrological correspondences to decode our dream messages can help us to gain a clearer picture of what we as individuals might need to learn from the wellspring of the collective unconscious.
These archetypes may also emerge in your dreams when you are facing a challenge or transition in a particular area of life. For example, if you are about to get married, the symbols associated with Libra/Taurus or Venus may arise in your dreamtime space. If you are dealing with a death in the family, you may notice Scorpio or Pluto’s symbols are an ongoing theme in your chart.
Transits vs. Natal Chart in your Dreams-What’s the difference?
So how do you tell the difference between a temporary, versus a longstanding dream theme? You can either simply assess the recurring images in your dreams and ask yourself if these pertain to an ongoing pattern in your life, or you can figure out whether these dreams are more relevant to a current transitory situation. In astrology, the distinction between these two types of experience are represented by your “natal chart” which represents the unchanging facets of your personality and your “transit chart” which showcases the transition phases of your life. By staying abreast of the transits (changes) to your natal (stationary) chart, you can gain more information about your dream life. If you don’t already know how to determine what planetary transits you are currently experiencing, you can consult a professional astrologer who can detail the planets and the corresponding signs that are currently influencing you. Once you know what planets are making a presence in your life it’s possible to track their movement in your dream life, paying attention to the way that these symbols unfold there.
Sometimes you may dream of a symbols that foreshadow upcoming transits that you will soon experience. For example, you may find yourself dreaming repeatedly of water or floods in varying forms. This may signal an upcoming transit to your Moon or any planets that you have in Cancer, or you could be having a transit from the planet Neptune. By paying careful attention to the way that your dreamtime story plays out, you can track your progress with the current transits that you may be experiencing. Note particularly when themes begin to shift, as when perhaps, you begin to start dreaming about mountains and dry, desolate landscapes, after a long period of dreaming about lightning storms. This may mirror your corresponding astrological changes and allow you to better understand the new soul landscape you will soon be exploring.
Bringing Your Dreams to Life
Take your dream explorations a step further and bring the symbols that arise in your unconscious mind to birth in the light of day. By making manifest the soul stories of your dreams, you can create a unique relationship with your deeper self that guides you closer to your purpose and mission in life. The more you work to develop a deeper relationship with your dreams, the more you will have an opportunity to directly experience the magical realm of spirit. You may even find that dream symbols appear in your waking life soon after you have encountered them in the dream world. Objects, people and items may appear to you that you have already experienced in your dreams. For example, maybe you’ve just had a wonderful dream of soaking in a hot spring and then you wake up the next day and encounter an advertisement of a nearby hot springs in your local paper. Or, your dreams have been filled with very Aquarian symbols and you find yourself talking to an Aquarius the day after a particularly notable Aquarian influenced dream.
Continue the magic of the dreamtime by taking advantage of these encounters and acting on them. Book that trip to the hot springs, or get to know the Aquarius better. Though you may not know where these experiences will lead you, you will be demonstrating your willingness to pay attention to the dreamer within. As you follow the inner promptings of your spirit self, you will be sending an important message, signaling that for you, the dream world is just as important as the “real” world.
To kick-start the conversation with your dream self, try approaching your dreams from several different mediums to see which ones give you the most fruitful response. Below are a few ideas to get you started.
Alters-
Build an alter that represents the symbols and images that have recently appeared to you in significant or recurring dreams. Keep in mind which astrological signs or planets relate to those symbols and showcase objects that relate to those signs as well. Example: If you have been dreaming of the ocean, you may want to gather shells, pictures of the ocean or a container of sea water, you could also put up the astrological symbol for the sign of Cancer. Light a candle on your alter before you go to sleep and ask that you receive further insight about your dreams. You may want to time your alter building with the cycles of the moon for extra “oomph”. Start on the new moon to plant the seeds of understanding about your dream world.
Collage/Art
Cut out images and pictures that mirror symbols from your dreams and make a collage. You can also draw, paint, sculpt or sing your dream. You may even try photographing different images that you notice in the waking world that correspond with a recent dream. Journal your response to your dream art when you feel complete with your work.
Dream Writing-
Pick a potent symbol from a recent dream and engage in an imaginary written dialogue with this symbol. Write first as yourself and then write back from the perspective of the symbol. When you read over what you have written, you may be surprised at what your unconscious mind has to tell you.
Dream Plays-
Enlist a trusted friend or group and act out scenes from each other’s dreams. After describing the trajectory of the dream, let everyone choose a dream symbol or character and then watch your dream come to life. This is a powerful way to gain a window into the workings of your unconscious mind.
No matter how you choose to work with your dreams and astrology, the time that you devote to forming a relationship with your “symbolic self” will bear fruit in the future. For as you develop a closer relationship with this magical part of your unconscious, it will soon respond with messages of wisdom and insight that can help to guide you on your true path in life.
Learn more about Astrology and Dreams in my Be Your Own Astrologer Course starting March 27
Also published by Wellbeing Magazine
