Have you ever wondered what dreams mean? For example:

• What does a dream about teeth falling out mean?

• Why do I dream of tornadoes?

• Do recurring dreams mean anything?

• Why do I dream about being naked, giving a presentation?

• Why do I keep dreaming I’m back in school?

• Why do I keep dreaming about my grandparents’ house?

Okay, part of me wants to leave you hanging in order to compel you to take my course to find the answers to these burning questions.  But, I think that makes me sound like an investment scammer on a late-night infomercial:  If you want to find out more, sign up in the next 10 minutes…  

That said, you really do need the context of the dream course to answer some of these questions and I am running a business, so I’m going to compromise and help you answer the first three questions, but you’re going to have to do a little work and answer some questions too.  You’re welcome.  

The short answer is that there are some common dream archetypes (universal dream symbolism) but dreams are also tailored to the individual dreamer’s life and language (including symbolic language), so the dream meanings won’t map on identically for everyone.   Here’s the longer answer:

What does it mean when you dream about your teeth falling out?

Let’s use a couple of the general questions from the course’s “Common Dream Archetypes” guide to answer this one: “What do teeth represent?” and “Are there any idioms/metaphors/myths/fairy tales that come to mind when you think of teeth?”

What do teeth represent? 

• Teeth represent health.  You can tell often tell someone’s overall physical health by looking at the condition of their teeth and gums.  

• If someone’s teeth have all fallen out, it means they likely aren’t very healthy. So, is it possible that your body is trying to send you a not-so-subtle sign that something is wrong or off in your body?

• More obviously, teeth falling out can also mean that someone has neglected their oral health.  Are you not taking care of your teeth?  Do you need to schedule a dental exam?  

• Teeth also represent the ability to chew, to eat food, to nourish the body.  If your teeth fall out, it’s pretty hard to eat.  How is your diet?  Are you getting enough nourishment from healthy foods?  How about metaphorically?  Is your lifestyle nourishing you or malnourishing you?  

Are there any idioms/metaphors/myths/fairy tales that come to mind when you think of teeth?

• “Long in the tooth,” “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” and the Tooth Fairy are a few that come to mind. 

• “Long in the tooth” means getting old.  As we age, our gums recede and out teeth appear longer, so when someone is “long in the tooth,” it means they’ve gotten old. 

• If we look at this from the perspective of your teeth falling out, what implication does that have?  You’ve passed the point of being “long in the tooth” and have lost your teeth.  This ties back in with the discussion on health.  Are you getting old before your time?  Is life catching up with you?  Do you need to re-evaluate a lifestyle that is taking its toll on you, physically and mentally?  

• “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” hits upon the theme of health again.  Looking at a horse’s teeth is how to tell if the horse is healthy.  Apparently, it’s considered ungrateful to receive a horse for a gift and then check its teeth make sure it’s healthy/good enough for you.  Are you doing this in your life?  Are you not grateful for the gifts you’ve been given?  

•  Let’s look at this from the perspective of a toothless horse: What would that kind of gift imply?  Should you be looking a little deeper at the things you’ve received in your life, even at the risk of appearing ungrateful, to make sure you’re getting what you need, to make sure you aren’t being deceived or are getting the shaft?  Are you asking for and receiving what you deserve or settling for scraps? I mean, is a toothless horse really a gift, or just something you need to bury in a few weeks? 

• Okay, the Tooth Fairy, what an interest concept, right?  You lose a tooth, put it under your pillow at night, some magical fairy sneaks into your room while you are sleeping, takes your tooth and replaces it with money.  What does she want with your teeth?  (When I was a kid, I was told that she built her fairy castle with my teeth and I was more than happy to donate my teeth to her cause.  Now, I’m not really sure how I feel about the concept of a castle made from the teeth of little children…)  Also, what’s her going rate these days?  Last I checked, it was pretty low, but I digress.  For most of us, the Tooth Fairy was a positive mystical experience, after a not-so-positive, very earthly experience.  She provides us with a reward for undergoing a rite of passage, the beginning of the transition out of childhood, into adulthood.  And she adds some magic and joy to ordinary life, just like Santa Claus.  But, as an adult, when we lose teeth, we aren’t rewarded with a visit from a gift-bearing fairy, we don’t have a new set of teeth waiting to grow in, moving us from childhood to adulthood.  So, what does that mean?  As an adult, losing teeth is a negative and detrimental experience.  We lose something we’ll never gain back; it’s a big problem to not have your teeth, both aesthetically and practically.  And, if we want a replacement part, we pay dearly, and it doesn’t work as well as the original.  It’s a big deal.  So, is the dream trying to tell you that there something you are about to lose and can never gain back, something that will cost you dearly?  Do you need to make some changes to prevent this?  Is the dream marking a rite of passage on the horizon, one that might cost you something you can’t replace?    

What does a dream about teeth falling out mean to you?

• Use the context of the rest of the dream to find more clues about the specific messages the dream might be trying to send you regarding health, ageing, the gifts in your life, and predicting a rite of passage that could come at a great cost.    

Why do I dream of tornadoes?

Again, let’s use those general questions from the course’s “Common Dream Archetypes” guide to answer this: “What is a tornado?” and “Are there any idioms/metaphors/myths/fairy tales that come to mind when you think of a tornado?”

What is a tornado?

• Tornadoes are swirling, high speed winds produced by extremes in weather conditions.  They represent chaos and wreak havoc on the land around it; they flatten buildings and uproot trees.  They are also a powerful force of nature.  They can represent the life force or kundalini.  Death and renewal.  They are also spirals.  Spirals represent a typical life path, the circle of life, beginning and returning to a similar but different place (leveling up), time after time.  They are said to be the labyrinth pathway that leads us to Source/Universe/God/Consciousness (Fontanez). Spirals are the antithesis of a loop, which many of us get caught in, and thus are the way out of loop (i.e., to spiral up and out or down and out of a loop).

• So, where in your life is this happening?  What is a tornado?  How are you a tornado?  How are you a force of nature?  How is your life force functioning? Is it being stifled or is it being let loose at inopportune times?  What might need to die in your life so that something else might live or be reborn?  Is it time to level up? Is the tornado showing you a spiral path or a way out of loop or stuck place?  Are you being shown the labyrinth pathway to Source/Universe/God/Consciousness?

Are there any idioms/metaphors/myths/fairy tales that come to mind when you think of a tornado?”

• Well, I think of the movie, “Wizard of Oz” and that very famous opening scene.  Dorothy leaves the black-and-white land of Kansas and enters the technicolor world of Oz.  A tornado is the vehicle that takes her there.  

• This is a metaphor for awakening of consciousness and the hero/heroine’s journey.  The old Dorothy leaves the two-toned, pedestrian world of Kansas behind and enters a colorful, magical dream world where she meets powerful allies, sees unbelievable things (e.g., flying monkeys), faces foes and challenges; through this process, she learns important lessons, grows stronger and ultimately, reaches enlightenment (Houston, 2016). 

• So, is the tornado in your dream trying to transport you to your hero/heroine’s journey?  Have you been refusing the call to the journey?  (Most of us do, once or twice.)  Is it time to heed the call?  

Is this a warning dream?

• Is it showing you what could happen if you don’t take a closer look at how you are directing your energy (e.g., destruction)?

Or, more literally, is it tornado season?  

• Is this dream prophetic, warning you of extreme weather, literally (or metaphorically)?

What does dreaming of tornadoes mean for you and your life?

• Use the context of the rest of the dream to get more clues about what specific messages the dream might be trying to send you regarding life force, destruction, death and renewal, spirals and loops, and warnings in your life.  

Do recurring dreams mean anything?

Yes, if a dream is recurrent (or disturbing) it’s because it’s trying to get your attention.  

• Basically, it’s like a little kid yelling, “Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!” until mom finally stops what she’s doing and finds out what they want from her.  That’s what your dream is doing to you.  

• Dreams speak in a special language and this language includes rhythms.  Recurrent dreams are an example of this rhythmic language.

• Recurrent dreams may even be prophetic, according to Joseph from the Book of Genesis, which is another reason to pay attention to them.  

Spend some time with the dreams, figuring out what they mean.  

• Are there any dream symbols (archetypes) or animals that are showing up repeatedly? And, if so, what is a ______ (recurring archetype or animal)? For example, if you have recurrent dreams about badgers, you can ask, what makes a badger, a badger? Badgers burrow in the ground and are solitary animals; they are also badasses. In shamanistic traditions, they are known as the keepers of stories and as such, badger medicine represents the powerful medicine of stories. So, is badger sending you a message about needing to go underground, to spend some time alone; is badger showing you how badass you really are or might need to become? Is badger showing up to tell you that it’s time to write a new story about your life and let go of the old, limiting stories of your past?

• You can also ask yourself, what is the recurrent theme about? What does it remind you of? What does that mean to you and your life? What might it be trying to tell you? You’ll know that you’ve cracked the code on the dream and taken aligned action when it stops recurring.

• That said, sometimes a recurrent dream will come back after giving you a message to give you a similar message about something else (or something related) later on.  

• Alternatively, recurrent dreams may be part of a larger dream story, with the recurrent dream or dream elements being the primary theme.  So, the individual dreams may be showing you parts of this larger story.  As explained above, it is likely an important story, which is why it is recurring, so pay attention to it and the message it is sending you.  

What does a recurring dream mean for you?

• Use the rest of the dream as context to find more clues about the specific message the dream might be trying to send you about your life, the larger dream story, or even the future.  

So, as you can see, dreams have some general, archetypal meanings and they are also individualized; they depend on you, your life and your individual dream language.  The more time you spend working with your dreams, the clearer your dream language and ultimately, your dreams’ meanings will become. This dream course can help you learn to understand what your dreams mean.   

 Most people who are interested in the meaning of dreams fall into one of two camps: Skeptic or Believer.  

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