When a dream of a cheating spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend turns out to be accurate, it does not necessarily mean you are psychic.  Rather, it probably means that your unconscious mind picked up on some subtle signals that your conscious mind either overlooked or blocked out.

For instance, things like a sudden change in wardrobe, new cologne or sudden interest in fitness can often signal a cheating spouse.   It is possible that your unconcious took note of all these signals during the day, and then used your dream state to send a message.

In most cases, however, a dream about a cheating boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse is not about the spouse at all.  Rather, the dream is most likely caused by insecurity, anxiety or guilt on the part of the dreamer.

For instance, dreaming about catching your boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse with another partner probably indicates a deep seated anxiety on your part, either worry about your appearance, doubts about your attractiveness, or just generalized anxiety about the future.

Likewise, dreaming that you are cheating on your spouse or significant other can result from guilt you feel about other issues.  In some cases these feelings of guilt are not even related to your relationship.

Rather, the guilt could be the result of anything from cutting corners at work to cheating on a test to being less than honest with family members.  Thus the cheating is only a symbol of guilt you already feel, not a prediction that you will be stepping out on your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend.

Dreams about a boyfriend or girlfriend cheating on you tend to be fear based dreams.  These dreams do not necessarily represent fear of being cheated on, although those fears can come out in dreams.  Instead, the fear could be anything, from fear of failure on a project at work to fear of failing a test at school.

The fear expressed through a boyfriend/girlfriend cheating dream could also be the manifestation of a deep seated childhood fear of abandonment.  Children of divorced parents, or children whose parent or parents have died, often express their fear of abandonment through bad dreams, and these dreams can morph into dreams where they are abandoned by a partner or a spouse.

Even though the issues expressed through dreams of cheating and being cheated on are not rooted in the relationship, it is always a good idea to work through the issues that caused the dreams.  That is because the issues associated with these kinds of dreams, issues like trust and fear, are important things to work through.  Issues with trust, and fear of abandonment can be very damaging to even the strongest relationship.

So whether you are the cheater or the cheatee in your dream, it is important to examine the situations you encounter in your dreams.  The situations, places and people encountered while in a dream state often represent real people, places and objects, and learning the connections can allow you to correct the situations that are leading to such feelings of insecurity and anxiety.

First, let’s begin by dispensing with the myth that if you hit the ground in your dreams you will die. There are plenty of fully alive human beings who have reported hitting the ground during their dreams of falling.

The fact that these people were around to report this situation is proof that this legend is merely that – a legend.

Dreams of falling are most often interpreted as an indication of unresolved fears, anxieties, instabilities and insecurities. The person who experiences recurrent dreams where he or she is falling may be feeling overwhelmed by and unable to control certain situations in his or her waking life.

For instance, the dreamer may feel that his or her home or work life is out of control, and that he or she is unable to remain on top of the situation. This kind of generalized anxiety can easily manifest itself in a dream where he or she is out of control, such as a falling dream.

Falling often represents a loss of control, or feelings of helplessness on the part of the dreamer. After all, when you fall, you have no control over your direction or your pace. This feeling of being out of control and falling often represents similar feelings in the dreamer’s waking life.

Therefore those who are troubled by such dreams should be encouraged to examine their life for the source of anxiety and fear, and to confront the situation head on. Doing so often results in a lessening or even an elimination of dreams of falling.

Dreams of falling can also represent a sense of inferiority or a sense of failure in your personal or professional life. This fear could be a fear of failing in school, failing at your job, losing your social status, or failing in a relationship.

People experiencing these situations are often troubled by dreams in which they are falling. These dreams of falling can represent a perceived failure to measure up to expectations, or a fear of losing your status, losing an important person in your life, or just a generalized fear or failure.

The strict Freudian interpretation of a dream of falling was that such a dream indicated that the dreamer was contemplating giving into a sexual desire or sexual impulse.

Dreams of falling are most likely to take place during the first stage of sleep. That is because dreams at this stage are often accompanied by spasms of muscles in the arms, the legs or even the whole body. These sudden muscle contractions are known to science as a myclonic jerk.

The dreaming mind can interpret these muscle spasms as falling, and thus incorporate falling into the dream state. Often when dreamers experience this myclonic jerk, they awaken at feeling their body twitch. This fast reaction is part of the evolutionary mechanism that allows us to be awakened quickly in the presence of a threatening environment.

Those who do biblical and religious interpretations of dreams often see falling dreams as meaning that the dreamer is taking his or her cues from the world of man instead of turning to God for guidance and advice.

Dreams have been studied throughout history, and dream interpretation is an old art form indeed, dating back at least as far as 3000-4000 B.C. Even today, dream interpreters are highly sought out for their help untangling the sometimes puzzling world of dreams.

You may think you know everything there is to know about dreams and dream interpretation, but did you know that:

1. A third of our lives is spent in sleep, and a good amount of that time is spent in dreams.
2. The average person dreams from between four to seven times every night. That means that by the time you reach the age of 80, you will have had between 116,800 and 204,400 dreams.
3. That number may be even larger, since there is evidence that dreaming begins even before birth. No one deigns to know what unborn babies dream about, but there is evidence that they do dream.
4. In the average lifetime, a person will have spent approximately six years in dream sleep, equivalent to more than 2,100 days of dreaming.
5. There are records of dream interpretation, written on clay tablets, dating back more than 4,000 years.
6. Those who could interpret dreams were held in high regard in Roman and Greek societies, and their counsel was sought before making significant political and military decisions.
7. Everyone dreams every night, even though only a tiny fraction of those dreams are remembered upon waking.
8. Many animals dream as well, although no one has been able to ask them what they dream about.
9. People have to dream, though no one really knows why. What we do know is that preventing people from dreaming can cause irritability, mood changes and even hallucinations.
10. The average person spends about one quarter of his or her sleep time in dream sleep, and dreams an average of four to seven times during that time.
11. The average episode of dream sleep lasts about 10 to 15 minutes.
12. Dreams slip away very quickly upon waking. It is estimated that as much as half the dream’s content is forgotten within five minutes, and after only ten minutes up to 90% of the dream can be gone forever.
13. Men dream more about other men than about women, but women tend to dream about men and women equally.
14. The brain is actually more active, not less during dream sleep than during wakefulness.
15. People who are awakened during dream sleep are able to recall their dreams vividly and in great detail, while those who wake normally generally are not.
16. Both men and women experience sexual arousal during most dreams, regardless of whether the nature of the dream was sexual or not.
17. Smokers who are quitting often experience more intense dreams than either non smokers or current smokers.
18. Babies and toddlers dream just as adults do, but studies have revealed they do not dream about themselves. Toddlers generally do not appear in their own dreams until they are at least three or four years old.
19. It is not possible to dream and snore simultaneously.
20. Nightmares are a common trauma of childhood, with the first nightmares usually occurring by the age of three, and typically lasting at least until the child is seven or eight years old.
21. Many people report having experienced Déjà vu in their dreams, but dreams involving Déjà vu are more common in women than in men.

Before any dreamer can set about analyzing and interpreting his or her dreams, however, those dreams must first be remembered and recorded. Remembering your dreams is an often overlooked part of dream analysis, but it is the basis upon which all dream analysis stands or falls.

It is important to record dreams quickly, since dreams are one of the hardest things to capture. Half of a dream’s content can be lost in as little as five minutes, and up to 90% of the dream can slip away within less than ten minutes.

Therefore, it is vital that anyone seeking to interpret or analyze his or her dreams keep a dream journal as close to the bed as possible. Keeping a notepad on the night stand or under the clock radio is ideal.

It is important to get into the habit of playing your dream back in your mind before you even open your eyes. That is because the clock is ticking as soon as you wake up. Running the dream back through your mind will serve to strengthen and reinforce some of those little details that will soon be forgotten.

Write down as many of those details as you possibly can, even if it just means jotting down a quick word of phrase. You can always fill in the gaps later, the goal is to get as much recorded about your dream in as short a period of time as possible.

After you have written down as many details as possible of your dream, it is a good idea to read what you have written, fill in as many gaps and details as you can, and try to make sense of it. If there are meaningful symbols in your dream, or things you recognize from real life, you may want to circle them or otherwise point them out.

It is best to keep a dream journal over a period of a few nights, in order to look for patterns and similar elements. There are often recurring themes in dreams, and those recurring themes can provide valuable clues to the root causes of the dream elements.

When interesting and analyzing your dreams, it is best to keep it a fun and exciting exercise. While dream interpretation can be used by experts such as psychologists and therapists to treat and diagnose issues, that part of dream analysis is best left to the experts.

It is of course possible to use your dreams as healing tools, or as ways to examine underlying issues in your life. For instance, dreams about being naked are often metaphors for being exposed in a lie, or having a secret revealed. If you see such a pattern in your dreams, it may be worth examining what parts of yourself you have kept hidden, and for what reasons.

Likewise, dreams of falling are often indications of feeling out of control. If you see a pattern of falling dreams emerging, you may want to examine your life and try to take better control of your waking hours.

Dream interpretation can even be part of many people’s careers.  In particular, therapists and psychologists often used dream analysis as part of their practices, especially when working with people who suffer nightmares as a result of trauma and stress.

This article, though will take a more lighthearted approach to dream interpretation.  Let’s start with an examination of the colors often seen in dreams, and what those colors may symbolize.

Dreaming in color

Most dreamers report dreaming in color at least some of the time, and for many the colors encountered in the dream world are even more vivid than those encountered in the real world.  A quick dream color quick is listed below.

Pink – Pink is generally understood to be a symbol of love, and dreaming of pink objects can symbolize a happy love affair.

Red – Red has several different meanings, including passion and anger.  The actual meaning of red objects in a dream is dependent on its context within the dream.

Black – Black is often seen as a negative symbol.  Black can symbolize the a void in the dreamer’s life, or a fear of death or aging.

Grey – Grey is a color midway between black and white, and therefore grey is often seen as a symbol of fear or of confusion.  People struggling with an important decision will often dream in shades of grey.

White – White is generally understood to be a symbol of purity, but like black it can also symbolize a fear of aging or death. Dreaming of white objects can also indicate a fear of change or of new surroundings.

Green – Green can be a symbol of the yearning for spiritual or physical renewal, or for growth and healing.

Blue – Blue can often symbolize spirituality, but in some circumstances it can indicate sadness as well.  To understand the true meaning, it is important to look at the context of the dream.

Yellow – Yellow is often seen as a symbol for calm, peace and hope. Yellow is the color of sunshine, and dreams of yellow are often sunny, happy dreams.

Dreams about numbers

Numerologists probably have their own interpretations of every possible number encountered in a dream, and every number can mean several different things depending on the context of the specific dreams.  Many people put great stock in dreams about numbers, even going so far as to play those numbers in the lottery.  While we can’t guarantee you a winning lottery ticket, we can provide some common explanations for dream numbers.

One – The number one can be a symbol for wholeness or unity. Dreaming of the number one could mean that you feel your life is complete.

Two – The number two can stand for balance, such as spiritual balance.  Dreaming of the number two could indicate a life in balance.

Three – Three is one of the most commonly seen numbers in dreams, and it is often thought to symbolize spiritual fulfillment, harmony or unity.

Five – The number five can be an indication of an upcoming change.  How the number is encountered in the dream could indicate whether the change in your real life is welcomed or feared.

Even today, dream interpretation remains a highly sought after art, and science is continuing to focus on dream interpretation as a way to deal with all kinds of anxieties and other underlying psychological issues.

There are some interesting facts about dreaming that you may not be aware of.  These facts include:

• One third of most people’s lives is spent asleep, and a good portion of that time is spent in dream sleep.

• In the average lifetime, a person will have spent approximately six years in dream sleep, equivalent to more than 2,100 days of dreaming.
• Dreams have existed as long as human beings.  There are records of dreams going back over 4,000 years.
• Dream interpretation has existed almost as long as dreaming, and Roman senators in the ancient world often engaged the services of dream interpreters before making important political and social decisions.
• Every human being dreams.  Even if you do not remember your dreams, you dream between four and seven times a night, every night.
• Many animals dream as well.  All mammals are thought to dream, and it is suspected that some lower animals dream as well.  What they dream about, however, remains a mystery.
• If people are prevented from dreaming, they suffer a variety of personality disorders and psychological problems.  The exact function of dream sleep is still not known, but it is known that dreaming is an indispensable part of life.
• The average person spends two hours per night sleeping, and has from four to seven dreams during that time.
• Even blind people dream.  The dreams of blind people who were previously sighted sometimes contain visual images, while the dreams of those who have been blind from birth do not.  Vision is not the only component of a dream, however.  Dreams also contain sounds, sights, smells and touch sensations.
• Dreams are forgotten very quickly upon waking.  It is estimated that 50% of the content of a dream is lost within five minutes of waking, and after 10 minutes as much as 90% of the dream can be forgotten.
• The word dream is derived from a word in Middle English.  This word, dreme, translates to “music” and “joy”.  It is therefore apparent that dreams have long been looked at as a source of wonder and inspiration.
• Men most often dream about other men, while women tend to dream about men and women equally.
• Studies of brain wave activity have revealed greater activity during dreaming than during waking periods.
• People who are awakened during dream sleep are able to recall their dreams vividly, while those who wait until morning to wake often are not.
• Everyone, men and women, seem to experience sexual arousal during their dreams, regardless of whether or not the content of the dream is overtly sexual.
• Smokers who are trying to quit often report greater intensity in their dreams.
• Studies have shown that toddlers do not dream about themselves.  In general, toddlers do not appear in their own dreams until they reach the age of three or four.
• It is impossible to snore and dream at the same time.
• Children commonly experience nightmares, and these nightmares usually begin by the age of three and last until the child is seven or eight years old.
• More than 60% of people surveyed have reported experiencing Déjà vu in their dreams.  Déjà vu dreams occur more frequently in women than in men.

No one knows the content of these early dreams of course, or how early humans reacted to them.  At first, humans probably reacted with fear to find themselves in unfamiliar territory, facing unfamiliar objects and places.

It is known that many ancient cultures saw no distinction between the world of dreams and the world of physical reality.  In these cultures, the dream world was simply an extension of the physical world.

As a matter of fact, many cultures throughout history have placed a greater level of importance on the dream world than on the physical world.  Dreams were often imbued with magic powers, and many people thought that dreams were a way for the soul to commune with the spirit world while the body got its much needed rest.

Dream interpretation may have been around for as long as dreams have been, but archeologists have discovered that dream interpretation is at least 5000-6000 years old.  That is because clay tablets dating back to 3000-4000 B.C. have been found, and these tablets detail dreams and their interpretation.

Even in today’s world, dream analysis and interpretation continues to be a source of wonder, inspiration and even healing.  Psychologists and therapists often use dream analysis as part of their careers, and dream interpretation has been used in modern times to treat victims of trauma and help them heal.

In the ancient world, dream interpretation has a long and storied history.  Some of the earliest mentions of dreams and dream analysis occur in the Bible, and the Bible contains more than 700 references to dreams and their meanings.
The world of the ancient Greeks and Romans was also fascinated with dreams and what they meant.  The Greeks and Romans often saw dreams as a way for their gods to connect with mortals, and the messages contained in dreams were carefully examined and taken very seriously.

Greek and Roman politicians and warriors employed dream interpreters to provide analysis of the dreams of soldiers, generals and politicians, and the results of this dream analysis was used to influence political and military decisions.

The ancient Egyptians also saw religious significance in dreams, and those who could interpret and analyze dreams, as well as those whose dreams were particularly vivid or significant, were given special status in Egyptian society.

Dream interpretation and analysis continues to enjoy a special place in the modern world.  After Sigmund Freud revolutionized the world of dream analysis more than a century ago, a new era of dream interpretation was ushered in, and dream research continues to evolve and grow at a rapid pace.