III Now we’ll talk about how to recognized physical and emotional challenges that you face in your life, and how to understand the condition of your body at the time of the dream. As you begin working on your dreams always bear in mind that nothing in the dream is accidental and everything and everyone is first and foremost a quality of you. After you answered the first three questions (see the previous article) you may have a good idea of the message of the dream. The dream may reflect the changes occurring in your inner and/or outer life, or it may reveal conflicts that you are facing. In the first case, recognize the changes and see if they correspond with what you want in your life. In the second case, the conflicts must not only be understood but also “corrected” by going back into the dream, and then anchored with specific actions in the waking reality (read about making corrections in the next article.) As you look for analogies between the events of the dream and your waking life, remember that the dream usually reflects something that happened in your waking life within 1 to 72 hours around the time of the dream. The theme of the dream may also be reflective of the totality of your life. Pay particular attention to red flags, which usually come with a purpose of attracting your attention to the most important aspect of the dream. A red flag means that something in the dream is out of place. For example, you are your age, an adult, and you find yourself in your elementary school. You feel embarrassed because you are a grown person and have to study with children. This dream may be calling your attention to discomfort about having to learn something that feel you should already know. Another example, you receive your monthly electric bill that is usually under a hundred dollars and it is $1100. You are shocked and outraged. This dream may be showing that you are overspending your energy without realizing the price that you must pay and also the conflicting feelings you may have about working so hard (for the meaning of numbers see below.) If you find yourself in a dream speaking on the phone with a friend (who you know to be a very rational person) and you just can not hear him. The dream may be informing you that you started having a hearing problem but do not yet have conscious awareness of it. It may also be telling you that you are not capable to hear the rational quality of yourself. As you look at what is happening in your waking life around the time of the dream you may easily figure out whether the first, second, or both interpretations are applicable. B., a 28 year-old newly married patient of mine had a dream in which a rodent made a house in her basement and started killing little kittens that lived there. Responding to a question “What is the first thought that comes to you when you think about kittens?” B. shared with her fantasy-image of her two children playing in the garden with little kittens. After considering a possible message of the dream B. decided to see her physician. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Often in a dream we encounter quantities and numbers. They are of great significance. A patient, C. after proposing to his girlfriend had a dream in which he was picking seven roses for his fiancée and two men in a store were giving him advice. Understanding the numbers (2 men, 7 roses) helped C. to realize and address the ambivalence he felt about marriage. Numbers. 1- unity, oneness; 2- conflict, divided mind; 3- synthesis after having been divided; 4- construction, home, marriage; 5- creativity, love, sexuality; 6- reunion, health, construction at higher level; 7- ambivalence, possibility of growth and contraction or distraction; 8- something from past that hasn't being resolved; 9- completion, it's 3 on higher level; 10- perfection in everyday life; 11- conflict; 12- wisdom; 13- coming to oneness after being separated; 14-connectedness with others; 15- fulfilling all the possibilities; 16- death, rebirth 17- difficulties finding a way; 18- life; 19- grace; 20- trouble in marriage or relationship; Larger numbers are simply to be reduced to one digital number by addition.