The Looking Glass World of Dreams

I had an interesting dream last night- nothing spooky, but it got me thinking about the language of dreams, and perhaps someone here has had similar experiences and could offer an explanation. This is not the first time things like this have happened to me, and it always amazes me, though I still don't entirely understand it.

The dream was vivid and simple- I lost a crown from my top left molar, and I had it in the palm of my left hand. I woke up, but was still half-asleep, the “hypnopompic” stage, I think it's called. For several minutes, my dream mind and waking mind had a sort of conversation. My waking mind said “you don't have crowns on your top molars, only the bottom ones,” to which my still-dreaming mind replied with rotating images and an insistent sense (not verbal, of course) to “turn it over, reverse it.” My waking mind then puzzled over that while my dreaming mind kept rotating the image back and forth, trying to get the point across. Finally, my conscious mind had an “aha!” moment and said that the opposite of the upper left is the lower right. Obvious, yes, but remember that my mind was still very groggy and stupid.

I had a busy morning ahead of me, so I didn't think much more about it, until shortly before noon, when my lower right molar crown fell off and I found myself standing there with it in the palm of my left hand, exactly like the dream.

I'm sure that while sleeping last night I'd probably noticed the crown coming loose, though this morning there was no sign of that when I was brushing my teeth. But that's not important here.

The interesting thing about it was that it was one of those rare chances you get to actually experience the dialogue between the dreaming mind and the awake mind, and get some insight into the language of dreams. It was clear that my dreaming mind works in a sort of “looking glass world” that my conscious mind has a hard time deciphering (and for that reason often dismisses dream messages before I can even remember them).

I have no idea who the “me” was that witnessed this dialogue – both sides of the dialogue were “me” and I was also an observer to it.

Does the dreaming mind reverse everything, including complex messages? Or does it do it only when trying to convey simple information in the most straightforward manner possible for it? When we have dreams of, say, numbers- is the real message some sort of opposite or reversal of the number?

I remember from watching a Batman cartoon as a kid that you can't read newspapers, words, etc., because the part of the brain you dream in is different than the part of the brain that is required to read.

And I also hate to say this, but if you dream of rotting teeth, that's usually because you realize subconsciously that you are not taking good care of them.

Thanks for the reply. No, my teeth are not rotted- the crown was repair of damage that had nothing to do with decay. And, the dream was not symbolic- it was literal.

Interesting, though, that you can't read in a dream? I've had dreams where writing has been a main feature, but perhaps the writing in the dream was also reversed?

Again, thanks for the reply. Dream language is a fascinating subject !

What if you had to convey an important message to someone, but you had no language (written or verbal) and the only way you could communicate to that person was through pictures telepathically. To me, that is how dreams are. Sometimes they predict something. Sometimes they just clear away the dross. And sometimes there is a message for you.

a reply to: gpawnday

In my experience, you can read things to a point in dreams, but look away and look back and it's likely to have changed, probably to some nonsense.

I find in some dreams I can read what's written down on say,a sticker or page-and I remember this after waking.But whenever I've had strange dreams involving a big white book,I cannot remember what was written on the pages.The 1st time I had the dream of the white book,I was standing in the middle of a dark ocean,on a wooden jetty/mooring for boats.The waves splashed over me,it was Ice-cold,I shook my hair and the water went flying ,like a wet dog:-) I even said to myself in this dream:"Good lord,what kind of dream Is this?!?" Because it did'nt feel like a dream at all.And to spare lots of writing,there was a big white book a few minutes on in the dream,and I told myself to Look at the pages,to register what is written,so I could remember it when I woke up.But then only this hazyiness like a white mist covering the pages.

On another occasion,in a very detailed and unforgetaable dream I was sitting by a bench,with this big white book on the table in front of me.I was supposed to be studying it,and I told myself again-remember what you see here,for when you wake-but again that mist hovered over the pages.I'm obviously not supposed to remember that.Maybe something 's concerned in case "loose lips sink ships":-)a reply to: gpawnday

Your white book sounds very mysterious. Hopefully one of these nights you'll be able to read it and remember it, too.

I've had quite a few dreams where I'm reading something, and I sometimes the print clearly, other times it's just the haze you mention. When I have actually seen the words, it's nothing of any importance (as far as I know, anyway), usually just incidental to the rest of the dream. I wish I had a white book


Do you think the print is reversed in your dream, and maybe that's why we have trouble seeing it? Maybe our rational mind gets involved and refuses to process it?

Wow, that's pretty interesting!

A few weeks ago, I was having an elaborate dream, and started to wake up, but in that in between state I became aware I was switching worlds, and for a moment, I was looking at my "real" life globally- with all the knowledge of my past. But it all seemed rather vague, (my memories,) and dreamlike.

On the other hand, I could see the "dream" life I was currently in, and it too, had a whole past connected, and for a moment, some part of me was saying, "Stay awake! THIS is real life.. that other one is just a dream!"

It is hard to explain, and was very weird. This other dream world seemed much more vivid and logical than the one I could remember (the one I am living in right now, as I write this). I was confused about what was real- mostly because my memories of this life seemed vague and disconnected.


It made me think a lot since, about how I our determination of what is "real" and what is not is based upon the clarity of our memories, and how well they connected together to form a coherent story. Our dreams seem vague or disconnected...right now. But what if our individual consciousness exists on two different planes of existence (or more) and wherever we happen to be focused just causes our memories of the other(s) to become out of focus?

It is not because my memories, right now, of my dreams seem fuzzy and illogical that they really were, as experiences.

I don't know. When I am dreaming, I seem to have an awareness of the context and environment, and a past that goes with the whole thing, that is rather clear in those moments. Like when I see a building in my dreams, I have memories of being there other times, and of past events that I experienced there... I am aware of relationships and shared experiences with characters I see in my dreams, that I am sure of while dreaming, but later, if asked to describe them, it is unclear- I might only be able to say, "I saw this figure, and I guess I knew them from somewhere, we had done stuff together in the past, we had a relationship, but I don't remember now what that was all about." -But at the time, I did.

It just stimulated a lot of questions in me about reality......