My dreams mostly seem to be bad

[Vangelo]

I have decided to rewrite this post

Posted by Vangelo (here)

Posted by mojo (here)
I dream just about every night ...

I don't believe having 'bad' dreams means...

because the original version does not do a good job of conveying the message I was trying to express.  That message is that dreams are a gift that can give us inner peace, facilitates healthy relationships, and allows us to see the beauty in everything and everyone around us by facilitating shadow work.

Here is the new version of my original post...

Regarding

Posted by mojo (here)
... There is a quote I recall that say's man's heart is basically dark and I wonder if the dreams are telling me this?

I don't believe having 'bad' dreams mean that a person's heart is basically dark.  Instead, I think the person who said this recognizes that we all have shadows that not only haunt us, but also guide every aspect of how we interpret and interact with the world around us.  

(NOTE:  The term shadow refers to the repressed traits and beliefs we have hidden within our unconscious minds as defined by Carl Jung.  I am not referring to other uses of the term shadow such as its use within the new age philosophies or the occult. (here is a link to another Avalon posts that describes 'shadow work' and 'shadow integration') 

Dreams, whether perceived as 'good' or 'bad', are most often the psyche's way of healing our inner wounds (which are the source of our shadows). Dreams shed light into our unconscious mind by allowing us to see the shadows that live deep within us.  Dreams help us to heal our inner wounds by giving us the opportunity to integrate the inconsistencies that exist between our conscious and unconscious minds. Integrating these inconsistencies is often referred to as shadow integration.  It is a very powerful healing process that gives us inner peace, facilitates healthy relationships, and allows us to see the beauty in everything and everyone around us.  Some people call this integration process "coming to wholeness".  I call it "living in grace".

Dreams are often confusing, fanciful, impossible, odd, and frightening because they are presented to us in the symbolic language of our psyche.  Our psyche associates things and makes meaning through symbols and metaphor. When we dream, we see our shadows in the form of their symbolic representation and/or metaphor rather than as they truly are because it is less painful to experience the symbol or metaphor than it would be to confront the inner wound directly.

When we dream, we are presented with a series of events, people, places, and things in very concrete terms.  At the most superficial level, we see and interpret the dream events and things within the context of our normal daily lives and from the perspective of ego-based judgment.  At this initial or top level of interpretation, we understand the dream logically and concretely as if we were experiencing the dream in real life.  As we delve deeper into the dream, we recognize that the person(s), place(s), things, and events in the dream are not actually what they appear to be in our 'real' life. Instead, the people and places are symbols that represent something much more fundamental to us. Namely, the symbols and/or metaphors are pointing directly to the inner wounds which are the source of our shadows.

It is important to remember that the symbolism and metaphor presented to us from our psyche is unique to the individual --- my symbology is different from yours. That means the only way for you to interpret the symbols in your dreams is to understand your unique, personal symbology, not someone else's interpretation of the symbol.  I do not recommend reading a book or reading a blog post on the symbolism of dreams.  Having said that, there are many symbols that are common to the human experience because we all understand and interpret them similarly.  Archetypes is one example of universal symbols.  Dreams that contain destructive events are sometimes indicative of birth or starting a new phase in your life, the colors yellow or white may suggest knowing or seeing, snakes sometimes refer to the masculine, etc. My point is, the proper interpretation of the symbol is unique to you and the context of the dream at this point in your life.  The same symbol can have a completely different meaning for you 10 years later because you are in a different place in your life's journey.

I believe dreaming is good because it means you are in the process of healing. You are integrating your conscious and unconscious minds. You are coming to wholeness and you are seeking grace.

I have been lucky enough to have listened to hundreds of dreams during many chakra initiation retreats (I describe the retreats in this Avalon post and also here.) I have seen people uncover the symbolism in their dream to reveal their inner wounds and integrate their shadows. I know, without a doubt, dream work can be healing but only if you spend the time asking yourself what could the person, place, event, or thing in the dream represent symbolically. 

My suggestion to you is to try to uncover the symbolism of everything in the dream. Here is a place to start... 90% of the time, every person in the dream is actually you. So the question you have to ask is what does that person symbolically represent to me and how is that symbolic representation actually a part of me.