There are 6 basic types of dreams.  Over the course of your lifetime, you will probably experience all of them.  I have listed them in the order you are most likely to experience to least likely.

1. Problem-Solving
2. Hopes and Fears
3. Balance
4. Physical
5. Spiritual
6. Precognitive

Please read on for a brief of description of each and what they generally address:

Problem Solving:  Generally, dreams are about what is happening in your life, mind and heart on a day-to-day basis.  They are about everyday struggles we experience in our attitudes/behaviors/likes and dislikes/etc. They are there to help us face these inner struggles within ourselves and to correct them.  The end goal is to become better people with better relationships (with God, with the world, and with those people around us) by adjusting our behavior/thinking/attitude/ideals to help make this happen.

For example:  Let us consider this dream, “I am walking down the road and a zombie starts chasing me.  I run and run but it keeps getting closer.  I am afraid I won’t be able to escape it.”  The message in the dream means, “As I travel through my life or in a particular direction I am pursuing, there is an idea/behavior which should be dead but it just won’t die.  I try my best to get away from it, but I can’t seem to lose it and I am worried I won’t be able to.”  If the dreamer looks at what is occurring in their life, they realize they have been working hard to change some particular flaw in their behavior/thinking but their old way of behaving keeps trying to reassert itself.  The dreamer is finding it difficult to change this behavior/thinking and is worried they won’t be able to.

The dreamer is given this dream to help them with a problem-“They are trying to change a behavior/thinking and are having difficulty doing it.”  The dream brings the message to the dreamer’s consciousness that they are struggling with an issue that is important to them.  This gives the dreamer the opportunity to put more thought and effort into how they are going to continue to change their behavior/thinking and not revert back to their old ways. The dream also addresses their fear that they will revert back to their old habits.  Being conscious of what you fear can help you face that fear and overcome it.

Hopes and Fears:  I think all of us can understand these dreams even if we have no understanding of dreams.  These dreams are about our hopes and fears.  To have one of these dreams does not mean that our hope or fear will occur.  It just means it is something that is on our mind and in our heart.  For example, if you dream your wife is going to leave you, it does not mean that is what is going to happen.  Perhaps you have been having trouble in your marriage and this is a secret fear in your mind.  You have tried not to think about it but this dream forced the fear into your conscious mind.  The point of the dream isn’t to terrify you unnecessarily.  It is to bring the matter to your conscious thought and force you to consider it seriously and decide if there is anything you can actively do about the problem. Hopefully, the dream will motivate you to take action and correct the errors in your behavior/thinking that are helping to cause the trouble in your marriage OR to motivate you to end a relationship that needs to be ended.  It is also possible that our fears are completely unwarranted.  In that case, you would need to admit the fear is there but there is no reason for it.  You must then resolve to not let the fear affect your behavior and thinking.  Respect how you feel, but don’t let those feelings stop you from doing what is right.

Balance:  These types of dreams are trying to tell you that a behavior you indulge in is too extreme and needs to be balanced/modified to meet the societal norm.  Not because you aren’t managing, but because you would do better in your relationships/work/behavior if you allowed yourself to be a little more of this or that and a little less of something else.  For example:  At work, you never joke or have personal conversations.  Then you have a dream where you see yourself at work telling terrible jokes and not being serious when your coworkers need you to be.  You wake up mystified, as you know you would never behave this way.  The dream is telling you that you need to “balance” your behavior at work and be less serious.  Of course, you aren’t going to become the work clown, but you need to make the effort to be more friendly with your co-workers and take a moment to be sociable.  It would benefit your work and work relationships.

Physical Health Dreams:  On occasion, you might have dreams where you are specifically told to not eat or drink certain foods, or to eat or drink specific foods, or you might see yourself suffering from a particular ailment, or performing a particular exercise.  These dreams are specific to our physical bodies and need to be paid attention to. Normally, you will not have a health dream unless it is an important change that must be made for the sake of your health.  For example, I had the following dream where I was specifically told not to drink carbonated beverages.  There was nothing else in the dream-no people, no places, not even the person who spoke.  Merely a voice that told me not to drink “soda” anymore.  I was unaware at the time, but my body was becoming more sensitive to certain foods and to maintain normal health, I needed to eliminate these food items. Since that night, I have had a few other dreams which have specifically told me not to drink or eat certain items.  Because of these dreams and the dietary changes they recommended, I have managed to stay off prescribed medications and only use nutritional supplements.

Spiritual Dreams:   Some dreams are given to us by our Soul to let us know how we are doing mentally/spiritually.  They tend to be self-affirming, letting you know that you are doing well in your development and/or are recognized and loved by those who have passed on. They usually have a different feel to them than “normal” dreams, a different type of energy. These types of dreams usually provide very positive reinforcement- to your efforts on your spiritual path, your relationship with God, and with people you love.

There are several different types of spiritual dreams:

1. “How You are Doing”-This dream might show you in school or having an encounter with the police or an authority figure of some kind.  The authority figure will be correcting you, possibly even arresting you. This shows Spirit is intervening or will intervene to correct you if you don’t correct yourself. This type of dream can also be self-affirming, where the authority figure could be telling you that something you are working on is good, or they let you continue doing it without bothering you.
2. “Encounters of Spirit”-Other spiritual dreams can indicate an actual moment in our life when we  specifically encounter an important spiritual figure that is important to us, such as God, Jesus, Buddha, the Creative Force, etc.,  through an activity or person.  The dream might point out a moment in real life when you were kind to someone you didn’t have to be kind to, and in that moment you met God in that person. This would signal a very important event, when you were exactly what God wanted you to be, and the dream acknowledges this to your conscious mind. “Encounters of Spirit” dreams can also be direct encounters with a Spiritual being in the dream in which they give you a message.  The dream might be an indication that you have done well on your spiritual path and God is acknowledging your efforts.  This type of dream might also be a message of reassurance-“You are struggling but making progress.  Keep up the good work!”
3. “Spiritual Shifts of Consciousness”- Other spiritual dreams can indicate the development of greater spiritual awareness through astral travel or dream lucidity or even a shift into higher spiritual dimensions during the dream.
   1. Astral travel can be in the physical realm on this planet and/or out in space. There is conscious thought when in this form as to “Where do I want to go? Who do I want to see?” Generally, the experience is indicative of breaking free of certain thought patterns that have been holding you back and feeling the freedom to choose where and what you want to do next.  There is also the ability to consciously choose to visit someone you care about and see how they are doing.
   2. “Dream Lucidity”-This is the ability to be in the middle of a dream and consciously change what is happening. The dream might have been too scary or the imagery was not going where you wanted, and so you deliberately take control of the dream and change what will happen next. This shows a greater spiritual and mental control, to choose what and who you will be, and clearly indicates the ability to make greater spiritual choices in real life.
   3. “Higher Spiritual Dimensions”-travelling to these realms can be interesting for a variety of reasons. You might travel to the realm where a deceased loved one is located to visit with them.   You might travel to a realm of higher consciousness to receive information on yourself or a message from Spiritual Beings who reside there. You might travel to one of the lower realms to try and help a Soul who is currently stuck and unable to free themselves.  You could even be given the gift of seeing what “True Reality” looks like as compared to how we view it from a physical form.
4. “Contact with Loved Ones”- Another type of spiritual dream consists of contact with deceased loved ones and contact with people who are currently alive.  If the person is deceased, then the message is usually about letting you know they are okay and still connected to you. These dreams usually bring feelings of great reassurance and love. If the person is alive, then usually the dream is a message from them to you about an important change they are making that will effect their relationship with the rest of the world, including you. It might not be clear in the dream what the change means, but you will find it will have significant impact even if it seems minor.
5. “Past-Life Recall”-The last type of dream recalls a past-life moment or synopsis, in which details of past lives are shown to us to specifically address an issue during our current life. It might have to do with our work, our relationship, etc, but these generally address moments when a decision has been made or needs to be made and the past-life recall helps to explain what forces are at play which effect our decision. For example:  A woman dreams that she is a serf in Europe, long ago.  She is married and wakes in the morning with her husband.  She recognizes that her dream husband is the same man she is currently married to but he looks different. They prepare for the day and go to the fields to work. She is very conscious in the dream that she hates her husband, yet she is stuck with him.  There is nothing she can do about her situation. When the woman awakens she considers the dream and what it means.  She wants to divorce her current husband but is finding it difficult- emotionally, mentally, and financially. But she has finally made the decision to go ahead with the divorce. That is when she has the dream. Her Soul gave her the dream with the past-life recall to let her know that she had overcome the Karma from the past with her husband by freeing herself in their current life together.  Both relationships were difficult and painful.  In both relationships, she had felt helpless to change what was happening and unable to form a happy and satisfying marriage with the man who was her husband.  She overcame the pain, helplessness and hatred of the past marriage by freeing herself from the current marriage and choosing not to hate her current spouse but instead to understand and feel compassion for him. She broke the Karma of the past and empowered herself. Her Soul let her see what she had accomplished because it was significant to her Soul growth and development.

Precognitive Dreams:  All things are connected in Spirit, and thus we are able to receive information on others and even future events because of this connection.  Precognitive dreams usually involve ourselves and/or people around us. They can serve as warnings of difficult challenges ahead that must be lived through. Sometimes this will give  you the ability to change the outcome, but not always. Precognitive dreams can also serve as indicators of important positive changes coming your way.  This can help to carry you through those moments of doubt you might have that the change you desire will never occur. These dreams can be quite exciting or even terrifying.

The number one rule to follow when having them is to make sure you interpret first, following the standard rules, and consider the dream as possibly being psychic second, if the interpretation is not making any sense. The third possibility is the dream interpretation is appropriate but the dream is also precognitive.  A good example of this is the following dream:  You see your best friend and your boyfriend, in bed and having sex.  You wake up terrified that this might actually be literal.  Upon questioning of both parties, it becomes clear that this is not happening currently.  But interpretation indicates that the dream is showing them enjoying a personal intimacy that you are not a part of. At the time of the dream, this has not developed yet. Almost a year later, it becomes evident that the interpretation is correct and the best friend and the boyfriend have developed a close, personal relationship over the course of the year that is outside of your relationship with them, but it is not sexual. The dream was precognitive (they developed an intimate relationship over the course of a year) but it was not literal (it was not a sexual relationship). Normal dream interpretation had to be applied to understand the full meaning of the precognitive dream.

Precognitive dreams can also be about prophecy for events, people, and places that we do not have a direct connection with.  But generally, because we care about the outcome or effect from the event, this allows us to receive the information. A good example of this is when the 9/11 Terror attack occurred in New York City.  There were several reported testimonies of individuals who dreamed of the attack before it happened.  Because they were effected by the event, directly or indirectly, this made it possible for them to receive information on it.

Conclusion:  To understand the type of dream you have will help in applying the message being given to you.  Even though some dreams are wonderful and uplifting and others are terrifying and fearful, in the end it is the message of the dream that is important.

1. What are you being told?
2. Where should the message be applied?
3. Do you need to change a behavior/attitude/belief/idea to bring about better results in your life?

Dreams are for guidance, to keep us on track on our path to God or to help put us back on track on our path to God.  Good luck on your path!