Synchronicity: dream symbols in waking life

Synchronicity Dream Symbols in Waking Life Jane Teresa Anderson

What does it mean when symbols from a dream start appearing in waking life? Here’s what usually happens.

You have a dream featuring, for example, a red bucket. You wake in the morning and trip over your toddler’s toy red bucket in the hall. You dismiss this, thinking you must have seen the bucket there before you went to bed. Later that morning, you find a flyer tucked under your windscreen wiper. It features a red bucket, and turns out to be an ad for a hardware store. You smile and think, “That’s odd!” Stopped at the lights, a boy asks if you’d like your windscreen washed. He carries a red bucket of water. And when you go to the movies that evening, you are presented with a complementary giant serve of popcorn in a red bucket-shaped container.

By now, the appearance of so many red buckets in one day seems eerily significant and deeply meaningful, only you have absolutely no idea what they mean. This phenomenon is synchronicity.

The interesting thing is that some dreams produce far more synchronicities than you might normally notice. The theme of a dream is its ‘motif’. If you look deeper, you’ll often see your motif dream symbol repeating the next day in modified or cryptic forms. Here’s an example.

Imagine you dreamed of a ‘memory stick’ computer accessory. The next day, you hear someone on the radio talking about memory sticks, then you see an article on memory titled ‘When memory sticks’. An hour later, you notice a child playing a memory-improving game featuring stick-like figures. At work you keep getting someone’s name wrong (as if your memory is stuck), and at home in the evening a CD sticks, repeating the same piece of music. Only one of these synchronicities looks anything like a memory stick, but the others are equally significant echoes of the dream motif.

Sometimes you experience the synchronicities in the absence of a dream, or so you think. In these cases, it is most likely that you have simply not recalled the dream. So what does synchronicity mean?

When you experience synchronicity, go back to the dream and interpret it thoroughly, because the dream theme is so powerful that it is already symbolically manifesting in your life.

Many people think of synchronicity as a positive sign to follow. They will follow red buckets and memory sticks as if they lead to pots of gold. But synchronicity is not necessarily a sign to follow. It is a symbol shouting loudly from your dream, spilling into your waking life. It is the symbolic beginning of a manifestation. If you interpret your dream and you like the way the wind is blowing, follow the signs. If you don’t like the way the wind is blowing,  apply some dream alchemy and change your future.

[Extract from 101 Dream Interpretation Tips, Jane Teresa Anderson]

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6 comments on “Synchronicity: dream symbols in waking life”

  1. Mrudula

    Namastey,

    when I heard about synchronicity, I read many articles about it to understand the number seeing pattern. I even mentioned it in my blog… But your article gave a new perspective to my thinking.. Though I didnt figured out the reason behind… seeing number patterns like 11:11, 8:11, 2:22 ,4:44 etc.. yet but I’m hoping to interpret these waking dream interpretations…
    Thanks a lot ..
    Love

  2. Tanessa

    Sometimes I recall dreams by noticing a “symbol” in my waking life. Even if it’s something as simple as a banana, I make an extra effort to contemplate it–and perhaps, eat it–to see what information I can gain. I experience a great deal of synchronicity with food!

    • Jane Teresa Anderson

      Hi Tanessa,

      Love the alchemy of eating the banana (or interacting in some way with the symbol)! There was a saying where I was raised, in England, “That broke my dream”. It meant that something happened in waking life that happened in a dream the night before. Thank you.

  3. Alora

    I have a dream that i was at Thetis island in Vancouver, a place where my Uncle had owned years previous. I was laying on the rock that has always been there that is about 30 feet into the ocean, i was lying on it and the sun was pouring down on me, all of a sudden my passed away great grandmother Bertha was hovering over me in an angelic like form, she told me she missed me and loved me. I got off the rock and went to the sand and saw a Red Bucket underneath a this rock bank by the cabin, it caught my attention because it was the only red item around, everything was blue green and sand color, i went to examine it and i felt something some sort of energy around me , at first i was scared, then i wasn’t. I saw cougar crouched down in the grass, it came closer to me , as close as to touch it. I pet its head and i felt like in the movies, at peace and mesmerized, then it ended. I yearn to know what the red bucket symbolizes. It has been bothering me! i know there is more too it, the most simple thing but to me i know there is more, i am trying to think of childhood or why i would think that but it just isn’t coming to me.

  4. Jane Teresa Anderson

    Hi Alora,

    This is a dream about coming to terms with a fear, and re-energising an important part of your being. You can gain some insight into the symbol of the red bucket by doing a dialogue, following this example:
    https://www.janeteresa.com/cow-pat-patter/

    You can either do the dialogue between you and the red buket, or, if you like, between the cougar and the red bucket.

    Alternatively, you might like to consult me privately so I can help you understand your dream at a deep, healing level that will benefit you far more than a few sentences typed here.
    https://www.janeteresa.com/dream-consultations/

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