The vast majority of readers considers it an ancient biography of a man named Jesus. These are the same people who interpret the Bible literally and concentrate only on the people and events of an ancient culture. Others read it symbolically and assume it is not historical at all. The more appropriate and useful system of interpretation is a combination of both.

The Bible is an adventure full of amazing discoveries about how to develop a relationship with God or Source. These discoveries are realized within. This is a practical vantage point and one that allows us to apply these timeless truths to our life in the present. The key to unlocking the secrets is to apply the techniques of dream interpretation. One looks at each particular person, word, or event as if it were occurring in a dream and thus, assigns it a specific meaning.

What is the correlation between dreams and the Bible? To begin with consider the question, "What are dreams?" Creams are the language of the Gods, a great mystery. And if one is devoted to the Mystery, one does not approach it only to find answers. Instead, we might approach it as something filled with possibility and insight. and the more open we are, the more possibilities, and insights, are available.

These possibilities can then be applied to the outer life and one can try them out. If the outcome is positive, the result is a fuller, richer life and an experience of even greater Mystery. In fact, this may well be one of the most important points of all, and what makes the interpretation of dreams very similar in process to the interpretation of the Bible. In the end, the meaning of the dream comes from the actualization of what is learned. rather than the interpretation. In fact, interpretation actually distances us from he dream, whereas actualizing or re-experiencing the dream brings us close to it. And so it is with what is learned in reading the Bible.

But in order to understand and apply the Bible as one applies the messages of one’s dreams, you need to understand how to decipher your own unique symbols. To begin, you look at each particular person, word, or event as it occurs in your dream and assign it a specific meaning. This meaning is based on your experience of that particular person, place or thing. For example, the men in the Bible represent the masculine, active, expressive self, the doer within. The type or quality of action is described by the particular person and what they happen to do. For instance, a king in the Bible might represent that part of you that has dominion over or has mastered the physical or material plane. Or, a prophet might represent that part of you that is divinely inspired.

Let us take a look at a few of the verses from eh prologue of the Gospel of John and apply this method of dream interpretation. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of Men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."

Then, John begins to tell a very personal story. He says there was a man sent from God whose mane was John (John the Baptist). This man came to be a witness that the Light exists. He came to explain. to point out, that enlightenment exists. He was not that Light himself, he was not enlightenment, but he was someone sent to testify to that fact that it does exist. That was his purpose.

So what does this mean? Let us say for instance that last night you had a dream. Perhaps you dreamed you were in the wilderness or a desert. Suddenly, a man walked up to you and spoke. This man’s name was John, and he was sent by God. This much you just "knew" about him. He begins to tell you, "There is a source of Light and enlightenment that is available to every being in the world. It comes from God. People do not always know where their light comes from, but it is in everyone."

Now, upon waking the following morning, you might think, "What a dream! It must have some sort of mystical meaning. If I only knew what it meant." Using the dream interpretation technique, being by assigning a meaning to each individual person, place or thing in the dream. This part is critical. Symbols are individual and unique for each of us. They cannot be garnered from books or from so-called dream experts. The are within us and arise from our own individual experiences in life. What is more, since the meaning does not change from dream to dream, you can begin to develop your own dream glossary in this way, keeping a record of all the dream symbols of the Bible and what they mean to you.

This particular dream begins with a desert or wilderness. Traditionally, a desert means a barren or dry place or emptiness. a wilderness on the other hand, means confusion. So the dream says, "Out of confusion or emptiness, God sent a man whose name was John, to tell me there was a light available to everyone." Here, imagine we are talking about you, and something that happened in your life. There was a time, it could have been recently, when you experienced a time of confusion. Perhaps you went through a period or questioning why you are here and what life is really about. Unfortunately, as a child in this culture, we are taught that what matters in life is to get an education, a good paying job, a house, a car, and an infinite and endless supply of material possessions. And the more you have, the prouder your parents become. but perhaps there came a time in your life, for many, after all these things have been accomplished, when you stopped to think, "Is this all there is?"

In you dream of John, your John-self may represent this questioning self. The courageous, rational self that is willing to ask questions and arrive at answers that do not necessarily go along with the status quo, even at the risk of losing everything. The left-brained, logical self that knows there is truth other than that which is taught by society. The part that is able to think and muse over the concept of God. This part of your mind informs you that there is a Light and another way to see life.

And, he warns you, "This light is not who I am, but I can tell you about it. There is another teacher, another being sent from God who is not born of the earth, but is the expression of God, and has enlightenment, He is born of the "virgin" in you." Now, what is the virgin? Perhaps the virgin in your dream refers to a pure, untouched consciousness in us, which is untouched by other cares and concerns.

Thus, your dream seems to be saying that Christ is born after one experiences the desert, or confusion, in those who will listen to the John part of themselves. And once listened to, one can then open to experience the virgin, the pure untouched portion within that is not driven by what the world does or does not expect of us.

Let us try another example, again from the Gospel of John. Chapter two. this is the classic story of the marriage in Cana of Galilee when they ran out of wine. When Mary, mother of Jesus, asked Jesus to manifest some wine, he replies, "Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come." Then, Mary said to the servants, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." And there were six water pots of stone. And Jesus saith unto them, "Fill the water pots with water." And they filled them to the brim.

Using the dream interpretation technique, consider first the symbolic setting of the wedding. what is the wedding within you. Perhaps it is the coming together of the masculine, active self and the feminine, receptive self, the union that results in contact with the Source of your being. And Mary is the mother of God or Source in you, that part of you that gives birth to God. Mary, or Mara, means bitter waters. thus, form out of bitter experience or desperate situation, is born God. Why? Because it is form this bitter experience that one realizes he or she knows nothing. And to reach this place of emptiness, is to finally get to the place where we are able to open and listen and thus, give birth to God.

When the mother approached the Christ, she says, "There is a need for wine." what is the wine? It is the active, potent force in you. And Christ’s response is, "My time is not yet come." What does this mean? The Christ, or the all-knowing part of yourself, is saying that you are still not ready to receive the potent force or power. You still have not given all to Him. You still have not relinquished control. You are not yet ready and thus, the time to step into the all-knowing self has not yet come. So the mother says to the servants, "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." The mother is warning the servants, the body and the personality that is an expression of the soul, to turn over the rulership of the senses in order to contact that potent force in your life. In essence, in order to do so, you must obey and allow yourself to be under the command of the Christ self. And give to Christ your full, undivided attention. when this occurs, the lower will be taken into the higher and you will be richly rewarded with a miracle as the waster in you turns to wine.

© Copyright 1994, Paul Solomon Foundation