"The dreaming state is one in which the focus of the individual's higher mind has shifted from the 'real' world to what might be called the inner world. Many feel, upon hearing these terms, that the inner state is somehow illusory and thus less valid than the 'real' world, but this is not the case. Indeed, the 'real' world is actually no less an illusion than the dreaming world, since it is merely the condensation of thought (Aether) as We have explained previously."
"The usual source of the dream material is the subconscious. When an individual dreams, he is usually on the receiving end of a commentary by his own subconscious, having to do with certain patterns, problems, or characteristics of the individual that are currently manifesting. The dream imagery is always symbolic, or nearly always, and should never be interpreted as directly stating something in the same terms as it is found in the waking state."
"Secondly, only occasional dreams are prophetic or predictive. The subconscious certainly is aware of the probabilities ahead for the individual, but it will not normally signal to the conscious mind what it sees unless such a signaling is used to try to persuade the conscious mind to change its course. Thus, if you have a premonitory dream that does actually come true, the great likelihood is that you failed to make a change which the subconscious was hoping you would make. The major exception to this rule relates to dreams which point out the likelihood of death for someone close to you. These dreams are given for the purpose of allowing the conscious mind to come to terms with the idea of the death and to assimilate it. This will make the actual experience of the death less traumatic."
"In a minority of cases, dreams are manipulated by The Guides for the purpose of teaching something to the subconscious or to 'act out' a pattern that is contemplated for waking life. In the latter case, there may be doubt as to how the person is likely to react. For example, if it is contemplated to bring you into touch with someone with whom you once had an extremely violent fight, resulting in your death, and if there is some possibility that a meeting again in this life will also lead to violent behavior on your part, then the two of you may be brought together in the dreaming state in order to test your reactions (and possibly that of the other person as well) before arranging the meeting in The Physical Plane."
"The best approach to all dreams initially is to assume that they bear a message for you in symbolic terms and to use your knowledge of symbols and correlations to work out what that message might be."
"As to the matter of manipulating dreams, the best way is to deliberately ask your subconscious for a certain kind of dream which will help you with a problem, etc. You would address your subconscious at night when you go to bed and repeat what you wish to have at least 3 times, merely in order to ensure that the subconscious gets the message. For example, if you wish to know details of a prior life in which you knew such-and-such another person, you would ask for this information in the form of a dream which is to be given just prior to waking so that it will be clearly remembered. The subconscious will then arrange such a dream. However, since the subconscious rarely uses actual events, it may provide you with a symbolic representation of the main features of the prior relationship, which it is up to you to interpret."
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