Parker Lippstock

Dream Mirror
Llewellyn’s Complete Dictionary of Dreams / Literature Review

Dreams are a phenomenon that all people have experienced at least once in their lives, and one that
many still experience as frequently as each night. There are many beliefs as to what they actually are, with
some considering them to be recollections of past events and others believing they are simply nothing more
than senseless tangents our minds travel while we sleep. These descriptions can absolutely be used to
describe certain dreams, as there are surely those who have either relived a memory or experienced total
nonsense in their dreams. While this is the case, there are many that would argue that dreams are a much
vaster landscape and have a greater connection to the inner self than others might believe. The events,
beings, places, objects, and all other symbols seen or experienced within a dream can reflect a lot about the
self as well as provide greater insight into one’s thoughts or feelings. Getting into the mindset of thinking
deeply about everything in one’s dream is difficult, as such knowledge requires both a way of reducing each
symbol to its core elements as well as relating it to oneself. This is where reads such as Llewellyn’s Complete
Dictionary of Dreams by Michael Lennox comes in very useful, as while it is not a tool that will exactly
decipher one’s dream symbols, it provides a lot of context for what dream symbols are as well as introduces
the reader into ways of thinking about the different pieces and symbols they may find in their dreams. This
book provides a torrent of terms for describing the baseline of many common dream symbols and gives the
reader a clear way of thinking for when they would analyze their own dreams or attempt to compare the
dictionary terms to any recalled dreams.

The book opens with an informative introduction that describes dream significance, dream symbols,
and the inner implications our minds put forth with or without our knowledge. One of the most important
things to understand about dreams and dream interpretation is the significance of symbols, as Lennox
writes, “to understand [the language of symbols], you must go to the heart of the image itself. The universal
meaning of any symbol is held within its use, its essence, its purpose, or its inherent qualities” (Lennox,
2015). In essence, he is saying that each symbol must be examined by its roots rather than what we may
perceive it to be on the surface level. An example of this would be to look at something as simple as a door;
on the surface, it’s something we typically enter and exit through every day that we often don’t think about
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or address just because of its natural place in human culture. Looking deeper however, a door could be seen
as a means of division or sectioning, an element of privacy or protection, or even something more broad like
an opportunity or potential that’s just waiting to be “walked through,” so to speak. Another very important
point that prefaces the dictionary is the distinction of each symbol being a reflection of the self in some
manner or another. According to Lennox, “every element of the dream as a reflection of your own
consciousness … every setting and activity that appears in a dream is a part of you, the dreamer … a dream
is a symbolic glimpse into your inner world” (Lennox, 2015). This enforces the idea that dreams and their
elements are extensions of the self. Although some may call this common knowledge given that what we
think and feel are truthfully echoes of ourselves, it is important to note that this applies to everything within
a dream, even people we may recognize or have a history with. We have our own unique perception of
everything regardless of how our experiences derived our mental image and understanding of them. Using
the example of people we know, they would most likely manifest with traits that reflect how we might know
them versus how they actually are in reality. Overall, the introduction of this book acts as a very strong
premise for introducing dream interpretation simply through its simple yet sophisticated breakdown of all of
the core principles, as well as its focus on the individual’s perception rather than assuming all of its
definitions and explanations are set in stone.

Despite the fact that it is treated as a dictionary, Llewellyn’s Complete Dictionary of Dreams is more
like a field guide in that it doesn’t treat each description as definitions. Instead of attempting to lock a solid
definition or explanation onto a word, it describes the term as an experience and leaves a lot of room for the
reader to contrast themselves with the information. For example, Lennox describes the significant presence
of a car within a dream as, “illuminating something about the journey of your life as it relates to how you are
navigating your life, your choices, and your sense of creating your own destiny” (Lennox, 2015). This relates
to the prominence of the car as a transportation method in the modern day, and Lennox is trying to make
the reader think about it in its most basic form: a means of transportation. By then applying this idea to
ourselves and our core goals of life, it’s possible to look at a car in a dream as a symbol for our journey
through life. As mentioned previously though, dreams are a reflection of the self, and thus, this explanation
of a prominent presence of a car in a dream should only be a reference or manner of thinking rather than a
definitive subtext.
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While Llewellyn’s Complete Dictionary of Dreams is certainly no end-all-be-all for learning dream
interpretation, it is a good introduction to understanding how to think when it comes to interpreting dreams.
In relation to Dream Mirror, this dictionary acted as a means of consideration for how to explain what Dream
Mirror is and how users should refer to the content. Arguably the largest challenge Dream Mirror poses is
that of credibility, as while the intention of the project is nothing near being a clinical analysis by any means,
it would be easy for some to construe it to be such because of how some may perceive what it’s trying to
say. What knowledge was acquired from Llewellyn’s Complete Dictionary of Dreams was very helpful in the
task of providing a more intentional experience and more accurately communicating what the project is
meant to do. As mentioned previously, dreams are reflections of the self, and thus, the individual should be
reaching their own conclusions about them. This book was a great help in keeping this mindset steady and
clearly communicated throughout development.
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Work Cited

Lennox, M. (2015). Llewellyn's Complete Dictionary of Dreams: Over 1,000 Dream Symbols and Their Universal
Meanings. Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.