David Rivinus Dream Analyst Will Begin a New Class in Portland, Oregon

David Rivinus, a dream analyst with over 30 years of experience and the author of the book “Always Dreaming,” will be teaching and facilitating a 10-week course on dream interpretation. The classes will meet on Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. beginning on February 25. The classes will be held in the Milwaukie/Oak Grove area in Southeast Portland, Oregon, and there is no charge. For more information, contact Rivinus via email at david@teacherofdreams.com.

According to Rivinus, the class is nearly full, but there are two spaces left. Anyone with an interest in dreams is welcome to get in touch with him about joining.

A typical course curriculum begins with some introductory information about the purpose of dreaming and how dreams communicate. Participants will then learn how to interpret the language that dreams use. “Dreams speak in the universal language of metaphor,” says Rivinus. According to him, it doesn’t matter what culture we live in, what language we speak, or where we live. Dreams use the same method of communication throughout the human race.

Says Rivinus, “Dreams are ever-present and phenomenally versatile. All you have to do is study cultures throughout the world to see how prominently dreams figure in all of them.” He adds that dreams can be approached and understood in multiple ways. But for this class he will begin by teaching about the concept of metaphor and how metaphors can be understood as dream symbols.

“Dreams should rarely be taken literally,” he says. As an example he talks about a car. “If someone has a dream in which their car is in the mechanic’s shop, the first reaction of the dreamer is to wonder if the car is about to have mechanical problems.” But such a dream probably has nothing to do with a literal automobile. According to Rivinus, the chances are that the car in the dream represents a vehicle of another kind. “If we think metaphorically, we understand that we have many vehicles in our lives: a vehicle for personal fulfillment, a vehicle for social interaction, a vehicle for political expression.” The dream is much more likely to be referring to something like that. Other clues offered in the dream usually clarify what a metaphor like this is referring to.

For more information or to join the class, go to www.teacherofdreams.com.