By making manifest the soul stories of your dreams, you can create a unique relationship with your deeper self that guides you closer to your purpose and mission in life. Using astrological correspondences to decode your dream messages can help you gain a clearer picture of what you might need to learn from the wellspring of the collective unconscious.

In the realm of the dreamtime, almost anything can happen. Strange worlds emerge that you might never be able to imagine in your waking life. Your dreams are a surreal landscape that has the potential to offer insight and inspired guidance, if you only make the time to listen. Almost everyone has had dreams of flying, being chased or showing up naked for an important meeting. These common dreams provide insight into the rites of passages we all share, such as birth, sex and death.

Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, referred to the terrain of shared dreams and symbols as the “collective unconscious”. He believed everyone tapped into this realm at one point or another during their dreaming time. The collective unconscious is the shared soul of humanity, uniting everyone in a sort of great cosmic soup. In this invisible but potent space, a common language — which goes beyond external differences that sometimes create separation in the waking world — is spoken.

In astrology, the world of dreams is associated with the 12th house, which is the home of mystery, spirit and the release of the ego. In the 12th house there are no divisions or separations between things. Instead, boundaries and external differences dissolve and everything comes together to form a united whole. As the house ruled by the sign of Pisces, there is a watery veil that flows through this realm, distinguishing it from the external world. The language spoken here is the language of symbols and spirit. Non-linear and diffuse, the 12th house communicates best through images and impressions rather than words. Navigating the 12th house is easiest when you are able to let go of attempts to control and open up to the wisdom spirit has to offer, regardless of the form in which it arrives.

Mining the 12th house terrain for its treasures is most successful when accomplished through the realm of symbols. As you navigate the surreal landscape of this Piscean house, the symbolic language of astrology can serve as a particularly potent tool for gathering insight and understanding into the realm of dreams. Astrology helps you decode and access information and guidance from your dreams that you might otherwise miss.

By knowing which dream symbols are associated with which astrological archetypes, it’s possible to understand your dreams in a way that directly taps into the vocabulary of the 12th house. As you become savvier at identifying how signs and planets show up in your dreams, you can reach beyond the veil of the 12th house and “hear” stories that are being communicated to you through this mystical realm.

Read the dream symbols and associated astrological archetypes below to see if you recognise any of them from your dreams, then explore how these stories are playing out in the different areas of your waking life. Note that some signs are ruled by the same planet. For example, Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo. Read both signs for greater insight into these symbols.