Hi !

I am Christiane.

I am a teacher by profession. Dreams are my passion, interpreting them is my pleasure and teaching the art of interpreting them is my vocation.

I spent forty years of my life as a teacher in the Education Nationale. I taught two languages, French and German in France and abroad.

Meanwhile I also learnt to understand and teach the language of dreams.

It first began in 1976, while teaching in Tahiti.

I started to study dreams on my own, guided by  books from the Edgar Cayce Foundation, the A R E, where Scott Sparrow, now an IASD Board Member, was involved in researching and writing about dreams. Thanks to this support I acquired a solid base.

This link with the ARE was precious to me, when later on in Turkey (1978-1982) I continued, still alone, to try to understand my dreams.

Nobody in my surroundings understood my passion for dreams and  they even told me I was crazy. For your information, it is a sad fact that since Napoleon's time until 1992, dream interpretation was forbidden by a law in France.

From 1982 to 1987, in Berlin, Germany, I studied at the Gestalt Therapy School and at the Freudian School of Psychoanalysis.  Then I discovered the “ dream interview method” created by Gayle Delaney. I immediately adopted this efficient tool.

In 1985, I started reading Jung. Then came a dream which showed me a man whom I knew only by name : Etienne Perrot. The dream advised me to work with him. In my search for information about him, I discovered that he was Jung’s spiritual son and translator in France. I worked with him for five years. By analyzing my dreams he transmitted Jung’s spirit to me and lead me to understand the alchemy process.  

In 1987, having come back to France, I pursued my teaching career. At the same time I began to transmit what I had learned and I set up dream study groups.

In 1991, I founded an association called "Dreams to Live By," which in 2004 became the Academy for the Interpretation of Dreams. Since then I have  continuously been teaching dream interpretation in very small groups, where every one can practice. I also held seminars on symbols. I give interpretations in person over the phone or through Skype.

In 1994 a dream ordered me to write a book. And so, in 1996, twenty years after my first steps in the dream world, "Rêves à Vivre" (Dreams to Live By) was published. This book is a practical and spiritual manual for dream interpretation.

Then ten years later I wrote "Amour et Sexe dans vos Rêves" (Love and Sex in your Dreams), in which I write about what dreams say about love and their explanations about the sacred path of sexuality.

In 2007 I started a blog to give the French public the opportunity to recognize the value of dreams, and the means to understand them.

Lately my Canadian student Judith Saint Laurent has agreed to translate the essays of my French blog into English.

Throughout these years I developed additional activities :

the medias contact me from time to time for newspaper articles and radio and television interviews.

I have just started a dream salon in a small hotel in my neighbourhood, where anyone can come to talk and learn about dreams. Also I often give conferences in France and abroad.

Now a member of IASD,(International Association for the Study of Dreams) it brings me great joy to have the opportunity to exchange with researchers who are exploring and promoting the realm of dreams.

I thank the artists and photographers whose work permit me to illustrate our blog.

1968- 1972 : The first high school where I began to teach with pupils almost as old as me.

Tahiti, 1972-1978, where Elsie Sechrist, ARE International Representative who helped me discover  dreams and their interpretation. pressetahiti.com

Sunday in the lagoon : voyage-bons-plans.aufeminin.com

Working during the week in Paul Gauguin high school in Papeete, Tahiti,

The ARE,  the Edgar Cayce Foundation

How to interpret your dreams, practical techniques based on the Edgar Cayce readings, by Mark Thurston, ed. ARE.

In Turkey, in Istanbul 1978-1982.

The great basilica Hagia Sophie, built in 325 after J.-C., now a museum.

The dream sanctuary in Pergame.

In Berlin : 1982-1987.

Living your dreams by Gayle Delaney, ed. Harper and Row. I discovered Delaney’s interview method in the ASD Monthly News vol.1 nb.3., 1984, in an article where Gayle Delaney explained it.

Jung

Etienne Perrot and his wife, who both have dedicated their lifes to  dreams and the path of alchemy, that Jung had rediscovered and explained.

C G Jung and Etienne Perrot's book " Path into the Depths" , ed La Fontaine de Pierre

"Rêves à Vivre", a practical and spiritual manual to dream interpretation by Christiane Riedel, ed. de Mortagne, 1995

"Amour et Sexe dans vos Rêves"  Book by Christiane Riedel, ed. Trajectoire, 2006

Judith Saint-Laurent, my Canadian translator.

Exlpoding Raphaelesque Head, by Salvator Dali

Site : http://www.christiane-riedel.fr

French blog : christiane-riedel.blogspirit.com

As I have told you, from time to time you will find here a short lesson in dream interpretation.

Let us begin today, and first:

Remember :

Most of the time the people in our dreams represent facets of ourselves (We will see later that it is not always the case).

We all, men and women, have two opposite and complementary aspects in our psyche, a masculine and a feminine one.

Thus a man in dreams speaks of masculine aspects of the male dreamer himself or of masculine aspects of the woman herself.

Some general features characterizing a man

Most of people will agree with the following description:

Because of his sexual morphology, the man represents a dynamism of affirmation in the outside, concrete, material world.

 This force manifests itself primarily through creativity.

The man corresponds to the ability to think, to live in the world of thoughts and ideas.

He is at ease with logical thinking, reflections and analysis.

It corresponds to the ability to organize and build projects.

This force manifests itself in action

It represents the capacity to act, to persevere, to defend a project in order to bring it to its realization.

So, generally speaking, the man represents the conscious world.

These general assertions are useful, when the man in the dream is unknown.

However when the man is somebody that the dreamer knows, then it is necessary to also take into consideration the personal features of the man appearing in the dream.

Personal features

 How to understand the image of a particular man in a dream ?

 Following the successive steps of the Interview Technique will help you :

Step 1

 Ask questions

When you have a man in a dream, you always must ask two questions about him :

The first question is: “Who is he ?”

Note down 3 or 4 answers describing him.

The second question is : “How is this man ?” 

Again note 3 or 4 traits describing him.

That way you have gathered the necessary information.

Step 2

Now recapitulate

Reword this information in one or two sentences, using the dreamer’s own words, and then invite the dreamer to think about it.

Note : Give preference to the use of the abstract attributes and explanations :

Example : in Miki’s particular case  I have chosen to say : “someone who has a problem making choices”, rather than an “old buddy”.

Careful ! To recapitulate does not mean to summarize :

Doing the recapitulation, you must use the dreamer’s exact expressions. You must use his words and never add your own.

Step 3

Establish a link between the image of the dream and the dreamer’s life

The appropriate question is :

- At the time, when you had this dream, does this attitude “ problem with making a choice" remind you of a similar situation in your own life, in your external or internal world ?

After a time of reflection the dreamer becomes aware of the link existing between the man in the dream and his own way of being in his everyday life. In this way the dreamer finds the meaning of his image and bridges the unconscious and the conscious

Step 4

Verifications

To verify that the meaning found is exact, you have to ask the dreamer for additional explanations.

For example, Miki must explain in what way she has acted like her buddy. What she ‘s said about him must also correspond to her in detail.Only then can you be sure that the image has been correctly understood.

This verification step is indispensable. Perform it being rigorous and honest.

I wish you much fun. Take time, and enjoy the surprises !

Bibliography:

The interview method used above was developed by the American psychologist Gayle Delaney in her book: All About Dreams (1998).

You can also find explanations on her website: How to conduct a dream interview

On my blog you will find the link and some of her books.

Illustrations

I thank all the artists and photographers whose works permit me to illustrate my blog.

Chris Noth, Big in “ Sex and the City”.

Painting on a hill near Dorchester in England, dated probably before the middle age.

Newton by the English artist William Blake :

Pasteur, a famous scientific French researcher in the 19th century, inventor of pasteurization

George Clooney

Recapitulate : http://thetoltecpath.files. wordpress.com

Summarize : http://www.corporatelandingsms.vbschools.com

The 2000 years old bridge constructed by the Romans in Gard, Southern France, recognized by the UNESCO as World heritage of Humanity Site. http://fr.academic.ru