Archways, gateways, doors, bridges, roads and tunnels

The journey you are on and why you are on it. 

I was watching an NDA experience on You Tube and I was particularly interested in what this lady said about archways and gateways and how in her near death experience they represented a decision point,  she had to choose if to go through the gateway or return to earth, now in dream translation they symbolise pretty much the same thing. They stand as a representation of the in-between decision point, not necessarily about the choice between living or dying but more often in dreams about the choices that are available to you, sometimes the choices that you make cannot be reversed and once made take you in a direction that means you have no way back, but the type of archway, doorway or even bridge and tunnel can help to explain if or not you can reverse a decision or if you can re-trace your tracks. 

Roads are often used to symbolise the current journey you are on, no doubt the road is representative of previous choices that you have made or even failed to make. When you are presented with crossroads you are being shown a point in your life where you are choosing which way to go, you do not have to go through this process if you dont want to, no one is going to force you to make a choice. (unless otherwise shown in a dream) But you are being reminded that you do have a choice and can choose an alternate route if that is what you want to do. 

Choosing the right road is difficult because quite often you cant see whats on the other side of that choice, and if you are are shown in a dream then it will make choosing  easier, of course you would pick the nicest or easiest route, the grass is always greener on the other-side after all. These types of dream symbols will often be used when you have to make informed choices about if to change route or if to stay on the same road that you are on, people dont really like change unless it is going to provide a more pleasant experience.  

Quite often dreams symbols will try hard to show you outcomes whenever they possibly can, especially if an outcome is obvious, but the outcome of a choice is not always known, your dream message can't show you outcomes when that outcome is reliant upon many different factors and also the reactions of other people to a decision that you have made. What you ultimately want is to find happiness on the other side of a choice that you have made. 

Everyone strives to find happiness, but you won't really understand what happiness is if you haven't known sadness and you wont recognize beauty if you haven't met ugly. Therefore to appreciate happiness you must work hard to get there and the choices that you make are not necessarily wrong ones, you are just experiencing as much as you can so that when you find happiness you recognize it and appreciate what it took for you to find it. 

Making choices shouldn't be feared, in the greater scheme of things it doesn't matter what the outcome is, the information you get from that choice will only add to and enhance what you already knew, yes, sometimes it takes us longer to 'get it' and move forward, sometimes it takes us years to learn something, but progress is not a measure of time it is a measure of the person. Never judge where someone else has progressed to by your own measurement of progress, you are experiencing one thing and they are busy experiencing their own journey, it may not be parallel with where you are but it doesn't mean they are not as experienced as you are. You just cant tell from this earthly vantage point. 

Your own dream symbols will inevitably be aimed at helping you understand yourself and the people around you, they will also help you to consider your life's journey in relation to what you came here to do, or to experience. It doesn't matter how long it takes you or how pretty the journey is, time is infinite and so is experience, being happy is a state of mind and not provided by money, other people, or nice things but you will know it when you get there. 

Dreams that require you to make a choice or to choose the next route are not specifically saying that one one road is better than another, they are reminding you that perhaps you have been down this road before, or that your soul would like to experience something new, you have moved on from one experience and learned all that you could, therefore for you to grow in essence you need to move into a new area of experience. 

Archways that are in succession or are linked represent the many choices that you have made or can make in the future, these often lead to the same place, which helps you to understand how it doesn't matter what your overall choice is, it will lead you to the same place anyway. 

Single archways can represent only having one choice available, going backwards or forwards, this can be used to symbolise progression and moving forward into the next phase or returning or going back because there is further work to be done, or that you haven't learned all you needed from an experience. The archway doesn't have a door and therefor helps you to see when there is nothing standing in your way, you can cross over into a new phase easily and as soon as you have decided to do so. 

Doorways help you to understand if a desired route is open or closed to you, as one door closes another one opens. They can be used to symbolise opportunities and how they are only available occasionally, doors will also be used to symbolize the idea of barriers towards your own progression, having to smash open a door to gain entry is a way to understand  when you are trying to break down the barriers that stand in your way. These barriers can be upheld by other people, they can be created from circumstance or they can be your own self created barriers like your own fear which stops you from moving forward. 

Gateways will be used to represent movement between phases, gates are often seen as a gateway to another realm, or between different levels of understanding, gates are also used to symbolise how easily you can move between the different levels of enlightenment. 

The strength and height of a gate will help you understand the barriers or obstacles that you have to deal with in order to gain access to another level of understanding, but they can also be used to symbolise the protection that you have built up around you which protects from negative intrusion.  

Tunnels are often experienced when moving from one level of existence to another, like when the soul moves from heaven too earth or from earth too heaven, basically you can move from one place to another at times when it wouldn't be possible in any other way. Tunnels take us through an expanse of water, (emotional phases), they take us under/over and through ordeals which we wouldn't get through without the support they bring. They literally represent support to help us get through difficult times. Tunnels take us through important transitions, they provide support and protection when we cant find it on our own. They are symbols of spiritual protection throughout transitions which are being made. (You need a time to acclimatize to your new phase of life before you can accept it.)  

Bridges are also seen as support through transitions, the strength and condition of the bridge is often used to represent your own support system or the way you deal with getting over obstacles or getting through difficult phases etc. Reaching the other side of a bridge is a way for you to notice how you have managed to get through a scary experience, life is a scary experience after all. Being high up from solid ground helps to explain when you feel vulnerable and exposed to everything that life has to throw at you, and the bridge is a symbol of support through these time. The support can come in may guises and your family and friends are also represented this way. A bridge over water symbolise support through emotional transitions.

A rope bridge is often used because it can symbolize how strong or weak the support that we have in place is. Rope symbolises the entwining of different features like people whose lives are entwined or situations that are closely linked. If these structures break down  then the way your own life is structured is in jeopardy, how you move through this phase can be explained by the rope bridge dream. 

You Tube Near Death Experience:

To Heaven & The Edge Of Hell - Lessons brought back from Death.

Decision point gate/ archway

photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/clara-maya/4361733041/">clara-maya</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>