When the meaning of a dream is indefinite, many interpretations can be put on it and all of them be capable of coming true. If you are told that a dream means illness, you may take it so to heart that you will actually fall ill, or if you are philosophical, you will shape your diet or your deeds so that good health may result from the warning. If a man dreams that he will have financial disaster, he may become so unfitted thru fear that he will neglect his business and thus invite the ruin which he imagines the dream foretold. Or he may, if he is wise, take the opposite course and so shape his business methods that success will follow instead of ruin. In the following tables we give the interpretations of common dreams as they are and have been given from time immemorial in most of the best known sources, with quite a number of original meanings as experience has shown them to us. Remember that the interpretation of dreams may vary with the peculiar conditions and circumstances surrounding the dreamer, and what would be true in the case of a sickly person might have the opposite meaning in the case of a robust man. “Man is master of his fate,” says a poet. The troubles that cause one person to take a pessimistic attitude and contemplate suicide serve to spur another on to new endeavors and new successes. This book is not intended to foster superstition, but to offer a means of solving many of the mysterious occurrences in our lives and help you rise above your surroundings to a higher plane of usefulness. A Dictionary of Dreams As a rule dreams are very complex and it is difficult to single out any particular feature that stands forth and dominates the dream. But it frequently happens that one idea is so vivid that it is remembered to the exclusion of all the rest. When you have a dream of this kind refer at once to the following list, look up the dominant thought of your dream and the interpretation will be given. These meanings are not random guesses, but are compiled from a number of very old books which have come down to us from such seers, astrologers and psychologists as Cagliostro, Lenormand, Albertus Magnus and others. Of course the meaning of the dream may be considerably modified by what subconscious thoughts accompany the dream. Thus while pearls may represent tears, yet if they are accompanied by the idea of love the indication is favorable, and means a gift of affection. _Abandoned_—Dreaming that you are deserted by your friends denotes their affection and love, but to dream that you have abandoned someone you love is a sign of disappointment. _Abbey_—The ruins of an abbey mean good fortune; if seen by moonlight, wealth. _Abroad_—Dreaming that you are in a strange land signifies success in your undertakings. _Absence_—To be absent from home means a joyful reunion. To see people who are absent foretells speedy return.