About
Richard Hastings has been doing dream work since 1989 including authoring the book, Dreams for Peace. He has traveled to the U.S., Canada, South America, and South East Asia doing dream meetings and personal change work. His approach is solution oriented so that the participant is left not only with an analysis of the meaning of the dream, but also a solution. He has listened to several thousand dreams since he began.
He is currently living in Vancouver, Canada. Richard welcomes inquiries about dreams without charge by writing to him at dreamsforpeace@gmail.com. He also has a counseling service online that you can see on the counseling page.
A typical counseling case for Richard is a person who is going through great difficulties with their current relationships, suffering economic hardships, and has gone through significant trauma. The profound process levels of change that people go through with Richard’s methods improve all areas of their lives. Not only do they have changes in relationships and finances, but they also end up doing more of what they always wanted to do professionally that also greatly benefits others. The most difficult work for human beings begins on relational level because we are a social species.
Try a session and see for yourself what new energy opens up right away for you.
“So far as ye are able, ignite a candle of love in every meeting, and with tenderness rejoice and cheer ye every heart.” Abdu’l Baha
Richard Hastings is an expert in change work and dream work and author of Dreams for Peace. He is a 
Dreams For Peace 
Hi Richard,
I just had this dream of being at a local supermarket. As I was walking along (didn’t seems like I was intentionally looking for something), a sign with a discount/or offer caught my attention. I think it was for cans of tunas or something like. As I looked into the basket and started to get a glimpse of it, the power went off. I remember thinking to myself that the power outage was linked to the sparks in the previous dream …
(Not sure why because I had woken up in between both dreams. The first dream was in the home a grew up and the second dream felt more current. In the 1st dream, I saw some electric sparks beside the tv, where I rushed to turn off the mains to avoid a fire and woke up from this dream). *coming back to the current dream….
Seconds later the whole supermarket was shaking. I was convinced that it was an earthquake and I started praying. I remember thinking that there are no tall shelf’s around me so I should be fine, but I was in fear, when I suddenly woke up.
Dear Peter,
A supermarket is a place you go to buy food so that your body can be nurtured. It is a metaphor for trying to get the internal resources that nurture your growth, The problem that you have with it is that when you try to make the necessary steps towards nurturing growth, everything goes dark and the earth shakes. You are also fearful of everything burning down. This is like a catastrophic dream. It means that when you wanted to grow sometime in your past, it is like your world went dark and things fell apart. Now that you have the dream, it means that it is safe for you to develop yourself in the ways you want to grow. The first step is changing the fear state from a completely dark and shaking experience to one that is really stable and full of light and brightness. What would it be like for you if you had a really positive future?
Hello! Do you provide clinical supervision for Counsellors? If so can you kindly let me know how much you charge? Baha’i greetings from the land down under, Camelia
Hi Camelia,
I do not do clinical supervision for counselors for Universities or Colleges, but feel free to email me anytime about questions in your counseling practice. I can also do a session or two with you if you would like on how to work with clients. I hope you have really successful practicums.
Hi Richard,
I recently had a dream that disturbed me greatly. I dreamt a panther was waiting for me outside an office building. I came face to face with the panther and yelled at him and he ran away. I ran back inside the building and realized I was holding my daughter in my arms and my husband was there. He saw an enormous black widow hanging from a thin brass chain instead of a web and killed its. From there I woke up. We are starting a business and I a new faith and I’m wondering if this is some kind of warning.
Dear Linda,
When you have animals in your dreams, you can think of them in two ways, positive and negative. The negative side of the panther represents someone or a group that is threatening to you in some way. You can feel in the details. While you are effective in getting the threat to go away, what you really need in order to be successful in your business is the panther’s positive qualities which is courage. It takes courage to start new things because there are some many unknowns that you have to face. Your husband sees a black widow which he kills. A black widow, when it is negative represents a someone or a group that is weaving a negative web in order to trap people with gossip, fault-finding etc.. The positive side of spiders is that the build webs which mean that they build positive relationships with others. The key to being success is courage and building positive connections with others. When you have those two qualities, you will be guaranteed success.
Thank you Richard-
Your words remind me of how I have moved through fear before but forgot to create the positive results I want.
Good to see your post again.
From Austin
Cynthie
hi richard, hoping you can help me out on this.
i had dreamt that my husband was trying to install batteries into a device but was having issues and i quickly noticed that there’s something not right about the device and shouted that he needs to throw this out of the house immediately. once he threw it, the device turned into fuel and fire. near the fire was an individual lying face down on top of an effigy and seemed injured but shortly after, the person (i couldn’t tell gender) stood up and walked towards me and said “i’ll just go get the details so that i can file an insurance claim”.
i then went into a 2nd dream and this time round i was at a swimming pool where i was initially doing backstrokes followed by freestyle. there was someone with me who was constantly taking photos/videos of me and there was a crowd. i woke up shortly after.
Dear Zoey,
Basically what the dream says is that your husband doesn’t know what he is doing in your home. It causes anger and injury. You however, in the second dream, are a good swimmer, which means that you know what you are doing in a relationship. You need to be the lead in the relationship, not him.
thanks Richard. i’ve had several dreams after this and am not sure if they are all connected:
(a) husband’s entire family was singing as a choir whilst i was filming them. my father in law then proceeded to get everyone to look at me whilst i filmed them. the kids were laughing and running towards me and the camera;
(b) in the next dream, i dreamt that i was talking to my husband’s aunt, who was trying to dissuade me from divorcing my husband and i kept trying to explain to her that that’s not my intention. it was my husband’s idea. then i asked if his grandmother knew and i began walking towards the grandmother. however, the grandmother was presented in a child form in the dream and she replied i know.
(c) the next dream, i was in my own house and my aunts/mum were helping out in the house when my husband appears only to dash to the bathroom. when he first appeared, he was in the imagery of his current self – bald with a goatee. however, when he came out of the bathroom and walked towards me, he was with hair and had no facial hair (clean shaven). he then started asking me why i stopped updating him about our child.
if you could share your insights on these dreams, it will be much appreciated. thank you so much.
Good night, I dreamt that I was visited by a very tall female ghost at my home, she was so tall her head was touching the roof and I barely saw her face. Anyway, she told me that ‘Something is wrong with my daughter’. I woke up terrified because I don’t have any children in real life. This dream really gives me the creeps. I would really appreciate your help to understand this dream. Thank you, in advance.
Dear Alecia,
A ghost in a dream signifies and imagined thought in your mind that isn’t real, but you totally believe it is real. This is the nature of anxiety in real life. In this case the imagined thought is about a daughter that you don’t have. The daughter in this case means that you are imagining that there is something wrong with the thing you are nurturing and developing in your life. It is totally not true, but because you imagine it to be true you cannot act with confidence in what you are developing. Confidence is the ability to remember what you already know how to do it and keep doing it with a lot of firmness and positive energy.
Hi Richard , I’ve just woken up from a dream where I was invisible,, I was in a place which was heavily guarded because it was said to be infested with landmines,, the security personnel couldn’t see me,, then there came family,, with kids,, into that same place,, the youngest kid came to where l was,, and said “I FEEL LIKE I’M WITH SOMEONE HERE” ,I made him a sign by shaking a branch and he just smiled and walked back to his family,,l called out his name and he looked back but still not seeing me,,l said good bye to him but he got on his quad bike and started following me,,l told him we can’t go together coz he was visible and I wasn’t,, he was sad and went back but he had attracted the attention of a lady who appeared like a secretary,, she also wanted to follow but we had come to a boundary sort of,, she crossed and l told her to go back,, she refused but I carried her back,, “IN LIGHTNING SPEED”, that speed we see in movies,, then l came to a homestead,, an African homestead,, l am African too,, l felt like the people the could sense my presence,, but still couldn’t see me,, and yes they didn’t see me,, but sensed I was there,, the woman came and she addressed me in a way which made me think l was a god of some sort ,, she knelt and l touched her head ,, it felt awkward,, can you help what it means,, l searched the meaning of invisible dreams and it said it means you feel neglected,, but that does not apply to me,, infact l feel the opposite,,
Dear Vee,
Being invisible means that you have a special power that others, especially those who are acting out of their egos, cannot see or sense. I understand this power a lot because I have had a bunch of invisible dreams. It allows you to change a really negative situation into a positive one without being noticed or seen by people who want lots of attention and recognition and act selfishly to get it. You can do things without people noticing exactly because you don’t have recognition issues. You don’t need to be acknowledged. This is important because you can go into places and deal with the most difficult things where people seeking attention won’t ever go. When people work with me in therapy, I try to go invisible which is that I see them, but I am completely invisible. When I am in this mode, then they can be free to change without me getting in the way of their work. I just facilitate the change. When you deal with situations where there are landmines, like a leader who is power and recognition-oriented, being invisible means being able to act in a way where you are not the center of attention. Being the center of attention causes them to go against you. The children can sense you because they feel your positive energy as can the lady. It is god-like because of the things you are able to do by being invisible. To practice it just imagine that, when you go into any normal situation, you can do positive things, but not make it about you, only them. You have to be totally self-effacing. It is not easy because recognition seeking is so easy to slip into. It is as if you are not there, only the needs of the other people. The reward is their change.
Hi Richard,
I had a dream of my aunt today (we live together) and it was along dream. I can only remember i went to a house looking for her and it was a beautiful big house with stairs to walk up and when the lady opened the front door ( sweet fair indonesian dry cleaner lady in reality whom i knew years ago), i could see the high ceiling with chandelier and it was a nice big and spacious bungalow like any other. She told me that my aunt had come looking for them (a family must have lived there) to get stitches removed.
I looked for my aunt in the house, i reckon i was in a room after that where she was sleeping. Funny a someone i don’t know suddenly came and started pulling out stitches from her foot, i was worried as to pull out stitches can be painful so i was trying to push the person backwards but her whole body was lying on my aunt and me and i was wrestling and using my might to have her off. She was practically lying her weight on us. She had short hair and with shorts and i don’t know who that was. She also managed to pull out much of the stitches where i was worried she’d hurt my aunt and her hands were against my hands wrestling away. I tried to call out for help but my voice was pretty suppressed and soft and someone eventually came and i woke up.
My aunt does have bad knees in reality but no stitches.
Hi Jane,
What this dream tells you is that your aunt is going about her healing in the wrong place. She goes to the wrong self, where she is treated forcefully and poorly. This is actually a symbol of how she treats herself internally. It is like she has a mean person inside pulling out her stitches. For her to heal internally she needs to treat herself more gently and kindly. You can help with that. The virtue she needs is flexibility. When you have bad knees it means you are too rigid in the way you do things. Flexibility allows you to see other alternatives and find the right solutions. This is not an easy situation for you to deal with but if you use a gentle and kind approach with her, then you can help her.
I feel that maybe the tree has a separate meaning and the persons are also separate like a second of the dream. The tree is trying to say something and the persons another thing. Any threats please warn me. But it was a magnificientttttt vivid tree bark. For something like that to fall and yet just not damage anything too badly or kill anyone i guess is what makes it just a dream.. But it was scary sounding and fell. Cant remember what it sounded like. I don’t feel the fear or even remember what it sounded like– only what message it wants to help me with.
This is a response to Jane’s dream,
Hi Jane, I think you mean tree branch, not bark. Anyway I going to treat it like it were a branch and then if it is bark, let me know. Tree are symbols of growth so a big tree is a symbol of big growth. When a big branch falls it means that someone has fallen in their life as if they were cut off from their own growth. The house is a symbol of your self. In that house are people you would normally avoid which are probably fallen people. What this means then, is that now you are are strong in being able to withstand the negativity of fallen people around you without being hurt. It seems as though you were not able to do that in the past. It is a very good sign.
Hi Richard, it was a tree so sorry. What does it mean if a huge tree falls.
**A single tree trunk, without any branches, and very pronounced bark. I believe bark is the skin of the tree. The entire tree trunk collapsed. It looked a very old oak and ancient sort of tree. A very broad and humongous tree trunk which top i don’t know what is like. its just very big like a giant tree trunk
Hi Jane, What this means is that the person whose house the tree collapsed on has collapsed growth. You are running to see what you can do. What you can do is to encourage them in their growth process, to replant a tree in themselves and to keep growing because it is a key to life.
But in the dream i’ve no idea how that came to be and its scary, The bark was a big symbol in the dream and i believe would be my first tree dream.
2 days ago i had an overwhelming dream of a humongous tree bark in a peaceful residential area at night. I was talking to someone and i think i only realized the tree bark after it had fallen onto a house opposite it. It was inside the compound of the opposite house before falling. It was a huge bark so it must have been a very high tree. I ran towards the house which seemed to belong to my late fathers ex wife’s family, as she came to the front entrance where i told her something in the shock, i think something to do with world end, and she said yes yes the devil is angry or something like that and she could here everything breaking in the kitchen.
Well it was a gigantic tree bark i cannot describe, like u huge healthy ancient forest bark, but it didn’t penetrate the house which in my dream i must have been living in with those people whom also are known to be malicious family members and not my fathers nor my cup of tea. In real life to see i literally flee away from them i mean to avoid negatives.
Richard thank you so so much for my interpretation!! It was very powerful to hear that. I think it’s wonderful that you offer this to everyone. Much love
Hi Brittany, I’m creating a page for Richard’s Book Dreams For Peace on my website and I like the comment you left for him here. I’d like to use it on his page on my website. Would you mind checking it out at https://ourctf.ca/author-richard-hastings/. I can keep your identity anonymous.
Thanks for the great feedback. Feel free to send dreams.
I had dream’t a weird dream this afternoon, it bothers me as it shows snakes and this is not the first unusual snake dream. In my last dream the snake was walking with me like a pet though it was part wild animal on a cliff spiral downwards to a cave where i left it with other snakes. Before it took off it swayed to my toe and there was a glow from its mouth. It was not a bright surrounding in the dream and i had a fright towards the end of it so i am guessing it is a nightmare.
The dream i had today also shows snakes but mostly it involved the Indian lord shiva. I am a non-hindu and know very basic of the gods in hinduism. In my dream my mum and sister were seated with me on a table at an Indian night stall. My mum than told me that the guest we had on the same table seated opposite me was a worshiper of the Lord Shiva where she had given me a longer version of the name. He spoke like a woman in his mannerisms and i couldn’t make up what he was. He also looked like a priest in white clothing and long hair-rest i cant recollect. He had a meal which looked like something i would like to eat on his table. When my food arrived it was served very dramatically by an indian woman who left plates after plates of vegetarian food. It was really bizarre to eventually see snakes at the end of the dream before receiving a lottery ticket which numbers matched after i scratched it. An indian man had attempted to pass me a bag which contained a moderate sized snake which i moved away from in fright and suddenly there was a python which fell of one of the seats at the shop to charge at me,and that made me fly a little to flee off. It was bizarre to see my mum composed and even stroking the big snake which head turned to look like a cat at some parts. I woke up in distress.
After checking online, ive discovered that lord shiva is both woman and man and vegetarian as he is something sacred and who also controls snakes. I remember trying to reach for a bit of what was left on his side of the table, that looked more appetizing, where i only found crumbs and i did put those little crumbs into my mouth as i did not want to have vegetables. I assume he would have eaten eat but lord shiva doesnt indulge in meat. So i am unclear of what this weird dream means when i am not a hindu and know nothing much bout this lord shiva till i went online today after my dream. The dream was also gloomy like my last dream of snakes but not was dark.
Please help me. Thanks.
Thank you for your comments. I think what you call self-criticism is what I would call inner reflection. I am sure we both mean the same thing, but self criticism, as I describe it, is the process of pointing out the negative inside with an inner ego voice that is trying to create dominance by putting yourself down. It is what a lot of people do in the midst of difficult and tension-filled situations when they lose their resourcefulness. When you do have a positive inner voice in stressful times that is reminding you of your positive abilities, then what you are able to achieve is maximized. I think that the research in this area bares me out. This is because inner encouragement is an extremely powerful force. When you are in down time, then you can do the process of reflection, which has a lot to do with looking at the ego and changing it. A life of reflection allows you to transform the negative aspects of your character into positives, but a dominating inner voice of self criticism is destructive.
sorry friend…….but the road to inner balance is the ability to ‘strain’ the positives and negatives through a perspective in time and place. Without self-criticism there is little measure from the directions the conscious mind chooses to perpetuate self………and the birthplace of fanaticism can easily be the result. Part of the Bahaii creed is the adoption of treatise from every form of belief which exists both past and present…….and no matter how well intentioned yours may be it sounds like a lot of new age hype to me. The Christian adage this reminds me of is the one where God (Yahweh) says, “I am both good and evil”………….which in my view requires a lot of consideration and also in my view has little to do with what sounds like New Age neurolinguistic self-psychology in this delivery.
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Abha kabbar. Mrs. Hastings, just shared with me your website and I love it. Ironically, I’ve been thinking a lot recently about change and its impact on the quality of education chidlren receive. Furthermore, ive been thinking about going back to school to study this further and here I see you seem to be doing a lot of work on it. This is indeed exciting to run across and I look forward to reading more of what is on your blog about it. I miss you Mr. Hastings, I don’t know if I can you Richard, 🙂 andalib