By Shayla Thiel
Special to The Washington Post
April 1998

Were he alive today, Sigmund Freud, the guy who literally wrote the book on the interpretation of dreams, would be astounded at how simple it is to log in to your dreamtime subconscious on the Web. No more do you have to pay $100 an hour to lie on the nearest couch and recount your most personal REM-induced memories of nakedness in the workplace – you can just click on the word nudity and learn you're feeling a little repressed today.

From an author writing a book on dream interpretation comes Interpret Your Own Dreams. The site provides a number of tips on remembering your dreams, including the "TTAQ" method of writing them down (give it a Title, identify a Theme and Affect on you and the Question your dream wants answered). Those of you with slower connections and an aversion to the Monkees might get annoyed waiting for the cherubic graphics and a sound clip of "Daydream Believer" to download, but it's worth clicking ahead for the author's in-depth analysis of common dream themes (teeth falling out, tornadoes), explanation of lucid dreams – those "Did I dream that or did it actually happen?" situations – and help on manipulating them in your sleep.

Dream Lover provides an intricate dictionary of almost 300 terms (for instance, "xylophone," "decapitation" and "honey") to help you decipher certain symbols in your dreams. Dream Central goes even further, with more than 500 terms, but its slow-to-download graphics can be frustrating. The definitions mix self-analysis and fortune telling, which can be both entertaining and informative in a New Age kind of way.

It's hard to picture a group called the International Institute of Dream Research as anything but villain fodder on The X-Files, but believe it or not, this is an actual group that solicits dream reports via e-mail for ethnographic study of "the unconscious social dynamics of individuals, families, societies and nations." But it's more interesting to imagine its "dreambank" as part a plot for mass brainwashing and world domination.

The Dream Page no longer accepts dreams for random readers to interpret, but it's still a great destination if you're feeling voyeuristic (or just looking for affirmation that your dreams aren't the freakiest out there). Want a little ridicule and sarcasm along with your dream analysis? Submit it to The Dream and The Interpretation. Sassier responses include: "Wow! I bet you dream without punctuation too" and "Now, was the garden hose between his legs or did we just imagine that?" Dr. Freud is surely rolling over in his grave.