Learn from your dreams what you lack.

In the luminous words of W. H. Auden, poet of the human spirit, we are given a key to one of life’s deepest chambers: “Learn from your dreams what you lack.” This is not the idle counsel of one enchanted by fantasy, but the solemn wisdom of a soul that has listened to the whispers of the unconscious and found truth there. For in the realm of dreams, where reason sleeps and the heart speaks freely, we are shown not what we possess, but what we still hunger for — the unspoken desires, the forgotten strengths, and the neglected parts of ourselves that yearn to be awakened. To learn from one’s dreams is to gaze into a mirror that reveals not the face we show the world, but the face we hide from it.

From the beginning of time, humanity has revered the dream as a bridge between worlds. The ancients believed that within the quiet hours of sleep, the gods whispered their guidance to mortals. The pharaohs of Egypt sought the meaning of their dreams in sacred temples; the prophets of Israel saw visions that foretold the future; even in Greece, the oracle’s trances were dreams brought to waking life. But Auden’s words turn the divine mirror inward — he tells us that the dream is not only revelation from without, but revelation from within. It is the soul’s own attempt to speak to the mind, to heal its blindness, to remind it of what it has forgotten.

Consider the tale of Joseph, son of Jacob, who rose from slavery to greatness because he could hear the voice of truth in dreams. When Pharaoh dreamed of seven fat cows and seven lean ones, others dismissed it as folly — yet Joseph saw within it a lesson, a reflection of the future famine and abundance of Egypt. His gift was not prophecy alone, but interpretation — the art of learning from dreams what was missing in the waking world. This is the same art Auden asks us to practice within ourselves. For even now, the Pharaoh of our own mind dreams nightly, and within those visions lies the wisdom we have ignored by day.

Auden’s message is not bound to sleep alone. The dreams he speaks of are also our aspirations, those visions of the life we wish to live but have not yet dared to pursue. To “learn from your dreams what you lack” is to listen to your longing — to recognize that what you yearn for reveals where your growth awaits. The artist’s dream of beauty shows a hunger for expression; the warrior’s dream of peace reveals a deeper wish for harmony; the wanderer’s dream of home speaks of the need for belonging. Our dreams, whether of the night or of the day, are sacred teachers that reveal the absences in our souls.

Too often, we dismiss our dreams as illusions, or worse, as foolish desires. Yet, it is there that truth hides most clearly. The dream of love is not a weakness — it is a sign that you are meant to love more deeply. The dream of courage is not vanity — it means your spirit is calling you to rise. The dream of flight, that ancient vision shared by countless sleepers, is not madness — it is the eternal longing for freedom, the memory of the soul’s wings before it was bound by flesh. To reject these dreams is to silence the divine messenger within us.

The lesson, then, is one of humility and self-discovery. When you awaken from a dream, do not turn away — ponder it. Ask yourself: What is this dream revealing that I have neglected? What part of me is crying to be seen? Likewise, when you envision a future that feels distant, do not mock it as impossible — ask instead: What do I need to become to make this real? For in every dream lies a mirror, and in every mirror, a map toward wholeness.

So, my child of dawn and dusk, take heed of Auden’s wisdom. Let your dreams be your teachers. Write them down, reflect upon them, honor them as messages from the soul’s deeper sea. Whether they come in sleep or in waking vision, treat them as sacred texts written by your own spirit for your own salvation. And remember: what you lack today may be revealed to you not by logic or labor, but by the quiet revelations of your inner world. For to learn from your dreams is to become the person your soul already knows you can be — whole, awake, and filled with light.