Warning Dreams

As stated on the Dream Dictionary page, I’m a firm believer that dreams do not predict the future in any magical divination sense but can, via the subconscious extrapolation of data from current and past events, sometimes make very accurate estimates about something that could happen to you in the future. Dreams of disasters for instance are more likely to be connected to your own anxiety over a particular circumstance rather than a prediction of the future. Yet, if you dream that a bookshelf in your house falls on your head and injures you badly, it should be obvious that you need to give that shelf a once over just in case; more often than not your subconscious will notice things that you see every day without giving them any thought. The same happens in waking life too; for instance, you may be driving your car one day and suddenly think for no apparent reason, Hmm, I haven’t topped up the oil in a while, and find when you check that the oil is very low. Your subconscious keeps a check on all kinds of things you might not think you are aware of. President Abraham Lincoln had a dream that he entered a room in the White House and saw a coffin, draped in black for a lying in state. ‘Who is dead?’ he asked the guard on duty. ‘The president.’ The man replied. Lincoln is reputed to have discussed this dream with many people before he was killed; given the circumstances at the time it is hardly surprising that he had such a dream, with all the political intrigue and goings on his subconscious (if not his waking self too) would be very likely to have these kinds of worries. It says a lot for the kind of man he was, being an Aquarius he would have had a great imagination and often have vivid dreams; he discussed the warning dream with his friends and peers, acknowledged the warning but carried on doing what he believed in knowing he risked being assassinated.

Like the example with the shelf, warning dreams can often be acted upon if the dream is practical in nature. The Duke of Portland, who helped to organise the coronation of King Edward VII of England, had a dream that the coronation coach got stuck while passing through an arch on the way to Westminster Abbey. Heading the dream, steps were taken and the arch was measured resulting in the find that the arch was a clear two feet lower than it needed to be to let the coach pass through it. The coach took a slightly different route on the day and the King’s crowning went smoothly without the coach losing its roof.

If we dream about a particular part of our body, it could be that that area needs looking at for the sake of our health. Sometimes in our sleep we can be given physiological and psychological information that is not apparent to our doctor. Migraines may start in childhood and dreams (of the sufferer) can warn parents of impending attacks. Aggression is often experienced in pre-migraine dreams, but even more common are dreams of complete terror. To detect the presence of an impending migraine attack dream, it is important that you sit down and talk with your child about their dreams on a regular basis.

Disturbing dreams can also play a part in nighttime asthma attacks in children. If your child has had a stressful day, this is likely to be reflected in her or his dreams. The dreams may then bring on an asthma attack.

Sometimes, even for those who remember dreams all the time, dreams are forgotten, why is this? Forgetting dreams is an important part of emotional development. One of the functions of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is to erase memories that have become redundant or parasitic, because they have no place in our present view of the world. These memories are wiped from are memories because they are no longer any use to us, in the same we delete files from our computers. Other dreams that are needed are remembered; however, we do not always appreciate the importance of these dreams. We fail to receive the messages that they are trying to convey to us. In this case they are often repeated as recurring dreams until we take notice of them, and the object of their repeated occurrence is to tell us something important about ourselves.

Recurring dreams often reflect problems in our waking lives that we have not yet properly addressed. When we begin reading the signs correctly we can tell which stage we have reached in resolving the problem, or if we have made any progress at all. It is important to write down your recurring dreams in a diary. Record each detail every time you have the dream, taking note of any details that change from dream to dream; if these changing details are carefully observed they will help you understand a little more about the dream each time it reappears.

Recurring dreams can often be disturbing; the only real way to deal with them is by facing the dream head-on. So if the dream seems to be telling you something about yourself that you don’t want to hear, it’s time you should start listening. Sometimes recurring dreams are often remembered because they make us wake up, especially if the dream is a nightmare where there is sometimes no particular imagery but an overwhelming feeling of suffocation and immobility. These dreams can indicate feelings of deep anxiety or sexual repression, dealing with these dreams is important if they are occurring frequently.

Make a note of the experience in your dream diary and embellish your description with extra thoughts and drawings of what you think the terrifying presence might look like if it ever appeared. By facing your fears in this way you are taking positive steps towards understanding them.

Another Viewpoint:

Dreaming the Future by Clifford A. Pickover