Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Dreams - Communicating With Loved Ones And Premonitions

Last night's surprise ending of the first episode of the second season of Lifetime Television's series Army Wives was unfair and sad to most viewers. I'm always fascinated with dreams in television and movies and inspired to interpret or analyze.

The first season ended with a cliffhanger when Marilyn's abusive husband came into the bar on post with the intention of killing her for having an affair. He succeeded and also injured or killed a number of innocent bystanders.

There are five women involved in the story and the show followed its usual pattern of mini-stories. One of the characters, Claudia Joy and her daughter Amanda were seriously injured. Their story depicted them as cut and bruised but going on with their lives with Claudia seeing Amanda off to a prestigious college. They talk about their relationship, arguments they've had and mistakes they've made. The final act shows Amanda admitting to her mother that she is afraid to be on her own and then suddenly telling her that she knows she's going to be all right. The cuts on Amanda's face have completely healed and it's not until that point that we know something's up. At that moment, there is a flashback to the hospital, where Amanda is has returned to her injured state and the team is fighting to save her life. There is that awful sound of the falt monitor, and Claudia wakes up in her hospital beds. She looks at her husband and says that she knows that Amanda's gone.

Whether you call it a premonition or just mother's intuition, this type of incident is widely reported. Mothers know when something is wrong with their children whether they are asleep or awake. The strong mother-daughter connection and love that Claudia and Amanda had for each other enabled them to have closure although both were unconscious and in separate hospital rooms.

Many people report dreaming of friends or relatives that they haven't recently been in touch with to find out soon after that there is good or bad news. My mother rarely shows up in my dreams. A few years ago, I dreamed that she came to my house with my sister waiting in the car, simply knocked and left. I found out a few days later that my sister had just filed for divorce and things were turning ugly. I dreamed of an aunt I hadn't seen in years. The following day there was news that she had died in a car crash.

Carl G. Jung coined the term "collective unconscious" and defined it as the collective memories of all of our ancestors. The collective unconscious is drawn upon for the traditional meanings of the dream symbols. If the collective unconscious holds all of these memories and history, could it not also help to connect individuals through their dreams on a broader level? It might follow that individuals with shared memories and experiences could communicate through dreams, especially in times of crisis. There have also been reports of people "sharing" the same dream at the same time and some who claim to be able to do this intentionally.

The main problem with predictive dreams is that they can not be proven as a prediction until the actual event occurs in waking life. The event might occur within 24 hours or it might happen more than six months after the dream. These dreams often come to the dreamer unexpectedly and with no apparent provocation. It makes no sense to obsessively worry that these dreams are going to come true and cause unnecessary stress. None of the dreams I mentioned above depicted anyone being killed or going through a divorce. In fact, more frightening dream symbols actually have positive meanings when interpreted. For instance, death often signals change and rebirth.

If you're not yet keeping a dream journal, pick up this helpful guide from my website:


Thanks for reading, and may only the sweetest dreams come true!



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