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:

A Quick And Dirty Guide To Dream Interpretation (PDF)

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



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Ex-Husband, Ex-Lover - Dream Symbols

Here he/she comes again - it's been over for years yet they keep popping up in your dreams! What's up with that, you ask?

Well, this really has a lot to do with a "dream." Whether the relationship was good or bad, this person represents your dream of what you had hoped the relationship to be. Perhaps you ended the relationship and now regret it, or they ended the relationship and you've never quite gotten over it. Your dream likely reflects those feelings, especially if in waking life you have been longing for what once was. If the relationship turned out to be a nightmare, then your ex's cameo could be reminding you not to repeat past mistakes.

It's not uncommon to dream of a former boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife or lover when you're about to enter into a new relationship. This leaves the dreamer confused and sometimes feeling "guilty." Remember that people, events and things in dreams are not always exactly who or what they appear to be - this is why Freud and Jung called them "symbols." The old flame's presence in your dream symbolizes your feelings about relationships in your waking life now. Your dream might be a reminder to evaluate your expectations or a confirming that any warning signs you may have picked up on are worth taking a look at.

Dreams often don't spell the message out for us. They're subconscious and the Divine's way of making us go within and reflect upon issues we need to deal with and what we've learned from past experiences. So, document your dream, take a look at where you are in relation to the issue and check back with your journal in a few weeks or months to review so that you can move on to the next chapter with a fresh perspective.

Have a great week, and may all the good dreams come true!


Parthena Recommends: Night Wings - A Soulful Dreaming And Writing Practice

"I Never Remember My Dreams"

When discussing dreams, the most common complaint I hear is, "I don't remember my dreams." According to experts, everyone dreams, but that's not entirely true. Certain medications and physical and mental conditions can cause people to lose the ability to dream.

If that's not the problem, then this is quite easy to fix! A lot of people don't remember their dreams simply because they're too busy. The first and most important thing to do is to take some action in the physical world to show your subconscious that you intend to remember your dreams. Often, just thinking about it won't do. You have to do something physical. One method that works well is to designate a notebook as your dream journal and keep it by the bed. Before you go to sleep, write down either what you'd like to dream about; i.e., a problem you'd like to solve, etc., or simply the statement, "I will dream and I will remember my dream."

Something that works even better is to get a deck of dream cards and start playing with them, even if you don't have a dream to interpret. This is more involved and makes an even clearer impression on your subconscious. You'll be surprised at how it responds.

My favorite dream card system is Strephon Kaplan-Williams' Dream Cards These are very, very in-depth and I will caution you that many of the images in the beautiful artwork contain nudity, and one or two are pretty graphic, so if this makes you uncomfortable then I wouldn't choose them. In addition to a 52 card deck of large cards with beautiful artwork depicting dream images, the set contains another deck with archetypes of the symbols and tasks for the dreamer to focus on.

Although I haven't read much of him myself and was not overly impressed with his dream dictionary, Leon Nacson has a good reputation and his card deck might do. For a good, basic dream dictionary, I highly recommend Craig Hamilton-Parker's The Hidden Meaning Of Dreams. Don't the the fluffy cover fool you. The artwork is beautiful, and his definitions are short and concise and point to applying the meaning of the symbol to your life.

The second most important thing is to learn not to jump up out of bed right away. Get into the habit of lying there for five or ten minutes to think about your dream and then to write it down in your journal. If you're afraid that you'll go back to sleep and be late for work, then sit up, but don't get up and go get your coffee just yet. Sometimes just thinking about it doesn't work as a method of remembering - if you don't write it down you may still forget later in the day. There is just a little window of opportunity there and if you don't catch it, your dream will fly right out that window. It's also believed that we are more likely to remember our dreams right after our REM cycle of sleep. For most people, this occurs around the sixth hour. If this is when you wake up, then you're right there in prime time. If you don't wake up until one or two hours after the REM cycle, it may be harder to remember your dream, but not impossible. Even if you don't remember your dream, write in your journal that you didn't remember your dream. This again puts in an order with your subconcious to cooperate.

There are times when we do remember our dreams later in the day although experts deny that it's likely. Those of us who have experienced it can attest to the fact that it does happen, albeit not frequently.

That's it for today. This little blog was getting lonely and I wanted to give it some TLC. I hope that's helpful, and don't forget to pick up your free dream interpretation guide and journal sheet from my website.

GO HERE

Have a great day, and may all your dreams come true!

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