Does this sound familiar:
You arrive in the classroom and take your assigned seat. As you reach down to open your book the teacher says "Okay class, remember books away, it is time for the final exam!" Final exam, what is she talking about? Is that my boss sitting next to me? And where are my clothes? You wake in a cold sweat, still wondering where your clothes went.
One of the topics I get the most questions about is dreams. In my last post, we reviewed information about if we dream, why we dream, and one method for influencing our dreams (lucid dreaming). The content of most dreams seems to be dreamt once but many people can experience a repeat occurrence. Today I wanted to write about these recurrent dreams.
Recurrent dreams appear to fall into two main categories: stress related and full-on nightmares. Some of the more common dreams associated with anxiety and fear are:
• Dreams of being chased -- Often you will feel like you are in slow motion (this may mean that you are having this dream while in REM sleep, when your body is paralyzed. This physiological experience occurs so that you do not act out your dreams).
• Dreams of falling -- Some think that this may represent the transition from one sleep stage to another.
• Dreams of being in a haunted house -- Some think that this could have something to do with your surroundings or sleep environment.
And most recurrent dreams are relevant to the person who is dreaming, according to Dr. Daniel Condron (Director and Dream Researcher at the School of Metaphysics). His theory is that the dream represents a question or message (often related to a limitation, habit, fear or doubt) to the dreamer. And he thinks that the dream will reach a conclusion (and may even stop repeating) once the dreamer understands the message and resolves to make a change.
There do appear to be some common themes in repetitive dreams for everyone:
(1) Being in school long after the dreamer has graduated.
(2) Being in houses that keep changing.
(3) Seeing a deceased person who is alive in the dream.
What these mean is still up for debate. You can interpret your dream and I can interpret your dream, and we could both be right or wrong -- no one can know for sure.
However, remember that the dreams are about the dreamer, as are any symbols in them, so when looking at your dreams (after writing them down in your dream journal) it is important to personalize your interpretations of them. As an example let's take a look at the three categories above and think about what a general interpretation could mean and then how to make it more specific to you.
In my opening dream report, the dreamer is back in school (one of the three most popular categories), what could that mean? It all will depend upon what school means to the dreamer:
• School may represent education to the dreamer, so maybe they have anxiety about a particular subject and need to learn something for work, home or with friends.
• School may represent a social scene to the dreamer, so maybe they feel anxious about an upcoming social event or party.
• School may represent a structured situation to the dreamer, so maybe the dream represents anxiety or stress about an upcoming training seminar or conference or time when they will need to take a test.
• School may represent a time of security to the dreamer, so maybe they feel anxious because they are in a situation which is currently dangerous.
Thus, an interpretation is best when the dreamer personalizes the content of the dream, by the theme, and then looks for things in the dream to help answer the question of why the dream occurs. Clues may include people, places or things that have meaning to the dreamer in particular. The higher the emotional attachment to the person, place or thing, the more likely it has a meaning regarding why the dreamer dreamt at all.
So in the above dream, the dreamer might have identified that they need to learn more about a subject that they fell inadequate about. Now for the Clues:
• In the dream they noticed that their boss was sitting next to them, so maybe this is a topic from work.
• Being naked is like being exposed, so maybe they are concerned that a colleague from work is going to find out that they need to learn more and expose it to their boss.
It is impossible to know if this is an exact and correct interpretation, but if the interpretation matches with the dreamer's thoughts, then there is something to be gained. Hopefully there is some insight into the message, or problem, and hopefully some type of resolution.
One of the most famous accounts of a recurrent dream is from Abraham Lincoln. While discussing the war with General Grant during a cabinet meeting he told the general that there would be big news from the warfront. When Grant asked why he thought this he replied:
"I had a dream last night; and ever since this war began I have had the same dream just before every event of great national importance. It portends some important event that will happen very soon."
That evening Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
What are your recurrent dreams? And what do you think that they might mean?
Follow Dr. Michael J. Breus on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thesleepdoctor
I very much agree that dreams can have different meanings depending on who dreams them, as our own internal symbology is derived in part from our life experiences, as well as our own cultural contexts. I do believe though, that with time, dedication, learning and even coaching, we can come to understand not only our own dreams better, but also to help others achieve their own unique insights. I write a little also about recurring dreams here: http://thedreamwell.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/a-word-on-recurring-dreams/
By the way, I had read President Lincoln's dream was more prescient than you revealed in your post, and if accurate, totally amazing, I think!
http://thedreamwell.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/famous-dreams-recent-history/
I'm a photographer, so it probably makes sense, but I've had this recurring dream ever since I was a kid, way before I made a career out of photography.
Once I started my business, I started to have more specific job-related anxiety dreams, like my camera crumbling apart at crucial moments, but those are much more directly related to a specific job coming up, etc.
or in the same magical dream, I can fly, but not your regular flying, more like I jump in the air really high and then I have to flap my arms and kick my feet like im swimming to keep myself in the air...I am always struggling to stay in the air because I get such a good perspective, and I usually just land softly on the ground again. Most times i need a running start to do my sad sort of flying...its actually more like levitating...
When I levitate in a dream its usually because something bad happens at my house (I live on acreage) and we are fighting for our safety because an army or criminals wants into the property.....very odd, i dont know what they mean..
Lately ive been dreaming that im losing a tooth, or i pull one out...that is my scariest dream because everything else in the dream is realistic and its hard for me to realize its a dream.
I also have this dream that I get once a week where im being chased by the police or someone with authority and I always end up in a Mall or a shopping area, im always running through department stores....or im in an airport and getting chased, or im in a crazy futuristic mall/airport/skyscraper and im going in and out of elevators.
I also have this dream about my neighbors house, she lives in a huge ugly 70s mansion, with a basement. Im always dreaming that I go inside and it looks like either an old dark 19th century victorian house, or a huge home and the interior is white (but in need of serious plaster work and remodeling) that resembles a french chateau with black and white floors and a gorgeous (but probably unstable) spiral staircase.
The dream went something like this: I was in a house with walls thicker than is standard in most American homes; plastered and whitewashed, sort of like adobe in the Southwest. There was a window that looked out onto a lot of greenery and trees. The floor was smooth like painted or polished concrete. I see water start to come under the door; I feel confused. Quickly the water comes in much faster, the door gives and the room floods. Confusion turns quickly to fear, then panic. While this is happening I am thinking 'where are the children?', but I know the children that I am thinking of are not my own children. Once the room is filled, darkness and no more emotions. I'd wake from the rush of adrenalin.
About 2 weeks later the Tsunami hit Banda Aceh, Indonesia December 25, 2004 on the other side of the world from me. I have never been there. So was this a premonition, a message from the other side, psychic, a coincidence or what?
However, as a matter of historical fact, Lee surrendered on April 9 -- making the end of the war inevitable but not actually ending the war -- word reached Washington DC by the next day (President Lincoln may well have known even earlier), Lincoln then was assassinated the night of April 14th, and the last Confederates surrendered only in May.
So, am I merely just trying to climb back into my mother's womb while she's standing on her head, or are my problems much more profound than that? I'd really, really like to reroute this baby once and for all.
Thank you.
Sometimes I dream that houses deteriorate under my eyes, when I come back, it is missing pieces of stairs and passages etc
I also have had the sleep paralysis dream with the stranger standing over me. Once when I was staying at a friend's house, she told me she had seen someone by my bed in the night. It was the same night I had the stranger dream.