| Recurring Childhood Dreams…..
PAST LIFE MEMORIES
When I was a child (I am now 59), I had the same dreams over and over of a huge spiral hanging over my head which would get closer and closer until I felt as if I were going to smother. I would always awake frightened.
A few years ago I started reading novels about the first inhabitants of our continent and found this same spiral used over and over in these stories. I became fascinated with learning about these peoples and their customs. In fact, last fall while visiting in New Mexico, we made a special trip to Chaco Canyon to see the ruins there. On some level I seem to be able to relate to these people, but how I don't know. Any thoughts about this? When I was a child, I knew nothing about Indians or their religious symbols.
I frequently--well nightly--dream about many, many things, people, and places that I've never seen. I usually dream about being in a town or several big buildings with lots of people doing strange things and quite often I dream about being in or around water, but I am prevented from getting around some natural or man-made obstruction. Quite often I dream about the house I grew up in, but it never looks the same. I even dream when I take afternoon naps!! I do like being in clear, shallow water for snorkeling; I am a nature lover, and I do have a huge, fertile imagination.
And in the past few years, I have become very interested in religion. I am not presently going to church, but I do like to read books that answer "how could that have happened?" or "was that right?" I am presently read Alan Dershowitz's latest book Genesis of Justice, that I find fascinating. I would be interested in a response and in participating in any research in this area of dreams if possible. I read an article in today's newspaper about dreams. This is how I got your website.
FD, female
Response
The spiral you saw as a child before awakening, was your own spirit form moving out of the inner levels of consciousness returning back into your physical body lying in bed. For some people spirit appears as a huge bird or is symbolized as falling in a dream. Since you didn't know what it was and no one could tell you, you learned to be frightened of this natural mind-happening. Now, you might look for it again so you can eliminate the fear and replace it with adult-curiosity.
The spiral shows how the energy moves within the inner levels of mind. It is a common symbol around the world to show forward motion. Since subconscious mind is where the Akashic Records are found, it is entirely possible you were remembering an experience from another time and place. (For more on Akashic Records and Intuitive Past Life accounts go to www.som.org )
The strong familiarity sense you experienced while reading, and particularly visiting, also support this conclusion. A Past Life Profile might be further verification, especially in the significance of the symbol to you.
The snippets of other dreams indicate the many opportunities you have for learning (towns), often unfamiliar (people), in your everyday life (water). Dreaming of the house you grew up in that never looks the same symbolizes how you change your mind. You have a natural inclination toward your subconscious mind that it would be worth your time to investigate and cultivate.
NIGHT TERRORS
My daughter is six years old. Since she was about two or three she has been experiencing horrible nightmares. There were times, especially when she was younger, that they would occur every night about the same time and sometimes continue for several hours. As she has gotten older they seem to happen less frequently. She wakes up screaming and when I come into the room she does not know that I am there. She seems to be awake, but does not easily respond to my questions and seems to see things around her. She shakes and is obviously terrified. She sometimes repeats the same word or phrase over and over.
As you can imagine this is extremely frightening for me as a mother. However, she does not remember the dream. The only thing that we have found that helps is to get her out of bed and into another room that is well lit. Then we get her some water and talk to her. Sometimes we get her to say her ABC's or sing a song. Anything that would get her to wake up a little.
The only thing that I have found that seems close to what she experiences is night terrors. I do not know that much about them, but I would like to know if you believe this is what is happening and why it is happening. I also would like to know what I can do to help her. I would appreciate any help that you can give me. Or if you know someone that specializes in this sort of thing please let me know. I heard a man from this school on 107.5 WKZL in Greensboro, NC and wondered if you may be able to help me. Thank you for your time.
TS, mother
Response
Your response is quite natural. Why getting your daughter out of bed, into the light, drinking and singing works is because it brings all of her attention back into the physical and away from whatever was happening that she couldn't interpret or understand. Being a parent I can imagine how disconcerting and truly frightening this can be to a parent who loves their child.
Our child is now five and it is only recently that he has been willing to give himself to sleep. For the first 3 and a half years he was restless throughout the night, waking or making sounds and later talking frequently. He would sit up in bed, eyes wide open and talk to you, but still be in subconscious mind. My husband's and my experience with dreamstates were a real boon to understanding Hezekiah's state of consciousness and those alleviating any fear. In the first two years I would mentally take him by the hand and literally lead him into the dreamstate. Intuitive Health Analyses also gave excellent recommendations for helping him.
Suggestions…..realize crying is normal in a child who has yet to learn how to communicate his/her thoughts about experience. Whether awake or asleep, crying is the natural means to get attention. Encourage your child to talk about his experience. Then seek to understand it. Childrens' dreams will tell you the state of their awareness and that information is invaluable to every parent. Also take care in the books your child reads, the television or movies he sees. Not just before going to bed but throughout the day. Images get into children's minds and remain there. Make sure your child is exposed to the world you want him or her to know. One based on your highest ideals and expectations not your fears.
WHY do recurring dreams happen?
Greetings!! I am making a study about recurring dreams and I need your help by answering a few questions. I would want to find out why recurring dreams happen and what are the messages or hidden meaning it wishes to convey to the dreamer. I hope you can send me more information about recurring dreams aside from the questions I asked. I would really appreciate your help. Thank you very much and hoping for your kind consideration!
ACO, female
Response
Recurring dreams happen because the dreamer's state of awareness is the same, it has not changed. It's like sending someone the same letter or e-mail until they acknowledge receiving it and respond. Recurring dreams are the subconscious mind sending the same message until it is received by the conscious mind and a response is formed.
The messages are as varied as people, but a study of recurring dreams could be quite revealing for the individual as well as windows into collective attitudes.
FALLING in a dream…
When I was a little girl I had a recurring dream..
You all know the story of the Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe right? Well, I remember the very first dream I ever had in this series of dreams that went on for at least 3 years. The very first time I had the dream I saw this huge old boot. I knew it was from the Old Lady Who Lived In a Shoe, so I climbed up the ladder to the top. Once at the top I looked in and saw absolutely nothing except pitch black. I decided to climb in anyway. When I went inside it was so dark I couldn't see anything. Suddenly I was falling and thump I landed on a platform. I was relieved that I had stopped falling, and laid on the platform. All of the sudden I was falling off the platform. I hadn't done anything, and I hadn't felt anything push me, but nonetheless I was falling. Soon I landed on another platform and was relieved to be there. This time I tried to stay on the platform, but again, soon I was falling. The dream would just go on like that, and all the subsequent dreams that I had of it would just start with me on a platform and then falling off, all the while being completely black inside.
KL, female, Logan, UT
Response
Although the symbols may be unique in this childhood dream, the message is quite common. The soul, newly clothed in a physical body (symbolized by the boot), must adjust to its new world of experience. The lack of awareness (blackness) while in the inner levels of consciousness is common during the dreamstate. Just as the child is slowly learning how to physically communicate his/her needs and desires through the use of words and gestures, so the child must learn to mentally communicate within self and with others. As a race, we are much better at the first than the second.
The process of falling onto platforms documents the dreamer's attention moving outward toward the physical body and waking state. It is the detailed process of moving from one level of awareness to the next which is why it keeps occurring. The lack of understanding of what is happening is represented by the black inside.
Children are open to subconscious mind. They move freely in and out of the levels of consciousness until they learn how to close-off the inner minds. Teaching children the meaning of dreams helps them value life. It keeps the doorway open between conscious mind and subconscious mind, giving the child the power to become a more self aware adult later in life.
NIGHT TERRORS
My daughter is six years old. Since she was about two or three she has been experiencing horrible nightmares. There were times, especially when she was younger, that they would occur every night about the same time and sometimes continue for several hours. As she has gotten older they seem to happen less frequently. She wakes up screaming and when I come into the room she does not know that I am there. She seems to be awake, but does not easily respond to my questions and seems to see things around her. She shakes and is obviously terrified. She sometimes repeats the same word or phrase over and over.
As you can imagine this is extremely frightening for me as a mother. However, she does not remember the dream. The only thing that we have found that helps is to get her out of bed and into another room that is well lit. Then we get her some water and talk to her. Sometimes we get her to say her ABC's or sing a song. Anything that would get her to wake up a little.
The only thing that I have found that seems close to what she experiences is night terrors. I do not know that much about them, but I would like to know if you believe this is what is happening and why it is happening. I also would like to know what I can do to help her. I would appreciate any help that you can give me. Or if you know someone that specializes in this sort of thing please let me know. I heard a man from this school on 107.5 WKZL in Greensboro, NC and wondered if you may be able to help me. Thank you for your time.
TS, mother
Response
Your response is quite natural. Why getting your daughter out of bed, into the light, drinking and singing works is because it brings all of her attention back into the physical and away from whatever was happening that she couldn't interpret or understand. Being a parent I can imagine how disconcerting and truly frightening this can be to a parent who loves their child.
Our child is now five and it is only recently that he has been willing to give himself to sleep. For the first 3 and a half years he was restless throughout the night, waking or making sounds and later talking frequently. He would sit up in bed, eyes wide open and talk to you, but still be in subconscious mind. My husband's and my experience with dreamstates were a real boon to understanding Hezekiah's state of consciousness and those alleviating any fear. In the first two years I would mentally take him by the hand and literally lead him into the dreamstate. Intuitive Health Analyses also gave excellent recommendations for helping him.
Suggestions…..realize crying is normal in a child who has yet to learn how to communicate his/her thoughts about experience. Whether awake or asleep, crying is the natural means to get attention. Encourage your child to talk about his experience. Then seek to understand it. Childrens' dreams will tell you the state of their awareness and that information is invaluable to every parent. Also take care in the books your child reads, the television or movies he sees. Not just before going to bed but throughout the day. Images get into children's minds and remain there. Make sure your child is exposed to the world you want him or her to know. One based on your highest ideals and expectations not your fears.
RECURRING DREAMS ABOUT SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS
It seems I have reoccurring dreams about different men and having sexual encounters with them. Some of the men I have had relationships with in the past and others I don't know at all. I like the experience. It is not "bad" in my dreams. I feel deeply for these people in my dreams.
I am married with two children and am 38 years old. I don't feel guilty about the dreams when I wake up like I used to. Now I am willing to search for the meaning, instead of berating myself and thinking I am a total cheat!
Response
Good for you! Dreams originate not from physical thinking but subconscious thinking. They are in symbols reflecting subconscious mind's perception of the state of conscious awareness. They are like a report card or diagnostic report.
This report indicates harmony between you and many subconscious aspects. You are calling upon many parts of your subconscious mind to fulfill your desires. Sexual dreams tell us that conscious and subconscious minds are working together toward the same objective.
Recurring High School Dream
Hi. I am actually right down the street from your Columbia Campus, and just received The Dreamer's Dictionary as a gift. I have always had peculiar dreams, but until October I didn't really search for meanings. Since than I have remembered a reoccurring dream I had throughout high school and even a couple years in middle school. I guess it occurred about once a month.
I was in my middle school, but it was full of stairs and locked doors. I couldn't find a way out. If I went to the bottom there was a river with ice chunks floating in it, but if I went up all there was, was doors. Well, I had this dream until I came to Columbia. The night of my second day of classes I had the dream, but I was able to get out. I left through the very top door that I had never noticed before. When I went in it, it was a nursery for children. There were several children there. Somehow I got out, and since I have never had the dream.
I was just wondering what it meant and what caused it to stop?
I also wondered how normal it was to remember one or multiple dreams almost ever night. I seem to remember my dreams every night unless I am sleep deprived.
Thank you for everything.
AM, female
Response
At the times you had this reoccurring dream, what you were learning was closed, limited, and you wanted it to be different, you just couldn't see how that could happen in your life. This is a common condition for teens still dependent upon parents yet becoming viable thinkers. The opportunities (doors) were always there but you didn't respond until you physically moved to Columbia.
Your conscious move to Columbia to go to school has literally opened doors in your consciousness, freeing you to learn what you've desired to learn for years. This is producing many new ideas symbolized by the children's nursery. This subconscious feedback is a positive sign that you are different now – so the same (recurring message) is no longer relevant, so the dream message changed and has since stopped.
Remembering dreams nightly means you are more conscious than most, more aware and in tune with your subconscious mind. More willing to look at yourself. Pursue it further, go beyond memory to imagined action by learning what your dreams mean and how you can become aware in the dream state
Questions about Dreams
How long is the average dream? Any other sites I can visit to help answer questions?
JC, Female
Response
Studies show us we dream in cycles throughout a sleeping period. We go into deep levels of sleep very quickly initially, where the most rejuvenation can be experienced both in assimilation for the mind and reenergizing for the bodies. This brings the stage of sleep commonly known as REM, an acronym for rapid eye movement which describes the outwardly visible sign that someone is dreaming. REM usually lasts 1 to 4 minutes leading researchers to believe this is the length of the dreaming experience.
School of Metaphysics research revolves around the integration of the whole self and has been focussed on the content, meaning, and revelations possible in the dream state. Our research into levels of consciousness shows that time is measured differently in each level. Physical time is measured in a linear sense, by the rising and setting of the sun. Conscious time is measured by the experiences we have during the physical waking time. Subconscious time is by the understandings gained. More information on this is found in the book Mechanics of Dreams which is now out of print and available on this site.
Since the School of Metaphysics began researching dreams in the late '60's and since the advent of SOM's National Dream Hotline which began in 1989, many major universities have begun exploring this field more diligently and with greater seriousness. A search on university dream research will lead you to the current findings.
.
SWIMMING NUNS
See if you can help me with this one.
Each day a nun comes to my house to use the swimming pool in my backyard. Each nun first takes a kiwi fruit out of my refrigerator before she goes outside. I don't really see their faces, just the generic nun with the usual traditional dress. The thing is, every day as a nun comes to eat the kiwi fruit and use the swimming pool she dies. No specifics on how she dies and I don't see her dead, just the same thing each day. My fiancée finally suggests after several days of this that I should have the kiwi fruits tested at a toxicology clinic. So I cut one open and I remember how juicy and colorful it was, and I cut a small piece out of it, and the piece falls to the floor. When I look down, my fiancée's basset hound is gobbling it up. I remember feeling panicked and helpless and I woke up very suddenly then.
Some background: I'm a 42 year old male who is about to get re-married. She's Catholic and I'm Protestant but that difference is not really an important issue in our relationship. I don't really see nuns at all in my life so I'm not sure the significance there. I don't even have a swimming pool and I can't imagine seeing a nun in one. There was no sinister feeling at all in the dream and no sexual feelings of any kind. I did have an empathetic feeling each time I would hear that a nun had died and the dreadful feeling when the dog ate the piece on the floor. Any help would be much appreciated.
J* from OK.
Response
We must say this is a unique dream. It is a message about how you view your own divinity as symbolized by the nuns (who represent superconscious aspects of you). Your subconscious mind is telling you your inner authority from knowledge gained (kiwi, a food) is coming out into your everyday life (swimming pool) and changing (nun dies) the way you understand that inner authority. Whatever concepts you have held about your own spirituality are changing again and again. This can be most productive because change always brings about new opportunities for growth and fulfillment.
Your subconscious mind (in the form of your fiancee) encourages you to look for the cause of these changes. You look for cause in the knowledge you have gleaned. In other words, you have a habit (basset hound) of giving credit, and probably blame, to outer authority rather than embracing the understanding control personal experience brings.
A good response on your part to this dream message would be to consciously choose to expand your thoughts about spirituality and divinity. You say it's not an issue in your impending marriage and certainly does not have to become one in a detrimental sense. What metaphysical thoughts give us is understanding of ourselves and our world beyond the material, physical plane. Your dream says this is important to you now. As a suggestion, you might want to find ways to live/practice your spiritual ideals – be it daily meditation, prayer, walks in the wood or by the water. This will enable you to determine the direction of the changes you are experiencing.
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