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Dreams For Peace
Dream Interpretation, Therapy, Transformation
Richard Hastings
Richard Hastings is an expert in change work and dream work and author of Dreams for Peace. He is a Baha'i and currently lives in Vancouver, BC. Read more...
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Dreams For Peace 
dear Richard, you have diagnosed the problem exactly,as usual. i do have a deep yearning for peace. much of it stems from the fact every time i began to feel peaceful i would look around at a world which was anything else but. some would tell me that peace comes from within me. it does,but that is only half true for me. i have this dichotomy between the inner self and the outer self, and this interaction between them. i do not if this unusual or something distinctive to me.(i suspect not,but the way i apply may be,or at least to a small group of people) now i will tell you about a dream which is not unrelated to the previous one. if that was the coolest dream i ever sent this will be the most baffling-at,least to me- and along similar lines. that is,war and peace. the difference is this dream contains contains 2 sequences and 2 different time periods. it begins with myself seeing past events through someone else’s memory and perception. i think retrocognition would be a technical term to describe this. but is there a term for seeing the past through the perception of somebody else? the subject was a pilot in an air squadron. i could even hear the engine of his plane as it took off. he was a very skillful pilot. the plane he flew -a Sopwith camel- was noted for being an exceptionally hard plane to fly and maneuver. yet he had become expert at it in a remarkably short time. after he had taken off and been in the air a little while the squadron leader signaled to him and pointed upward at a slant. there slightly above and at an angle to this group were a group who i recognized immediately. painted red and 3 wings- a Fokker triplane. they had been flying at a higher altitude than the allied planes and the sun against made them hard to spot, but they were in plain sight now. the Sopwith camels and SPADs began climbing to engage the Fokkers and Albatrosses,., and soon there was a full dogfight. this airman shot down 2 of the enemy planes. i almost grew dizzy from how he maneuvered his plane. the climbs and turns,the steep dives. he was a superb pilot. but when he went after a 2-seater bomber an enemy pilot got on his rear. he shot off the tail wing. he tried to turn the plane to meet it but the German pilot caught him on the side. as i watched in horror as the whole side of the plane was riddled with bullets. the engine was hit ,and the plane went out of control. as he frantically attempted to steer it suddenly the plane went into a steep dive, and went downward at an alarming speed. he did not come equipped with a parachute but even if he had one i doubt it would done him any good. both the engine and the steering mechanism had been hit. i could feel his feelings as he went down. first desperately trying to steer the plane,then thinking of jumping when it came close to the ground but the plane was going down too fast for him. in a matter of seconds the plane hit the ground full speed and KER-BLOOM it was destroyed in a terrific explosion. now here comes the unusual part. i was in the field where the plane crashed. but something was different. not the field,but the air,the atmosphere was somehow different. it was heavier and almost had the same sensation one might get from looking at a 3-dimensional movie or a hologram. i was looking at the wreckage of the plane. it seemed no one had removed it,and the force of the blast had been such that the wheels were in another field clear across the road while the wings were in the opposite direction. then i heard a faint humming sound,which increased. then i saw a yellow-brown light, very faint at first ,then the sound increased until it became the sound of an engine,then the light likewise increased in intensity until finally it filled the whole field. then i saw the plane go off the ground and flying!! i could actually feel the pilot’s thoughts too. he was full of this newfound power. as well he might be,. then i glanced to the side and saw another plane- an Albatross d-VIII- and noticed the pilot calmly watching the remarkable scene before. i was wondering what on his mind,too when suddenly i remembered – this war ended decades ago! maybe this German pilot is also a spirit. then the dreamscape abruptly changed. this is so unusual for me that whenever it happens it is noted. it has happened about 4 times in all. where found myself was a peaceful enough scene. a pond with lily pads and chrysanthemums. then inside a house. a single look around was enough to tell me where this house was,even if i did not recognize it. the Shoji screens, the Fusuma sliding panels, the tatami mats on the floor- all this told me that this was a traditional Japanese house. over in the corner was evidently my hostess, for she was siting beside a Tokonoma ( a slightly elevated space in a room to receive visitors) she wore a plum blossom kimono tied with a green leaf obi. on seeing me, she rose,bowed , left for the next room,, and returned with a Samisen and began to play and sing. now the most striking thing about this was her song was in Japanese,a language i neither read nor write in the waking world, i could understand her perfectly. she sang a song about triumphs and disappointments,joys and sorrows,some of which she recited in the manner of a Haiku poem. of that i recall something of them (this dream predates my posting dreams on websites. it is,in fact the oldest dream i have ever posted and very likely the oldest on this website) it was about a tree by a lake and a plum blossom tree in the wind. in it she named the year the 15th year of Shogun Ieharu which would make it in the western calendar 1775. now this Shogun had ambitions to rebuild Japan and its economy,but events seemed to thwart him at every at every turn. a series of natural cataclysms ,such as, m the eruption of mt ASAMA,a volcano which had been dormant for years and typhoons and hurricanes off the coast which played havoc with the fishing industry, so instead of the prosperity he had hoped for, famines and epidemics spread through the land,creating economic chaos. i am not certain exactly how this ties in with my friend-i know i may use the word- but i am sure it does. now think of this: first rerocognition through somebody else’s perceptions and memory in a war i could not have fought. then resurrection,of a sort. (though probably not body resurrection), then into the past from that about 1140 years in another country and another time. and being able in the dream to understand a language of which i can speak only a few words. this is he most puzzling dream, i have ever had, and i think you know me well enough to know that is saying a great deal. a friend of mine to whom i told this thinks it was real.that i was seeing soul memories. if that is true it would explain much. i cannot wait to hear your analysis of it. usually i put a dream as complex as this as this one in more than one part for the sake of brevity,but i decided to make an exception for an exceptional dream. i await your analysis of thid with more than usual eagerness
Dear James,
The best way to understand this kind of dream is to separate the physical actuality of the events with the inner processes that are taking place. The pilot is using his capacities in the way he is maneuvering the plane to get get a specific outcome which happens to be to defeat the enemy. In the process he is defeated. And then a kind resurrection happens. If you think of what was happening in the war in its material terms, then it is a pretty negative outcome, but when you think in terms of process, then you can see that there was a lot of creativity, flexibility, courage, stretching of one’s potential. This is the outcome of process. So then the question becomes that If you have developed these abilities in a negative environment, what would happen if you used the processes learned in a positive context. The second part is the same. Whether you are rebuilding after a disaster or moving rapidly into a positive future of wealth, the processes you use as a leader to achieve them are the same. The first scenario calls for remembering abilities that allow you fly high with possibilities. Then second calls for remembering processes that call for a lot of cooperation and hard work. That they are in the distant past means that these are abilities that you have developed in your distant past, but need to be called for now in your life. You are like a shogun that has to think of rebuilding and a pilot that has to fly high with possibilities and flexibility.
as usual, you have your own unique interpretation, going beyond surface appearances and delving deeper into the essence of things. i knew that this was a dream with a very strong message, i did not exactly know what. the pilot forgot the first rule of warfare. cover your rear. so intent on bringing that bomber (after some research i did identify it. a FRIEDRICHSHAFEN G-III bomber . it was armed with 3 machine guns , one of which could fire from a trap door straight down) that he did not notice the albatross on his tail until it was too late. so one of the lessons is always be on the alert. do not simply rush into a situation cold turkey, but consider all of the factors involved. the scene was so vivid that it seemed as though i was actually there. the lessons of the lady from Japan are harder to explain. [this is a very complex dream,with more than one message] i think part of the message is perseverance and fortitude . the plum tree blossoms even in the severest weather. what was remarkable was, that i, who can neither speak nor read Japanese could understand this song perfectly. so this could be about intercommunication between cultures. as you point out this is taking place on the metaphysical plane as well. one of the lessons is about tenacity in the face of seemingly adverse circumstances, or even destruction. like the phoenix bird. both the pilot and the plane flew again. the dogfight was so vivid, i could readily accept that it might be a soul memory. but i thought that in some way the consciousness of the pilot and mine had somehow overlapped. the woman in Japan did seem one bit surprised to see me. in fact she acted as though she was expecting me. remember this is when Japan was still a closed nation. this lends credence to the theory that it was spirit communication. a very complex dream and it will require more analysis to decipher its meaning but we have definitely started in the right direction
Dear James,
What I would do if I were you, is use this kind of experience as a way to enhance your spiritual communication with people from the past. You can go back into the dream, feel the spirit of the person, and ask them to communicate with you about your present and future. They seem to have some secrets for you that you can only get by diving into or embracing their positive energy. They seem to be calling to you.
excellent advice,Richard. i have a long history of contact with spirits from the past.i will follow your advice.
I dreamt about my deceased father. I asked him if he had met God. He replied he hadn’t. So i told him that he should meet God first and without delay. He said he will do that. Next, I asked him if he had met his father, who is also deceased. He said they were living together. Then, I asked about my grandmother ( my mom’s mother, who is also deceased). He said he had met her. But when I asked him these questions, he got aggravated. I instantly thought in my mind that may be he didn’t like being reminded of the fact that we were living in separate worlds. Next, I left my mom and some relatives to go with my father inside a church, which was full of dead people. I wanted to see him off. He went up to the front row and sat besides a lady who was a stranger to me but she was also supposedly deceased. She asked me if he was my dad and told me that he was a good person, just that he drinks sometimes. I asked her to take care of my dad. Then, i whispered into my dad’s ears about my job aspirations and he told me that those were big achievements and that I should really study hard for that. And then I told him not to drink alcohol much and bid him farewell and left that church full of dead people.
Hi Bernice.
The real goal of your life right now is how to get to your life aspirations, to achieve the things you want to do in this life. The dream tells you that the process that you need in order to be successful was not present in your family. Your father drinks too much is a symbol for meaning that he was fearful to go for his own destiny, his own visions. He was blocked by fear. Alcohol is what you take to easy the fear of the unknowns. He probably had some trauma in his childhood. For you to dive into the unknowns and go after your vision, your father and the way he lived, will not be helpful. It is not like he is a bad person. He was just missing the capacity to hold a vision and go for it. This is what you need. My daughter says you must learn to fling yourself into the unknown world, the future. That is how you find God and achieve your goals. When you achieve your goals, it will have a positive effect on his progress in the next world. You are still quite connected.
Richard it has been a week of just deep and vivid dreams!
So I was at this work event and HR was there from our corporate office. My husband was at the event with all my coworkers (in waking life he comes to all my work events and it considered part of the team). Well we were outside walking to the location with everyone and he asked me to scratch his back and I was and I said next I will scratch your mind. Then it cut to me seeing the HR lady talking to my boss telling her I was being sexually inappropriate with my husband and I needed to be let go. I am now in a corridor with my boss and the staff is walking about 15 feet behind us and he is telling me how I was in the wrong from my comment. I defended myself telling him it wasn’t sexual and if the HR lady would have stayed just 2 seconds longer she would have heard me ask him an intellectual question. He just kept going on about my behavior and I got angry and said FINE I QUIT! I took off my wedding ring and threw it hard on the ground and it pinged off the ground and celling like 4-5 times. I remember thinking wow that is a lot of momentum. He then told me “Yes, I think that is the best thing for you to do” and asked me not to go tell everyone what happened. (I am known in the workplace for “living out loud” according to my boss, as in I have nothing to hide and I feel injustice in the workplace I will bring it up, but some with positive things, if we are doing great things I will also bring those up).
Then it was the next day, a Saturday and I went to the office to clean out my desk. When I got to the parking lot I had a rental car and there was a lady yelling halfway down the lot WHOSE CAR IS THIS?! as it was Parked horizontally across 2 spaces. I then hit the lock button and the lights started flashing, it was the horribly parked car. I go up to her and say sorry, this is a rental and this is how they left it, let me move it. She is calm and I go to move it but there are cars on either side of it so it was hard. I then get another woman to help and this vehicle is a new Honda type of minivan, it was very large inside. She moved it out for me and make a snark remark about my inability to do it myself, but I just ignored her, thanked her for her help and drove off.
Now I am back at the office, but it’s Monday. I am reseting my work phone and clearing out anything personal on my computer before I give it to IT. Then I am at this sandwich shop for lunch and a coworker asks what happened so I tell them. Another coworker comes up to me and says the boss told us not to ask you what happened but I want to know so I told him. As I was telling him I look back at there is a transcript of the whole thing printed on paper and hung on the wall. Many of my coworkers are over there reading it and I see them cross some things out but I cannot tell what it said. I order my food and forgot my cookie, so I ordered that (I was really wanting this chocolate chip cookie) and I look back and the sign is gone and my workers are gone.
Dear C,
Scratching your husband’s back is a symbol for giving him positive support. The problem with the HR is that they do not see giving people positive support as something you should be doing like it is unprofessional as if people should be able to survive on their own and take a lot of critical feedback all the time. Scratching backs and minds are both positive acts that need to be incorporated in all parts of your life, but especially your work culture.
I had a dream that my aunt made 3 clones of me to have them as her children. Her first clone could not grow past the age of 5 and she could not speak, so she had my 5 year old body and she did not learn to speak. Her second clone could only grow to my 17 year old body and she could speak a little but her ring finger was bent and it could not rise up. Her third clone was able to grow to my adult self and she was able to speak but she was not as smart.
Dear Emma,
To understand this dream you have to understand why someone would want to create someone based upon what they were incapable of. She is creating an image of you based on what your weaknesses are rather than your strengths. People do this so that they can see themselves as better than others and then they feel like they can control them. If someone sees you for your positive qualities and as an equal, then they are more likely to encourage you to see how far you can go. This is how you need to see yourself; as very capable. It is never a competition about who is best. It is always about encouraging everyone to grow and be a strong and capable person.
Richard,
Yes that will be a question that requires long pondering to find a sustainable answer. I am looking at responsibilities in my life differently and trying to net let them rule and control me, it has been quite challenging as responsibilities still need to get done. I am trying to figure out how I do that where I am in the drivers seat at work, at home, and in personal endeavors.
Last night I had this very odd dream and maybe it is connected, or maybe it is shinning light on something new. I will say that this dream dealt with my grandmother who passed 12.25.07 and I was very close to her from baby until her death and her soul is one I consistently feel is around me. When I need protecting in a meditation or attempt to astral travel it is her soul that greets me and guides me in protection. With that here is the dream:
It was the current year and I was in my grandmothers house, she had recently passed and the house was dark and gloomy and some things has sheets over them and most things had a price tag on it like we were trying to sell it. I was with my mom (my gmas daughter) and a couple other family members that I dont specifically recall. I needed to wash laundry so I started a load and I walk the house and cried because of how deeply I miss my grandma. In the dream though I knew this was wrong because in my head I was telling myself she passed more than 15 years ago and I have grieved this loss and her house has been sold. I went out front and it too was dreary and dark and had been once raining. The lawn was filled with household items for sell and as I looked at them I recalled back to playing with various things when I was a young girl and it made me happy to have the memory but sad that my grandma is dead.
The neighbors across the street came from a different dream I had where it was an old friend and his wife and their son. They came into this dream and again I knew they were not originally from here but a came outside and was talking about buying a pair of shoes that were for sale but they were too expensive and I asked who he was because he was not my old friend. Then the wife and son came out and i knew at that point the pair had divorced and I got this inkling it was from cheating and she has moved on. I made short talk with them and carried on around the yard as I wept.
Then I was back at an apartment where I lived with my mom and siblings and I said shoot I need to switch laundry over and i left it at grandmas so I went back and swapped it.
When it was time to leave the parking lot was full of all my cousins and family and my sister was there and again it was dark and had this spooky feel to it. I was trying to ride with my sister but I kept finding myself at other cars and playing games, like one car had a full set of money bars that I climbed on and around and another one has hoses under the side mirrors where I recall rinsing off my hands. I get into a car with my sister and two younger teenagers in the back who I do not know. We start to drive and my sister is taking us to a place to do to some for my grandma that honors her memory. While driving the young boy in the back lights up a joint with weed and I snatch it from him and put it out telling him I do not want to smell like that nor do I want the second hand smoke from it. When I look back over my sister is gone and this boy is driving and is mad I took his weed. I start lecturing him on his age and his girlfriend who was still in the back tried to say something but i told her Maddie, no you need to stop you are too young like what 14 and she corrected me saying 13 and I said exactly you are 13 and do no need to be doing this. I got out of the car and I was on the side of the road where it was pitch black and the trees had orange leaves like fall and there were cluttered all over this opening where my sister was standing outside a van with my mom and other family members. I was about to learn what we were doing for my grandma when I woke up.
Dear C,
You are in your grandmother’s house because you need to access her positive energy that is not fully consolidated in you. When you have her energy, you can be playful like with the games and monkey bars and also set boundaries like with the young teenagers. You can drive the family. I think that if I were you, I would meditate on what your grandmother’s positive qualities were, decide which of those is most important to you now, and then continually work on them for period of time until they are a part of you. It seems like she had a huge amount of love, but not sure if that is the exact quality you need.
Richard,
Last night I had a dream that I was at work with my boss and many co-workers. My boss tells me that he is going to a client meeting at the clients house and wants some of us to join him. We do, it was my, my boss, 3 male coworkers and a female that in the dream was a coworker but in waking life does not work here nor do I know her. Anyways. we all pile into my bosses mini van (he drives a much nicer vehicle in waking life) and we start to drive to the clients house. One of the coworkers jumps out of the van because he needs to be somewhere else so when his stop came he just hopped out and we kept going. We make it to the clients house and it is this trashy older white couple that lives in a trailer and has like all sorts of junk in the yard and house. The woman is having all of us help her cook food. Then she makes all of us work out. She has all this old and rundown exercise equipment in the living room and we all pick a machine. I choose the stair master and this clients young son is on the stair master next to me. As I start the stairs start to turn to like fabric and are falling apart and getting caught in the machine. I am able to fix it a couple of times but eventually it breaks and I look over at the young boy and he has a new machine and I think man I should have chosen the better machine.
Now I am back on the road in the minivan and we are just stopped in the middle of a 4 lane road (2 lanes each way) and I have the flashers and I am in the van with this other coworker woman and I worry that someone will slam into us. I don’t recall why we were broken down but I know that I could not move the van. a guy in a small silver car stops behind me and puts his flashers on now too and I felt like it became a waiting lane, but in the middle of a busy road.
Dear C,
Nice to hear from you. The key to this dream lies in who is driving the van. When someone else is the driver in a dream, it means that someone else is driving your life and in this case making a mess of it. There is only one person who can ever be the driver of your own life and that is your own self. Now it is easy to give over the driving to the boss, and many bosses want to be the driver of your life, but then you feel as if you are stranded or like you are trailer trash. So the spiritual question for you, which is not an easy one to answer, is, how can you work where someone else is your supervisor with authority, and you still be able to drive your own life forward in where you want it to go? It is a good question to struggle over.
dear Richard,i recall you telling me my dream persona would be about relationships. i will be interested to know your view on this dream,which takes place in a city. which is. that is, in the midst of conflict. that is, open warfare between 2 rival factions. the city was divided into several zones. one side occupied the north and zones,and the second faction controlled the south and southwest, with the southeastern part of the city being a sort of no mans land between the warring factions, about equally divided in sympathy. the northeast was neutral territory under the control of a branch of the southern faction but opposed to force as a means to bring about an end. i was staying with friends who lived close to downtown. we were discussing the situation. there was a shaky truce between the two sides, although there were areas where it was not recognized. i went out for a stroll. in some places i could the hear distant sound of gunfire. finally i came to a park-like place with a wrought Iron gate. when i looked in i saw many different kinds of flowers. such as,roses,violets,lilacs,,tulips. some i did not recognize.. suddenly i heard a mans voice “interested?come on in ” . he was an elderly,bearded man who i took to be the caretaker.. once inside i saw such a collection of flowers as i had never seen in my life. bougainvillea,azaleas,frangipani and jasmine. my eye rested on a huge flower i did nor recognize. “that is Assam catkin yew” the keeper explained. there were hyacinths and chrysanthemums,red and yellow in a nearby pond. then i noticed a small building with a dome on top “what is that. the office for the administration” he told me not proceeded to tell me what it was. this was a tomb,a sarcophagus of a great spiritual leader considered a saint in some quarters, who used to work miracles. as i was looking at the ferns and flowers i heard my name called. i turned around and saw a young woman about as tall as i was with reddish-brown hair. as i listened to her she began going into detail about the history of the city. how this had been a place of great civic strife,with rival factions,competing economic interests and rival ideologies. how her great-grand uncle had come on the scene and managed to bring about a truce between the warring factions, and for awhile,at least brought about a cessation of hostilities. how some of the city’s problems, had been solved. her grand-uncle had gotten his reputation not only as an arbiter between opposing sides but also through curing many diseases. at the time the conflict had been so intense,all authority was in danger of breaking down,leaving conditions ripe for epidemics to break out.. at that time her uncle had succeeded in bringing medical supplies into the city and established hospitals. he had managed to open a route to bring food into the city(as is usual during times of great strife there was widespread economic chaos and threat of famine) and given the city fathers valuable advice about municipal affairs. because of his great spiritual development he was held in great regard, at times amounting to awe. then she began to talk about his philosophy and wisdom and how he had guided so many people along the right path , how truly he had loved peace and would be heartbroken at the situation in the city today. as she spoke it seemed as though a panorama were unfolding right in front of my eyes, visions of the past of this place along with seeing the present blended into a vision of the future. it was now clear to me what i must do. i saw that the group holding the northern end was planning a big push to bring most of the city in their hands. the forces controlling the southern part of the city were alert and ready were not going to be caught by surprise. i did not require an expert to see what would happen next. as i looked at and smelled the flowers. i felt the beauty and serenity of this place contrasted with the conflict,and ferocious combat i saw outside, amounting at times to stark cruelty. i realized what would be the fate of this city if events were allowed to go on as they were.. this constant war had to be stopped, no matter what it took. then i asked for guidance. evidently she saw the effect her narrative had,for she stopped talking and looked at me with me with a satisfied, pleased expression on her face. i said “this situation cannot be allowed to continue. peace must come” she smiled and nodded. i felt an Iron will rising within me. filled with a new determination and sense of purpose i turned to go. i saw her waving goodbye as the keeper opened the gate. i ran into one of the people with whom i had been staying and told him of my intention. his response was “what ? you are going to end the fighting?. they have been at it steadily for years and you th8ink they will listen to you” his skepticism was understandable. both sides had in their ranks rock hard devotees at times amounting, to zealotry, and they were going to stop fighting because JH, a perfect stranger said they should!!! naturally they thought i had cracked under the strain. i said” THEY WILL.THEY MUST” and started to walk toward the downtown area, which would have been the center of the conflict once fighting began in earnest. he yelled”MY GOD HE’S SUFFERING FROM PTSD. SOMEBODY FIND A GOOD DOCTOR” then i woke up .
Dear James,
This is just about the coolest dream you have ever sent and you have sent some really interesting epics. I think that the best way to look at this dream is to see the conflict as inside of yourself. The north represents the energy of the mind, while the south represents the energy of the heart. When the two are in harmony, then there is total awe and appreciation for diverse capacities because everything is seen as beautiful. When there is conflict, appreciation is replaces with blame and criticism. You can see that the dream is teaching you how to stop conflict in yourself and also conflict outside of yourself. It is like you know what to do to create peace because you have been shown the results of peaceful living. Isn’t it interesting that peace comes about primarily as a result of being in awe at the beauty that surrounds you. It is an ancient truth. In yourself you could ask yourself how you experience the conflict and then just start appreciating the beauty of the north and south in you. Outside of yourself you can just experience the beauty in everyone around you. What is interesting to me is that just yesterday when I went to play tennis with a group of 4 of us, I told myself to just f encourage everyone by telling them how well they are playing. Do not allow criticism and blame to enter. And be competitive but do not get into conflict or war. What was amazing is that the level of play went super high. What a great dream, James!
Richard,as usual you have gotten to the heart of the matter. although i did not think of the northern and southern faction as representing my intellecual and emontional self, i certainly did think of them as diametrically opposing ideologies with each one disinclined to listen to the point of view of the other one. the lesson is indeed about harmony between opposites. the most remarkable thing about the dream (for me,at least) was the sense of ability and power at the dreams end. i felt as though i really could bring about peace between the warring factions and make them see the destructiveness and futility of the conflict they were engaged in. so this could be about bringing out hidden abilities as well. i look forward to your response
The first key to conflict resolution is the recognition by each side of the positives that exist in the other.
very true. much of the worlds problems come from the lack of dialogue between different sides. they either refuse to acknowledge any good on the otherside or when there is some discussion often there is no real discussion but only communication on a very limited basis. nothing anywhere near the reconcillation and mutual respect necessary for understanding . as a friend of mine once said”before there can be love and understanding there must first be respect and tolerance”
Dear Richard,
Last night I dreamed that I was in my sleeping room. Looking at the floor I saw two octopuses, one male, one female (I don’t know how I know it, it was just known in my dream,) and felt threatened by them. I killed one with a handkerchief and the other was hiding under my shelf, but I caught and killed it. After that, I somehow regretted killing them, especially since their carcases were severed and their brain had fallen out of their heads, but i was still disgusted and didnt feel much remorse. I then put on one way gloves and disposed of them in the toilet. While carrying one of them, I looked at its face, and it looked so aggressive, even though it was dead. The octopus were white with a little tone of blue, the room was my sleeping room only that it was a little darker and generally had a more redish tone.
I’ve had strange dreams before, but this one felt particularly off, so I thought I’d just consult you about it.
Dear Aeneas,
An octopus, when it is positive, represents adaptability and flexibility. It uses camouflage to blend it to its environment and also has many flexible arms to assist it get what it needs. When you are threatened by an octopus and want to get rid of it, it is probably because you want to stand up and be strong or really fight for what you want. Being an octopus, which is what the dream is calling for, may feel like the wrong process or strategy to solve the difficult situations you get into, but you get the dream so that you can start to become a positive octopus. Try it. It will work.
Dear Richard. i have had a very strange dream. not as strange as some of the ones i posted. but puzzling nevertheless.and disturbing. i can remember being driven around and dropped off at one place after another. at each place someone would speak to me seriously, and i had the feeling of something being urgent. that what i said or did could have far reaching consequences. this feeling lasted throughout the whole dream. first in an apartment in a big city then in what seemed like a way station and then in a suburban home. always the same theme: be careful with what you say, because your testimony will affect the life of your friends. it was never clear what Friends or before whom i was to testify. groups of people (sometimes it was just one.sometimes more than one) would try to impress on me the importance of watching what i said because my friends well-being and possibly their lives depended on it. at the very last place i was dropped of it was at a bus stop in a downtown area of a big city, waiting for a mini-van to take to the final rendezvous point where i would be taken to the place where i was to give testimony. as i looked at the urban sprawl and the sidewalks,filthy from years of use, the van pulled up. just before i got in i can remember thinking “what am i doing here? and who are these people? ” then i woke up. you see, what is puzzling about it is the fact that nothing in my ordinary life conforms in the slightest to the situation in the dream. i have not been called to testify by any court or government agency. perhaps in some way i do not suspect i feel vulnerable. this dream opens up a lot of possibilities. i think i should mention one thing: in the dream i am much younger than i am now. in fact i regressed to a teenager. this is so unusual for me that it needs to be mentioned. i am looking forward to your analysis of this,so you and i can put together the pieces of this puzzle
Dear James, The key to this dream is when you asked the questions, “what am I doing here? and who are these people? It is when you asked these questions that you woke up. When you wake up from a dream, it represents when you woke up in your life. It was if you were sleeping being taking around from place to place, told the importance of your testimony, etc. When you ask the questions, it was like you woke up to what might be happening. The questions are brilliant because before you asked them, it was like you were just going along with things. What am I doing here? and who are these people? are the questions you need so that you have more control of your life and where it is headed rather than be directed around by others.
an excellent analysis,Richard. i feel you have hit the nail right on the head. there have been times in my life when i felt i was not as assertive as i should have been. although i have mostly corrected this, inwardly i must still be fearful that that this will come to the fore sometime. the fact that i devolved to a teenager is possibly significant (all the people who spoke with me were adults) so this dream may be interpreted as a warning against letting this happen in a real life situation. i will bear this in mind. as always, you go straight to the deeper meaning of things
A week or so ago I had a dream I was in a city in a high rise and I could see across the street onto a smaller 10(ish) story building that had this apartment with a huge balcony and bunch of people were on the balcony having a party and I was thinking how cool that apartment was. Last night I was back in the same city, but this time I was living in that cool apartment with my daughter and her father (who passed 6 years ago) and she was a teenager in the dream as she is today and her father was abusive as he was when he was alive. We were hiding from him and called the cops and they showed up and she left the apartment. I went to look for her and ended up in the pool area. There were these stairs that went up to the 8th floor of the pool (which was on the 4th fl) the pool was indoors and the ceiling went up to the 10th floor, so lots of space from the pool to the ceiling. The stairs that took you from floor 8-9 were so incredibly steep . When I got to the top I almost fell because there was a gate you had to climb over. I got over the gate and the walkway was 12inches wide and I made it across and went to turn into the bathroom, which has these two rails and was 12in wide as well. I was holding onto one of the rails and it broke off. I looked back and knew I was going to fall the 5-6 stories into the pool. I accepted this, took my glasses off as I started to fall and threw them down into the pool asking others to catch them. I have to hold my nose when I go under water and I took a breath and held my nose and looked down and still had a ways to go so I took another breath and looked again and still had a ways to fall. I took a third breath and that is when I finally hit the water. I came up, took my glasses and left that area. the next area was the kiddie area with small slides and a woman was sitting at the base of one of the slides talking on the phone and I had to pee and wanted to pee in the pool water but she was right there so I did not.
Next thing I know I am in my car driving into the neighborhood that I live in waking life. I am alone in the car and there is a huge crocodile in the middle of the road. There are kids close to it, but their mom was pulling them back and there were other people around as well. I look to my passenger seat and there is my daughter, the crocodile is mouth open under my front driver tire and top of mouth on the hood of my car. I try to run it over but it is strong. Anytime I back up and turn around the croc meets me there and wont let me though. Then I woke up
it was an alligator, not crocodile!
Dear C,
This dream is about the challenges that your ego has when you try to move to a more joyful, relaxed place in your life. When your higher self wants to be in a joyful place, your ego mind remembers the challenges of living with an abusive partner. Your mind thinks that the same kinds of things are going to happen, that everything is going to be precarious, and that there are a lot of other alligator people that you will have to face and confront.
Try doing this exercise. Visualize your fearful self, the one that is having to face alligators and go up difficult steps. This is the one that lived with your ex husband. Then ask yourself how she acts. Then visualize your newer self that knows how to live a joyful, relaxed life.
The fearful self will be hyper-vigilant, while the joyful self with be fully present, embracing the moment. When you can feel the joy then just let the image of the fearful self go away. Do this everyday for a week or two. Being joyful in your own self will make your daughters life work out really well.
I had a dream that I was outside a soccer stadium and a game was going on. It was crowded and I was sitting at a picnic table with a famous football player and my friend. The famous football player was holding a black kitten in his arm, it was so black that it would sometimes look like a black shadow. The kitten was my childhood pet who died because it broke its leg, and I felt bad that I could not take care of it but the soccer player was taking care of it. I asked the soccer player to hold it he would give it to me but then he would take it back because the I was not taking care of the kitten properly.
Hi Emma,
This dream is a continuation of the theme in the other dream you sent. The soccer player represents someone who is very competent, while the cat represents independence. In order to be competent like the soccer player you have to take car of the black kitten which is your independence. You probably have been in relationships where there was enmeshment and co-dependence. You can be in a relationship but only after you develop the quality of independence.
I had a dream long ago about man I was dating who liked to grab my hand and look at it and study it. Then a hole would form on my hand that I would pull my hand away from him. Then I had a dream that an octopus would try to eat my hands and my feet but I would pull away. Then I saw a woman with a tattoo on her hand and I wondered if the monster tried to eat her hand to but she covered the scratches with a tattoo.
Dear Emma,
When you have a dream about hands, it is about your skills or abilities. When you were in that relationship, it affected your abilities or skills. An octopus means he/others are all over you which would again affect your ability to do things. Getting out of that kind of relationship/s is the thing to do so you can remember how competent you are and get things done.
Hello
this was a sex dream but I have these types of sex dreams where I am having sex with some people but their cum in black. They also look like snails or they seem to look like living organisms that are not sperm. What does it mean to dream about men having black sperm.
Hi Emma,
When the cum is black is means that their motives are dark, usually power-driven, rather than intimacy-driven. Good sex, intimacy, is about closeness, mutual respect, equality, give and take, not about taking only.
I had a dream that I was laying beside a man that I am seeing right now. There is this blue soap in my home country that we used to used so he was scrabbing me with the soap but that soap had chemicals that it would irritate my skin. I asked him why he was doing this but he won’t answer but I kept seeing the picture of the bardo in my mind.
Hi Emma,
This dream and the other one have something to do with learning how to be intimate with others, not necessarily sexually, but it doesn’t preclude sex. When someone is doing something that is irritating you, and does not have the courtesy or consideration to stop doing it, then it is time to have strong boundaries with that person even when you are attracted because the relationship is about them and not about the both of you. For intimacy to happen both people need to be giving and receiving in an unselfish manner. Sex, like any other relationship, is much better if both partners are being pleasing to each other. Having mutual relationships where there is an equality of giving and taking is the goal.
What does it mean when you have a dream in a dream?
i had a dream where i was dreaming and woke up in my dream before waking up. Doesn’t make sense when i try to explain it.
also, right before i wake up from “a dream in a dream” i some how consciously know im dreaming and i felt like my eyes were physically open as i was dreaming. Like my conscienceness was awake when i was sleeping.
There are 2 types of waking up. You can wake up in real life, like when something bad happens which makes you wake up and start paying attention to important things, or you can wake up when you are in the inner world, like through meditation or in a dream. It means that in the process of going inward, you are waking up to new realizations and realities. It is a great thing to wake up in the inner worlds.
I dreamed I was on a bus, nervous. I was combing my hair when someone grabbed my comb and got off the bus. I saw my deceased friend standing and looking at me on the bus. The person went to my deceased friend who was dressed in a nice suit. She handed him my comb and he looked at the comb with hair gel on it. He looked at the comb like he was looking for answers. I was embarrassed and bent down. He put it in his pocket and pulled out something. He handed it to the girl and looked at me with a smile. She hand me a torn note with a message and a handful of white pills spilled in my hands. I was excited to to read the note hoping it will explain to me his feelings and thoughts. No matter how I tried I couldn’t read the message
Dear Lovelyaslace,
This dream is about you being confident in the power of all of your beautiful qualities that are represented in your hair. Others are trying to find the secret to your empowered state, but cannot find it. When you realize just what an amazingly beautiful human being you are, you will have a powerful effect on others. Be confident in your beautiful self.
I had a really longgg nightmare and i really need someone to help me interpret it.
In my nightmare, it started off with my dad who told me he liked little girls (in a p3dophilic way.) and he said that he liked this one little girl and he said EXACTLY THIS: “I like/love her adorable rosy cheeks.” In a creepy way. I was so disgusted and shocked. Please mind i already have a terrible relationship with my dad. He isn’t a p3do but there are possibilities.
Then i dragged him to this old 1980s type of computer with a blue background to sign documents to give up full custody of me and leave me for good. However, he kept running away, but i kept dragging him back. He cursed at me while i was dragging him back to the computer, but he never said he DIDNT want to sign it.
Then, I was in my old apartment where i lived in when i was in 7th grade to 8th grade. I was hanging out with some girls (probably my friends but idk them) in my apartment, and when i went to my room (the apartment was a one room apartment), i saw my dad j3rking off…
(This reminds me of how in the same apartment, same room, my dad was drunk and asleep and i saw him with his pp out and i was traumatized cause im very sure nobody wants to see their dad’s d1ck out. I was mad about that because he was irresponsible and an alcoholic. Still is. I told my mom about it and she got mad and told my dad. My dad then told me, “if it was you, I would have just covered you with a blanket. Stop being dramatic.” Not even an apology. I feel like this correlates with the recent nightmare i had.)
anyway, back to to nightmare. I saw nothing but black after that but then i teleported to a classroom. The classroom looked exactly like the one from the school i used to go to before i got kicked out for not living in the district. However, the classroom was kind of like a library in my nightmare. There was a lot of kids in it. Some kid let me play in a computer and when i did, it said, “Trauma detected (from you). Do you wish to continue?” I clicked yes (for some reason) and then the computer started to glitch like crazy similar to a virus and then i got sucked into the computer. Then i was running, i don’t know why but i know that i was running from something/someone. Then that’s when i woke up.
If anyone would kindly like to interpret the nightmare i had, please tell me because I feel like God is trying to tell me something cuz it is rare for me to have dreams/nightmares that feel like forever instead of a few seconds. Thank you.
Dear Yuuooo,
This dream basically informs of the two places in your life where you have difficulties because of your dad’s own dysfunction. They are relationships and academics. When you needed a supportive and encouraging father growing up, you pretty much got the opposite. Academics require a brain that is detached and objective as if you are working at a computer. In the dream you get lost in it like when someone overdoes video games. Relationships requires attending to the other people in a positive way. The lack of support and encouragement from your dad keeps your attention from being able to focus for long periods probably. The one thing you can do is to imagine internally that you have the kind of father that you wished you would have had. it is a big of complicated process to teach. You could probably use outside help to get support and then learn how to support yourself.
Thank you very much.
I have one question though, what did the p3dophilism from my dad mean in my nightmare? Did it mean nothing? I am asking because that is what disturbed me the most. Also thank you again.
Hello, I hope you are doing splendid. I had a dream that has left me confused and contemplating. I can’t really draw out my current feelings about it because my past days have been spent on feeling not quite okay. Today’s not any different.I saw two kittens, one black and the other one white with grey spots. All I know is they spawned from nowhere or somewhere I can’t remember. It made me feel anxious as if there’s a burden of choice. What I’m about tell you next sounds horrible probably because it is. I’m absolutely disgusted by what I did in the dream. I threw the white kitten into the toilet. Just as when I’m about to flush it, Thank God I stopped. Going out of the bathroom, to my room, thinking there, making a choice. The black kitten comes close to me and somehow I communicate to the kitten that go fetch it back. Black one brings back the white kitty. These two were extreme cuties, very affectionate towards me. It felt nice and good. On a side note, I love felines, they have alluring/admired characteristics and striking charisma. Thank you so much for reading this.Kind regards.
Dear Nooray,
When you have cats in a dream, it means that you are being asked to develop your own independence, especially your own independent mind. When you have kittens, rather than full grown cats, it means that you already have a sense of independence, but it is relatively a new thing for you. It is developing but not fully developed. You have two kittens, which means that the powers of your own independent thinking and being, are twice as strong as you may have imagined.
Probably, you would want to discard one, even though it is horrifying, because being independent and having an independent mind is so counter to your cultural and familial upbringing. Despite the conflict, they are very much a part of you because the cats are so affectionate with you. They are completely connected to your life’s purpose. You need a strong, independent mind.
Richard,
Last night I had a dream that I was at my grandmothers house (she passed in 2007 and we sold the house after her passing). In the dream she was still passed on, I was just living in her house or my cousin was. Anyways I was there with my female cousin who I used to be close with as children and teens, but grew apart as we became adults. My cousins son was with us and so was my husband for some parts and some others came and went. There were murders getting into the house and trying to harm up, it was like a deadly game of hide and seek. When the broke in they corralled us all to the living room and basically said they were going to kill us. My cousin ran and got one of their machine guns and started shooting, maybe killing one of them and we all scattered. The rest of the dream was jumping back and forth between myself and everyone else kind of. In the end we managed to kill most of them and we were back in the living room and there was one left. My cousin goes and gets the gun and just starts shooting rapid fire everyone missing all of us and only killing the bad guy. Then her and I are in the kitchen cleaning up blood and the bodies are all magically gone and the house is back to how it was in the start.
There was a stain on the kitchen floor that I started to rub and some glue holding the floor together came up in two places and then the hardwood on top was all bumpy and you could see the rotted floor below it. Then we called the cops and SWAT showed up in huge grayhound busses, like 2 or 3 and all packed in the backyard and the thought of them parking in the backyard was surprising and caused anger for my cousin and I. I woke up before SWAT came in to do anything.
Hi C,
When you go into your grandmother’s house in a dream, it has to do with ancestral self. In this case the ancestral self was invaded by others whose intention is was to do harm. Their intention and the damage they would have caused in the past left certain positive energy in your family undeveloped. You and others did a good job of killing off the bad energy, even before the SWAT team came. This would have not been possible in the past. So, if the negative intrusion is now possible to stop, the question is what positive energy was left undeveloped. It is like you have the power to stop them now, so it is not empowerment. It is probably more about having a positive vision and then bringing it to fruition, but you can search your own inner being for what is missing from your ancestral line.
Richard, it has been quite a while and hope you and the family are doing well!
My dreams the last week or so have been so negative. I recall bits from them, but I wake up feeling the feelings from the dream and it causes some distress. I am able to separate the dream feelings from waking life soon after I wake up as I recenter myself, but still.
Some of the dreams were my husband being mean to me with words and emotions. Last night though there was a dream that i was in my house (not my waking house) and my parents, husband and all 4 kids were there. At some point there were some bad guys there and and we stole some of their money – 3 million was the number. My husband took and put it somewhere. Then my daughter and I worked together to take it from my husband. We were able to get 1 million and then i was outside with all my kids and we were leaving my husband and parents behind for good. My daughter (who is his step daughter) wanted to go back to be with him (in waking life they are really close as her bio dad passed 6 years ago). We go back and he lets her keep the money. I tell her I get 10% of it for helping her get it and she was so upset that I was taking that much. I have student loans and a car payment and I was excited to pay those off with it.
Then I was running outside and I dont recall why, but I was naked except a thong and it was raining out. I was mildly self conscious about my breasts being out and make a couple attempts to cover them with my arm, but I needed to run. I ran into the house and woke up.
Dear C,
So really this dream is about how to deal with meanness. It is showing you the problematic way you are dealing or thinking of dealing with it now. It is your husband in the dream, but it could be anyone that shows negative behavior towards you. What you are trying to do is to paying him back with bad strategies (bad guys’ money). When you do that, it only causes separation and then it leaves you out in the cold and rain exposed. The positive strategy requires first being able to let go of mean behavior (no small step) and then to have your own positive voice of encouragement in your head. When meanness affects you, it carries with it a negative voice and being that stays in you. It can be replaced by your own positive voice and being or someone else’s that you know that is positive. When you are in your positive self fully, then you will know what to do. The source of all wealth is the positive connections you have with others. That is where you are headed. It will pay off your debts, but you have to listen your positive self. Feel free to ask questions.
Thank you very much.
I have one question though, what did the p3dophilism from my dad mean in my nightmare? Did it mean nothing? I am asking because that is what disturbed me the most. Also thank you again.
oops wrong comment sorry
Dear Yuuooo,
What seems to happen with your ego brain is that when you need to feel supported to go for more intimacy with others and go strongly for competency, the feelings that come up are like being creeped out. Instead of feeling supported, you feel creeped out. The goal is to learn how to let go of the creeped out feeling, and instead feel what is like to be truly supported.