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Dreams

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BrandonD

Skilled Investigator
Most people believe that dreams are nothing more than the effluent from the day coming up to the surface or something like that, but I have a strong feeling that some dreams in particular have a real significance. So I thought it might be interesting to have a thread on it.

I'd agree with most people that dream interpretation "dictionaries" or whatever are pretty stupid, because for one guy snakes could be terrifying and for another they could be his favorite pet.

Dreams can be nonsensical and totally random, and yet there are a few dreams that are nearly universal. Why is this? Here are 2 dreams that almost every single person I've ever talked to has had:

1) I'm in the middle of doing something, and my teeth start falling out.

2) I'm in a car, and the driver falls out of the car or disappears somehow, and I have to jump into the driver's seat and try to steer it into safety.

Have you had the above dreams? If so, what do you think are the significance of these dreams and why does everyone seem to have them?

Can you think of any other dreams that everyone seems to have at one time or another?

I'd be interested in anyone's ideas on the significance of dreams in general, and these "universal" dreams specifically.
 
My universal dream, that others have seem to have shared.

Being back in school, and wandering the halls confused.

Here's the standard scenario of this one for me:

I'm somehow back in high school, and because of some bureaucratic slip up, I need to re-take my senior year. I'm in the school, but I can't remember what class I'm supposed to be in - so I wander the halls trying to remember where to go, and I feel anxious because I know I'm late.

I went thru a long series of these dreams. It actually started in elementary school, and over about an 8 year period (1992 thru 2000 or so) I moved up into junior high school, and then High school (with the pattern above) and then - I actually graduated from high school, and the dreams ended.


Also - I've had the teeth falling out dream too. (it's freekin' creepy)

I've never had the car & driver dream.
 
mikec said:
My universal dream, that others have seem to have shared.

Being back in school, and wandering the halls confused.
Click to expand...


I've had that one also! I've also had a very peculiar variation of that one, which is:

Being back in school, but my memories are totally different. I have different friends, different classes, but they are all accessible in my memory. I can even remember where my dorm room is (even though I've never lived in a dorm ha).

Those are very bizarre, it feels like I'm living someone else's life and when I wake up, for a while I'm disoriented. I haven't had one of those in many years.
 
I've had a few dreams in which I start spitting out ridiculous amounts of
bloody teeth. There's always a strong sense of menace and panic in these
scenarios. Obviously.

I have a cheesy book, '10,000 Dreams and Their Traditional Meanings', that
says these dreams portend personal sickness, or sickness in the immediate family.
I've heard elsewhere that the dream symbolizes a fear of loss of control and/or power.
Personally, I find the latter interpretation to be more useful.

I'm looking at the book right now and just noticed that it's published by a
company called Foulsham. That can't bode well.
 
I used to dream frequently about watching a huge, tall tidal wave about to sweep over me and feeling the terror of that.

Also had dreams a lot of lions stalking or chasing me. And the terror of that.

I've heard that dreams of water (specifically menacing water or waterfalls, etc) signify inability to handle emotions or stress of some sort.

And Lions I've heard signify power, and if they're chasing or attacking you, you are feeling helpless/threatened by a more powerful situation, person overpowering you and/or your life.
 
mikec said:
My universal dream, that others have seem to have shared.

Being back in school, and wandering the halls confused.

Here's the standard scenario of this one for me:

I'm somehow back in high school, and because of some bureaucratic slip up, I need to re-take my senior year. I'm in the school, but I can't remember what class I'm supposed to be in - so I wander the halls trying to remember where to go, and I feel anxious because I know I'm late.

I went thru a long series of these dreams. It actually started in elementary school, and over about an 8 year period (1992 thru 2000 or so) I moved up into junior high school, and then High school (with the pattern above) and then - I actually graduated from high school, and the dreams ended.


Also - I've had the teeth falling out dream too. (it's freekin' creepy)

I've never had the car & driver dream.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

Usually I can't find my class however hard I try. And usually there is a test I need to take as well. And of course I'm late. I still have these dreams even though I'm out of school. Sometimes it is HS and sometimes college. And as dreams would have it, everything is the same but completely different. And I know that doesn't make sense.

Never had the car dream, but the teeth one, yes.

And another one I have that is recurring is being pursued by someone. I don't know who or what or why, but something is after me. The scenes change in different dreams, but the overall theme is "trying to evade whatever is after me".
 
Those back to school dreams suck. Ditto the teeth falling out. Had'em both.
I also have recurring locations in dreams. One is a huge old house with insane, labarynthine architecture...lots of secret passages. These dreams usually involve some sort of scary "ghost."
The other location is a park-like area with a very clear, heavily fish-populated, river. There are always lots of people around the water, but if I climb a rock face out of the park, I come to an isolated desert area with lots of interesting wind-carved stones and honey-comb like cave networks. I like dreaming in this place.
 
1) The back in school, forgot assignments, you're in a heap of trouble now dream (Whole thread on that one here).

2) The mess that is impossible to clean up dream. No matter how hard I try, the mess is still there.

3) The flying dream. I'm frightened to go too high, but it's kinda neat to float about. It's difficult to regulate the throttle.

4) The 'I'm naked and nobody else is' dream.

5) The Big House dream. Either the house takes up a whole city block or it's in the country with lots of different rooms. It's 'home' but there are lots of other people living there, too.

Never had the teeth dream, but, of course, now that it has been mentioned...
 
Schuyler said:
1)
2) The mess that is impossible to clean up dream. No matter how hard I try, the mess is still there.
Click to expand...
I've twice had a horrible dream where, for some reason, I'm trying to kill a cat that just will not die. I stomp it, bash it, shoot it, burn it, cut it into tiny pieces, and then pour concrete over the remains, but I can still hear it's horrible, agonized screeches.
 
skunkape said:
I've twice had a horrible dream where, for some reason, I'm trying to kill a cat that just will not die. I stomp it, bash it, shoot it, burn it, cut it into tiny pieces, and then pour concrete over the remains, but I can still hear it's horrible, agonized screeches.
Click to expand...

Well, that's only six things you did. Cats have nine lives. You just gave up too early. Do three more.
 
skunkape said:
I've twice had a horrible dream where, for some reason, I'm trying to kill a cat that just will not die. I stomp it, bash it, shoot it, burn it, cut it into tiny pieces, and then pour concrete over the remains, but I can still hear it's horrible, agonized screeches.
Click to expand...

Jesus, that's grim.
I noticed you only committed six acts of heinous violence against the cat, though. Three more should put an end to those screeches.
 
I've never had a teeth falling out dream or the being naked in public one. Those are pretty common from what I hear but not in my case.

Anyone ever have "Groundhog Day"-type dreams, which are endless loops that seem impossible to escape? Or dreams that pick up where another left off years and years ago?

Lucid dreaming is amazing. I used to be able to do it very well, not so much now as I do enjoy the extreme randomness of dreams when you can sit back and enjoy the ride.

I knew someone who have gotten SO good at lucid dreaming that it became almost like an addiction. The person lived for dreams, and it effects their real life. I didn't want to get TOO good at it, as I saw what it had done to someone who had. So I stopped trying and mostly let it slip back into autopilot.
 
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get good at it?? I never seem to be able to recognize I'm in a dream however bizzare my surroundings are.
 
TClaeys said:
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get good at it?? I never seem to be able to recognize I'm in a dream however bizzare my surroundings are.
Click to expand...

TClaeys,
(Sorry to barge in)
There's loads of literature floating around about how to dream lucidly. If
you're inclined, you should check out some of Carlos Castaneda's stuff.
Charlatan or not, the work speaks for itself. Really interesting topic.
 
TClaeys said:
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get good at it?? I never seem to be able to recognize I'm in a dream however bizzare my surroundings are.
Click to expand...


Well the most basic thing is to think to yourself as you're getting sleepy that you want to realize you're dreaming inside a dream. If that makes any sense. Keep reminding yourself that you want to realize it's a dream each night.

Sooner of later, during a dream you'll remember this or at at least remember to remember. It can be as simple as during the dream having a moment of clarity where you say "Hey! this is a dream!" and then forget it. Just keep on working on finding that moment and when you do, to hold onto it. Little and little you'll stay conscious that you're floating in your subconscious longer and longer, until you can influence dreams and eventually completely control them.

That is the most simple explanation in a nutshell. There are many different methods one can use to achieve lucid dreaming. This is the simplest to explain, and they way I did it. Individual experience will vary, as some people need to break a certain mental barrier before they can toe the line between fantasy and reality.
 
skunkape said:
The way to succeed
And the way to suck eggs...
69...69...69...
Click to expand...

Did you know that Mr. Crowley did a 'scientific experiment' to determine if
a cat did indeed have 9 lives? He was 10 yrs old or something.

Or maybe that's what you were referring to with your post??
 
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