nightmares?

[bkilbour]

I have been feeling like there's some sort of nightmare world in my head, or perhaps a place I've been going to in my sleep.
Every couple of weeks, I dream that I'm in some place that, when I wake up, I recognize from my other dreams.
There have been four places that I found myself in; a version of the Sub School building in conneticut, lying in ruins; a vast courthouse; what looked like a hotel by a bizarre ocean; and an underground complex.

I originally thought that it was just psychological, a response to my stresses. But as time went on, I became intrigued as the dreams kept coming, and I could start to recognize what was going on after I woke up (PM me if you want exact events in them).

Then two nights ago, as I was asleep and in the underground complex, I actually recognized it in the middle of the dream, and something happened. I saw these horrid looking creatures (and one human), all sitting at a table and plotting something against me. Noticing me, something started coming after me.

I don't know what's going on, but please, please pray that God would reveal it and give me the wisdom to react the right way.

If any of you are able to interpret dreams, please PM me.

[Atria35]

Praying. But I will say this on dream interpretation- it's actually very personal. Most things in dreams are symbolic to the person that is having them. For instance, I have dreamed about my family being murdered. I read up on a few interpretations on what this means, but in the end I had a revalation about what it meant (which I don't really care to share). And it wasn't anything that was in those dream interpretation books or sites- it was something that was personal and symbolic to me.

[Okami]

Will be praying. I understand what it's like to be "caught" in the dream realm, so to speak. It can be quite frightening and stressful if we don't get some sort of analysis on them.

I know I've done some extensive searching into the interpretation of some of my own dreams and nightmares. It comes with what some of the main points and figuring out what that might mean to you (Which at the time it may mean nothing, but something could happen years later to trigger a response to that dream or nightmare - this recently happened to me as I had a nightmare (on Halloween) that I hadn't had since '07, and suddenly the details of the nightmare came alive in a way I hadn't previously distinguished---you can PM me if you would like to know, Blake, I just don't care to share it on the forum itself) and just looking into what dream interpretation sites have to say about certain symbols and see if they relate (the one I use primarily is DreamMoods) and professional evaluation is always an option, too. My counselor and I have gone back and forth many times over the interpretation of my dreams.

I pray you figure out what all of this means in due time. God bless, brother.

[Tsukuyomi]

I'll be praying as well ^^

I actually have two main places where I tend to be at in dreams. One place I like to refer to as The Haunted Mansion.. There's always this ominous feeling about it, but I think it's like my home in my dreams or something. I started dreaming abot this places a couple of years ago o.o Lately though, I've been starting to have dreams that take place in an apartment :-? It's actually pretty calm there and even by water ^^ I have pretty vivid dreams, so I tend to recognize this thing and that thing ^^

Dreams are very interesting to me ^^ I think dreams do reflect how one feels in real life ^^ Are you still stressed by any chance ^^? Perhaps, with school? Perhaps, the creators chasing you is homework piling up after you? It sounds silly, but if there a busy time at school (test, exams, hw), then I guess that would make sense lol?

As for my own, I think it represents change ^^ Dreams are usually influenced by real life, so I guess try to apply what is going on irl to what happens in your dream ^^

[K. Ayato]

Dreams are essentially symbolic. I have a buddy who'd analyze the dreams I experienced during the time before I got married. Never meant that anything I saw or experienced in the dreams were going to happen in the real world. A lot of images I saw were simply representations of what I was feeling that my mind just decided to associate with.

If God is indeed trying to tell you something, I hope you find the answers and get some more peaceful rest .

[bkilbour]

@okami - I'll check out the link.
@tsuku - heh, I don't go to school. I got back from deployment a month ago, so I'm a lot less stressed out than i used to be. And though I understand that people have various familiar places they see in dreams, something went seriously awry the first time I remembered where I was and knew that I was dreaming. It was like I wasn't supposed to or something, you know?

@K. Ayato - I sure do hope God's trying to tell me somethin'; MUUUCH better than the devil trying to influence me or scare me.

[MrKrillz0r]

Prayin'

[acgifford]

I will pray for you.

[Dante]

Hooray for dreams ^_^... not so much for nightmares T_T.

I'm sorry you're having such a miserable time in the dream-world, that's one of my favorite parts of life (if I wouldn't wake up so horribly tired I would have recorded three last night on a digital recorder by my bed - yes I got the idea from Ghost Hound).

Dreams, more often then not, are neither messages from God, nor tortures from demons, but they are still fascinating none-the-less. There is no scientific conclusion as to why we dream, or for that matter why we sleep, but if you don't allow someone to enter REM sleep you can really mess with their day-to-day lives and physical health. Research done by Carl G. Jung and other analytical psychologists also provided another interesting aspect of dreaming, they discovered that often times, aspects of your dreams can be considered as "symbolic", almost like messages from your unconscious.

This of course, is a very specific issue, determining what your unconscious is trying to say is hardly an exact science, it certainly doesn't speak English - but it's important to listen to what it's saying to try and create a balanced life. Dreams are after all, a creation of your own body most of the time, what you see, hear and feel (and yes, studies suggest those experiences will seem as real as in everyday life) are created by your mind.

So the question is, what is your mind trying to tell you? I don't know, for one, I don't have a full documentation of your dreams (have you considered writing them down in a journal to see what similarities are there?), and second off, I'm not the dreamer. I do have The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams which might provide some sources of inspiration.

3 Things hit me for instance, but maybe it doesn't seem right to you. The sub school trains you to go deep underwater, the hotel is by the ocean which is very deep and draws your attention ("by a bizarre ocean") and the the underground complex is also deep beneath the Earth. That is, to you, do these 3 dream ideas sound like "something is going on beneath the surface"? And if so, is that a surface in your life, or in your mind?

Likewise, each of these three things you've noted seem 'off', the ocean is "bizzare", the sub school is "lying in ruins", and the underground complex is filled with "horrid looking creatures". What do you think about there being "monsters" under "under the surface"? These aren't 'real' monsters, but perhaps aspects of yourself that are threatening to 'surface' or leave their dark dwelling places under the earth?

If that's the case, the stress you're feeling might be a prelude to something more unless you take measures to take better care of yourself. For instance, maybe that's why you run from the monsters instead of facing them, perhaps you're running from the problems you have in your life? I don't know, just an idea.

Well this is all just going way out there on a limb. I don't make claims to any kind of spiritual gifts in this area (or any other sadly - although that would be rather cool), but maybe it can let you gain some kind of insights on them. Personally, I don't know if the Courthouse is related to the other dreams or not, but it might be useful to consider it as separate altogether. My dream encyclopedia does have an entry for Hotel and Courthouse though, maybe they'd be useful in figuring out what you're looking for, (I did the above on my own)

Hotel: Dreams that highlight hotels, bed and breakfasts and boarding houses suggest that you are not currently feeling secure in your situation. They can also indicate a short-term situation, relaxation or escape, or activities separate from home-life. For business people, hotel dreams may refer to work. If you are about to take a vacation, your dream may simply reflect your excitement at the thought of the holiday. But if you are not going on holiday, the dream implies that you have reached a transitional stage in your life and the dream hotel mirrors how you feel about this change of circumstances. Perhaps you have recently moved to a new area, or a relationship has broken up and you are adjusting to your new single status. Was the hotel a bright, uplifting place or was it depressed and dirty? All these details will help you with the interpretation. Bear in mind, too, that hotels, although advertised as home from homes, are in fact impersonal places run by others - so do you yearn for anonymity or do you dread losing your identity?

Courthouse: A law court in a dream may make you focus on your capacity to make fair judgments in complicated matters concerning work, friends or family members. It may also highlight your feelings of being on trial in waking life, or a sense of guilt about having broken a promise, or a moral or social law. Perhaps you are anxious about being judged by others or feel that there something that you should be punished for.

Don't know if any of that helps - seems a bit off to me. If the nightmares persist though, and you are able to recognize that you are dreaming from the dream signs, you might actually try to lucid dream. After all, if you know you're in the dream world, just about anything is "possible". I've stopped entire tidal waves in my dreams just by realizing that I was dreaming, I've killed demons with wooden blades, and done blind back flips off landings 3 stories up to land safely on the ground to the complete bafflement of my pursuers (oh, and being chased is one of the most common dreams people report having). Once you've escaped or defeated your opponents, you can turn the nightmare into a good dream (try flying, fly fast and shoot through the clouds, it's awesome - you can also go through mirrors if you find one. If you want to continue dreaming but notice it's going fuzzy, starting spinning around like a little kid, the dream will sharpen again and you'll have a few minutes more of fun). I don't experience nightmares too often these days, so I don't get a lot of opportunities to use this though.

Anyways, I'll definitely throw a prayer in for you and ask that you can get this thing settled.

Sweet dreams,
Pascal

[steenajack]

I will be praying as well.

I know that once in awhile, if I'm going through stress or having fears/doubts about something, it tends to show up in my dreams. I've had dreams of people I know/know of hurting me, and I've almost always linked it to a fear I've had about something. Most of the time, it's something inside that I need to deal with one way or another.

I will be praying though.

[bkilbour]

Thanks for the prayers, everyone.
@pascal... I realize that there is a lot of credit that carl jung may deserve, but I'm not sold on his psychology of dreams (they are better than freud, though).
And I took a look at the 20,000 dreams book, and it told me that if I'm dreaming about sea life, and it includes an oyster, then I am doubting whether the world is my oyster... I think I'll stick to praying.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I know all about having disturbing nightmares and how they mess up sleep and one's day. Not to your extent though. Praying for you mate.