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If you can’t sleep at night, it’s because you’re awake in somone else’s dream. – Legend
A popular (and old!) legend about dreams says that if you can’t sleep at night, it’s because you’re awake in someone else’s dream. Like all legends, you kind of have to wonder where it came from and what experience (if any) led someone to make this statement.
I analyzed a dream for a woman once who said that she and her husband awoke at the same time one night and, after sharing the details about the dreams the were each having, they discovered that each one had just begun dreaming about the other. When I told her about the legend, she said she was a believer.
Have you ever had an experience that would lead you to believe the legend is true?! Or maybe you simply believe it’s a fun legend that really doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Whichever side your on – let us know in the comments.
How Physical Pain Affects Our Dreams
The more facts you read about dreams, the more you realize just how fascinating they are. This week’s “Fascinating Fact” is one you may have experienced yourself. Have you ever dreamed that you were in pain of some sort, only to wake up and find that the pain was REAL?
Some people believe they hurt themselves in their dream, but that’s not the case. What happens is this: When we experience pain with any type of intensity, we often “work” this pain into our dream. If our spouse inadvertently kicks us in the middle of the night, for example, we may dream that something has hit us in the leg.
Lab studies have actually been performed that prove a couple of ways dreamers respond to pain during sleep:
- If it’s a mild, annoying type of pain (for example, they’re foot has fallen asleep and they’re experiencing the pins and needles business), they may dream that their shoe is on too tight or that their foot is stuck in something.
- If they are suffering from something more intense (such as a broken bone or pulled muscle), the pain may manifest itself in the dream as something the dreamer is trying to “escape” from. Physical suffering often shows up in dreams as something that the dreamer is trying to out-run, hide from, or even destroy.
I once got an e-mail from a woman who was CONVINCED she’d cut herself in her dream. She said that, in the dream, she cut herself on the leg with a piece of paper. When she woke up the next morning, she noticed a scratch exactly where she’d dreamed of being cut. I told her that – although this certainly would make for the coolest of stories – it was physically impossible for a dream symbol to leave a mark.
I asked her if she had pets that regularly slept with her or if she slept with someone who might just need to clip their toenails! She said that she had two cats that slept with her and her husband.
When I told her that it was pretty obvious that one of the cats accidentally scratched her leg – she agreed that it was “possible,” but that she planned on sticking with the paper cut explanation.
I guess a “good” story appeals to some people more than the plain old truth!
It All Depends on What the Birds are DOING!
Most dream symbols can have more than one meaning. In fact, sometimes one THING (or person, place…) can actually have many different possible meanings. The mystery lies in what this thing is doing in your dream and/or how it makes you feel.
If you think about it, it all makes sense. After all, even in our REAL world, a single object means different things at different times. If we use a knife to spread butter on a fresh biscuit, the knife is kind of a ticket to deliciousness. However, if we cut ourselves with a knife, then it’s anything but delicious. It suddenly becomes a cruel weapon!
When I think of symbols that can mean many different things in dreams (based upon what they’re doing, how they’re behaving, how they look, etc) – birds come to mind. There are almost as many different dream interpretations for bird dreams as there are birds.
Below are some of the most common. Remember, when interpreting or analyzing your dream, always try to pinpoint what you feel is the most important aspect of each dream component. This is usually the thing that “stands out” the most.
- If you dream of birds and the thing that “stands out” in your mind the most is the sheer number of birds, this is a dream about being overwhelmed in life… of feeling that your problems, anxieties, or worries outnumber you.
- If the thing that you feel is most important about your bird dream is the bird’s nest, the analysis will have everything to do with your home. How did the birds react or respond to the nest? Was it a place of refuge? Was it too small? Was it empty? The dream analysis will lie in the details.
- If the birds in your dream are “watching” over something or someone, the dream analysis is one of observation. You (in your day to day life) have begun to observe or “watch for” something – OR, deep in your subconscious, you know you SHOULD begin observing something or someone more closely. There are, like, a billion and one possible explanations for this one!
- If the most important thing about the bird or birds seems to be their flight, this dream represents freedom. Most of the time, this is freedom from something unpleasant (bills, stress, pain, anxiety, family discord, a bad habit…) but it can also represent freedom from someone or someplace.
- If the COLOR of the bird(s) seems to be the central theme of your dream, you have to look at what the color symbolizes: Blue (usually means peace and contentment – but it can also represent sadness, as in “the blues”) – Red (usually represents strong emotions, power, strength, and drive) – Purple or hues of purple (royalty, healing, Spirituality) – Yellow (health, well-being, happiness, joy, laughter) – Orange (friendships, happiness, fun) – Black (often stands for something elusive or mysterious) – Green (can mean money, innocence, purity, hope, and healing… it can also represent a “green light” for something you’ve been contemplating).
- If birds are fighting, it’s a sign of discord in your life – either within your relationships or discord you’re having with yourself.
No One’s Entirely a Stranger in Your Dreams
In addition to the normal dream interpretations and analyses on Dream Prophesy, I’m going to start a series called Fascinating Facts About Dreams. I’ll usually post these on Wednesdays – unless I think of something so fascinating I can’t wait to share it!
The first Fact About Dreams is one that blew me away – in fact, years ago, when I first read about it, I was actually even a little skeptical. But after further research and through personal experience, I’ve found that it’s dead on: There are no total strangers in your dreams.
The faces you see in your dreams are faces you’ve seen at some point in your life. They may be people you’ve seen on television, in movies, in books, or in public. You may or may not have ever talked to these people – all that matters is the fact that your eyes saw them and your brain “acknowledged” them.
When your brain takes notice of a face, it immediately plays casting director. The individual is added to an ever-growing and expansive list of characters that it can draw from for its grand productions called dreams.
That’s why the cashier in your dream may look an awful lot like “Flo” from the Progressive commercials. She (or even what she represents – insurance) may not have anything in the world to do with the dream’s meaning. She may simply be the one that was cast in that particular role!
I have a dream a few nights ago and I kept thinking, “The woman I spoke to looked familiar…” Later I realized the face was that of an English teacher I had in high school. I’m not entirely sure what was up with her hair, though – I’m kind of certain my brain’s hair and makeup department switched up her ‘do a little bit.
When awake, we can kind of imagine the image of a face we’ve never seen. We can think… let’s give her Halle Berry’s eyes, Gwen Stefani’s smile, and Angelina Jolie’s nose. We can come pretty close to picturing the final product (and how lovely would she be?!). However, in our dreams, we simply aren’t able to get that creative.
Think about someone in one of your most recent dreams and see if you can… literally… put a name to the face.
Why In the World Would I Dream of Madonna….
I’m a 20 something year old female who really loves your dream website. I read all of the dream interpretations and have even been helped by a lot of them. I had a dream recently that I’d love for you to take a crack at. First of all, I’m not a Madonna fan. I like her early music but think her later music was kind of embarrassing for her. I had a dream that I was helping Madonna, of all people, find an address. I’m not even a fan, but I was being SO nice to her and she was so grateful and nice to me too. I read in your dream interpretations that you say the dreamer should ask themselves what they associate with their dream symbols or the people in their dreams. With Madonna, I think of someone who is older than me. I don’t think she’s even really that old, but she is older than me and she looks pretty haggard a lot of the time. Withered and all. Anyway, old is the word I associate most with her. Why in the world would I dream about Madonna? -Am I scared of getting old? – Kelly
Well, easy there, you’re talking to someone who’s a Madonna fan! Seriously, I know every word to every song. Yes, even the later ones. Though I’ll admit, they weren’t quite as good as early, vintage Madonna. Also, as a fan, I also hasten to point out that pictures taken of celebrities are often meant to shock us. They make certain to photograph certain celebrities at the worst possible time and some even alter these images. No doubt the pictures you’re referring to have been some of these pics.
As for your dream’s meaning, you’re on the right track with the “associating” exercise, but – ironically – I think you’re going in the wrong direction. If there were any sort of fear, anxiety, or apprehension involved, the dream would have been more negative. However, it was a positive dream which means that it’s highly unlikely anything negative was hidden in the meaning.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this dream has a very positive interpretation. For whatever reasons, you are at complete peace with growing older. Maybe you realize that with all the products, information, and services available today, we can fight the aging process like never before. You’ve probably arrived at the place in your life where you realize that age is just a number – nothing more, nothing less.
I believe your subconscious mind produced someone who symbolized growing “older” to you. I also think that it chose someone who (whether you care to admit it or not) represents aging while still having fun and living life on their own terms.
Madonna represents many things to many people but has always been a sex symbol to most. She symbolizes being comfortable with who you are – whatever your age. She even represents an attitude of “If you don’t like me, it’s your loss!”
I believe that the fact your dream was upbeat and positive simply means you haven’t just made peace with growing older but have come to view it as an adventure.
A final note about your dream. You mention you were helping her find an address. When we’re LOOKING for something in our dream, it usually means we’re searching for something in life. However, you were helping her FIND an address which, to me, means you’ve found something recently – comfort with the person you see in the mirror today as well as the one you’ll see in the mirror 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 years from now!
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