What Does it Mean to Dream About Your Own Death?
Easily, one of the most disturbing dreams you can have revolves around your own death. Some of these dreams involve just KNOWING that you’re about to die. Other dreams actually take the dreamer to Heaven, allowing them to visit with loved ones who have previously died. Many times, when this is the case, it simply indicates that the dreamer has been missing at least one of these loved ones. It can also mean that the dreamer is missing a period of time in their life – one that they shared with this person. Many times we’re kind of nostalgic for our childhoods and we’ll either dream that people from that period of time are still with us, or that we’ve gone to Heaven to see them.
Similar to illness dreams, dreaming of dying isn’t so much about sickness or death as it is about TRANSITION, LOSS, or CHANGE.
Here’s an example:
Claire, from Detroit, e-mailed me about a troubling dream she had about a week ago. She dreamed that she knew she was dying. In her dream, she was watching her husband and children play in the yard and wondered how (after she’d died) she could let them “know” that she was watching over them. She decided that she’d give them “signs.” They each knew that she loved the color orange, that roses were her favorite flower, and that her favorite bird was the oriole. She decided, in her dream, that she’d take these forms every day for her family – to let them know she was still with them.
As it turned out, Claire and her family were going through a lot of changes. Her husband had recently been laid off, their oldest son had been diagnosed with asthma, and a close family member had moved several states away. As the family dealt with many transitions, Claire undoubtedly felt stressed and anxious. She wanted to keep her family strong and do her best to help everyone deal with the changes positively.
When we go through transitions in our lives, we realize that we need to CHANGE inside as we cope with the changes outside. Sometimes we simply have to change the way we look at things – as well as changing our expectations and goals. Death dreams are simply a by-product of these transitional phases of life. They’re entirely normal – and actually kind of therapeutic. For one thing, they remind us that we can handle anything…. after all, we’re still alive!!!
One other cause of death dreams is guilt. Sometimes we say or do something we really wish we hadn’t. The guilt can overwhelm us if we don’t do everything in our power to apologize and make it right. Many times this guilt will become symbolized in our dreams as self-inflicted harm, illness, or even death.
If you’ve had dreams about your own death, rest assured, they are not prophetic – they are simply an indication of stress, change, transitions, or even anxiety. Dreams do not tell the future – they tell the present.
What Does it Mean to Dream About Dolls?
Dreaming about dolls, in one way or another, symbolizes childhood. It could either be symbolic of the dreamer’s childhood or could symbolize a child (or “wanted” child) in the dreamer’s life. Many couples who are trying to have babies often dream about dolls. These dreams are simply the mind’s ways of handling the intense desire to have children.
Many people will dream about dolls when they have been thinking and/or talking about their childhood. The mind sort of goes back in time to “revisit” the magical time of childhood.
Dreaming of dolls can also symbolize children in your life -either your own children or other’s. If the doll is broken or lost, the dreamer is most likely quite worried about a particular child. If the doll is in perfect condition and (in the dream) brings about positive feelings, it’s simply the mind’s way of expressing love for a particular child (or children).
If – somehow – the doll is associated with negative feelings in the dream, the meaning could be altogether different. Many people will have negative dreams about dolls… even nightmares… when they have negative events in their daily life. Due to the fact that there is a doll present in the dream, these negative events either involve a child OR childishness.
Adults who are either dating or have married an individual with a child or children from another relationship sometimes feel jealous or “left out.” These unfortunate feelings can carry over into dreams and, quite often, star dolls or toys.
In yet another example of doll dreams, we often symbolize someone’s actions (or even our own!) through symbolism in our dreams. If we think someone is acting childish, we’ll find child-like symbols in our dreams – such as dolls. Even if we’re the one who has been acting childish!
Finally, I remember one particular dream where a woman dreamed that she had a doll that looked JUST like her. It turned out that she felt like her husband and children never listened to her. She felt as appreciated and acknowledged as a doll, basically – hence the dream.
What Do Knife Dreams Mean?
I have gotten a lot of e-mails lately about knife dreams. It’s perfectly understandable why these dreams unsettle the dreamer. Many times the dreamer dreams of cutting themself – or, worse, they dream of cutting other people.
Knife dreams leave the dreamer wondering if they’re harboring rage, aggression, or anger.
I’m always happy to assure them that this isn’t the case. You see, knife dreams are what we call SYMBOLIC dreams. In dreams, knives are dream symbols for one or more of the following:
- Wanting to remove something from your life
- Wanting to remove something from someone else’s life
- Wanting to give up a habit
- Wanting someone else to give up a habit
- Wanting to get someone out of your llife
- Wanting to get someone out of someone else’s life
Knife dreams simply mean you want something or someone gone…. like yesterday!
Ironically, they do not imply that you are angry or aggressive – rather they imply that you allow things to go on around you without saying as much as you’d like to say. Very often, the most laid back, easy-going people in the world will dream about knives. I suppose it’s symbolic of wanting to “cut” things out the easy way!
Dreaming About Fire: What Does it Mean?
If you dream of fire, a lot of the dream interpretation rests in the situation. For example, is the fire a “cozy” fire in a fireplace or is it a raging fire threatening anyone and anything in its path.
If the fire in your dream is a controlled fire (bonfire, fireplace, candles, etc) and there aren’t negative emotions connected to it in your dream, the fire stands for a type of renewal or regeneration in your life. Maybe you’re feeling better about a situation that had been troubling you or perhaps you’ve recently made a very important change that you feel good about.
In dreams, fire is often symbolic of cleansing and renewal. It is also symbolic of “warm” feelings and emotions. If you dream of a fireplace, these warm feelings are probably of a romantic nature. Many people believe that if you dream of lit birthday candles, you are excited about the future – maybe not, necessarily, your next birthday – but something in the future, or just the future in general.
If the fire in your dream is threatening or scary in any way, the symbolism is different. Rather than indicating renewal, passion, romance, and warmth, this type of fire represents a feelings frustration and of being out of control (more likely than not emotionally).
Many people, after an argument in which they acted out in a way that left them sorry and embarrassed will dream of a raging fire. Truth be told, it could also symbolize “cleansing” as they wish they could wipe the slate clean. They feel as though they lost control and are frustrated that they couldn’t extinguish their emotions before they took on a life of their own.
Many people who are overwhelmed at work or school will also have fire dreams – because often their lives feel somewhat “out of control.”
If you dream of a wildfire that’s out of control, you’d be wise to really examine what’s going on in your life because this is your brain’s most extreme dream symbol that something is out of control in your life. It’s pretty much telling you that you need to get a hold on the situation because it’s in danger of getting out of hand.
This is kind of cool: If you dream of a fireman, a firetruck, or anything associated with putting out fires, you have recently overcome a negative passion, habit, or thought and feel pretty proud of yourself!
Keeping a Dream Journal
If you have a legitimate interest in your dreams and truly want to uncover what they’re trying to tell you, the first thing you need to do is buy a dream journal. You could probably even find an old notebook around your house that would work beautifully – without spending a red cent.
Most people think they will simply remember every detail of their dreams without writing down the details right away. Unfortunately, this just isn’t the case. Many times, important details are forgotten. In mere hours, large chunks of valuable dream details… just ripe for dream analysis… are lost forever.
It’s like priceless dream symbols flying out of the bedroom window! Opportunities for self analysis, self growth, and self help lost forever.
Not good.
Another benefit of keeping a dream journal is that you’ll be able to see trends. If you dream about lost loved ones, snakes, losing things, death, or clowns on a regular basis – it’s information that will prove valuable to a dreamologist (dream interpreter).
Dreaming about snakes once in a while will hold a different analysis, for example, than if you dream about them 2 or 3 times a week.
Whether you want to use the information to interpret your own dreams or you want to have the information, in full detail, handy for a dream interpreter such as the one on Dream Prophesy – a dream journal is absolutely KEY.
Below are top 10 most important things about keeping a dream journal:
- Keep your dream journal and pen near your bed. You’ll want to get the dream out of your head and onto paper as soon as possible. If you have to search around the house for the journal or the pen, you run the risk of “losing” valuable details.
- Keep your dream journal away from prying eyes! Even though the dream about Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt (or both) may actually hold an entirely different interpretation than expected – you might not be able to explain that to a certain someone!
- Write down every person who appears in your dream. Even if it’s someone you think isn’t at all important, write them down. If you’re unsure who, exactly, the person was “supposed” to be – go with your gut feeling. Sometimes dreams are confusing, to say the least.
- Write down the feelings you experienced in the dream. How you felt during the dream is extremely important to its analysis and interpretation.
- Write down how you feel when you first wake up. Are you anxious, sad, mad, confused, elated? How you feel, initially, also carries a lot of weight in dream analysis.
- If you remember any particular phrases or “key” words in the dream, jot them down, along with who said them. You’ll know which words or phrases are “key” simply because they’ll stand out.
- Right before you fall asleep, remind yourself to remember important details about your dream(s). Doing so will help, over time, train you to better remember your dreams and help you to retain the information for longer periods of time.
- If you can’t remember an entire dream or you’re foggy on certain details, don’t sweat it! Write down what you can remember. DO NOT assume or try to fill in blanks with what you “think” happened in the dream. If you don’t remember, you don’t remember. Think about it this way, if it were truly that important and if it were extremely “key,” you’d probably remember! Just write down the things you remember.
- Write down colors you recall from the dream. Colors in dreams are very important! I’ll be adding a dream color chart to Dream Prophesy in a day or two. You’ll be able to see the different interpretations for the different colors. Write down each color that you remember. If you’re wearing a white top, write that down. If someone in your dream is angry at you and they’re wearing purple, write it down.
- Remember the importance of Dream Symbols. When examining your dream and writing down the details in your dream journal, be sure to list any objects and/or animals that you recall – cats, pillows, birds, toasters, turtles, flowers, etc.
Start keeping a dream journal as soon as possible – it’ll change the way you look at dreams. The information in your journal, combined with the tools and information you’ll find on Dream Prophesy will help you analyze your dreams. Dream analysis can help you in more ways than you can even begin to imagine.
It can open up a whole new world for you – so grab your pen, you won’t want to miss a thing!
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