I’ve been thinking a lot about recurring dreams lately.
I had a conversation with the woman I happened to be sitting next to in the movie theater.
I’m not excatly sure right now how we got on the subject, but the subject came up.
They were showing a clip of Fantasia, and we were all wondering what year it was made.
She looked it up on her phone. Maybe there was a part in the film that she said had always scared her.
I asked her if she had tidal wave dreams, or dreamt of water. She said no,
but then a moment later told me that her recurring dreams were about
three witches coming out of volcanoes.
Neither of us had any idea what that dream could mean, but isn’t it an incredible image?
I think she must have been a very powerful woman, to be dreaming like that all the time.
Do you have recurring dreams? What are they? What do you think they mean?
Mine are these:
TIDAL WAVES


I’ve had this dream since I was little.
I used to think it indicated that I lived in Atlantis
in a past life. I discovered later that in dreams
water = emotion – aha!
Suddenly it all made sense- running from a behemoth,
a moving wall of water hundreds of stories high.
Terrified of being caught beneath it when it finally
crashes down. Most times I would wake up before then,
but sometimes it would crash over me, and then I’d be
paddling around in a salty morass of soggy papers
and suitcases and floating four poster beds,
frantically trying to rescue all my memories
from the water. I would survive it.
Mostly this dream had to do with the immense grief
I felt after my mother died when I was a little girl.
I never really dealt with it, because it was too big.
I thought that if I let myself feel all of that pain
that it would kill me. Drown me in tears.
I made some headway with those dreams-
now I pay attention to the water, the choppy currents,
the great white sharks and the little leaks and trickles
that suddenly become overwhelming floods.
I try to be aware of my emotions in the same way,
confront them and give them release before
they overwhelm me utterly and I run.
MISSING THE PARADE – MARDI GRAS COSTUME NOT FINISHED!

(Photo by Lisa Loffenn)
This is my number one anxiety dream.
Some people have anxiety dreams about
not studying for a test or being naked in public,
and I suppose this is my version of that.
In these dreams, I’ve not finished my costume
or I’ve stayed out all night and find myself at 10am
far from home and my ensemble, stranded and stressed.
Sometimes the parade passes me by, everyone bedecked
in glory, and I stand tattered and smeary, utterly crushed.
A few times I’ve dreamt that a parade (maybe Krewe de Vieux)
is passing on the street below, but I can’t get out onto the balcony
or down the stairs because my costume is too big!
Ridiculous, I know- but these really are the things I worry about.
TEETH FALLING OUT

(A still from The Deadly Spawn, 1980)

(Photo by Horrible Cherry)

(Photo by Paddy Patterson)
I only have this dream occasionally,
but I know a lot of people that have it.
So disturbing. I’ve heard lots of interpretations:
loss of control, important decisions, money worries..
I think it has to do with a loss of control,
or a loss of face. Maybe it’s different for everyone,
but it seems to be a universal stress dream.
TORNADOS

(Photo by P Josh D)
Tornados mean something very specific
in my dreams, but I’m not really sure I have words to explain it.
I’m not afraid of them. They are exciting, and somehow sentient.
Sometimes I’m driving very fast over dusty desolate roads
with my sister. We gun the engine and head straight towards
them laughing, laughing. The most significant dream I’ve
had about them is as follows:
I see a white tornado in the distance,
a churning, whirling wraith intent on
savaging the idyllic scene I see before me:
deep slate blue sky and golden fields,
the pristine farmhouse stark and shivering..
I try to warn my companions, who are hazy
and faceless and who don’t seem to be alarmed.
I climb up on the hood of a broken-down car
for a better view, my only thought is that I
must stop this thing- somehow.
I hear a howling behind my left shoulder
and turn to see that another furious funnel
of white wind has begun to form behind me.
Without thinking, I reach into it and
separate it with my hands into two-
as you would a thick fall of hair for plaiting.
I take both cyclones in heavy handfuls
and crack them like bullwhips,
the way you do with rattlesnakes-
grabbing them by the tails,
shattering their spines
and whipping their brains out
of their mouths with a sharp snap.
Having dispersed these minor monsters,
I turn to intercept the juggernaut
rushing my way with the intention
of disposing of it by a similar method.
This may be the most intensely symbolic dream
I’ve ever had- entirely vivid, and visceral in every way.
KISSING WOLVES

I have this dream every once in awhile
where I am making out with a wolf.
It’s not some bestial thing, and it’s not
really clear if I’m a wolf or a woman,
or how the logistics of kissing wolves
really works with all those teeth and all.
Strange.
SECRET ROOMS

I’ve had this dream since I was little,
of discovering secret rooms or chambers.
One of the first dreams I can remember,
I found an enormous cathedral-like theater
in the steeple of my church. Swooping
red curtains. An apt analogy for my young
mind to make, hmm? When I lived in
a tiny baba yaga shack with only one room,
I constantly dreamed that I would find other rooms
that always been there, behind walls or partitions.
Once I dreamt of a whole second floor!
THIS CERTAIN PART OF THE FOREST

The Higgeldy-Piggledy Tree – Lullingstone Park
Photo by Glen
I find myself in this place sometimes.
NICK CAVE


I used to dream about Nick Cave constantly.
He was my number one schoolgirl crush.
I don’t guess I really need to go into major
detail regarding these, though I will say that
mainly we were having extremely engaging
conversations and strolling. Mostly.
And you? Can you interpret any of these?
I’ve heard it said that there is nothing more dull
than hearing about someone else’s dreams,
but I completely disagree! I love dreams,
and when friends have strange and fascinating ones,
it makes me love them even more.
I hate not remembering my dreams.
I love lucid dreaming, and visiting friends
and future friends there.
I have premonitory dreams,
but they’re mostly useless prophecies.
Have you ever predicted the future in your dreams?