Warning: This post contains several blatant references to God.
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| The Knight's Dream - Antonio de Pereda - 1655 Public Domain |
I don't always think there are meanings to our dreams...but sometimes when one really sticks with me...I feel it takes on a greater significance.
Also, usually if I don't think about a dream immediately upon waking...it is quickly forgotten. But in this case, I didn't start to think about the dream until I was already up and moving around...and to me that gives it an even greater weight.
The beginning of the dream was much longer and involved but none of that stayed with me.
But here is what I vividly remember:
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My Dream:
I'd fallen asleep on one of those pool rafts you inflate and lay on...and was floating out on a lake.
I began to slowly wake up and was very groggy. I found myself laying on my belly with my arms hung over the sides of the raft and into the water. I could hear and feel the water splashing up on and around me, and that and the movement of the raft on the choppy waves was part of what woke me.
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| Artist's Interpretation Rather Than An Actual Photo From The Dream |
Earlier I knew I'd been with a group of family and friends but now, after falling asleep, I was alone.
At the same time I began to come fully awake I realized that a storm was rapidly moving in.
I thought to myself, "Why didn't anyone wake me or help me...why would they leave me sleeping out here on the lake alone with a storm moving in?"
Suddenly....it became PITCH black. I literally could NOT see my hand in front of my face.
I felt very uneasy and knew I wanted to to try to make my way to shore as soon as possible, so I began to blindly paddle with my arms hoping I could find my way to land in the absolute darkness.
And in my desperation I prayed:
Something simple, like: "Oh...Dear God, in the name of Jesus, please help me."
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Rembrandt - Christ in the Storm
Public Domain |
Immediately I could see that I was within reach of some grassy, reedy plants along the shallows of the shore.
Then in the next moment I was out of the water and up on the bank.
As dreams often go, it got a bit more jumbled from then on and my memory of it gets more and more dim...but I do remember that it went on for quite a while longer.
It was only after waking up for real that I began to really think about the part of the dream I've just related, and decided it it was a very interesting.
First: That I prayed...something I've not done often in my dreams that I'm aware of.
And second: It was amazing and ultra cool that my prayer was answered so quickly!
But I also wondered if it had a deeper meaning.
Some Info On Dream Interpretation:
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| Painting: Ivan Aivazovsky - 1898 |
After writing about that dream above, I searched for: "what does water mean in a dream". The first link took me to DreamDictionary.org - Dreams About Water.
I don't always put stock in such things, but in this case some of the "meanings" they suggested there really resonated with me.
They suggest that:
- Water is a powerful dream symbol that holds deep messages to the dreamer and shouldn’t be over looked.
- Water as a dream symbol represents your current emotional state of mind.
- Sometimes when we are unable to show our emotions in our walking life our dreams tend to bring them out in different forms.
- Recognizing the events in your water dream can benefit you in many ways mentally and physically.
They go on to define different symbolic meanings that apply directly to events in my dream:
- Splashed by Water - This is a dream symbol where you unconscious is telling you to wake up! Get back on track with your life and stop stalling.
- Water Storms – Storms in dreams can represent a deterioration of the past experiences or relationships. Storms represent a bad situation that we are in emotionally.
As I related, in my dream I couldn't see...or it was too dark for me to see anything...it was utterly pitch black. So I also did a search about "not being able to see in our dreams"...but couldn't find anything specific on that.
But I found something that I feel applies on http://www.dreamgate.com/. They say there that we can and should interpret our own dreams and if that interpretation seems right and makes sense to us...then we can be reasonably sure that it IS right.
My Dream Interpretation:
In my dream I was alone, blind and helpless, floating out on a lake with an approaching storm.
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| Photo: Alessandro Zangrilli |
At times, I've felt that way in my life...that I'm alone on an ocean of water with storms all around me and I can't figure out how to change my situation or what I can or should do...and there is no one willing or able to help me. I'd had a strong case of those feelings in the days around that dream.
And finally, while it appears I am alone in these circumstances...when I pray God is able to quickly answer me and provide the help I need.
