Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The World Ends - Again

What is it with those "repeater" dreams, always the same, the scenery, symbolism, people ... I have a few that return again and again, as if my sub-conscious is frantic to tell me (warn me?) of something.  Watch out.  Open your eyes.   

Did you know every time we sleep, we "rewire" our brains and wake up with a completely different brain pattern?  True.  We have to sleep it seems.  All animals sleep, even flies.  I saw an experiment about it.  And if deprived of sleep, we must make up for that time and I suspect we're definitely dreaming whether we remember or not.  I don't remember the Battle of Seville but it doesn't mean it didn't happen.  So we all dream.  All animals experience REM or rapid eye movement during sleep, especially the human animal.  It signifies active dreaming and occurs usually in the early hours before we wake - so that's when we dream.  What happens?  Why do some continuously repeat?

Scientists know that the hypothalamus is the center of basic memory retention.  Guess what part of the brain is most active during REM sleep?  Right, the hypothalamus now doesn't that speak to something?  Like, we dream about things that happened that day, or that month, or last year, all directly connected with the memory center.  Why is the brain trying to reinforce a memory of a past event?  And in such a symbolic way!  Some are pretty obvious.  And what about precognitive dreams?  How can the brain possibly process a memory of something that hasn't happened yet?  Could be that the space-time continuum is directly related and whatever we think of as past, present and future may be meaningless in the big picture.    

In one that I have regularly, the world is a wasteland where predators reign.  Something catastrophic happened.  Good people exist in small pockets of fright yet retain their values.  I'm always being chased, constantly, I'm never caught but I sense my predator is there, sense the threat, never ceasing for a second to- what?  Stop me?  Kill me?  I savor these dreams, I want to learn from them.  Yet every "expert" has a different explanation.  Whatever they mean, I know I'd be less self-aware without them. 

I like to program my dreams, too.  They call it "lucid" dreaming.  It's not always exact, sometimes the symbolism is very intense, but the dream invariably contains remnants of the program I set.  Does anyone else do this?  

Those "repeaters" come unbidden and many times not so welcome, but I truly feel I need every dream I have.  Whatever the reason, I just sense it must be important.       

 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

quote;    How can the brain possibly process a memory of something that hasn't happened yet?  Could be that the space-time continuum is directly related and whatever we think of as past, present and future may be meaningless in the big picture.

I wondered about that theory when a scientist revealed on tv news last night that they had taken photos of the big bang, and of planets 376 trillion miles away and the planets in front of that, some with water on them, ad infinitum to here on mother earth.   How is it possible to see so far back into the past whilst we are talking of living here in the present.   Perplexing to say the least.  There is no time just motion possibly?   hmmmm.....I love wondering about these sorts of ideas.    Jeanie

Anonymous said...

Cathy 2 Jeanie:  Nice of you to quote me there, it's a fascinating subject.  Every time you look into the night sky, gaze at a star, you're looking into the past, you're seeing how something looked light years before.  The super-structure used now to smash atoms to recreate what the universe might've looked seconds after the big bang gives us a window into that "past" yet I have to wonder if these are concepts we simply believe in because we see time passing.  Time-space, still a mystery.  

Anonymous said...

Well....I have similar dreams from time to time.  We live here, but the house is different from this house.  Yet in my dream it IS our house.  And it is the same in each dream.......I had one precognitive dream once.  I believe it was a warning from God to prepare me for the battle to save my marriage..........I've had dreams I knew were dreams when I was dreaming them.  And I've had dreams that felt as if they were reality.......I've had one repetitive dream.  Not in many years.  But I did have it fairly often for quite a number of years......And I've had what I call gift dreams.  Dreams that put my mind to ease about a certain person/situation.  

But I have to tell you, the way my mind functions in the day time I find it down right scary that it "resets" itself each night!!!  I'll probably have nightmares about it now.  ;o)  I can see it:  like a de-frag program gone awry.  

Barbara    

Anonymous said...

Dreams have always fascinated me.  I have two dream symbol books.  I find it fascinating that our unconscious mind can solve our problems and warn us of things that are going in our lives.  I used to write my dreams down and try to interpret them.  For the most part, if I figured out the meaning of my repetitive dream, I would not dream it again.  I can also make myself NOT dream something and sometimes dream about something, but I can't control a whole dream per se.  I can sometimes be in a dream and know I am dreaming, too.  Neat subject!!  Love, your Maire xox
http://journals.aol.com/valphish/ThereisaSeason

Anonymous said...

I love contemplating the meaning of our dreams. Some think dreams are from our subconscious attempting to resolve some conflict we have. Perhaps some dreams are.  I do believe in psychic dreams, too. We dream of events to come. I've only done that a couple of times, and they were not Earth shattering events. But, it was still an interesting experience.
Your dream sounds pretty scary to me. I hope it's not an event that will happen.
Pam

Anonymous said...

omg I do that all the time...lol

Anonymous said...

I can often interpret my dreams, Cathy.  What I am doing is processing something that has really been effecting me.  Possibly working something out.  You see, if something is chasing me, and I really sit there and think about it, I start to ask myself, why I am having this kind of dream?  Let me give you an example.  I often have a dream where I am in a house that is falling apart.  In my dreams a house always represents me.  This is just something I have come to discover.  When the house is falling apart, or unfinished, it means that part of my life is unfinished, and needs to be dealth with.  When there are extra rooms in the house that I have never seen before, I examine my life, and sure enough, there are new parts of my life that I am exploring, new experiences that are occuring.  I also have a dream when I am at school, and I miss the bus, and nobody will pick me up.  When that happens, I am very insecure in my life, and think nobody cares about me, and won't help me.  I almost always can analyze what is going on in my life from what is happening in my dreams.  Analyzing my dreams help me.  And dreams no doubt help process what is going on in my life.  That is why I believe dreams are necessary.

Krissy :)
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

Anonymous said...

I have been having some heart leaping dreams lately -- ones that leave me feeling very afraid when I wake up.  I have a lot going on though right now, so stands to reason.  This too will pass though, and I pray for quieter dreams, and rest.

Anonymous said...

    I have read that these recurring dreams don't mean anything. Although being chased can symbolize stress. I also have a recurring dream, and God help the fat woman that would admit to this one. I dream about waiting in line to make a purchase at a bakery. Before getting to me everything is bought up except for the foam sample cakes. I do have lucid dreams. I have nightmears every so often. When one does happen, or when I watch something on TV I think is frightening, I make sure I tell myself that I want no more of that. It usually works fairly well.
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay

Anonymous said...

I find sleeping in general a fascinating thing. I have a couple reoccurring themes in my dreams and I don`t know why!
The weirdest most bizarre dreams I`ve ever had, by the way, was when I was taking big doses of steroids when I had cancer.
Anyhow....
Take care and enjoy your weekend.  :)
Penny
http://www.myspace.com/pennysplace2gogh
http://journals.aol.com/penniepooh/pennys-pieces-of-ohio/

Anonymous said...

I also find sleep a fascinating and refreshing topic. Was it the 25th March 1599 that battle took place or the one on the 15th May 2003 when Celtic were beaten by Opporto in the EUFA Cup? I was at that battle but slept long after it!

I asked a question on sleep on my first morning in my hospital ward when I asked my companions how they slept? Fine until you went to bed last night! Snorring World Champion now. Fascinating Cath just the job

Anonymous said...

I hope I am not bringinging to many negative thoughts to your journal, but we are here to talk right? Anyway, I never have a good dream. My dreams are of death and tragic. When I say death I mean the worst horrors that you could ever imagine, truly graffic and disturbing nightmares. The most obvious explanation I suppose, are the obsessive thoughts of death that I have in the day. Ofcourse, this is related to the pschiatric disorders that I have. Anyway, you mentioned in your comment to my journal that you do not believe that clinical depression is genetic. I would love to hear your thoughts on mental disorders when you have the chance. -Missy http://journals.aol.com/ma24179/missyzstuff