30 replies to this topic

[niemandgeist]

I have experienced recurring dreams and themes since about 3 years now, I believe. Unfortunately, I don't have an exact timeframe. I only recently began to record these dreams over the least year or so.

 

http://en.wikipedia....Recurring_dream

 

Oddly enough, I have not experienced most recurring themes from the Wikipedia entry.

 

I have, however, experienced one dream each relating to the following themes listed in the Wikipedia entry above:

 

• Drowning, or otherwise not being able to breathe. I drowned in mud on a sweltering summer's day, surrounding by a jeering crowd closing in on me, trapped in the confines of a locked baseball field with chain fences and locks.
• Teeth falling out. This one would take a while to explain.

 

The themes or aspects of my recurring dreams involve the following:

 

• I often revisit certain places from previous dreams.
• I am often in a large building, or a campus composed of many buildings, sometimes a neighborhood, sometimes a large event or festival. I try to find my way out. If I'm lucky, I can find my way out to a parking lot, or a road, yet I am always lost and I cannot find my way out, though I try desperately and never give up.
• While trying to escape from these places, I find myself discovering what seems to be an exit, but it only leads me into more rooms, or rooms I've already searched through.
• I "know" the people that are in my dreams, but they change all the time. There are no recurring characters in my dreams that I know or have known in person that fit these recurring themes or dreams.
• Often, while trying to find my way out, I will lose my shoes. Sometimes I have socks. Sometimes I am barefoot.
• If I can finally manage to exit the enclosure of buildings, etc. , and I do not have my shoes or socks, it is often raining. Then I am trapped in a large parking lot, desperately trying to find my car. I will use the remote on my keychain to see if my car will beep to let me know where it is. Sometimes I hear a beep. I hardly every find my car, or I will find what appears to be my car, only to be met with disappointment.
• If I do manage to find my car, I cannot find my way out of the parking lot. Or, if I do, I cannot find my way back home.
• If I can't find my car, I will begin to walk. If I walk, I will often revisit previous places from prior dreams. Sometimes I have shoes. Sometimes I don't. Always on foot I encounter the places I've dreamed about previously, and sometimes while taking public transportation.
• On foot, I will try to take public transportation, but the bus, the train, etc., always passes over my intended destination and lets me off somewhere else unknown, or they will not even allow me to use public transportation and refuse my entry. Then I am on foot again, and I encounter the same places from previous dreams.
• I sometimes find myself in high school, or middle school, or college again. I worry about a test or a project that is due that I have not prepared for or have not completed. Sometimes I will attend a certain class several times. Then I realize that I have graduated high school and college both years ago, that I don't need to worry about this. Then I try to escape and the same things I've already listed kick into high gear.
• Sometimes, if in school or on a campus, usually neither of which are very familiar, I will get into physical fights with people who start them with me. I usually win, thankfully, yet I can never escape.
• Oftentimes I will find myself going to work, and stressing out while working there, only to realize, while dreaming, that I haven't worked at these places for many years, that these places in the dream do not reflect reality, and I leave the job... Only to be unable to: Find my shoes, my socks, my car, a way out of the parking lot, or a way out on foot, sometimes finding myself in various locations that I've previously dreamed of, or a combination of everything already listed.

I have NO IDEA what is going on here. I don't mind revisiting certain places on foot when I dream, as I often go to parks, wilderness areas with hiking paths, subterranean passages, walk down long roads in strange places that I vaguely remember from my dreams. These places exist only in my dreams.

 

There is so much more that I can tell of my dreams, but I've already relayed more than enough information for a patient reader to take in in one post here!

 

Have you experienced anything even remotely similar? Or would you like to comment or make any inquiries?

Edited by niemandgeist, 27 September 2014 - 01:43 PM.

[SilvrHairDevil]

I can relate to many of those, including the teeth.

 

I have experienced the first 4 and the last 3 of your list. 

 

Everything is overlaid with a haze of familiarity as though I'd had that dream before but I can never specifically remember if I actually have. 

 

I can usually manipulate the dream (lucid dreaming).

 

I've come to the conclusion that there is a brain chemical that mimics the feel of an actual memory, be that memory true or not.

 

This would explain the repressed memories of so-call child abuse cases and satanic ritual cases.

[Skywatcher]

I have seriously worked with dream analysis off and on for 40+ years. The last 3 years additionally with dreamwork (intentional dreaming), and lucid states in dream. Reading through your wiki link, I have to say I put little, (in fact very little), credibility to Freudian analysis. Not just because of the obsessive fixation on sex, but because I do not believe you can generalize dream symbology for one thing to mean the same for everyone. I lean more toward Jungian symbology, but have found that each person is unique, and although there can be general similarity's in dream symbols for most people, to be accurate you must examine and draw your own symbolic references when understanding your dreams. Someone else cannot do it for you or the meaning becomes tainted with their own symbolic reference.

 

Over the years, I have found that once I have understood the meanings and symbolic references of a dream, especially a recurring one, and more importantly accepted the truth of it into the concious mind, I no longer have that dream.

 

I could relate to several of the themes in your recurring dreams, as I also have had very similar dreams, some of them still, and have not successfully sifted out all the symbolic meanings of the ones I still have. I get pieces figured out, and this changes the next dream, or I should say the dream evolves into another phase.

 

Some of my recurring dream themes are:

• Oceans, tidal waves that push me deep underwater. Interestingly I immediately now realize I can breath underwater in these dreams and it turns into a pleasurable exploration.
• Something dark and dangerous is in the house or the room, primal fear, the lights won't work, I wake up into another dream, but think I really woke until it starts again, repeated sometimes 4 or 5 times.
• Lost in a old abandoned hotel where hallways and stairs and rooms just seem to go on and on into more and more. Can't find my way out and there are usually people in them, sometimes hiding or trying to not be found by someone/something. They seem to be looking to me to help, or sometimes I am a part of the group.
• The lost car. Parking lots interconnected that go on and on, I can't remember where I parked and keep searching.
• Flying

These are a few, I too go to some of the same dream places from time to time, but these are dreams that may start similarly with recognition of the place, but always evolve in a new direction. Usually these are around water, or sometimes houses.

 

I have some of these close to fully understood, and have not had them for some time. The lost car is still too frequent. To me the symbology is my independence, the ability to go and do as I choose. The fact that I cannot find this, illustrates my frustration with my life and the things that tie me down with obligation, and do not let me escape when I want or need.

Edited by Skywatcher, 27 September 2014 - 10:09 PM.

[OnyxObelisk]

I have many reoccurring dreams. I am a person who dreams a lot when I sleep. I normally have 4 or 5 different and unrelated dreams throughout the evening. I see a lot of the "same" places although they feel familiar to me sometimes they are not absolutely the same as I have seen them in other dreams but, in my mind I understand it is related to the same place. Then again, sometimes I am in completely different places but I have similar situations that happen to me (Like driving cars backwards). I am almost never my real self in my dreams but rather, see through someone else and feel like I am them...

[Mrs.Hippie3]

its pitch black... i cant see anything... there is something after me but i dont know what or who it is... all i know is i fear for my life and i cant find my gun... it keeps getting closer and closer... sometimes i find my gun at the last minute but its not loaded... i turn to shoot into the darkness... this is when i usually wake up panic stricken still in fear for my life. this is the only reoccurring dream ive ever had. first one was about 10 years ago since then ive had about 5 or so of the exact same scenario pretty much. 

[Dirteater]

I die a lot In my dreams...and much of the time I have nightmares but I'm also a lucid dreamer so I see them as a kind of horror movie which I star in. I've been shot and stabbed and in my dreams it hurts like hell. I feel like my brain is preparing me for something big time shitty. i prep for the worst and let my girls know that if I ever call them and tell them to be ready in 2 minutes there are no questions just get it done. I Hope I'm just batshit crazy and paranoid but I'd rather be wrong with a full clip than right with a kitchen knife.

[Ricky Bobby]

Wow! Those are some crazy dreams! I dream nothing like that,but I do have a reoccurring dream of me driving usually a shrimp boat, sometimes I'm lost, and confused and know I need to get back to the dock because I can't be late! Sometimes I'm just cruising out the channel, or the tide is super low, but im always ok, there's no terror, sometimes confusion.

I was obviously a shrimp boat captain for a quite some time.

I do like to analyze my dreams, but each person is different, hard to give meaning to someone else's

Good thread

[niemandgeist]

I have seriously worked with dream analysis off and on for 40+ years. The last 3 years additionally with dreamwork (intentional dreaming), and lucid states in dream. Reading through your wiki link, I have to say I put little, (in fact very little), credibility to Freudian analysis. Not just because of the obsessive fixation on sex, but because I do not believe you can generalize dream symbology for one thing to mean the same for everyone. I lean more toward Jungian symbology, but have found that each person is unique, and although there can be general similarity's in dream symbols for most people, to be accurate you must examine and draw your own symbolic references when understanding your dreams. Someone else cannot do it for you or the meaning becomes tainted with their own symbolic reference.

 

Over the years, I have found that once I have understood the meanings and symbolic references of a dream, especially a recurring one, and more importantly accepted the truth of it into the concious mind, I no longer have that dream...

 

Skywatcher, I'm glad to know that you have also experienced exploring a structure or another area, only to find that the paths wind on and on. It's also good to know that you have had dreams about trying to find that lost, elusive, seemingly mythical car.

 

I also agree that Freudian analysis of dreams is not something to be taken serious. The only reason I linked to the Wikipedia link is because it has a list of common recurring dream themes.

 

I have not yet managed to find what I believe to be a true meaning to my dreams. I continue to have very similar dreams. I don't mind them. They can be distressing at times, but I wouldn't call them nightmares. I haven't had real nightmares for a long, long time, not since I was very young, apart from the teeth falling out dream with a lot of other very unsettling aspects. That dream would take a while to recollect and convey.

 

I also believe that the individual should try to find meaning from his dreams, so I agree with you on that.

 

When I was much younger, before I entered my teenage years, I did have one dream about falling from the sky into the ocean.

 

I panicked, knowing that I might drown. I held my breath in, but was taken deeper and deeper into the ocean. I do not like the ocean. I have a fear of it. I live on the Atlantic coast, so the ocean here is dark and murky. Who knows what is down there? I was also tugged deeply, again and again, at about the age of 7, when I met a random boy while vacationing with my family by the beach. We were jumping into waves. Well, a few waves overtook me and I was afraid that I would never be able to break through the surface to air and familiarity. This is why I have a fear of the ocean.

 

In my dream, however, I felt as though I would suffocate. My lungs were burning. I couldn't take it anymore and my body instinctively and uncontrollably tried to breathe, sucking in water. I was amazed, however, that I could breathe underwater.

 

I made my way to the shore of an island. Beautiful white sand. A temperate, sunny day, with cool breezes greeted me as I trudged out of the water. I saw a tan brick structure, a small tomb, farther up the shore. I walked there, and found a sleeping woman. I kissed her. It was magnificent. She awoke. We embraced. Then I woke up.

 

When I was in my teens, and I had my first kiss, it was just as wonderful as I had experienced in that dream.

 

 

 

I have many reoccurring dreams. I am a person who dreams a lot when I sleep. I normally have 4 or 5 different and unrelated dreams throughout the evening. I see a lot of the "same" places although they feel familiar to me sometimes they are not absolutely the same as I have seen them in other dreams but, in my mind I understand it is related to the same place. Then again, sometimes I am in completely different places but I have similar situations that happen to me (Like driving cars backwards). I am almost never my real self in my dreams but rather, see through someone else and feel like I am them...

 

I also tend to have many unrelated dreams during an evening's sleep. Sometimes they are more connected, but often they are very disconnected. Occasionally I will wake up, briefly, then drift back to sleep, and some of what I had dreamed previously during the night will be a part of my other dreams, though they often take a different path from where the first dream was going.

 

 

its pitch black... i cant see anything... there is something after me but i dont know what or who it is... all i know is i fear for my life and i cant find my gun... it keeps getting closer and closer... sometimes i find my gun at the last minute but its not loaded... i turn to shoot into the darkness... this is when i usually wake up panic stricken still in fear for my life. this is the only reoccurring dream ive ever had. first one was about 10 years ago since then ive had about 5 or so of the exact same scenario pretty much. 

Mrs. Hippie3, I'm sorry to hear that you are plagued by this nightmare. Have you ever written it down in detail, every time it's occurred, and tried to come up with various interpretations of it that relate to your life's experiences? I have a pocket digital audio recorder (Like a mini tape recorder but digital) that I keep next to my bed. Whenever I wake up and remember a dream I record everything while it is fresh in my memory. This helps me to try to make sense of some of my dreams, but because I do a lot of creative writing it helps to fuel my creativity. It's also much easier to get all of the details of the dream recorded when I can just record me talking about it than to write it all down.

I still can't come up with what the hell my recurring dreams are supposed to mean, although I have catalogued many.
 

 

I die a lot In my dreams...and much of the time I have nightmares but I'm also a lucid dreamer so I see them as a kind of horror movie which I star in. I've been shot and stabbed and in my dreams it hurts like hell. I feel like my brain is preparing me for something big time shitty. i prep for the worst and let my girls know that if I ever call them and tell them to be ready in 2 minutes there are no questions just get it done. I Hope I'm just batshit crazy and paranoid but I'd rather be wrong with a full clip than right with a kitchen knife.

 

I have only died once, that I can recall, in my dreams. I mentioned it in my initial post. It was a sweltering summer day. The sun beat down, unmercifully, baking everything and everyone. A large crowd, emanating from what appeared to be a school building, began to file out, draw into a crowd, and surround me. I was driven toward a fenced-off basball diamond. I was pushed into a corner, a very muddy corner. I began to sink into the mud as the crowd jeered and taunted me. As the mud took me, and I fell deeper and deeper into the earth, their cries grew louder and more raucous.

I felt the hot mud sludging into my clothes, dragging me down, covering me. I felt sheer panic and fear. My vision went black as I went under and I held the last breath of air I took in until my lungs burned. I couldn't control my reflexes and I breathed in, swallowing mud, choking on it. Then, mercifully, I woke up, unharmed.

[Skywatcher]

I am reasonably adept at pulling the main symbols out of a dream, my own and other peoples. The meaning behind those symbols is usually simple, although our dreaming subconcious mind seems to delight in masking this in multiple layers of complexity.

 

I achieve the best results, by picking out the main symbols or focus points of the dream, and writing those down. Then by going through a free association, you can see many things that symbol represents to you. I write those down in adjacent columns. All aspects of the dream should be considered, colors, smell, lighting, emotions, subjects, locations, special note should be made of anything that elicited a strong memory from the dream.

 

By placing the free association concepts back into the dream context, and applying the associated feelings, you can often gain a very clear understanding of what that dream was about. 

 

I have helped many people with dream analysis, but I always need to make sure the symbology is theirs, not mine. I could illustrate the procedure if you want. I can make general suggestions, but the person who is the dreamer needs to determine if those fit right, or perhaps adjust them until they do......

 

[SilvrHairDevil]

I don't know if I'd want my dreams analyzed. I kinda enjoy them.

 

Sometimes they are so real that often I can't tell (when I'm awake) if something was from a dream or from reality.

 

I was totally convinced that I had gotten an old job back that I quit from in the early 90's and the company has since gone out of business.

[Skywatcher]

I don't know if I'd want my dreams analyzed. I kinda enjoy them.

 

Sometimes they are so real that often I can't tell (when I'm awake) if something was from a dream or from reality.

 

I was totally convinced that I had gotten an old job back that I quit from in the early 90's and the company has since gone out of business.

The pleasant dreams are enjoyable, I agree, and those are not the ones that need understanding. Dreams are just the minds way of cataloging our experience into another level of consciousness. That said, not everyone needs to delve into dream analysis. Some people are better balanced.

 

My brain seems to like to play puzzles with me, and sifting through the many layers of subterfuge is how I keep myself aware and honest with my core feelings.

 

Usually dreams with fear, frustration, sorrow, or any intense emotion are the ones that come when something is not right, or when we are hiding or suppressing something from ourselves and not dealing with it. Any dream that seems very intense, and that you wake from recalling great details is revealing.

 

I have alot of enjoyable "adventure" dreams, that are often better than a good movie. Too bad I almost never get to see the ending.......

[SilvrHairDevil]

The only times I ever have "unpleasant" dreams (I've never had a nightmare - not even when the pink T Rex was chasing me through the industrial ruins, with of course, more ruins opening up before me) are when I have a GI disturbance, a rumbly-tummy.

 

Otherwise, I look forward to sleeping because of the new nightly adventure. When I'm on a roll, I can sleep 12 hrs with only pee breaks. I can tell when I need a pee break because I start dreaming about washrooms... with more and more cubicles, urinals, locker rooms beyond each doorway.

[Mrs.Hippie3]

 

 

Mrs. Hippie3, I'm sorry to hear that you are plagued by this nightmare. Have you ever written it down in detail, every time it's occurred, and tried to come up with various interpretations of it that relate to your life's experiences? 

 

no i try not to think about it too much. just figure its some deep dark fear that i hope i never have to go through irl but i havent had that dream in a long time anyhow.

[niemandgeist]

Science has learned a bit more about what happens during our sleep in recent times. It has a lot to do with memory consolidation:

 

http://www.nsf.gov/n...sleepmemory.jsp

 

During sleep, our brains also clean themselves, in a way:

 

http://www.npr.org/b...ns-during-sleep

 

Sleep appears to be part of a necessary self-regulation and repair cycle for our bodies.

 

We also know that our brains continue to work on problems to come up with a solution while we are asleep.  We also continue to learn how to do things that we've been trying to figure out that involve physical movements during sleep:

 

http://www.huffingto...=Healthy Living

 

We also know that rats, when chronically deprived of sleep, die, and that lack of sleep in humans can lead to mental health issues:

 

http://consults.blog...ie-of-insomnia/

 

Sleep appears to be a necessary component to life.

 

We still don't know jack about dreams, though.

 

I don't mind my dreams. I look forward to them, actually. It's very annoying never being able to quite find my way back home, never being able to find my car, losing my shoes and socks, exploring labyrinthine buildings that on the surface appear to be a simple shopping malls or libraries for what seems like ages, or finding my car and not being able to get out of the parking lot.

 

I just love to explore in my dreams. Maybe that's why I can never find a way "out", because I enjoy the experience of exploring, confronting the unknown, and discovering new things, even when outside forces see fit to limit me (no shoes, rain, can't find my car, etc.)

 

I sure hope that this potential realization doesn't deprive me of my beloved dreams!

 

Edit: And oh my goodness, I thought I was dreaming, but there really ARE spooky ghosts with cannabis leaves floating around on the border of the forums here! That must have been a recent change.

Edited by niemandgeist, 29 September 2014 - 12:37 AM.

[gatekeeper]

I haven't had a reoccurring dream in years, but until quite recently almost all of my dreams had some form of conflict usually featuring something trying to kill me. Skywatcher helped me out with this though, and after figuring out what was causing it my dreams are back to being random as hell. It did make for some exciting dreams though, most the time at least.

 

 

I die a lot In my dreams...and much of the time I have nightmares but I'm also a lucid dreamer so I see them as a kind of horror movie which I star in. I've been shot and stabbed and in my dreams it hurts like hell.

 

I know the feeling, in dreams I've been shot, stabbed, lit on fire, beaten, bitten (by things with sharp teeth usually, or zombies), slashed, fallen off buildings, poisoned, you name it. Being stabbed hurts the most though, its always with something random like glass or a screw driver, nothing traditional like a knife.

[Stig7580]

I never really remember dreaming and havent been able to for about 10 years but when i do its usually something horrific such as being skinned alive by a monster with a square head that constantly laughs at me or the other is being chased by a werewolf but my legs dont work then it catches me and i can feel the teeth sinking into the back of my neck.

[niemandgeist]

Last night I had a most strange dream. I would certainly classify it as a nightmare. Unfortunately, every time I awoke, I was just far too tired to reach for my digital audio recorder to attempt to catalog it. As soon as I awoke, I felt woozy. Dizzy. I couldn't remain awake. I drifted very quickly back into sleep, to be greeted again by the continuation of this nightmare. I simply could not fight sleep pulling me back down, although I tried many times to resist it. I don't even remember how many times I was jostled awake, in shock, in fear, sheer terror, before being muffled and drowned again, finding myself trapped yet again in this crazy, chaotic nightmare realm.

 

I can remember only bits and pieces.

 

At first the dream was pleasant. I befriended an older man with long silvery hair and a great bushy beard. I recall that, initially, I thought fondly of him. He was a kind old hippie type. He lived in a spacious white mansion, surrounded by wilderness, not far off from where I lived (in the dream at least). I recall having spent a great deal of time with him, enjoying cannabis, enjoying mushrooms. I vaguely recall that I considered him a very intelligent fellow, with whom I had many deep conversations involving many varied topics.

 

I remember my mother being in the dream. She had a bad feeling about him. She didn't like him. People kept warning me about him. I couldn't see anything wrong with him, though.

 

I also remember later on discovering that he wasn't to be trusted. I awoke and drifted back to sleep so often, it's all disjointed.

 

Strange things started to happen. I recall a particular moment during the dream when I was steaming glass jars filled with substrate, however they were steaming while left on the carpet with no heat source. I remember being paranoid, trying to hide them from my mother. In the dream I apparently still lived with her, though the house I lived in is nothing like I've ever seen before in my life.

 

Small cats kept finding their way into my room. So far as I am aware, in the dream, I didn't own any cats. I kept trying to shove them out of the windows. They became violent, scratching, biting me. I'd get rid of one and two more would show up. I was plagued by cats that were very much interested in scratching and biting me. I became absolutely paranoid of them in the dream. The cat and jar steaming occurred at night.

 

Then I recall finding out that this jolly old hippie was a violent person. He was pulling one over on me. He wanted to rape me. It's all too difficult to keep track of, really, but it was a very, very bad dream, and being attacked by these cats that I couldn't get rid of was a common theme.

 

I love cats, but during this dream they plagued me, hunted me.

 

That's about all I can recall. However, I now remember that there have been other dreams, long past, nightmares, where I encountered cats that attacked me, clawed me, sometimes ripping me to shreds. Sometimes they were house cats. Sometimes they were bob cats. In one dream, I opened up a curious package, put my hands into it, and some wild cat tried to shred the skin from my arms.

 

So strange. It was only today, after thinking a bit, that I was able to recollect that in past nightmares cats attacking me have played a major part in my nightmares.

 

Dreams are curious, confusing, confounding things.

[nomadicAI]

I was just thinking about this today and one of my strangest recurring dreams involves time travel / reset. Something bad happens, and somehow it is possible to go back in time to reset and change the outcome. The details of the dreams are always very hazy, in comparison to other dreams, but I have definitely had the same / similar dreams many times.

 

When I was in my childhood a very frequent dream theme was flying.

[casserole]

I've had nightmare disorder all of my life.

I used to sleep walk to, as a child, too.

Most of my nightmares have reoccuring themes: bears are a common one, being eaten by bears, being chased by bears, dead wild animals in the woods,

being alone in the woods, being lost in the woods, discovering my partner cheating on me, my partner saying mean things to me, my mother dying, trying to

save my mother from dying, my mother torturing me...I had this one dream that my mother trapped me in this giant machine and was ripping my limbs apart.

My partner woke me up because they thought I was having an epileptic seizure. I was covered in sweat, gasping for breath, and disoriented upon waking.

I admit that I have mother issues and am arktophobic. ;)

I haven't had many nightmares recently because I've had low stress levels and been micro-dosing on mushrooms and smoking the herb.

[Xerces]

I was just thinking about this today and one of my strangest recurring dreams involves time travel / reset. Something bad happens, and somehow it is possible to go back in time to reset and change the outcome. The details of the dreams are always very hazy, in comparison to other dreams, but I have definitely had the same / similar dreams many times.

 

When I was in my childhood a very frequent dream theme was flying.

 

I get that too. Time reset is by far the best method of unscrewing things up =P

 

Once I had an anime character explain time travel to me by using a metaphor involving baking a cake...