Ask The Dream Detective: from Mimi’s Dream Column for the New Spirit Journal

A 47 year old man had the following recurring dream:

“In my dream I am on a beach at the ocean. A tidal wave is coming. I think to myself how beautiful it is, and I am in awe of it. But I also know that I’d better get away from it.”

This dream is a classic example of why working with a dreamer’s individual meaning is so important. Before we get to the meaning of his dream, I’d like to ask you to close your eyes and imagine that you are standing on a beach and a tidal wave is coming towards you. How would you feel? What would you do? Most people would be terrified and run for their lives, if they were not already frozen in fear!

Dreams of tidal waves are very common. Water often represents emotions, so this type of dream can indicate that the dreamer is feeling overwhelmed emotionally.  We look to the quality of the water, as well as the emotion the person is experiencing, for clues as to what area of life the symbolism pertains to. Most of us would be fear stricken if faced with such an unstoppable force of nature, and wake up with our heart pounding.

However, this man felt differently. He was in sheer awe of the tidal wave and described how he wanted to just stay and take in its beauty. He did not want to leave, but he knew that for the sake of his own well-being he had better get out of there.

This was a recurring dream the man had been having for 20 years. Recurring dreams happen every time a recurring situation or issue comes up in life, and this is where the detective work comes in. I asked him what had changed or started in his life 20 years ago? He said that’s when he met his wife, whom he had been happily together with ever since.

I then asked him if there had been anything that came up intermittently over the last 20 years, some kind of feeling that might have been a bit overwhelming, where he was in awe of some kind of beauty? He blushed and we both knew the answer. This was a business man who travelled a lot for work, and encountered many different people on his journeys – including a few who’s beauty set him in awe.

Another important piece is to look at is the action of the dreamer. When faced with overwhelming feelings of awe regarding something (or someone, in this case!) of beauty, much as he wanted to stay, he knew he had to leave. This was a loyal man. I knew in my heart at that moment that he had never cheated on his wife, nor would he. The dreaming mind does not lie. While the limbic brain may feel drawn to someone on a primal level, the conscious mind has a choice. This man chose his relationship every time, even in his subconscious mind. It doesn’t get more real than that.

What a love story! This dream also is a great example that what appears on the surface of a dream is not usually the deeper meaning. The dream did not appear to be about relationships – there was no kissing, sex, or romance, not even another person – but yet it was truly about love and loyalty. It also shows that the classic meaning for a dream is not always the case. Tidal wave dreams usually occur when we are feeling overwhelmed emotionally in a negative way. While he was ‘flooded’ with emotion, the feelings were actually rather good!

Our dreams want the best for us, and love in all forms is a high priority in the landscape of the unconscious and of the soul. Sleep well my friends, and may your dreams be filled with love for yourself and others.

Sleep paralysis is a phenomenon that happens during the transition between sleep and waking. During R.E.M. (dreaming) sleep the body becomes paralyzed, in order to keep us from physically acting out our dreams. Normally, the paralysis stops before we wake up. However occasionally there is a ‘glitch in the system’, and our mind wakes up before our body is released from the state of paralysis. While many people may experience an upsetting (though soon to pass) case of sleep paralysis, others report an even more terrifying occurrence that happens while in the paralyzed state: the sensation of being visited by some kind of entity. Coined ‘Paralysis Attacks’ by David Hufford, Professor of Behavioral Science at Penn State University, these experiences are described by those who experience it as a visitation by an negative presence.  Hufford has done extensive research, and has been able to identify over 30 common elements to these attacks.

The prevailing common denominators are:
•    Waking up in bed and realizing one can’t move
•    The person can move their eyes, but the body is paralyzed
•    Hearing footsteps
•    A figure enters the room (often described as dark, not human, intent to harm, some sort of presence but not sure what)
•    Incredible sense of fear
•    A feeling of weight or pressure upon the chest (sometimes other areas of the body, most commonly the chest)
•    A sense that if the person just laid there, they would die.
•    The experience feels very real, different than a normal dream or nightmare.

The frequently reported sensation of pressure on the chest, combined with the sensing of some sort of negative presence, cause us to believe that Fuseli’s painting ‘The Nightmare’ (above) is a depiction of a sleep paralysis attack. Accounts of this phenomenon are documented in art and literature as far back as we have historical records, and in fact, Hufford doesn’t know of any culture, anywhere, that doesn’t have a tradition describing it. Known by different names around the world: ‘The Old Hag’, ‘Popabawa’, ‘Demon’, ‘Witch’, or just a dark figure or shadow, the description of the experience is the same.
People in this state are able to accurately describe their environment, indicating a state of being awake, yet brain wave recordings taken during attacks show elements of both wakefulness and REM sleep. Victims are usually convinced they are awake and that this was not a dream. They are actually in a mixed state of consciousness between wakefulness and dreaming, also known as a hypnopompic state (when a person is falling asleep, as opposed to waking up, the same mixed state is known as the hypnogogic state).
It would be easy enough to attribute the whole description to a bad dream or nightmare; but that doesn’t explain why so many people – including many who have never heard of this phenomenon – report such similarities in their accounts. While there are variations in individual reports, the similarities cannot be ignored. In fact, the descriptions bear uncanny similarity to alien visitation reports, and Hufford believes these are actually cases of sleep paralysis attacks.
Science as of yet does not have a sufficient explanation for this baffling phenomenon, which does not reduce the suffering of those who experience this terrifying occurance. For more information, check out Hufford’s book: The Terror That Comes In The Night

Also check out Ryan Hurd’s book: Sleep Paralysis: A Guide to Hypnagogic Visions and Visitors of the Night

And I wish you all SWEET DREAMS tonight!

Hypnogogic State – The transitional, twilight state between being awake and falling asleep. In this state it is common for paranormal phenomena to occur, including auditory and/or visual hallucinations, out of body experiences, sleep paralysis and sleep paralysis attacks.

Hypnopompic State – Same as the hypnogogic state, except this term refers to the transition from sleep to waking.

Out of Body Experience (O.B.E.) –  When a person’s consciousness leaves the body and is able to observe the physical surroundings such as the bedroom they are in.  This may also involve travelling around, yet still viewing the physical surroundings as we know them in waking reality.

Near Death Experience (N.D.E.) – (a form of O.B.E.) A person may be pronounced clinically dead, only to later come back to life later.  Many will report conversations they overheard (for example between surgeons at the operating table if they died in a hospital) that are later confirmed, and the person would have had no way of knowing this information otherwise. This brings up the interesting and fascinating distinction between mind and brain, as consciousness (mind) is surviving without and beyond the death of the physical matter (brain).

Astral Projection –  When consciousness leaves the physical body and travels, similar to an Out of Body Experience, but the travel is through a more dream like, other worldly realm.

Lucid Dreaming – Becoming aware of the fact that one is dreaming during the experience of having a dream.  For more information read Robert Waggoner’s fascinating book “Lucid Dreaming”.  For more info, go here: https://www.thedreamdetective.com/faq.html#lucid

After Death Contact (A.D.C.) – When a deceased loved one comes to visit us in our dreams.  While some dreams of loved ones who have crossed over are ways of processing our loss, other are reported as feeling very ‘different’ than regular dreams. Some of the hallmarks of A.D.C. dreams are that they feel very real, as if the loved one were actually with the dreamer.  The dreamer may report smelling grandma’s perfume or grandpa’s cigar, and often the dream takes place in the dreamer’s bedroom, which is not the case for most dreams.  Sometimes a dream ‘already in progress’ may be interrupted by the appearance the deceased loved one, who almost always brings messages of comfort and love in any of these scenarios.  Many people also have these dreams of former pets who have crossed over as well.

Shared Dreams or Mutual Dreaming – The experience of having the same dream at the same time as another person.  Usually this occurs between people who are emotionally close such as siblings, close friends, family members or romantic partners. The degree of the ‘shared’ experience may vary from part of each person’s dream being the same (overlapping), to the entire dream being identical for both dreamers.  People sometimes intend for a shared dream experience, visualizing it and agreeing on a meeting spot before going to sleep.

Sleep Paralysis – In R.E.M. sleep our body becomes paralyzed so that we don’t physically act out what we are dreaming about, as this could be very harmful to our self and others.  When we wake up the paralysis releases, however sometimes there is a ‘glitch in the system’ where the paralysis takes a little longer to release.  Becoming conscious and finding that the body is paralyzed can be a terrifying experience that about 20-30% of the population will experience at some time. However, it usually resolves itself and is nothing to be afraid of.

Sleep Paralysis Attacks – A phenomenon that sometimes occurs during the state of sleep paralysis, where the dreamer reports a visitation. The visitor is most often described as either a dark, shadowy figure, or something know as ‘the old hag’, who is reported to look something like a Halloween witch. This phenomenon has been reported all over the world through out history.  Researcher David Hufford wrote a book about this called ‘The Terror that Comes in the Night’.

Nightmares – Scary dreams that often will wake us up with a pounding heart and covered in sweat.  These are R.E.M. dreams and are important to pay attention to when working through life’s difficulties.  If a nightmare relives a trauma and repeats with no progression or resolution over time, this would indicate a P.T.S.D. nightmare and professional guidance with an experienced professional is recommended.

Night Terrors – Different than a nightmare, these do not occur in R.E.M. sleep, but rather in stage 4, or the deepest, non-dream sleep. Often night terrors cause the sufferer to scream out loud, but upon waking they will have no recollection of any kind of dream or what happened.

Daydreams – A relaxed state (similar to a hypnotic trance) where creativity, imagination, problem solving and learning consolidation occur.  As part of our circadian rhythm (similar to the 90 minute cycles between R.E.M. dreams when asleep), we have a natural tendency to daydream about every 70-120 minutes through out the day.

Precognitive Dreams – Dreams that pick up on potentials for the future that may or may not play out. There have been reports of people who have had a precognitive dream and later recognized a dangerous situation in waking life because of the dream.  They were then able to make a course correction to prevent the potential negative outcome because the dream provided them with the warning and awareness to do this.

Clairvoyant Dreams –  A dream during which the dreamer is able to witnesses an outside event (happening in waking reality) at the same time it is actually occurring.

Empathic telepathy –  Similar to a clairvoyant dream, except that instead of witnessing an event as an outside observer during the dream, the dreamer experiences the event as if it were happening to them – in a sense assuming the identity of someone that the waking life event is actually happening to.

While many people may experience an upsetting but soon to pass case of sleep paralysis, others report an even more terrifying occurrence that happens while in this paralyzed state: the sensation of being visited by some kind of entity. Coined ‘Paralysis Attacks’ by David Hufford, Professor of Behavioral Science at Penn State University, these experiences are described by those who experience it as a visitation by an negative presence.  Hufford has done extensive research, and has been able to identify over 30 common elements to these attacks. The prevailing common denominators are:

• Waking up in bed and realizing one can’t move
• The person can move their eyes, but the body is paralyzed
• Hearing footsteps
• A figure enters the room (often described as dark, not human, intent to harm, some sort of presence but not sure what)
• Incredible sense of fear
• A feeling of weight or pressure upon the chest (sometimes other areas of the body, most commonly the chest)
• A sense that if the person just laid there, they would die.
• The experience feels very real, different than a normal dream or nightmare.

Accounts of this phenomenon are documented in art and literature as far back as we have historical records, and in fact, Hufford doesn’t know of any culture, anywhere, that doesn’t have a tradition describing it. Known by different names around the world: ‘The Old Hag’, ‘Popabawa’, ‘Demon’, ‘Witch’, or just a dark figure or shadow, the description of the experience is the same.

People in this state are able to accurately describe their environment, indicating a state of being awake, yet brain wave recordings taken during attacks show elements of both wakefulness and REM sleep. Victims are usually convinced they are awake and that this was not a dream. They are actually in a mixed state of consciousness between wakefulness and dreaming, also known as a hypnopompic state (when a person is falling asleep, as opposed to waking up, the same mixed state is known as the hypnogogic state).

It would be easy enough to attribute the whole description to a bad dream or nightmare; but that doesn’t explain why so many people – including many who have never heard of this phenomenon – report such similarities in their accounts. While there are variations in individual reports, the similarities cannot be ignored. In fact, the descriptions bear uncanny similarity to alien visitation reports, and Hufford believes these are actually cases of sleep paralysis attacks.

Science as of yet does not have a sufficient explanation for this baffling phenomenon, which does not reduce the suffering of those who experience this terrifying occurance. For more information, check out Hufford’s book: ‘The Terror That Comes In The Night’

http://www.amazon.com/Terror-That-Comes-Night-Experience-Centered/dp/081221305X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321738406&sr=8-1

“I’ve had recurring nightmares
That I was loved for who I am
And missed the opportunity
To be a better man”

from the band Muse – lyrics from the song Hoodoo