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| Philippe de Champaigne's The Dream of Saint Joseph painted around 1636 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Last week I had a dream of a spiritual nature that I discussed from a Biblical perspective on my Sunday blog A Few Words. I shared the dream on that blog because of the spirituality of the dream and the implications that I sensed from that dream. You can follow the link to read that particular analysis if you are curious, but I will speak more generally about this dream in this current blog post.
The reason why I want to relate this dream on this blog--aside from the fact that it was a dream--is that a few nights later I had a related dream with a very similar outcome. Why I would have had these particular dreams at this particular time I do not know. That is part of the reason why I'm discussing these dreams in this post. Perhaps one of you will have some idea of what these dreams might represent.
The first dream occurred sometime after the 2 AM hour on a day last week. I no longer remember much about the dream other than the setting was a very large odd house that in the dream I recognized as my own, but it was not a house that I know in waking life. There were a number of people coming and going throughout the dream. At the point where memory kicks in...
I am talking to my mother (who recently passed away). She is relating how my father (who passed away in 1990) is in the hospital recovering from a serious condition. I am puzzled as I know that my father died years ago, but my mother assures me that now he is back. Soon after our conversation my father supposedly has arrived at the house and I see the door open. A man who resembles my father enters. He seems weak and sickly and is of a much smaller stature than he had been when I last saw him in life. He does not acknowledge anyone, seeming to be in a daze or even lifeless. He is not wearing a shirt and is clad only in a pair of white shorts.
The small father-looking being is led back into a bedroom and the door is closed. I become concerned about the man's presence and go into the room. I find him sitting on the edge of the bed slumped over looking dejected and hopeless. Suddenly I sense that this is not my father or if it is he is demon-possessed. I become very afraid. Knowing him to have been very religious I approach him and try to talk to him about Jesus. Filled with terror I have trouble speaking, but finally I weakly force out of my mouth the name of Jesus. I begin repeating "Jesus" and each time I say the name my voice gets stronger and my fear begins to subside...
Then I awaken. My wife asks if I am okay. She tells me that I was repeating the name Jesus.
Three nights after that, about an hour after I had gone to sleep, I had another dream...
I am in an unfamiliar location, perhaps a place that is like a warehouse where I work (in this dream world), I am in conversation with a group of three other men when a man resembling my father comes into the room. At first I think this man to be my father and I am happy to see him. Then I realize this man is taller and more imposing looking than my late father had been. The man's face looks cruel, verging on anger, filled with an ominous dark expression. I become afraid as I begin to surmise that this is not my father but a demonic figure assuming my father's image.
This man/demon first approaches me in a threatening manner. I stand more erect to confront him. Then the figure turns to one of the men with whom I had been conversing and moves toward this man as though he is going to attack him. I begin invoking the name of Jesus to take away the demonic power. I repeat the name of Jesus gaining more confidence each time I say it...
I wake up in a fetal position saying "Jesus". My wife asks if I am okay because I am repeating the name of Jesus just as I had done a few nights earlier. I look at the clock and it says 11:55.
On the first instance that I had the dream, I remained awake for what was probably an hour pondering what I had experienced in the dream. The second time I fell asleep almost immediately. Both dreams impacted me such that I have thought about them often since they happened.
There is no explanation that I can think of as to what may have influenced my mind that I had these dreams. My wife believes that Satan had tried to trick me by taking on the appearance of my father. Why I can't say. As I considered the occurrence, I wondered if a demonic force was trying somehow to take my life--to kill me during sleep--and my resistance prevented this from happening.
Do you think there was some sort of spiritual force at work in my dreams? Do you believe a demonic force would have the power to enter a dream to take control of the dreamer or even kill him? Have you had any dreams where you felt that spiritual forces were communicating with you in some way?
That is creepy. But I'm a nonbeliever so I don't think there's anything to demonic possession or demons entering dreams. A bad dream is a bad dream based on deep seated fears. In fact, whenever I watch 'A Haunting', I am more likely to believe in the ghost or spirit when the priest's blessing of the house or exorcism doesn't work. I've certainly had dreams about people who have passed away but I just chalked it up to needing closure or a subconscious desire to speak to them one last time.
ReplyDeleteI've dreamed of my father several times since he died and it's always been a calming comforting experience that left me feeling good when I woke up. This dream was such a departure from those experiences that it really made me wonder.
ReplyDeleteLee
I have DEFINITELY had communication from the other side in my dream. I blogged about it too and I was sorry I had blogged about it because it was telling me something clearly that I didn't want to face. One week after, something terrible happened but at least I was warned. So glad you have your faith. Stick to Jesus and you won't go wrong. Keep repeating his name when you wake up. Pray. Don't worry about your parents--God will take care of them. We have to worry about our own souls. :) Although worrying is not the right word. I guess the old Biblical word for repentance is metanoia which means we let God handle the hard stuff. Blessings to you Arlee. It's all good and it's exciting to hear that you've seen portions of heaven.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that your act of blogging about your dream experience was something you were sorry you did merely because you didn't want to face the issue? Was the dream something of the nature of a prediction or a prophesy?
Delete"Metanoia" is a new word to me, but it sounds like you are somewhat referring to Matthew 6:34 in regard to handing worry over to God.
Thank you for your insight and I agree with your advice.
Lee
Hi Arlee, glad I came back to see your reply to my comment. I thought it was one of the most beautiful-awesome experiences of my life. Blogging about it however made it seem not as special and made me feel week. I blogged about the wonderful experience before the week was up. The dream was a message clear as day. I wasn't scared in the dream it gave me comfort that everything will be fine even before something terrible and not so fine happened. It still helps me to know that HE can message me so clearly. I very rarely have dreams and I'm a very sound sleeper. From now on I'm paying better attention to dreams. Metanoia is supposedly also the opposite of paranoia.
DeleteThank you for the clarification. Dream messages can be ambiguous at times so it's wonderful when the message is clearly understood.
DeleteLee
Morning Arlee .. was stopping randomly by on the A-Z sign up list. So I am especially pleased to come by you.
ReplyDeleteParents or those long dead appear in dreams from time to time. So in some sense they're still alive and well and in our psyche in some meaningful psychological way. Just because they're dead in real life does not mean mean there is no 'influence' any longer. Yes, it is important to question and ponder on this dream - especially NB NOT to make any conclusive interpretation. Honour this dream and keep on asking the/your unconscious to reveal its meaning, by way of another dream or however ...Both dreams are powerful Arlee, and the second coming so soon on from the first is like a reminder for you to pay attention. Personally I don't for one moment think this was a demonic dream ... daemon maybe .. through which maybe the essence of the dream may be gained.
My condolences on the passing of your mother Lee. I know that it's very common to have recently deceased loved ones appear in dreams, and 'they' sometimes 'bring' with them other deceased loved ones.
ReplyDeleteI had a few dreams starring my brother shortly after he died. They were all meaningful and powerful, although I don't believe for one second that they were my brother trying to contact me. They were ME hoping that it wasn't true, and my unconscious mind trying to make sense of the situation...my brother was dead for two days before we knew, and I didn't have one dream until after I had found out the news.
I do not hold any belief at all in any such thing as a god or demons, therefore I don't think that your dreams, as unsettling as they were, have anything to do with demons or god...I wouldn't worry too much about that.
My heart goes out to you in your loss Lee. I hope that these disturbing dreams are a thing of the past.
With all these bad demon possession movies coming out all the time, it seems likely to stir up fears implanted by religion that provides that shield of Jesus. I dreamed of the doughboy once, just wanting a cinnamon roll. It was a vivid, feel good dream but basically meaningless. I did have bad dreams that did come true but those were ultimately useless. No more dream journals for me.
ReplyDelete