A Personal Response to "the Dream"

[Philippe Cordier]

Several people have remarked on how ineffective they find the Dream Curse.  I am of a very different mind on this.  I think the reason that I do find it so effective is that I feel the connection to nightmares very strongly.  It's almost a visceral feeling.

In recent episodes, both Julia and Mrs. Johnson have said how they dread falling asleep, knowing that they're going to have "the Dream."  Their comments have made me say to myself twice now, "Oh, no, what if   I   have a nightmare tonight ..."

I've always been prone to experiencing nightmares.  As a child I was plagued with what are now known as   night terrors -- I would wake up screaming, my parents would come running, and I'd be dazed and disoriented, unable to tell them what was wrong.  Today, brain researchers say these are harmless, fleeting disturbances in the brain.  Despite their assurances, I sometimes fear even today that these experiences may have had a supernatural origin.  But my rational side responds by discounting this possibility.  I actually have very little memory of the experiences.

Even now, though, I fear having a nightmare.  I had one just a few nights ago.  I hate waking up and being afraid to go back to sleep -- afraid that the dream will continue if I do (as it often will).

No wonder, then, that the horror of the dream curse has such an effect on some such as me ...

[Daphne]

WOW......freaky......*goes in2 Julia mode* When did these first start? Has anything tragic happened in your childhood that might have triggered them? Are you under a lot of stress? Were you abducted as a child? Are both your parents human? And mortal?

hehe   just playin'

That's kewl tho.....that u could be slightly supernatural.....I have ESP sometimes....like I c stuff in dreams and then it comes true days later, but I don't notice it until it DOES happen....and then all of a sudden I'll point and be like "I SAW THAT!!!!!" and freak people out. It's fun!  

[Dr. Eric Lang]

I learned as a child that if I told myself not to dream something specific right before going to sleep, I wouldn't. For instance I was always afraid of spiders when I was little, so I would tell myself "Do NOT dream about spiders tonight!" and I wouldn't. Worked every time. Even now if I've been obsessing about something all day long I'll say to myself "Do NOT dream about this tonight" when I get into bed, and I won't.

[Philippe Cordier]

I know what you mean, Daphne.  I went to stay at my aunt's house a few years ago and slept in my cousin's room.  That night I had a dream that I overheard two people talking ... they seemed to be female voices ... and they were saying that Mary, my cousin, was going to have a baby.  The next night the phone rang just as we were sitting down for dinner.  It was my cousin calling to say that she had just found out she was going to have a baby.

My rational side tells me that it could have been a coincidence, but I was definitely taken aback when my aunt told us about the call.  I do try to see if there are rational explanations for these things.

Chris -  thanks for the tip.  I'll keep it in mind, but I don't think I usually know in advance WHAT I might have a nightmare about.  Just sometimes that I MIGHT have a nightmare that night, but usually I don't know that.

And THIS is my last post for another week ... (I won't even peek at the board.)

[Raineypark]

Vlad, my daughter suffered (and made US suffer) with night terrors for years when she was a child.

Her pediatrician reassured us that while it was disruptive and scary for us, she would never suffer ill effects from them, which she never did.  She never remembered a single one.

We were told that the theory (at the time) was that very intelligent children experienced night terrors because they HAVE to process all the information they are bombarded with...they cannot simply ignore or forget it.

There were nights I would have gladly traded my smart a-- kid for a good night's sleep  

Rainey

[Daphne]

My dear impaler friend wrote:

I know what you mean, Daphne.  I went to stay at my aunt's house a few years ago and slept in my cousin's room.  That night I had a dream that I overheard two people talking ... they seemed to be female voices ... and they were saying that Mary, my cousin, was going to have a baby.  The next night the phone rang just as we were sitting down for dinner.  It was my cousin calling to say that she had just found out she was going to have a baby.

OOOOOO that's kewl!! I never get to know any private or important information or anything like that   I'll just see something....like I saw this picture of my computer one day with the IMs in all the same places, and all the people saying the right things, and everything.....and then once I saw my closet arranged exactly how it was as I was getting my shoes 2 go running, and I saw myself jumping this hurdle once in PE and then getting in trouble for it, and it ALL happened and everything was set up the EXACT same way....oooo it's kewl!!! People say exactly what they say when I "see" them and everything. I rather like it  

And I think you must be just incredibly smart, like Rainypark said

[Cassandra]

Thank God I really don't have many nightmares (knock on wood) but I do seem to dream alot about family members and friends who have passed away. I really enjoy these special dreams because they usually are very pleasant, and I feel that this is their way of letting me know that they are still with us in spirit. Most of the time, they don't say anything at all, they just smile and look wonderfully happy, which tells me that they are okay and happy where they are. One time however, I did dream of my grandfather, who had passed away about 15 years ago. In the dream, I heard a knock at my door and saw my grandfather standing there when I opened it. He looked the same as he did in life. In the dream I knew that he had passed away and asked him what he was doing here? He just looked at me and said "please pray for me"  That really got to me and I prayed for him long and hard after that.  I haven't dreamt of him since, so Im hoping that my prayers did do some good for him.

[ProfStokes]

I have ESP sometimes....like I c stuff in dreams and then it comes true days later, but I don't notice it until it DOES happen....and then all of a sudden I'll point and be like "I SAW THAT!!!!!" and freak people out. It's fun!  

Daphne, I suggest that you keep a dream diary--record what you've dreamed as soon as you can upon waking, including the date of the dream and as many details as you can remember.  Then when your dreams come true, you can show your family and friends the proof that you saw it coming.

I did this for about a month a couple of years ago.  Strangely enough, fragments from whatever I happened to dream on a Wednesday night would come true the following Wednesday.  It wasn't in the precise detail that you've described, but it was close enough to get my attention.  Unfortunately, writing down all the dream details was a time-consuming task, and I don't keep a journal anymore (though now that I have a micro-cassette recorder, I'm tempted to try again.)  Supposedly, keping track of your dreams will also help you to become a lucid dreamer.

While we're discussing dreams, I once heard a superstition that if a person dreams something on a Friday and tells somebody about it the next day, the dream will come true.  I can vouch for this on the few occasions that I've tried it--even if the dream took a couple of years to come to pass. *cue the "Twilight Zone" theme*

ProfStokes