Dreaming

I had real trouble waking up the other morning. The dream I was having was so bizarre and weird, I could not fathom what, precisely, it was about. My alarm went off three times before I could force myself away from it and get on with the day. Even now, as I sit and type, it's still in my head. I wish it would go away - it was weird. Basically, I suddenly found myself 6 months pregnant. I know not how or via whom. I was panicking because I don't have any baby paraphernalia anymore, and I didn't know how I would be able to explain the pregnancy to my friends. On top of that, my skin in certain places was afflicted with sore spots - to which I was trying to apply lotions and ointments. The only person I knew in the dream was an old friend whom I haven't seen for ages.

On finally forcing myself to wake up and get up I sought out an old book my brother gave me years ago; it's all about the symbolism of dreams. I'm sure dreams and their interpretation are highly personal, but it would seem there are some general 'rules' which can be applied to symbols and/or themes, and it's always interesting to see what this book has to say whenever I have a particularly vivid dream. In this case it tells me that to dream of pregnancy is generally considered to be a fortunate omen, and strangely, so are sores on the skin as long as it's your own skin. To see sores on the skin of another person indicates a less positive interpretation.

A few weeks ago there was a BBC Horizon documentary on dreams and dreaming - it was really interesting, as researchers are continually finding out more about the mechanisms of dreaming. It seems that we, as human 'animals', are programmed to dream, and that dreaming might actually be an integral part of sleep: If the part of our brain involved in dreaming (the parietal lobe) is injured, our ability to sleep is hampered. This asks a curious question of those who say they "don't dream".

Are you a person who has vivid dreams, dear Reader? Do they recur, or are they isolated incidents? I used to keep a dream diary as I am someone who has always had varied and numerous dreams. I don't find it difficult to recall my dreams, and when we moved I found it really interesting when I found my old dream diary, and read about some of the dreams therein.

My most memorable dream ever was one in which I met my dead grandparents. It was at a time in my life when I desperately wanted to have children, but because of endometriosis, was infertile (the experience of endo and infertility is a whole other blog post - maybe I should write it one day?) Anyway, in this dream I was out shopping with HWNLR; he went off to buy stuff, and I went up to this house. It was a bright, sunny day and I walked up a long path, with well-tended garden either side. I knocked on the door, and was amazed when it was opened by my grandmother. I was surprised to see her since at that time she'd been dead for quite a few years; but what was more surprising was that she looked so well and was walking freely. In life she suffered badly from arthritis - particularly of the hips. I never knew her to walk well (she had a built up shoe when I was very young, because one hip was so worn) and in later years she was in a wheelchair. But in the dream she looked fabulous and was walking normally. She greeted me warmly and invited me through to the kitchen.

Sitting at the kitchen table was a young man - she told me his name was Michael, I said hello and he reciprocated, but then went back to reading the books in front of him on the table. At that point the back door opened and in walked my Grandpa. Like Grandma, he looked younger than I remembered, he was grinning all over his face, and carrying logs for the fire. (In reality they had no open fireplace at their house, but the house in which the dream took place bore no resemblance to their house). He was pleased to see me and said hello, giving me a hug.

An afternoon of cups of tea, cakes to eat, and general chat followed. Michael went off somewhere. When he'd gone, my grandma told me the reason I was there that day was to tell me something important. She told me that even though I didn't think it would happen, that one day - but not yet - I would have a child. She said the child would be a daughter, and told me that at the moment that girl was "in spirit". She told me her "spirit name" (her words) and said that it would be nice if I included that name in the girl's given names after she was born. She said the child was a lovely girl, and that I would love her very, very much. The afternoon drew to a close and I left their house, kissing them both goodbye and telling them it had been wonderful to see them again. I walked back to the shops and met up with HWNLR and told him about all that had happened.

It wasn't until a year later that, after an operation to tackle the endometriosis, I became pregnant. But I remembered that dream vividly, and was certain that my baby was a girl (confirmed by the 20 week scan). No.1 was born 2 days before her due date, and was given the 'spirit name' my grandmother told me as her middle name. It's not a name we'd ever have chosen if the dream hadn't happened, but as it is, I do like it very much.

That dream was so vivid, that I have no trouble recalling it even now, almost 14 years later. I still dream frequently and with enormous detail, so I guess my parietal lobe is ok. Long may it continue as I largely enjoy the experience of dreaming (although there have been some very weird ones: In one I was teaching Cilla Black to swim :-O WTF was that about?! And in another Prince Charles and Princess Diana were visiting ... she was cold, so I made her a little bolero jacket with ... kitchen roll - she seemed delighted. Again .... what the hell? :-O )

My 'dream' grandmother was right - No.1 IS a lovely girl, and I DO love her very, very much. Oh and that young man named Michael? I discovered that my Aunt (my grandmother's daughter) had had a stillborn son; she and her husband named him Michael. He'd have been about 4 years younger than me. There is nobody else by that name in our family, and I guess I'll never know if it was him in my dream or not, but it's an interesting 'coincidence'.

© Author