Death In Dream Symbolizes Rebirth

Dear Nancy: I began having this dream a couple of months ago and it has recurred at least 10 times, and I always wake up very upset.

My life has been pretty stable lately. I work full time and have been living with my boyfriend for over a year. Our relationship is good but we are very different. He wants to stay home all the time, whereas I am more social and love going out, visiting and dancing.

This is causing me to re-evaluate our relationship. - Lori

I am driving past my parent’s house to check on it because they have gone out of town. I see a vacuum cleaner in the driveway. It’s the one they gave me and I wonder why it’s here. I call my boyfriend and he tells me to wait for him to come over before I go into the house to check on things.

When he arrives, we see the front door is ajar. I push it open and find my parents dead in the living room with blood all over the house. Their heads are crushed in. They are both wearing summer clothes, Dad in the blue corduroy shorts he always wears, and Mom in a familiar summer outfit.

I wake up screaming.

Dear Lori: Recurring dreams are very important. The psyche will repeat a dream until the dreamer understands it or has made appropriate changes. Let’s explore your dream in several ways.

You shared with me that you have had several precognitive dreams in the past. Your parents wearing summer clothes is an indication this may be a dream about the future. Please don’t hesitate to urge your parents to change the locks on their doors or install a security system. Sharing the dream with them may help them understand your concern.

The dream may also be about your relationship with your boyfriend. The vacuum may symbolize the home and the need to “clean up” the relationship. Your parents have had a long, satisfying marriage and their deaths may illustrate the death of your own relationship with this man.

Have you had a good relationship with your parents? If not, this dream could depict some underlying rage or resentment you have held against them. Dreams tend to exaggerate our feelings so we get the message.

Has your relationship with your parents “died” in some way? You stated you live close by but hardly ever see them. How do you feel about that? Is it a great loss to you or are you comfortable with it?

We can also look at the dream as if all the parts are yourself. We all have the parent, child and the wise old one inside of us. Is there some way the parent or caretaker inside of you has been murdered? Has your inner-parent ceased to take care of you?

Death, in dreams, is not always a negative sign. Sometimes it is fitting and proper for old attitudes and beliefs to die in order for the new ones to manifest.

This column is intended as entertainment. But psychologists who work with clients’ dreams say dreams can hold a tremendous amount of significance; a particularly disturbing or repetitive dream may indicate the need to see a therapist.

, DataTimes MEMO: Nancy Huseby Bloom has studied dreams for 18 years. Dreams may be sent to her c/o The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax, (509) 459-5098. Please send a short summary of the circumstances in your life and include your name, address and phone number. Nancy conducts dream groups on a regular basis. For information, call 455-3450.

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