Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano continues to be active, affecting Europe's air travel. Recent earthquakes in China, Haiti, Chile and Mexico coupled with memorable hurricanes such as Katrina have people wondering just what Mother Nature has to offer next.
Recently there was non-stop cable news coverage of a potential tsunami moving toward Hawaii, resulting from an earthquake occurring in 8.8 magnitude earthquake in central Chili. All countries around the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean were potentially in danger of massive waves hitting the shores. Warning systems were in place to evacuate people to higher ground, and scientists monitored changes in water levels minute by minute.
Science provides the means to monitor the oceans and seismic shifts as well as atmospheric changes offering favorable conditions for the formation of tornados and hurricanes. While we do not have the capacity to change the conditions, with awareness we can respond to the developing and potentially catastrophic conditions by evacuating people to safety.
This month's Real Time With a Teacher will explore disaster dreams. Have you had a dream with a tornado, hurricane or earthquake?
• How did it relate to your state of mind?
• Were you experiencing out of control thoughts?
• Were you overwhelmed by experiences?
• How did you respond to the dream's message?
In 1871, 2000 acres in Chicago was destroyed by a fire. The story attributes this fire to a lantern kicked over by a cow in a barn. Mrs. O'Leary, the owner of the barn in which the great fire first began, is said to have lived out the remainder of her life with sadness and regret at the expansive damage to the whole city.
Yet because of this fire, Chicago was able to transform from a collection of taverns, dockyards and casinos to focus on rebuilding with skyscrapers allowing more businesses to exist within smaller geographical areas. The fire had cleared out so many old buildings making space for new "elevator buildings" as they were called at the time.
Destruction of a city in a dream is similar to what occurred physically in Chicago. You have made way for a major transformation within your mind. You now have room to build and complete freedom as to what will be built. The fertile ground of your mind is ready to cultivate new and more productive attitudes.
It was nighttime and I was standing outside my house. I looked up into the sky and saw the brilliant white full moon. Then before my eyes it began to break up and pieces fell down . I was scared and could only watch it. Then I knew that it would fall to the earth and cause massive damage, earthquakes, fires, etc. I thought our world would never be the same without the moon and wondered how would we manage without all the ways it was important to humanity. Then I began to prepare for the coming disaster. I told my husband and we went to warn people. We ended up going to a school, which was like a shelter, with many other people. By that time I was calm and was simply accepting whatever would happen.
Although I had this dream a long time ago, I still remember it vividly. It was definitely a time of change in my awareness.
Mari Hamersley, Des Moines School of Metaphysics
The moon is the brightest light in the night sky. It captures our attention and draws us in. The moon in dream symbology represents the awareness we have of the inner mind.
The breaking up of the moon in your dream and the potential for destruction on earth indicates major change in consciousness. At first glance, you cannot imagine how the world will continue to exist without the moon. There is a tendency to lean toward memory, relying on what has existed.
Your choice in the dream to go to a school demonstrates a movement to learn, to educate yourself. This brings you calmness and the capacity to accept. Education leads to understanding which leads to peace.
When reviewing dreams it is helpful to acknowledge the separation of the two worlds - the dream world and the physical world. This realization frees the mind to accept that what occurs in dreams are forms different than those occurring in the waking life of form. This becomes relevant in considering that disasters in the physical world may be entirely different from disasters in the dream world. See the connection?
Many holy scriptures describe the states of enlightenment and subsequent illumination in disaster imagery. For the faint of heart, this can be fear-provoking, thus deterring the undisciplined. For the strong of heart and clear of mind, the disciplined one can discern the inner truth being related in what most would see as disaster dreams.
I wanted to add a thought worthy of consideration here. Recently research in creativity resulted in the noting of four key phases of discovery. These are
1 Immersion
2 Acquisition
3 Inspiration
4 Evaluation
Disaster dreams come at the onset of phase 3. Inspiration arrives when the mind is aligned. It is a Eureka! moment, and often becomes recognizable through an earthquake, lightning, or monsoon – what many would consider a nightmare of epic proportions. Those reading this might enjoy the Epic Dream article on this site. It is quite amazing!
Dr. Barbara, that article was...dare I say it?...EPIC!
The phases of discovery you mention above also fascinate me. I am keen to learn more about this research.
Regarding disasters in dreams, I'm wondering if the change in media coverage of physical world disasters has had an impact on the way people experience disasters in dreams. Now more than ever, people have access to cell phone video and pictures, streaming internet video and news coverage that perseverates on disasters when they occur. This is more available now than at any other time because of the
I realize there always have been and always will be disaster dreams, because these herald changes in the dreamer's perception. And I'm wondering: Do you notice any changes in the way disasters occur in dreams over the past years?
Thank you.
Ronda
I am in an unfamiliar house. E. (female) is visiting and there are people on the sofa talking. People who brought her. I ask who the people are and she says they brought her. There are three men.
I am in a bedroom and we are cleaning. On the shelf above the bed or connected to the bed frame are knickknacks. I am looking at them. These knickknacks are Precious Moment figurines. Some how they fall off into my hands. I ask for help not wanting to drop them. K (female) attempts to help me put them back. E (female) is cleaning and all of a sudden the bed frame shelf started to tip to one side and I grab it and level it. As I put the Precious Moment statues back I ask what happened. E (female) says I am just cleaning. J (male) helps to put the frame of the bed together again while I stabilize the shelf. I hear a rumble like thunder. Then I am in the kitchen and notice dark clouds. Dr. C (female) comes in and asks if its going to rain. I say I think I heard thunder. All of a sudden the wind picks up outside. I say something is blowing in. Over the sink I a large windew and I look out and see the clouds. They are all like sphagnum moss. D (male) and E (female) have left to go home. I look at the clouds and I know that this isn’t good and I know the end of the world is coming. I want D (male) back with me. I go into the bedroom and grab the cell phone out of my purse. I try to turn on the lights in the room but there aren’t any. I start to cry and pray asking for strength and guidance to face what is coming and realize I can breathe and wait and it might not be as bad as I think because I am spirit or soul. I take the cell phone in to the kitchen so I can call D(male) to come back realizing I may never see him again.
This particular day I was working with changing attitudes. I was working on Threshholds, the School of Metaphysics magazine, and the person that was to show me how to set it up had not come to help. I started to be resentful but then realized that this attitude would not serve me so I let it go and changed it to being of service. I was also learning about leadership, taking the initiative to direct people in my environment rather than responding to needs and doing everything myself. I sometimes become reactive when someone is giving trying to teach me. This particular day I was very centered in listening and receiving.
There is a progression in the dream from simply thinking (sitting and talking) to actively straightening up and cleaning the room you sleep in. To put it simply you are cleaning up your own mind and your capacity to assimilate and learn. The concern over the Precious Moments figures stimulates you to engage other aspects of yourself. From here there is a coming together of several aspects.
The thunder follows which is indicative you are coming to know the source of your being. The winds pick up indicating greater movement of thought. The rains begin and the clouds form, all indicators of the coming of the end of the world.
This was frightening in the dream for you. The message of this dream is a major change in your entire mind resulting from the caused changes in your attitudes. You are right, you are spirit and soul. The situations experienced throughout the day where there is a lack of cooperation or follow-through could lead to frustration, anger or disappointment. It's a much more productive choice to be of service than to wallow in despair and it is these choices moment by moment that lead to earth changing consciousness.
Congratulations on the transformation!
Hi,
I had a dream that a tornado came through downtown Oklahoma City, OK and destroyed the Kerr-McGee building. That’s all I remember. It seemed so real. I actually thought that the building had been destroyed and west outside to check the weather and look down the street to see the skyline. The Kerr-McGee building is the headquarters for an oil company. Some members of the Kerr family were politicians from Oklahoma. One was a national senator to the U.S. Senate.
I had this dream during an afternoon nap on a Sunday after going to a friend’s church for the first time. It was a new type of church I had never been to before – a church where people spoke in tongues and then interpreted the tongues. They also sat in auditorium style in chairs rather than a sanctuary and had a praise band where people raised their hands during the worship. I was raised in a conservative church. Also that day a lady from the church – one of my friend’s friends had a Bible verse for me that helped me be at ease with the new environment.
Jesse Kern
Sometimes experiencing something very different from what is familiar and comfortable creates confusion. The familiar background of a conservative church was very different than the experience of the new church where people spoke in tongues and elevated their hands to offer praise. Comparison of the two different churches stimulated many thoughts which moved, very likely in a circuitous pattern, visiting the same thoughts over and over again which led to confusion.
Tornados in dreams reflect confusion within our mind. You've touched on the truth of what your dream was giving you. There may have been judgments connected with the church you were familiar with and the new one you'd just been introduced to. If this is true, then this would add to the confusion.
Since dreams tell us what is happening within our thinking it is important to use the dream message and make some choices based on what the dream is saying. A good choice in response to this dream would be to still the mind allowing yourself to receive the good that is in both churches.
Dreams offer a clear perspective greatly needed at all times, but particularly during times of duress. Many have a difficult time thinking clearly under duress. During particularly challenging times, or major shifts in thinking we may have dreams that are powerful and transformative.
Mental uprisings and confusion are demonstrated in our dreams through storms, reflecting stormy thinking, while opening the mind to something greater can stimulate the inner mind to present this transformation through shifting the earth as in an earthquake.
If you've ever experienced a tornado or earthquake or other natural disaster, you probably recall the sensation in your dream of a real sense of awe or fear.
There are a variety of natural disasters that can occur in dreams, just as there are in nature. Understanding the message that disasters symbolize can awaken you to the inherent power for transformation within your grasp. You simply need to harness the power and direct it toward the fulfillment of your reason for being.
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In October, 2007, I dreamt that the city of Des Moines, Iowa, was destroyed. By what, I do not remember. I do remember that what was left of the city was sand. I remembered skiing down the sand. It was the second dream that I remembered that morning, so a lot of the detail was lost.