Hello,

my mother told me yesterday that long time ago, she had dreamt about her father going to heaven. She is a devout Catholic and takes the dream for pure truth in the religious sense. But, as a dilligent reader of this site , I somehow started wondering if there is a possibility that the dream could mean anything else.

Uh now that I started thinking of it, maybe I am interested in this dream of hers just for the pleasure of opposing my parents, and I know that this is really stupid and immature of me, and that maybe I have no right sharing her personal dream with you guys here. But on the other hand, I'm always curious, so this really makes no difference. So here are some more details:

my grandfather died in ... I don't know exactly, but surely somewhere between 1983 and 1987. Mom said she had the dream somehow 5 years from his real death. She is convinced that he really went to heaven that night because every time she dreamt about him before he was suffering a lot (as far as I could decipher from what she had said - she told very little about the dreams, and it felt really inconsiderate digging into her). Um, and this can be an important piece of information: she met my father in 1990 and they married in 1991. When I asked her of that, she said she hasn't known him yet in the time of the dream, but when I asked her a few more questions, she wasn't certain anymore about this, she only said she was sure they haven't been married yet.

I know very little about dream interpretation, but surely father is some powerful figure in our subconscious. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 16, Eastern Europe

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Do you really want to go there, Anja? Be careful what you wish for. Sharing another persons dream may well just trigger some comment about yourself and your belief system.

Stephen

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 49 Sydney Australia

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Anja,
There must be some important reason, albeit perhaps unconscious, that this dream and its relevance to your life has prompted you to post it at the Forum. I'll try to provide a quick explanation of how dreams function so you will understand the process. I don't want to say to anything that may offend any religious convictions you may hold but there is a possibility my explanation of your mother's dream may not hold with such convictions. I'll explain more about that later in this post.

Dreams reflect the emotional state of being of the dreamer, at the time of the dream. The fact your mother is a devout Catholic could/would affect the imagery in her dreams. But even with her devout beliefs most dreams use symbols that are metaphorical. The symbols are seldom literal except in the case of relationships to people, things or events in the dreamer's waking life. In other words a house in a dream would most often represent the dreamer {the house is the dreamer} or is in relationship to the dreamer {mother's house may represent the relationship of the dreamer to the mother}. This is standard procedure of how dreams function.

So the dream your mother had of her father going to heaven is as much an emotional event {metaphor} than it is a true waking event {literal}. Heaven, the religious definition, is unprovable/unknown but the metaphor of heaven is a 'better place'. Your mother's emotional state of mind plus her devotion to her religion would be reflected in her dreams, use metaphorical symbols as the language. So the dream would address her emotions but the reference to heaven would be metaphorical since the natural aspects of the brain do not impose religious beliefs as literal events. It is as much a 'wish' fulfillment dream, her 'true' desire that her ailing and suffering father is going to a better place {heaven}. Her religious sense is a waking condition. The true sense does not use judgement of religion but the judgement of her own true emotions.

Not knowing more of the dream {I dare say there is much more to it, more about your mother's emotional mind and life} makes it hard to say what relationships there are to the 'heaven' content of the dream. But the relationship to her father and his suffering would naturally be an event that dreams would address. If you could learn more about the dream perhaps we could learn more about the relationship as well as your mother.

As far as having the dream 5 years prior to his death. Was he ill and suffering at the time of the dream? That would go to my statement about her desires of his being in a better place. If he was not already ill then the dream could have some precognitive value. Dreams do not normally predict future events. Instead the dream imagery may be pure metaphorical in its intent. I would have to know more about your mother, the events during the time of the dream and the actual dream content in full, to give a better response.

Your last statement holds a lot of truth. 'Father' can be a powerful figure in dreams. Your grandfather may have been a power influence on your mother. But fathers can represent other things, not having any relationship at all to an actual father. Here are some possibilities from the dream dictionary. Father in dreams.

I applaud your interest in dreams. At 16 you have begun toi realize early in life what most people never even realize. Dreams are an important aspect to good mental health. As you grow older and mature I hope you continue your interest. You will you will have insights beyond the norm if you study Jungian psychology. Asking questions is more important that shutting out the possibilities. It is a sign of maturity, not an immaturity.

I hope this helps. if you have questions please post them here. We are ready to help all we can.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 57 Murfreesboro, Tn.

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