Who 'sends' us our dreams?

QUESTION:


"God gave me a little bit of comfort about 10 days before Stephen died in the way of a very vivid dream. (I usually don't remember any of my dreams, but this one I could vividly see and remember all of the details.)


"In my dream I could so vividly see my beautiful son (as his adorable 5-year-old self) in a beautifully wooded spot with golden light streaming in. He was laying in complete happiness and peace on a bed of soft moss. The sweet smile and expression of utter contentment stays with me. Without words he gently let me know he really wanted to stay there. 'Please, Momma, can I stay?' I felt that night was approaching and I thought about the dangers, but I could not resist his smile and complete happiness and beautiful contentment. I let him stay, and I had to leave.


"Second part of my dream - The Sun is streaming into the house in the morning. A half-grown bird half-flies-half-hops into the room. A young bird, he has lots of down and some small feathers. Thinking he needs help, I try to pick him up, but he falteringly flies to a lower branch in a tree outside. Beneath the tree are two full grown cats, patient and predatory, circling and looking up at the bird. I know that the little bird will die.


"I told that dream to one of Stephen's three sisters, Raya (thankfully), and asked her 'What do you think this could mean?' Then I forgot about my dream, until Raya related it to another sister, Sara, after Stephen's memorial service. It came flooding back to me. What stood out was Stephen's perfect contentment.

"Do you think that dream was given to me by God or by Stephen? Thank you for sharing your time with me.".....Deborah

ANSWER:

Our dreams are our own, for us to interpret and ponder as we are guided to do so. More important in a dream is the feeling you have when waking up from it. That feeling will enable you to interpret your dream in a way that is the most meaningful to you.

Since you asked me how I would respond to this dream (who sent it), I would offer my sense that it was Stephen. I say that because both dreams are preparatory. And, most often, our loved ones do indeed try to prepare us for their coming demise via dreams and visions, or sometimes by the appearance of "signs" in the environment, like a favorite clock suddenly stopping or the loved one's framed photo suddenly and without cause crashing to the ground and breaking in a thousand pieces. Seldom is there just one sign - usually a series of them - all indicating the same thing. I have found in my own research that it is rare when a loved one doesn't give some type of advance notice of impending death. Especially children, and especially in their drawings.

I truly believe that your son was preparing you by showing you that his death was okay. You can say your dreams were a gift from God, because they are - via your son.

Please read my book, We Live Forever: The Real Truth About Death (A.R.E. Press, Virginia Beach, VA, 2004). Chapter Three is entitled "We Know When We're Going to Die," and deals with research I conducted in the fifties and sixties related to people who died in accidents or plane crashes. Since I am a policeman's daughter and grew up in a police station, and was once married to a crop-duster pilot, I have often been privy to horrible tragedies. What puzzled me then was a pattern I kept discovering......that the one about to die always knew what was coming and conveyed that knowledge to friends and family in a definable, recognizable pattern of behavior cues. In addition to hundreds of personal interviews I participated in, I also studied several thousand accident reports - and found this unusual advance knowingness present in most of them. The work I have done since has convinced me this is true: that we know when we are going to die.

Let me be clear here: just because we might think death awaits, or we have a dream or two that heralds our death, does not necessarily constitute a "sign" that we are about to leave. Many death dreams do not mean death at all; rather, they usually convey the idea of change or transformation or a turn-around in one's life. What I discovered during my early research is a pattern of behavior cues that occurs over time. I suggest you read at least that chapter in my book. I think you will find it most helpful in understanding how we can know such a thing and how that knowledge is most often expressed. This pattern of behavior cues was present in the pending death of our granddaughter Myriam, a healthy two-year-old who suddenly sickened and died. The book We Live Forever is dedicated to her and to her great-grandmother.

Many blessings, PMH

ANNOUNCEMENT:

I am one of the contributors to the new book, Forbidden Religion, edited by Doug Kenyon, the man who puts out the magazine, "Atlantis Rising" (an incredible publication). This book is now available, and through Bear & Co. (Inner Traditions), Rochester, VT, 2006. The title of my chapter is "Understanding the Near-Death Experience: Why Hasn't Science Gotten It Right?"

Doug arranged this chapter from an article I had previously written for "Atlantis Rising," and then notified me of its inclusion in the book. Truly, I am honored to be part of any of his ventures, as he is a man of integrity and vision.

In the July/August issue of "Atlantis Rising," he is using another of my articles. This one entitled "Is Humanity Experiencing A Quantum Leap In Evolution?" If you haven't discovered this magazine yet, give it a try. Contact: Atlantis Rising, P. O. Box 441, Livingston, MT 59047; phone 1-800-228-8381; e-mail darsi@atlantisrising.com; website www.AtlantisRising.com. It is dedicated to exploring ancient mysteries, unexplained anomalies, and future science.