Katie Couric Has Recurring Nightmares of Plane Crashes

When I was a guest on her show back in April of 2013, she told me that she gets this nightmare quite a bit. Neither you nor Katie should cancel any travel plans because this dream is not showing you the future, instead it means you have suffered a big let down in your real life. Something you had high hopes for came crashing down instead… along with your spirits. Katie has suffered many let downs, which caused emotional crashes: She lost her husband to colon cancer, then her sister to pancreatic cancer. She lost her gig on the CBS Evening News just to name a few. If this is your recurring dream, try not to take things so hard. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep on keeping on. Like Katie, you’re a survivor!

Madonna Has Recurring Nightmares of Being Attacked with A Knife

More specifically, she is attacked by a dwarf with a knife! This nightmare suggests Madonna is feeling victimized in real life. Knives in particular can symbolize cutting, emotionally wounding remarks. Madonna faces a lot of criticism from the media and the public in general. While it may not bother her while she’s awake, it clearly bothers her while she sleeps. And the dwarf? That’s her fear of being dwarfed or diminished in the public eye. Let’s face it, she’s a BIG celebrity and she does everything in a BIG way. However, criticism does bring her ego down to size.

Celine Dion Has Recurring Nightmares of Choking

Choking happens in the throat and the throat is where our voice comes from so to choke in a dream can mean you have a hard time speaking up in real life. You may tend to choke back your words rather than voicing your opinion. For Celine, she chokes on a cold apple in her dreams. This makes sense because her voice is AMAZING and it is how she makes her living; it has been very  “fruitful” for her, hence the apple. Any singer will tell you they must “warm up” their voices before a performance so a voice going cold, like the cold apple, would be a nightmare! For Celine, these dreams are reminding her to take it easy on her voice so she doesn’t “choke” during a performance.

Taylor Swift Has Recurring Nightmares of Murdering

Hard to believe that America’s sweetheart has recurring dreams of being a murderer, isn’t it? To murder in a dream usually isn’t a bad thing. It means you have successfully put an end to something in real life.  In Taylor’s dreams, the murder doesn’t actually take place but rather she has knowledge that she has murdered someone, “I always have nightmares that I’m being framed for murder and then I’m being framed SO well that I can’t remember if I did it or not in the dream. So that really winds me up and then I’m just freaked out for the next couple of days.”

Now, what we all know – and quite frankly love – about Tay Tay, is that she goes through relationships like a bag of Lays potato chips.  We love this about her because her break ups inspire her songs.  These recurrent break ups are likely the murders in her dreams. There is also confusion about whether she actually committed the murders or not; she is framed for the murders. This shows us that in real life, Taylor doesn’t feel she is at fault for the break up (a break up is a forced ending, like a murder is a forced death). But as time goes on, she probably questions herself, “Hmmm. Maybe I was too clingy or too demanding,” for example (she’s framed so well she can’t remember if she actually did murder). But here’s what’s sad about it guys, feeling that she is framed for murder in the dreams might mean in real life she feels used in relationships. She feels used over and over again because she has this same dream over and over again.

Rihanna’s Nightmare of a Building Collapse

Back in 2005, Rihanna and I were on the air together on KZHT in Salt Lake City. She told me she had recently had a nightmare that she and her brother watched a plane crash into a skyscraper. The Skyscraper then collapsed onto her brother. While this nightmare is eerily reminiscent of 9/11, it is actually more about Rihanna’s relationship with her little brother. As with Katie Couric’s dream, planes often symbolize that which you have high hopes for or that in your life you hope will take off. At the time, Rihanna’s first hit “Pon De Replay” (Hey Mr. DJ) was out and her career, like a plane, was taking off. The building is the relationship she had “built” with her brother. It is presented as a sky scraper because she and her brother were very close and the relationship was a BIG part of her life. The plane hits the skyscraper, causing it to collapse because Rihanna – at the time – was worried her busy schedule and jet setting all over the world would conflict with her relationship and that her absence would harm her brother emotionally. As horrible as the nightmare is, it confirms the deep emotional bond she and her brother share and serves as a reminder to keep that bond alive no matter how big her career gets… and man, her career did her career get big since then!

While nightmares may be the scariest dreams of all, they are also the most important dreams of all because they shine a spotlight on a difficult issue we need to take care of. I have an entire chapter on nightmares in my book Dream on It, Unlock Your Dreams Change Your Life. When you can understand your nightmares, you can make them stop!

“This is an AMAZING book! It was given to me as a gift and I love it! I could hardly put it down. I refer back to it often to interpret my dreams now. I loved it so much I recommend it to everyone I know.”   – Mel Martin, Amazon reviewer

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You’d be surprised how many good, honest, hard-working individuals by day turn into Jeffrey Dahmer at night!

Sheryl from Utah is one of these individuals so she came to me for help. As brutal as chopping up babies in a dream may be, there is a very good reason for it! Read on to find out why… (The following is from my nationally syndicated newspaper column The Dream Zone)

Dear Lauri,
The only part of my dream I remember is that I was cutting up babies! I had a sharp, serrated knife, and was cutting them into little pieces. Cute little babies! Needless to say, I was very disturbed this morning!    – Sheryl, West Jordan, UT

Lauri:  Even just a portion of a dream will hold significance for you that you should pay attention to. And it might ease your mind to know that dismemberment dreams are more common than you might think. Dreams love word play and bring words to life so take a good look at the word dismember… it basically means to remove a member. Now apply that to your life. Is there any member of your life removing his or herself from it? Anything such as a behavior or issue or anyone YOU need to cut out of your life or separate from? The babies your slicing up are a clue and suggest this is either some new element in your life that needs to go or it could be connected to someone who acts like a baby.

Sheryl replies:  Hmm, mostly right now I’m trying to “fix” old behaviors, move on from an old relationship, I’m becoming an empty nester. And they’re HAVING babies. I have two new grandbabies. Could that have something to do with it?

Lauri replies:  Ah! That definitely explains all the babies. You have to separate from your babies… and your babies’ babies. Your babies having babies probably brings back when they were babies.

Sheryl replies:  That dream was so unsettling. Thank you so much! Now that I’m thinking about it, I was just cutting off their limbs; maybe I was trying to keep them from leaving.

Lauri replies:  That could certainly be. Your dream is an expression of your displeasure with having to cut them loose. Remember, it’s okay to slice up the apron strings… not the children!

Your dreams are such a powerful part of who you are!  When you can understand your dreams, you can change your life!!  Just about everything you dream about can be found in my instant dream decoding dictionary. It’s like having an electronic version of me available to you anytime you want. You’ll NEVER have to wonder what your dreams mean EVER again!

“My mental health clients absolutely love when I log onto your website during a session to find meaning for their dreams.” – Scott R.W. Grefrath, LCSW-R   Rochester, NY

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Terror Attacks Our Dreams

For quite some time after the terror attacks on September 11th, 2001, nightmares were definitely on the rise.  These days we all have an underlying sense of anxiety, stress and insecurity, the three major building blocks for nightmares.  Below are just a few of the hundreds of nightmares that were reported to me since that horrible day.

“Exploding Computer”

I was playing games with my son on the PC when suddenly the screen went out and then flashed writing in some foreign language. The PC then exploded and I was caught in a blinding light and heard a ringing in my ears and was unable to find my son. I was trying to call to my wife to get my son but I was unable to move or see anything.    – Frank 35, Staten Island, New York

The personal computer games symbolize the game of life.  Frank, being the concerned and caring parent that he is, is teaching his son the rules of life and how to compete and win in this game.  The computer screen goes blank and flashes a foreign language indicating that something that is beyond Frank’s understanding (the terror attacks) is suddenly interfering with his “personal” world. Then the PC explodes.  Explosions usually mean a burst of pent up frustration may be on the way but they can also mean there is a major shift going on in one’s thinking… and these days the latter is usually the case as we are all rethinking our priorities.  But for Frank, his shift in thinking was related to the fact that a new child was on the way at a time when he was no longer sure he wanted to bring more children into such a chaotic world.  This nightmare is warning Frank not to “lose sight” of the needs of his son who has been drawing burning buildings almost everyday since the terror attacks.   It is also urging him to not let the fact that there are some things beyond his control keep him from “moving” forward in life.

“Satan’s Mission”

My room was hell and the hallway was the stairway to Heaven.  All of these people were going by on their way to Heaven, while I was stuck in this dark room.  Satan was in there with me.  He was trying to get me riled up over the unfairness of this.  We began making plans for a war.  I was “enlisted” to go on a mission but I had to be disguised.  He started talking about removing my skin and putting something ELSE there.  I asked him if it would hurt. He said it wouldn’t and that I just needed to relax.  I woke up with my heart pounding.   – Ruschia 27, Hertford, North Carolina

This nightmare reflects Ruschia’s struggle to understand the mindset of those that have waged war on the free world.  Satan naturally symbolizes the evil forces that manipulate and rile up the minds of those that are easily influenced into becoming terrorists by telling them that they will be able to go to Heaven or “Paradise” if they “fight the infidels.”  Ruschia is enlisted to go on a mission and her skin is removed just as the terrorists are “stripped” of their independent thinking and are enlisted to go on homicidal missions.  After this nightmare, Ruschia decided to take a break from the twenty-four hour news channels.

“Beheading”

“This seems to be the strangest thing, but the night of the terror attacks, my husband and I both dreamt of someone being beheaded.  Is it normal for two people to have the same dream, or nightmare in this case, on the same night?”     – Barbara 41, Sydney, Australia

Barbara and her husband experienced a fascinating phenomenon called “Shared Dreaming.” That is when two people have the same dream, or a similar dream, on the same night. Shared Dreaming definitely occurs and probably does so more often than we know because so many of us don’t always remember our dreams nor report them to others. Nonetheless, the reason it happens is because the two people who shared the same dream are also sharing the same issue that caused the dream and react to the issue, subconsciously, in the same or a similar manner.

In Barbara’s and her husband’s case, they both had been watching the terrible events of 9/11 unfold all day, went to bed with it on their minds and tried to sort it out while dreaming in a very similar mind set.  They are husband and wife after all, so naturally they are on the same wavelength.

Interesting, isn’t it, that they dreamed of beheadings not knowing what a frequent occurrence it would become on the news in the coming months?  Even more interesting, is that they are not the only ones who reported dreaming of beheadings after that day.  From a Dream Psychology standpoint, I can understand why.  If you look at the New York skyline before the attacks, the Twin Towers stood “heads” above the rest of the buildings.  Plus, New York is the financial “head” of the world.  It makes sense that watching those towers come down was very much like watching a beheading.  Sigh.

Do you remember any dreams you had after 9/11? Leave them in the comments below.

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Look at your nightmares as a literal wake up call, letting you know a difficult situation in your life has gone on long enough and needs be dealt with correctly… and NOW!

Below is a great example of how a nightmare is connected to a difficult issue and how it is a brutally honest reflection of how the difficult issue is affecting you.  This is from when I was on 105.3 HOT FM with Rachael and Gravy in the Morning in Grand Rapids. Rachael had a helluva nightmare the night before and needed my help. Listen to the audio and you’ll not only see how every single detail in her dream has meaning but also how the dream is letting her know that her difficult waking life issue needs to be taken care of.



Remember how I mentioned that the pen in her dream was about communication? That pen is her ability to communicate to her family what their behavior is doing to her. And remember how the pen was connected to a string that was tearing up her insides? THAT is the message she needs to communicate: “You guys are tearing me apart and ruining what should be one of the happiest times in my life.” Like I said in the audio, NOT COOL!

What is it with families always trying to push their demands onto YOUR wedding? GAH!! That’s why I eloped.  😉

Your dreams, no matter how frightening they may sometimes be, are always trying to help you with EVERY issue in life you face… but they can’t help you much if you don’t understand them.

My books will give you the ability to understand your dreams, to understand the symbols in them, to find the warnings and messages they offer AND how to apply their messages to your life. Like I always say, when you can understand your dreams, you can change your life.

I feel so much better now that I have read your books and especially because I have them on my nightstand.

I get a lot of bad dreams and now I understand what they mean and more importantly, what is causing them.

Your books have really made a big difference in my awake and my asleep life. I now know that there is not something wrong with me, but rather something wrong in my life I need to handle better.
I really can’t thank you enough for writing these.” – Jamie, Louisville, KY

The post A nightmare about rape, guns, blood and more appeared first on Lauri Loewenberg | Dream Expert.

I consistently dream that the world is being overrun by zombies.  I always manage to avoid getting bitten or whatever the case may be, but they usually find a way to get inside and I find myself cornered in either an attic or closet and trapped. – Chris 31

Lauri: You may get these dreams whenever you feel like your personal world is being crowded or overrun with issues from the past that you can’t seem to let die. The zombies are likely grudges you can’t let go of, issues that ought to be dead but that you are keeping alive. You are always cornered in a closet or attic.  Both of these are places are where we store things away in real life which, to the dreaming mind, represent the places in your psyche where you have stored away memories, issues, feelings you don’t want to deal with.  Your dreams keep forcing you in there because you haven’t properly dealt with your feelings about them.  Have you tucked them away in a nice little corner inside of you instead of letting out the rage?  If so, this could be yet another connection to the zombies; they may represent the numbness and lack of feeling you are allowing to overtake you.

Chris replies: I’m having trouble letting go of my wife. She blindsided me, pretty much told me we lived a lie for the last few years and each time she told me she loved me was a lie.  My life that I had is gone, swept away and hidden like dirt under a rug, and I don’t feel the forgiveness I need to yet.  I have trouble letting things go and this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through.  And I am afraid to let out the rage. I’m pretty easy-going and try to keep a lot locked away. I’m the funny fat guy! Ha Ha!  So yeah, I’m hiding a lot.”

Chris’s dream encompasses everything that zombies represent: keeping alive an issue that ought to be dead and trying to go about life void of emotion. It’s certainly understandable to respond that way after what his wife did, but his inner dreaming mind does not agree with this choice, which is why it continues to nag him with the zombie nightmare.  Chris is mishandling the emotional aftermath of his marriage so his dreaming mind has to keep reminding him that he really needs to allow this to die so he can bury it and move on.  Too often we allow our hardships in life to become our identity rather than an opportunity to improve and strengthen our self.  Heartache should not define you, it should teach you.  When Chris learns to bury the past and become alive again, the zombies will stagger out of his dreamscape for good!

The message of zombie nightmares: You know how zombies must eat brains? There is an issue that is eating away at your mind right now, and it is an issue that – in reality – is dead, but you are keeping it alive by giving it your energy.  You need to let it go so you can live with healthy peace of mind, not a mind consumed with grudges.

In the nightmare chapter of Dream On It, Unlock Your Dreams, Change Your Life you will also find out what these common nightmares mean: Being Chased, Falling, Your Death, Death of a Loved One, Murder, Trapped, End of the World, Zombies, Blood, Paralysis, How to End Nightmares

Dream On It is available everywhere as well as on Kindle and on Nook.  It also makes a FANTASTIC gift!!

The post Zombie Apocalypse appeared first on Lauri Loewenberg | Dream Expert.

Frankenstein

We all know the story of Frankenstein’s monster. It’s such a big part of our culture that movies, TV shows and of course, Halloween costumes have been inspired by it. We have this iconic monster thanks to a nightmare that Mary Shelley had back in 1816 after Lord Byron challenged her to write a ghost story. Shortly thereafter Shelley had a nightmare that she claims was the inspiration for Frankenstein. In the Introduction of the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, Shelley describes her dream in which she saw: “the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with a uneasy, half vital motion.” Yeah, that dream would freak me out too!

The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde

Also a literary classic and inspiration for many a movie and TV show plot, the story line came to Robert Louis Stevenson in a nightmare. One afternoon in the fall of 1885, after suffering a bout of writer’s block, Stevenson decided to nap. Not long after, Stevenson’s wife claims, “I was awakened by cries of horror from Louis. Thinking he had a nightmare, I woke him. He said angrily, ‘Why did you wake me? I was dreaming a fine bogey tale.’ I had awakened him at the first transformation scene,” meaning the first time Dr. Jeckyll turned into Mr. Hyde. Yes, it is a shame Stevenson was awakened before his dream could play out in its entirety, but at least he was able to capture enough of it to create a way cool story!

Twilight

This modern day classic and block buster came to Stephenie Meyers in a dream. According to March 2009?s Vogue magazine, Meyer “woke up with a dream reverberating in her head.” It was a vampire dream. She had not dreamed of vampires before, had not been reading about vampires. To this day, she has not figured out why vampires. “I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while B) the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately. For what is essentially a transcript of my dream, please see Chapter 13 (“Confessions”) of the book.” Coolest. Dream. Ever!

Misery

Stephen King claims he gets a lot of his ideas for stories from his dreams. He had a particularly disturbing dream one night when he fell asleep on an airplane. “I dreamt about a woman who held a writer prisoner and killed him, skinned him, fed the remains to her pig and bound his novel in human skin. His skin, the writer’s skin. I said to myself, ‘I have to write this story.’ Of course, the plot changed quite a bit in the telling.” Ummm… Eew!!

The Sewing Machine

No, this isn’t a novel or movie, but we have it today thanks to a nightmare Elias Howe had about cannibalism. Yes, I said cannibalism. Howe had been struggling with creating a machine that would sew with speed and efficiency. One night, he fell asleep at his desk and had this nightmare… He is in Africa, fleeing from cannibals through the jungle. Despite his frantic efforts to escape, the natives capture him, tie him up and carry him back to their village slung from a pole. There they dump him into a huge iron pot full of water. They light a fire under the pot and start to boil him alive.

As the water starts to bubble and boil around him, he discovers that the ropes have loosened enough for him to work his hands free. He tries repeatedly to take hold of the edge of the pot and haul himself out of the hot water, but every time he manages to heave himself up over the edge of the pot, the natives reach across over the flames and forcibly poke him back down into the pot again with their sharp spears that had holes in the tips. After he woke up and got over the initial shock of such a disturbing dream, he realized that what his machine was missing was holes in the tips of the needles!

Howe’s cannibal dream not only reflected that his invention was “eating away at him” and “consuming” his every thought, it also gave him the exact solution he needed. I don’t know about you, but my wardrobe is very thankful for that nightmare.

Dreams, no matter how frightening, are an invaluable resource.

They not only help us to problem solve but they also give us great ideas! Thomas Edison used to keep a cot in his laboratory so he could “grab ideas from space.” He knew how to tap into his dreams for ideas. And thank God he did!

We are all geniuses when we dream. Unfortunately, the power of dreaming is under-estimated, under-valued and under-used. Now more than ever we should all be turning to our dreams to help us sort through this tough time. I guarantee you that your dreams are helping you figure out how to save more money, how to get that promotion and are even offering you great money- making ideas… if you would just pay attention.  There’s a reason we say “let me sleep on it.” We’re really saying, “let me dream on it.” This is why I titled my latest book Dream On It, Unlock Your Dreams, Change Your Life It’s available everywhere. Why don’t you grab yourself a copy and keep it by your bedside? You’ll never wonder what your dreams mean again!

Want to start reading Dream On It in just seconds from now? You can! Get it on Kindle or get it on Nook

“I love, love, love this new book from Lauri! I have referred to it for a different reason every single day since I got it. It’s been really great and helped me realize all my dreams point to…transportation i.e. my path in life. It’s been eye-opening and all the girls in my office want to borrow it. I love how she writes and breaks everything down into simple terms.” – Heather, Wichita, KS

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This is from last week on my blogtalk show The Dream Zone…



Poor Cheryl. As much as I really, truly feel for her, she is the one allowing herself to be in that situation, and her dream is clearly showing her that she can’t survive much more of it, just as her body wouldn’t be able to survive many more bullet holes. Like I say in my latest book Dream On It, Unlock Your Dreams Change Your Life, “Our dreams will be brutally honest with us when our waking mind refuses to be.” That’s what scary dreams are all about, they are often the inner dreaming mind’s way of trying to scare us into reality. Hopefully this dream did its job. Oy Cheryl. What am I going to do with you??

If you had a copy of Dream On It on your nightstand, you’d be able to figure out your dreams every morning. Why wonder about your dreams and let them nag you when you can finally KNOW what they are telling you? Grab your copy now! Bedtime will never be the same…

“Lauri still reading Dream On It can’t put it down. I’ve been dreaming a lot more or remembering them since I started to read it, but now my dreams are making sense. Thank you for a well written and enjoyable read!”    – Margie Ward, Upper Darby, PA

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This is the first of a five part series I’m writing about the freakiest, dreamiest music videos of all time, the symbolism in them, what they mean and other cool facts about the videos and artists you may not know. And we’ll start with  my favorite dreamiest video of all…

Bring Me To Life by Evanescence featuring 12 Stones and directed by Philipp Stölzl.

The reason why it’s my favorite? Because the entire video is a falling dream, the most commonly reported dream throughout the history of mankind!!

Falling dreams are the most commonly reported dreams in the history of mankind.

The video seems to start out as a flying dream as we seemingly float amongst the skyscrapers of a very Gotham-like city at night until we arrive at an open window with drapes flying in the breeze. As we enter the window (which symbolizes entering the psyche) we see a sleeping Amy Lee (or Amy’s character but for simplicity’s sake we’ll just call her Amy) who is apparently in the midst of a free fall in her dream. So why would she be having a falling dream? There’s a few reasons.  Something somewhere in her life is going in the wrong direction. Perhaps she suffered a recent let down, perhaps her relationship is going south… she could even be falling into a depression. As you may have gathered, the operative word here is down, we get falling dreams when something in waking life is bringing us down.

But, like most falling dreams, Amy wakes up (or does she?) before hitting bottom. This would be a good place to debunk that old wives tale that if you have a falling dream and you hit the ground you’ll actually die. Really now, how in the heck could any of us ever know this to be true? I’ve never spoken to any dead people who told me they died from a falling dream. I have, however spoken to many who had the falling dream and DID hit the bottom and woke up just fine. Happened to me once as well and when I hit the ground… I bounced! So there.

All right, back to the video! Amy, in a very trance-like state, gets out of her bed and crawls out the window on to the ledge! Oy! Girlfriend must be sleepwalking!!  By the way, the medical term for sleep walking is somnambulism and it’s a repeat offender, meaning if you have ever sleepwalked in your life, you’re likely to do it again at some point. Also, sleepwalking doesn’t typically happen in the REM or dreaming phase of sleep; it happens in the deeper stages.

Nice gams!

So as Amy walks along the edge of the building (being on the ledge is symbolic of Amy being on the edge of a breakdown) we catch a few glimpses inside the windows as she passes them. This is actually really cool imagery as the building represents Amy (houses and buildings in dreams often represent the self, one’s personality construct or one’s current state of mind). What we see inside those windows are symbolic of what is going on inside Amy. Inside the first window we see an older couple, watching TV with a nice, big space in between them. Clearly the life and passion in their relationship is gone. This likely reflects that Amy has become void of emotion, hence the title of the song “Bring Me To Life.” In an interview, Amy did tell The Boston Phoenix that before meeting her husband she was in a relationship that was abusive and was completely unhappy. The couple here could also represent that her relationship was growing old and tired.

Seriously, Maybelline Great Lash waterproof. It’s good stuff!

Inside the next window Amy passes we see a party, but all the party goers are wearing clown masks. One party goer is sitting solemnly on the window sill and as Amy passes her she lifts up her mask to reveal that a small investment in waterproof mascara would do her good as her face is stained with black tears. Good Housekeeping recommends  Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof mascara… as do I! Now, where were we? Oh yes, the crying girl-clown. She represents the facade of a happy face Amy likely puts on in public as to not let anyone know how dark and sad she truly is on the inside. In that same interview with The Boston Phoenix Amy said she did indeed hide her unhappiness while in that relationship.

Look! A ghost!

After passing sad clown-girl window, Amy seems to have developed these way cool Spidey powers and begins to scale the side of the building with ease (which represents her desire to rise above the depression and void she is currently feeling inside).  Along her ascent she passes by another window and inside we see a man sitting by himself next to a cloudy fish tank. Fish tanks, believe it or not, are pretty common symbols in women’s dreams. You see, water in a dream often symbolizes one’s emotions. A fish tank would then represent contained and controlled emotions. If the water is cloudy then the dreamer is dealing with confusing and uncertain emotions in waking life. The cloudy fish tank in this video is likely connected to Amy’s uncertainty about leaving her abusive relationship and being alone again, hence the guy sitting there alone. But remember, this is seen as she is ascending up. Going up in a dream means progress and rising above where you were before in life.

Amy continues to scale the building and finally reaches the window she was looking for. Inside we see 12 Stones jamming away as Amy sings longingly to the lead singer Paul McCoy. Music in dreams often represents harmony in waking life. Amy’s longing for Paul McCoy in the video represents her desire to have the courage to rise above the abusive relationship she was in and find someone that can bring harmony and happiness into her waking life. Also, notice all the wind? Wind in dreams means the winds of change are blowing through your real life. All the wind in the video, not only adds a beautiful dramatic effect and feel, it also speaks volumes about the change Amy needed at the time she wrote the song.

Next is when the video gets REALLY GOOD Y’ALL!! As Paul opens the window to this mysterious singing girl on the ledge, she falls backwards but catches herself and is now dangling perilously on the edge, her hair and gown whipping in the wind (those winds of change). Paul crawls out of the window, grabs hold of Amy’s hand and the two duet as he struggles to bring her back up. During this scene, Amy is singing “Save me from the nothing I’ve become.” It’s a fantastic scene and the symbolism is pretty obvious. But what you may not know is that this is about her husband whom she met while in that abusive relationship and how he saved her. Within the first moments of meeting him – he was a friend of a friend – he asked her, “Are you happy?” and Amy could not believe how he could see straight into her soul. Another interesting fact about this scene, according to the director of the video Philipp Stölzl, Amy did all her own stunts and hung on to Paul’s arm for hours without getting tired.

“Don’t let me die here” she hauntingly pleads to Paul but he can hold on no longer. He loses his grip and Amy falls, seemingly endlessly, headed for the pavement. However, like most falling dreams, we don’t get to experience the splat… instead we see Amy, once again, sleeping safe and sound in her bed. Considering this song is inspired by a true story with a happy ending, why doesn’t the video end with her being saved? Well it’s certainly more dramatic this way AND Amy makes falling look beautiful, doesn’t she? But from a Dream Psychology perspective, Paul losing his grip on Amy would represent her own ability to let go of the need for someone else to pull her up and out of “the nothing she had become.” And her falling, at the end of the video would symbolize her “falling” in love with her Mr. Right.

And now, for your viewing and listening pleasure, I present to you “Bring Me To Life”…

Songs and videos, like dreams, are often representations of what is going on inside the artist. Understanding the video can give you a whole new appreciation for the artist and the song, don’t you think? We’ve got four more to go. Next time we’ll decode a freaky Madonna video… so stay tuned.

Your dreams are such a powerful part of who you are.  They are giving you answers and direction, even warnings you need to know every night of your life. Why wouldn’t you want the ability to understand these important, even life-changing messages? Grab yourself a copy of one of my books and you’ll easily understand your dreams every morning and get a HUGE edge in life.

“Your books have been so helpful. I’m seeing my dreams in a much different light. I can’t believe how simple the symbology is once you get the hang of it. Btw, your drawings are incredible. You’re a fantastic artist!”   – Patricia, Chico, CA

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Wonder what it means when you dream of the end of the world? Well read on, dahlings and find out! The following is from the Nightmare chapter of my latest book Dream On It, Unlock Your Dreams Change Your Life…

The book of Revelations, to Nostradamus’ predictions to movies like The Day After, it’s no wonder that when we get an “end of the world” dream we wonder if we are actually seeing the future demise of our planet! Thankfully, nothing could be farther from the truth. End of the world dreams are very common and come to us when our own personal world, as we now know it, is ending or changing. I’m sure you’re starting to see a theme here, changes and endings seem to cause nightmares. Keep in mind, it is only the changes and endings that we resist or that we fear that induce nightmares. As far as end of the world dreams, the change or ending is much more vast and encompasses a massive part of your life.

I dreamed that I was outdoors watching some sporting event. All of a sudden, missiles began dropping from the sky and one exploded right on top of us! I knew this was Armageddon. I felt the explosion ripple through my body and I literally felt my body dissolve. I also heard the sound very loudly, but did not wake up until it was over. It FELT so real! – Christina 25

Lauri: What sort of major shift or change is happening in your life? Your body disintegrated because there must be some major physical changes happening with you. Sometimes explosions in dreams can indicate an emotional explosion is about to happen. It is a warning that if you don’t get rid of certain stresses or frustrations or angers in your life, you are likely to have a serious emotional outburst. Whatever the case, this dream seems to be an indicator that your personal world around you is undergoing massive change… let’s hope it’s a change for the better!

Christina replies: I did just have a baby and I was having the dream BEFORE the baby came! We also just moved into a new house at the first of this month. So what you said about my personal world undergoing massive change makes sense.

A new baby and a new home are substantial changes, yet positive ones, so why the nightmare? As any first time Mom will tell you, a new baby is scary! So many things to worry about: am I going to be a good mom? What is this going to do to my body? Is labor going to really hurt? Is my baby going to be healthy? Your world changes when you become a parent for the first time… and it’s scary because it’s the biggest undertaking of your life. Your world no longer revolves around you. Through this dream Christina’s inner mind bid adieu to the world, and body, she left behind.

Our own personal worlds are the reality that revolves around us; it consists of the people who are immediately around us such as spouses, children, co-workers and best friends. Our daily or repetitive surroundings such as our home, place of work, favorite hangout, place of worship or gym and our daily and repetitive behaviors, beliefs and self-image. When any of these areas change dramatically, or is essentially wiped out to the point that serious and focused adjustment is required, an end of the world dream is likely to occur. It is the way the inner mind says, “Well, that’s the end of that.”

The nightmare chapter of Dream On It also covers Being Chased, Falling, Your Death, Death of a Loved One, Murder, Trapped, End of the World, Zombies, Blood, and Paralysis

“Here’s what I love about this book: its not a boring dream dictionary. It gives you a very intuitive slant on dreams. I have given this book out many times and its a GREAT GIFT… and its really great for those hard-to-find a gift occasions. It also makes a great hostess gift, Mother’s Day gift…etc… BECAUSE EVERYONE DREAMS! However, I have always wanted a thoughtful gift to give to people when life gets tough (flowers are so meh) and this is the perfect fit! I travel quite frequently and always end up in a lively discussion on the plane when I pull out this book.”
– Nicole Bellenfant, Knoxville, TN

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Dear Lauri,
I keep having a dream that something is trying to possess me. Every time it tries to get inside me, or once it just lay on top of me and I can’t move or speak. I can just scream in my head to go away or to get off of me. The first time I had to yell in my head “I love God and God loves me” this dream scares me so bad and I have had it three times. The last time was earlier this week. Please help!   – Amber 25, Salt Lake City, UT

Lauri: This is not a dream… nor is it a demonic possession.  It is actually a fascinating physiological experience called Sleep Paralysis, or The Old Hag Syndrome! And there is not a thing one should worry about when it happens.  Here’s the deal, when we sleep and enter the REM state, which is when dreaming takes place, our brain releases a chemical that literally paralyzes our skeletal muscles so that we don’t act out our dreams.  When we’ve had a fitful night of sleep or haven’t slept long enough, we will start to wake up before our brain can re-activate our muscle control, which causes us to get “stuck” in that in between state of sleep and wakefulness, called Hypnogogia.  Cool name, huh?  In this state you are asleep and awake at the same time, which is why you are aware that you are in your room and in your bed.  This is also why you can’t move, speak or scream… because you are still paralyzed!  It is mostly physiological and will subside in a moment or two.  It is not harmful in any way and does not mean there is anything wrong with you.  No need to call your priest!  The cure is to try to simply get more sleep and get negative issues off your mind before bedtime.

Amber replies: That sounds exactly what is happening to me! I will definitely try to write out my negative thoughts before bed and hope that it helps! Thank you!!

What I also HIGHLY suggest to folks, the next time they experience Sleep Paralysis, is to take advantage of it… because it’s a actually a way cool state of mind, being asleep and awake at the same time, a foot in both worlds so to speak. The next time it happens, rather than trying to scream or pray, ask the creature in your room “Who are you? And what do you want?” You will get an answer! Or you could have fun with it and ask the creature, “What is the meaning of life?” and see what sort of answer you get. Or you could even will your self to float up out of bed. It’s a cool feeling. Essentially, when you are in this hypnogogic state, you can easily turn it into a lucid dream and direct the dream to happen anyway you like. You can use it for insight into your waking life problems (by asking questions) or you can use it just for fun.  Whichever you decide, I can assure you that now that you know what is going on, it won’t be nearly as frightening the next time it happens, and in fact, can become quite the powerful tool to explore the inner workings of your mind.

Dreams are powerful things! In fact, they are the most powerful part of who we are. Whether your dreams are advising you, warning you or inspiring you, they are an endless resource you can tap into every single morning… once you know their secret language! My dream books will have you understanding your dreams in no time! Keep them by your bedside so you can easily figure out your dreams as soon as you wake from them. You’ll wonder why you didn’t get them sooner!

“Since Ive been reading your books, my friends are always asking me to help them interpret their dreams! You are the best!” – Jessica Martinez, Aurora, CO

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