The Meaning of Dreams

EXPLAINING LIFE’S MYSTERIES June 28, 2009
By Stephen Ellis

Nobody asked me, but…
This blog is a little bit later than most because my wife and I just returned from a brief vacation in Las Vegas. I went to Vegas to visit my money. It seems so lonely there, I left some more in Vegas to keep it company.

When we got back to Los Angeles, my wife and I had a very interesting conversation about dreams. There is really so little known about them, that it takes a careful analysis just to begin to pierce the surface.

To me, dreams are not only important, but I believe them to be a window to both the past and the future. I’ve spoken with numerous people who have had dreams about a past life or previous existence, including myself. My dream occurred the first time I visited Paris, France, when I dreamed I was at a royal ball. People around me were all dressed as you might see in a movie about Napoleon. I felt strange, so I asked someone near me if they had a looking-glass I could use. A “looking glass”? I’ve never used that term in my life! I was handed one and looked at my reflection and saw a red-haired girl. Inasmuch as I am neither a red-head nor a girl, I found this quite disturbing.

I would have passed-this-off as a weird dream, except that a string quartet in an alcove above the ballroom floor was playing a waltz I had never heard before…but it was clearly a beautiful waltz being played by a quartet of violinists wearing white wigs.

The next day, when I went to visit (tour) that Grand Palace which was across the street from my hotel, we were shown the grand ballroom and it looked like the one in my dream…except there was no musicians’ alcove above the dance floor. So I asked our tour guide if there had ever been one. He said, “Yes, but when the Nazis occupied France, they used the palace as a military headquarters and had the alcove removed.”

Was I getting a glimpse of a past life? I doubt if I will ever know for sure, but it does seem kind of likely. Since that time, I’ve spoken to many people who have had similar experiences, including seeing themselves as a Tibetan Monk, as having been killed by a pack of vicious dogs, as having lived in mountain wilderness, etc., etc., etc.

Inasmuch as having lived before would explain many of these dreams and nothing science has had to offer will even recognize that dreams like this exist, I choose to believe that we have all lived before, and will live again…and dreams can be a window to both events.

It’s important to remember that when we sleep, our brain sleeps (or, perhaps, “rests”). This gives our mind/aura a chance to control our thoughts. Since we have overwhelming evidence that our mind/aura has lived before, why would it be unusual to recall instances or flashes of a previous life while we sleep? The problem is that we can only remember what our brain files-away in its memory banks…and if our brain is sleeping, nothing is being filed-away or permanently recorded. That’s why the only dreams we remember are “disturbing” ones where the disturbing factor partially awakens the brain and files it in our memory banks. But, since the brain is only partially awake, it may rapidly discard the details as the brain awakens fully.

Science has been downright deceptive in telling us that electro encephalographs can tell when we are dreaming and when we are not. When the brain is inactive the encephalograph will measure little or nothing…but that does not mean that the mind is not fully active. How many times have we gone to sleep thinking about major problems…and awakened feeling completely fine? Something took place while we slept. We may not remember anything about the activity of our minds when we slept…but something (a) offered a solution to the problem, (b) put the problem to rest or (c) made us feel better. So there was activity in the mind…even if not in the brain.

Similarly, scientists use REM (Rapid Eye Movement) to tell when we’re dreaming. Again, this is misleading. REM has been tested with people who have been hypnotized and told they are in unusual situation…and there has been no correlation, whatsoever, with REM theories expounded in numerous books.

Most dreams can be explained as a distorted view of the day’s activities or plans/wishes being made for the future. Remember, however, that these are thoughts that occurred when the brain was awake…not sleeping.

Next week, we’ll take a look at the strangest thing of all…pre-cognitive dreams. Dreams wherein you catch a glimpse of the future.

If you’ve had some strange dreams you’d like explained, contact me at Stebrel@aol.com

As I said…nobody asked me.