Why do we dream of horrible things?

[Der Blaue Engel]

I had what was probably the worst nightmare of my life last night. My partner had to wake me up because I was screaming.

In the dream, a woman that other people didn't trust but whom I was trying to give the benefit of the doubt put one of my cats into an oven and turned it on, just because.

I was looking everywhere for the cat, and finally heard meowing in the kitchen. I opened the oven and the cat was being cooked alive. I can still see the charred flesh and the burned off hair and feel it burning me as I grabbed it out. That's when the screaming woke my partner.

What on Earth would possess me to envision such a horrible thing in such great detail? I can't get it out of my head. :(

[lost-in-nj]

1. Oh my

how horrible for you.....
I have had dreams like that
and ones where you wake up crying
Some people say it has to do with what you ate....
I think its our sub-concious.... giving us signs...

:pals:

lost

hope you have great ones tonight!!!!

[Der Blaue Engel]

9. Thanks, lost

I hope so, too. :)

If it's my subconscious, I don't know what it's trying to tell me.

[Seashell Eyes]

2. Oy, that's terrible

I have those kind of dreams too, mostly involving bad things happening to people I care about. I love waking up and knowing that everything is alright. It's like having a second chance. Go hug your cat.

[Der Blaue Engel]

10. My cats apparently were quite concerned

They both came over to reassure me after I woke up, and the little biter (Neo) actually started audibly purring, which he does not do.

The strange thing is that it was not a cat I actually have in real life. It was an all-white cat. :shrug:

[truedelphi]

3. Is this person a real person? The one that you were trusting in your dream?

If so, I would be cautious in trusting her.

If not, the dream is probably indicating that you are too trusting and that your inner kitty is
going to pay.

Anyway what a horrible dream! I hope you get out from under it soon.

[Der Blaue Engel]

11. Nope

Entirely made-up.

I'm actually not a very trusting person, so it was all very weird, that I was defending this woman to others even though I didn't really know her.

[truedelphi]

12. Are you at all psychic?

the dream could be about someone you have not even met yet.

[Der Blaue Engel]

15. That's a possibility

I have had a few "coincidental" dreams. I'll keep a look out for her.

[SPKrazy]

4. I had a dream once about a cat

and the cat scampered across the floor and in my dream I went "oh there goes the cat" and then, "wait, I don't have a cat" (didn't at the time) and then suddenly a giant glowing red eyed creature was sitting on my chest and glaring at me. I could literally feel something on my chest and I tried to move and wake up and it took forever it seemed to do it. Then finally I woke up gasping for air and jumped out of bed totally freaked out.

I never have gotten that image out of my head.

I hope you get your image of your cat cooking though out of your head.

Look at what is going on in your life

what pressure is cooking in it and what things do you love that are threatened by that pressure?

just my .02

:hi:

[Der Blaue Engel]

14. Was it this creature?

That sounds like hypnopompic paralysis (sleep paralysis). It's happened to me a number of times, and it's very disturbing.

Interesting thought about pressure. I'm definitely under some, but I've been under much worse, so in a way, this time feels like a respite. Lol.

I have a couple of writing deadlines and a major writer's conference to go to soon, and I feel very unprepared. Maybe the kitty is my book, and the nutjob woman is my idea of agents and editors. Food for thought....

[SPKrazy]

16. Yeah, it's your subconscious...

and anything can mean something to you.

my dream

it looked like that yes. the eyes are what i remember the most, glowing red, freaky as hell, and i swear the breath was there too, it is very disturbing. it's only happened once that i know of or recall, but it made a hell of an impression.

:hug:

[bettyellen]

35. OMIGOD A CHESTSITTER!! U R FUCKED!

they never really go away.....

[Left Is Write]

5. I don't know, but I have nightmares often.

Twice this week I have dreamed my husband divorced me in bizarre displays of insensitivity and cruelty (so NOT like my husband at all!), and once this week I dreamed that my brother's wife had a baby and both mother and baby died. It was gruesome, and I had to reassure myself when I woke up that my sister-in-law was fine and my nieces and nephews are all fine.

My dreams tend to be the kind that I remember as very realistic - my senses of touch and smell seem to be highly refined in my dreams.

[Der Blaue Engel]

17. I've had those kinds of relationship dreams

They're awful. It's always that bizarre cruelty you mentioned, so unlike the person. Although once, my boyfriend turned out to be contemplating an affair, and I had dreamt of it before he even knew he was going to do it.

[bicentennial_baby]

6. I've been having bizarre dreams lately....

Last night's, which was a 3 parter, due to interrupted sleep...My Mom could talk again, and I could hear her voice, which I can't in my head when I'm awake, my Brother, motorcycles, car accidents, baby bunnies, my Ex, my Husband, shaving cream, deep puncture wound from a cat, long grass...Fucking weird.

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

7. its not like you have any stress in your life bibi

i mean come on :eyes:

:hug:

hang in there and go have FUN on your honeymoon and know that you just have to let go of the rest of it. :hug:

I'll keep you and sniffa in my thoughts, and your mom and dad too.

:hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

13. Hehe, true dat...

But last night, I *had* to save the baby bunnies!! :rofl:

As long as I can get through tomorrow, I'll be fine. And yes, I'm shutting off the cellphone and leaving the laptop home for the honeymoon. :D

Thank you, friend. :hug:

[SPKrazy]

18. good, we won't have any "what's for dinner du?"

jk bibi

I will miss you and I do hope you have a blessed day :D

:hug:

[bicentennial_baby]

19. Yes, 'cause I'll be munching on Maine lobstah

and Fried Clams! Neener Neener! :P

I'll miss you as well, hold the fort down while I'm away :D

And thank you :rofl:

:hug:

[SPKrazy]

26. oh sure, hold down the fort!

like it was held down at all when you're here :rofl:


:hug:

[bicentennial_baby]

27. d00d, i got this place on lockdown!

Word.

:P

[SPKrazy]

28. ya know, youre starting to remind me of

Dennis Kucinich

:shrug:


:P

[bicentennial_baby]

30. That is my goal...

Bwahahahaha.... :evilgrin:

[Der Blaue Engel]

20. I have a lot of bizarre dreams

Not usually nightmares, but very vivid and odd. I remember them better when I've been woken up suddenly, so that interrupted sleep might have done it. (Maybe our dreams are always this bizarre, we just notice/remember them more due to such influences.)

Here's to uninterrupted sleep and happy dreams to us both. :hug:

[bicentennial_baby]

23. That's my problem!

I wake up, get back to sleep, and the vivid dream continues. Last night's was soooo real, it's kinda creepy. I kept saying in my dream "Wow, this is real, b/c I'm not dreaming"...

Yes, please :hug:

[Tektonik]

8. Glad I don't have nightmares I remember anymore

because I had some weeeeeeeeird ones as a kid:

-I was being attacked in my bedroom by a plastic army guy. He levitated me, and tied me up w/ invisible rope while in air.
-My family was watching a movie in the living room, and I was being chased down a hallway by a mummy. While being attacked by the mummy, I screamed and screamed, and no one heard me even though I was like 10 feet away from 'em.
-I tragically had a skittle stuck in my lip and couldn't get it out.
-etc.

[Der Blaue Engel]

22. Not to belittle your nightmare, but

the tragically stuck skittle had me :rofl: :D

[truedelphi]

32. Me two - This has to be a Skittle's Worst Nightmare!!

[redqueen]

21. Geez that's awful...

I'm sorry, those vivid dreams are the worst. Maybe it's because of the animal cruelty stories in the news lately? I dunno...

I don't remember too many dreams, but I had one not too long ago that my younger daughter was posessed... that one caused me to lose some sleep.

I hope you can forget it... I never can forget my worst ones.

[Der Blaue Engel]

24. I'm sure it was influenced to some degree by news stories

Animals and humans alike. I remember screaming, "Why? Why would somebody do something like this?" which is my usual response to those stories. I need to stop clicking on certain links.

[applegrove]

25. That is awful. I dream about working these days. I wake up feeling like

I've had a long day and done a good job.

[femmocrat]

29. I read once that dreams are the equivalent of the brain's

"de-fragging" itself like a computer. Random bits of information are just tossed out, and they don't necessarily mean anything. Since I began thinking of dreams like that, I don't worry too much about their meanings. That way I can find bits and pieces in dreams and kind of retrace where they came from.... from recent experiences, TV, etc. It is pretty amazing that the subconscious somehow organizes all these bits of data into a sequence.

Think happy thoughts and forget about it. It doesn't "mean" a thing, IMO.

[truedelphi]

33. Yes,but tell that to Saint Etienne17 after she's been attacked

One day by a large carnivorous Skittle!!

[raccoon]

40. That's an interesting theory--can you give us the source?

"dreams are the equivalent of the brain's
"de-fragging" itself like a computer. "

[sarge43]

31. Dreams/nightmares can be a form of mental house cleaning.

Information that we don't consciously think about and suppress will resurface in symbolic form during the dream state. It's one of the reasons people can't achieve REM sleep quickly, to use the clinical term, go bug f*ck because their brains can't take out the trash.

It sounds like you subconsciously feel this woman is a nasty piece of work and may be a threat in some way.

[Der Blaue Engel]

34. Yes

If only I knew who she was. :shrug:

[sarge43]

37. Yow. No wonder you're having nightmares. n/t

[Der Blaue Engel]

42. It was just the one nightmare about a person that doesn't exist

as far as I'm aware. But if I meet someone who looks like her, I'll be on my guard. :)

[Roon]

36. I've had two nightmares recently

One was I was dreaming I was riding with my Grandfather to the store and he had a massive stroke. It was so detailed, his speech slurred, one side of his body went limp, it was terrible.

Then I dreamed another night that my cat Barney was really sick, he was convulsing and crying on the floor. Awful stuff.
:hug:

[Fox Mulder]

38. I always wonder the same thing.

I haven't had a pleasant dream in about five or six years now.

:(

[raccoon]

39. Maybe your subconscious is trying to tell you something about this woman. nt

[Roon]

41. I was discussing this thread with a friend of mine last night

and she told me that nightmares are good for you. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?