I came across Catherine Shainberg, the Yoda of Dreams, some years ago. She has a school in New York, The School of Images, in which she teaches people to understand the nature of dreams, their meaning and their connection to different states of consciousness. In one of her classes, she states that, “there is only one dream, from the moment you go to sleep, till you awake. Life is but two types of dreaming, the one when you are asleep, and the one when you are awake.” That was pretty revolutionary for me. I used to experience 5 to 7 dreams every night. But according to Shainberg, it was my unconscious mind trying to bring me different aspects of the same issue for me to look at, in different ways… more possibilities…
The different types of dreams are very distinct from each other. Dreams about past lives, parallel lives or future lives are the most intense, vivid ones, because in them I recognize myself as the main character. I can see and feel things. I can see myself, my inner and outer appearance. In many of these, I am difference species, humanoid, but sentient. There are water worlds, in which I look sort of amphibian, breathe under water through gills and swim very fast. I have shiny, translucent skin. In others, I am sort of avian, with feathers and wings, but still humanoid in shape, intelligent and fierce looking.
There are prophetic dreams, when you see things in the future that are going to happen, or, as I like to say, that are more likely to happen, because of the current situation. In this case, I may dream about it often for months or years before it actually happens. I don’t know the cause of the repetition, except that maybe it has something to do with emphasis and making sure I’m paying attention.
Dreams of the immediate and distant future mark important events or people for me to pay attention to and remember, so that when I actually meet them in the present, I know who they are. But mostly, future dreams are a warning of difficult times to come…
Somehow, I always felt comforted by the future dreams, because it meant that I would still be alive.