The Dream Police...

I keep having these odd dreams...nothing new for me, you might say. I don't know what it is specifically about these dreams that are freaking me out, but they linger with me even after I've been awake for some time. Reality and consciousness do not seem to wash them away. Instead pieces of them cling to me like threads of a spider web.

The dreams I'm referring to are about death. In my first dream, I went into this large home with many closed doors. I entered one and there was my dog from childhood - Mindy. My mother was with me, but after a quick acknowledgement of our dog (who has been dead for at least 10 years now) she went on to open more doors. Other dead relations appeared. I didn't care though...I stayed with my dog, overjoyed to be with her again. As the dream progressed however, it became apparent that Mindy was not the same. She was mean and threatening...eventually I became scared of her. It was like Stephen King's Pet Cemetery (the book - which is great - not the terrible movie) She was back, but evil. I was so sad when I awoke.

Then last night I dreamt I was at a huge dinner. The table was very long and fancy - like from a Jane Austin film. Suddenly my dead grandfather was there at the head of the table...but he was a boy. I was the only one who knew it was him. As the dream progressed, my grandfather aged until he looked like he did when I was much younger. He was healthy and happy - like he was before cancer took him. I was happy to see him. I wandered away from the table to visit the basement. There I found a dead Robin...but as I looked at it, she came back to life. I was really happy. Then for no reason this shadow figure told me the bird could not stay that way and the bird went still and died again. I was really upset so I ran back upstairs to find my family still all happily eating this feast.

Later in the dream, I saw my grandfather slip away from the table and walk toward the basement. I ran after him terrified - knowing the shadow figure would be down there. I begged him not to go down the stairs, throwing my arms around him...but he just smiled and slipped away. (slipped away...isn't that how they describe a person's death? "They slipped away.") Then I turned around to find my father standing there; he was going to go down to the basement too. My father is not dead...absent, but not dead...but in this dream I suddenly realized that he was dead too. I began to cry and asked him not to go in the basement because I didn't want him to die again...and then I woke up. My eyes were watery - as if I were about to cry for real.

How strange are these dreams?? I rarely, if ever, dream about dead relatives. I certainly never dream about them coming back to life. I wonder what my mind is trying to tell me. Certainly some of the symbolism is easy to translate: shadow figure = death; basement = the earth or a cemetery; the house with many doors = the many parts of my life; the bird = the goose that died last night. What I find odd is that I was never very close to my grandfather who died. I was sad (obviously) that he died, but not crushed. So why did he appear in this dream and not my great-grandfather who I was close too? Also odd was that in "real life" my mother would have never left Mindy to search other rooms - she would have stayed with her...but in my dream she barely even cared. I also think it is odd that in my dream I have a revelation that these people/animals are supposed to be dead.

What do you think??