Recurring disaster/apocalyptic dreams

qlc

New member
Hi, for whatever reason I've been having dreams with these sort of themes lately, and I'm not sure where it's coming from, it has me a bit worried and would love some insights. I hesitate to call them nightmares because even though the plots can be pretty horrific they didn't have the terror I associate with nightmares, they felt bleak or full of anxiety instead. My dreams have been:

-The aftermath of a nuclear war. Me and the other survivors were in big, plain concrete buildings that seemed to be the only thing left standing - there seemed to be no life at all apart from the human survivors. We were sitting on the floor, eating - there was no furniture or anything but apparently we weren't short of food and water. However, it was crystal clear in the dream that it was all over - that it was only a matter of time before the radioactive dust we were breathing in killed us, and there was no hope, it was an extinction event. Everything was dull and grey. There were some kind of terrorists roaming the place who seemed to be the only people with guns - they were some kind of jihadists, dressed all in black, but for whatever reason they were letting Christians live, so when they were around we all started praying as a way to convince them we were Christians. The other survivors were, I think, people I knew in high school, I think a bully was there and possibly others but I'm not sure. Nobody really talked or interacted much.

-I dreamed about the zombie apocalypse. That's all I can remember about it.

-I was with my wife in a tall building, possibly a skyscraper, that was coming under attack, possibly was in the top floor or at any rate close to the top. Everything around us seemed luxurious (marble, glass, golden decor) and there seemed to be something like cocktail party going on - it was early evening. The whole building shook, but for some reason only my wife and I seemed to care or notice. For some reason the streets would be much safer, so we rushed to a fast elevator. There was an attendant in black tie that seemed aware of the urgency, ushered us into the elevator and we were quickly headed to the ground floor. Somehow I expected the other nearby buildings would also be hit and was wondering if we'd make it to the street while the building was still standing. It was never clear who was attacking or why.

-I was in a place that looked more or less like the high school I went to but was at times my high school and at other times was my workplace. I had left my laptop I think at home and was planning to rush back to get it and fretting about the time wasted, My mother was around at at times, at times I was alone, and at one point there was someone senior from work I said hi to but didn't really interact with. The place was flooding for some reason, everyone was treating it as a minor inconvenience though the water got rather deep at some points. It was like mini flash floods, very sudden but covering only a small area, and they happened without rhyme or reason. The water was fairly clear. It felt like there was an expectation the water would keep rising. I walked around some of the flooded parts to some sort of souvenir shop, where there was an older lady in charge and a teenage girl. There was something I needed to buy from the shop but couldn't remember what it was. I asked for a hammock for some reason and was told they didn't sell them, then I asked for tea (as in teabags or loose-leaf tea rather than a cup of tea) and the lady said they'd run out but the teenage girl said no, they had several boxes still and I don't remember clearly what happened next but I think I got into an argument with the older lady, who didn't want to sell me the tea for some reason.
 
Dreams often feature strange and outlandish stories yet they just pinpoint key feelings. A nuclear blast may just be a symbol for any bad atmospheres over Christmas when thing seemed to go totally wrong. Can you think of anything where you felt extreme feelings which might push your mind into using a symbol like nuclear war? Just remember that dreams capture your current feelings and these can change quite quickly. You might be feeling gloomy yesterday but a new day may help you put things into perspective.

Another important symbol was the bully. Two of the dreams featured high school - was there anyone who acted LIKE A BULLY the day before the dream? Your dream will portray using extreme symbols yet do not get carried away with worries about the future as dreams are in the here and now.

Try this page as it deals with dreams of the end of the world END OF THE WORLD DREAMS
 

qlc

New member
Dreams often feature strange and outlandish stories yet they just pinpoint key feelings. A nuclear blast may just be a symbol for any bad atmospheres over Christmas when thing seemed to go totally wrong. Can you think of anything where you felt extreme feelings which might push your mind into using a symbol like nuclear war? Just remember that dreams capture your current feelings and these can change quite quickly. You might be feeling gloomy yesterday but a new day may help you put things into perspective.

Another important symbol was the bully. Two of the dreams featured high school - was there anyone who acted LIKE A BULLY the day before the dream? Your dream will portray using extreme symbols yet do not get carried away with worries about the future as dreams are in the here and now.

Try this page as it deals with dreams of the end of the world END OF THE WORLD DREAMS

Thanks, I'm reading that page and it's pretty interesting. Regarding your other points, the only thing I can think of is anxiety over where my career is heading, but things are nowhere near as bleak or disastrous as those dreams, it's more like long term worries. I can't think of anyone who acted as a bully, but I can't I think of any reason why I would think of high school, either - two dreams featuring it doesn't seem like happenstance but I can't think of any obvious reason.
 

PaulKH

Member
Using emotional context on these dreams is reductionist, at best; meaning, you can begin by limiting/boiling everything down to a feeling, trying to relate with that, but then I urge you not to be satisfied with such a narrowing. Rather, use that as a solid base to expand back into the details and look for meaning. A fantastic way I have found of turning even the most disturbing dream sequences to your benefit is to not stop at asking "what do they mean" and also ask/study/delve: what can I learn from this? The more you open and exercise this attitude, the more benefit you will get, even if that takes longer than you would like.

In relation, the more details you can recall and analyze, the more sting can be removed from what you dream, because you are using your own willpower to grow and discover and find purpose. (Again, this may take longer than you would like because we are trained to be impatient beings, but trust that the effort is worth it.) In a grand sense, *anything* you can learn from/use as a lesson grows you.

That being said, these variations could easily be tied into dreads you have yet to face/accept. Many dreams will even repeat-in-limited-variation until you have learned/accepted something, and then they will stop, their "purpose" seeming to be accomplished (even if that is an unconscious disentangling/solving). Speculating is fun, but the tangible benefit always lies in what you *learn* and *refine*.

I've had similarly-typed dreams as you list over the years, and often the confusion becomes stimulant for thinking through the experience. At first, I feared and then empathized and then learned from, and then solidified my determination to be a part of any potential solution rather than risk being an unthinking person helping us all slide toward the apocalyptic. Please note that I only give this as an *example*, because each person's path (both the journey and how they process it) is different. What I know for sure from your last dream is this: cursed be those who hoard their tea rather than sharing it in times of great distress. :-D
 
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