I have been dreaming about a place that I have never been that feels so familiar. Often in these dreams I'm working on a farm, and sometimes I'm walking in town where I go to people's houses. I remember train tracks that lead to the barn and the stables. I know one of the horses that I ride. I take care of the animals. I have gone for walks in the woods and remember one time getting lost and wandering around a big lake for a long time. I'm usually wearing old-fashioned clothes, like long dresses and aprons. In waking life, I'm only 25 years old and have never worn such clothes. I've been dreaming about this place since I was a child, and I'm really confused. Sometimes I'm nervous in these dreams, and sometimes I feel completely at home and just go about my day. I'm wondering what this could mean. If these are dreams of a past life, why do I always hone in on this particular time and place as opposed to some other experience?
- Bridget
Dreamchaser:
You are definitely dreaming about a past life. You didn't mention whether these were day dreams, night dreams, or both, but it doesn't really matter, because the reason for them would be the same either way.
When you get stressed, you go to the place where your soul feels most comfortable, which happens to be in that life, where you are for the most part safe, alone and calm. You say you sometimes get nervous, but those nerves are emotions that you're bringing from this life into that one in order to try to deal with them.
When we sleep, our souls leave our bodies and go to where they most need to go to repair from today and prepare for tomorrow. When we have a childhood like the one you had this lifetime, our souls find various ways of coping.
One way you learned to cope was to mentally go to this past life when you were dreaming. This helps relieve your stress from this life, and gives you that feeling of contentment, familiarity, peace and security.
You actually do go to lots of other past lives in your mind and in your dreams - you just don't realize you're doing it. This past life we're talking about here just happens to be your favorite right now.
Though you may feel nervous or uneasy in some of these dreams, everything about that lifetime is familiar and comfortable. When you go to lives other than this one, you don't feel that same sense of familiarity, so you don't realize that they are actually past lives - you think they are random dreams or your imagination, or perhaps a memory of something you heard, read or saw at some point.
I think we all have a particular past life that we flash back to more than any other, and it is largely determined by what is going on this lifetime. I actually have two. In one I was a male Scottish or Irish war lord. I protected large areas of land, lived alone, and loved battle.
In the other, I was a Southern belle living during the time of the U.S. Civil War. I believe my experiences were pretty common for that time and place: The men went off to war, the slaves ran off, and the women were left alone to fend for themselves. Since we'd never had to do this before, it was pretty stressful!
Both lifetimes are so familiar to me that I can almost smell the smells and feel the materials of the objects in my dreams, whether they are day dreams or night dreams.
You need to realize that this sort of thing happens to EVERYONE. Sometimes you may even go through experiences that cause you to remember a whole bunch of past lives all at once. This is also totally normal.
I wish you peace with the past.
*****
Astrea:
There are two possible reasons you would be having recurring dreams about a place you've never been before. One is that you really HAVE been there in another life, and the other is that you are visiting a different dimension while you're asleep, and are actually living a separate life in that reality.
The past life dream explanation is the most probable. The reason you hone in on this particular place and time is because for the most part, you felt happy during that incarnation.
It's common for people to dream of the past life in which they were happiest. Since you can't return there during this incarnation, you revisit it when you're sleeping.
Dreams are powerful and can bring back many of the feelings we've had in past lives. The people I know who can focus in on the one incarnation when they were happiest tend to be pretty happy in this life too, for they remember what it was like to feel content. Also, if they were truly happy before, it means they've learned the life lessons required to be happy, so they don't have to do them over this time.
If you are experiencing a separate reality, it was most likely revealed to you at a time when you were most unhappy here. When we're troubled in this dimension, it's possible for us to visit a parallel life that we have a strong connection to while we're at complete rest.
I think the books by Carlos Castaneda might help you understand how you cross over to that other place while you're asleep. If this is what you're doing, these dreams seem so real and vivid because you really ARE there.
Psychotropic drugs are one of the quickest ways to explore separate realities, but I'm not recommending that path to you! Since you have such strong memories of these dreams, you wouldn't need drugs to get there anyway.
As unlikely as a separate reality may sound, I've known several people who have had loving families and very pleasant experiences in parallel lives. With time and patience, a person can even choose to transfer their consciousness from here to there.
This is really tricky, however, and is not something you should undertake on your own, for if problems arose, another person would be able to note your discomfort even if you were sleeping, and could draw you back from any danger.
Check around your area for a certified hypnotherapist who does past life regression. You want someone with the training and sensitivity to determine if you are visiting a separate reality or simply dreaming of a past life.
Either way, the knowledge you might gain from these experiences could be very valuable. I feel exploring this further could prove very meaningful to you.
Astrea:
Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.
Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!
While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!
I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!
As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.
I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.
You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!
Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.
A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.
You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.