Dream Interpretation of Nightmares / The Meaning of Violent Dreams
by Ask a Healer
For Working with Your Dreams:
Suggested Dream Interpretation Tool
Dreams Diary
We now interrupt this dream...
This is part of my series of articles about interpreting dreams. In this spiritual health series, I talk about the ways dreams have taught me more about myself and helped me understand how to resolve issues in my waking life. This section is about the meaning of disturbing dreams such as those that are violent, frightening or contain negative imagery.
Disturbing Dreams / Violent Dreams: Back when I used to offer dreamtime interpretations, if someone would come to me about a dream, it was almost always because a dream had deeply disturbed or frightened them. I think this tendency to pay more attention to disturbing dreams is by Divine Design. If a dream were forgettable, we'd just forget but if there is something our soul needs deeply to address, the dream will be such that we cannot forget.
I would usually listen to these dreams about blood and gore and unspeakable things, with a gleam in my eye that caused puzzled looks. I'd start getting very excited for the dreamer. When they were through telling the dream, I'd say what a terrific dream that was. I still smile at the looks I got.
Incredulous. I could hear them thinking that they sure didn't come to the right person for getting help with that terrible dream but I was genuinely excited for them and the potential of their dreamtime work.
Nightmares are not pleasant experiences, yet I consider disturbing dreams, and even violent dreams, to potentially carry spiritual gifts and healing. Typically, unless a person has a history of mental illness, violence tendencies, etc. I don't assume a violent, frightening or gross dream means anything about their stability in the world. In other words, if someone has a dream and they murder someone in the dream, I don't see that as a reflection on them or a sign that they are harboring murderous thoughts about someone they love.
I have learned to love the hard dreams, the scary dreams, the dreams that I hated to remember but couldn't help remembering. They have taught me the most and blessed me the most. A dream with a violent theme is most often an important, powerful outpicturing of some inner struggle that needs attention which may have been triggered by another person in their life.
