Precognitive and Prophetic Dreaming

What good is dreaming the future if you can't do anything about it?  What purpose do precognitive and prophetic dreams serve?

I use precognitive and prophetic to describe dreams that subsequently take place in the dreamer's waking reality.  Precognitive are dreams that cover the a-z of dreaming the future, from an object seen in a dream and then viewed in waking reality shortly after, to a person we end up meeting, a job we end up taking, a person we end up parting from in sorrow or joy.

Prophetic dreams are life map dreams, often including collective unconscious material, like what the political climate will be like, etc.  In Jungian terms, they are archetypal, they are talking about a much bigger picture than our little hobbit lives encompass.  I've written about a few of mine, Howling Mary, being especially significant to me, but also, Crocodile Friday and my 1995 visit from dad, which though I didn't get the happy ending I was hoping for then, it continues to guide my present.

One of the great gifts Active Dreaming has given me is the triple door approach to dreaming.  1. I can go through the analytical door of my Jungian fondness and dwell on symbolic meaning as it relates to my ego led waking life. 2. I can accept that we dream the future all the time, so I journal regularly and take a reality check on every dream for possible scenarios in waking life. 3.  I can enter consciously into the other dimensions, the foreign inner-space countries, where my fortunes, luck and personal satisfactions are also made. I can walk through any of these doors to a dream, or sometimes, all three at the same time, as that's the way of dreams.

For this, and other vibrant approaches to dreaming, I recommend and frequently write about, Active Dreaming, created by Robert Moss.  His work opens new vistas into how we approach dreaming; it teaches us to live our best dreams and confront our worst with courage and creativity.

But back to the psychic gifts of dreaming; what good is it knowing the shit was going to hit the fan if you can't get out of the way?

For me the best answers come from my dreams and what they've taught me.

#1.  Physical reality isn't all there is; physical laws and statistical probabilities sometimes give way to the pure intention and whole-hearted effort of heart-centered people.  So be a heart-centered person.

#2  Pay attention to what you're doing in those precognitive or prophetic dreams and reality check yourself for what you can do in waking life now.  It doesn't have to be grandiose; it does have to be kind, self-less and contributing to the good of others, as well as of yourself.  Think outside the Box!

#3  Heal you're own inner wounding because it can blind you to what your ego is really up to if you don't face your unfaceable stuff, your shadow, your fears, your pain.  Patriarchy produces emotional stuntedness; all those thou shalt nots, cruel and illogical taboos, especially if you're a woman, add up to psychic wounding for many.  It's your own job, as a spirit leading a physical life, to find your way home, to the light.  It's the job of every one who finds their way to help someone groping in the dark. So, physician heal thyself is an ongoing mandate; dreams are important guides to healing, personally and collectively.

#4. Dreams keep me focused on the alternate realities that my spirit can access for sustenance and guidance (not to be confused with alternate facts, which have no reality).   When I'm overwhelmed by fear of the future, I remember that I dreamed this already and that dreams have and will always guide me on my best path forward.  I can take strength from remembering that I volunteered for physicality in this time and this place and so I can just continue doing what I'm called by my heart to do and carry on, best I can, until I cross out of here or turn things around.  Even when I do shuffle off this mortal coil, I'll volunteer for dream duty on the other side in gratitude for all the guidance I've received myself.

#5 I've heard baby-boomers joke about the surreal nature of our present reality, why not drop some acid again and get a level playing field?  May I suggest that dreams open the same portals that LSD opens, not every dream, but once we tune ourselves to living our dream life as fully as our waking, things make a lot more sense.  Not to mention, if you're really into experimenting, try conscious lucidity and self induced OBEs.

#6 Sometimes when there are no answers, there's purpose. Our Native American ancestors knew that dreams tell us the secret wishes of our soul.

One of my fondest dad dream visits was one in which he helped me escape some evil men, saying to me before he intervened for me to run, "You have no idea how important this mission is."

Okay dad, if you say so, I'll do my best.