I recently returned from a memorial service which was held for a family member who had passed away after being involved in a motorcycle accident. This family member had been on life support before she passed, and so she was able to give the gift of life and health to multiple people through organ, eye, and tissue donations. While at the memorial, I spoke with another family member who tearfully recounted to me a dream which she had experienced two days prior to the fatal accident. She told me that she had dreamt about our loved one who had passed—and that, in the dream, our loved one kept appearing to her on a dark, two-lane road that seemed to be in a remote, rural area.
She described how the road was lined on either side by thick, dark-green foliage, and that the road appeared wet—as if from a heavy rain. She added that the moon was shining supernaturally brightly in this dream—so brightly, in fact, that she could see our loved one’s reflection in the dazzling mirror of light that it cast on the wet road. She said that our loved one was smiling “softly” at her, and then she wordlessly walked off of the road and into the dense foliage which lined it. Immediately after her disappearance into this road-side foliage, a large group of people walked out of this very same lush and green area.
My family member then woke up—but she could not stop thinking about the dream or its possible meaning. When she received the call about our loved one’s accident—an accident which had occurred on a dark, out-of-the-way, rain-soaked road—she came to the startling conclusion that she’d had what many individuals would believe to be a “prophetic dream”. Trees, foliage, and the color green are classic symbols for life—and our loved one had “crossed over” due to an accident on a dark, wet, moon-lit road. Understandably shaken by what she had dreamt and the subsequent, related outcome, my family member began researching other claims of prophetic dreams—and she was extremely interested in whether I knew of anyone who’d had a similar experience to her own. The following is a re-telling of my own encounter with what could be called the “prophetic dream” experience—as well as documented accounts of “prophetic dreams” in history:
In July of 2001, a close friend came to my home because he was extremely disturbed about a terrifying dream which he could not stop reliving. Images from this “night terror” consumed his waking thoughts and haunted his dreaming world—and he was hoping that an analysis of this dream would help to put this horrifying dream to rest. After spending over two hours trying to decipher and analyze the possible symbolism in his dream, we seemed to come to a weary resolution about its overall meaning.
However, as he left, I could sense that he did not feel at all at peace with the outcome of our session—and, later, he revealed that the dream continued to haunt him in both his waking and his dreaming worlds. Two months later, on September 11, 2001, I saw his “dream” being re-enacted on the television news as I viewed camera footage that was taken of the attack on the World Trade Center. Everything that he described as having occurred in his dream two months prior was now being played out in reality—and in vivid, accurate detail. Was this just a bizarre and inexplicable coincidence? Or did my friend have a prophetic dream?
From Biblical examples to other famous, historical accounts, there is great deal of documented information supporting the notion of dreams which foretell of future events. For example, the renowned American author Mark Twain dreamt of his brother laying in a casket and, days later, received message of his brother’s passing. When Twain attended the funeral, he reported that his brother was laid out exactly as he had seen him in his dream. Harriett Tubman was said to have dreamt about taking certain pathways to help others escape slavery—and then was able to successfully follow these pathways and lead her followers to safety and liberation. The prolific author Charles Dickens was said to have had a vivid dream about a woman wearing red shawl. In the dream, the woman spoke to him, saying, “I am Miss Napier.” Later, at a social event, a woman in a red shawl was introduced to Dickens. Just as his dream foretold, her name was Miss Napier.
However, probably one of the most detailed and documented examples in history is that of Abraham Lincoln’s dream which foretold of his assassination. He dreamt of seeing a funeral in the East Room of the White House. There were soldiers guarding the body, while crowds of people stood in grief, some “weeping pitifully”. Lincoln asked one of the soldier guards, “Who is dead in the White House?” The soldier answered, “The President. He was killed by an assassin.” After Lincoln’s assassination, his body was laid out in the exact same manner—in the East Room of the White House—and, just as Lincoln’s dream depicted, crowds of people wept and grieved while guards stood watch.
Were all of the famous examples above just freakishly coincidental occurrences? Mere anecdotal evidence which cannot be verified? In the end, that is a conclusion which each person must make for him/herself. However, if dreams which seem to predict future events are ever, somehow, made known to us–or if dreams which appear to have information that could guide and assist us start to dominate our sleeping world–it would probably be advisable to “err on the side of the angels” and take notice of them.
**End note: Please thank the families of your organ, eye, and tissue donors (I would like to think that the people who came out of the foliage in my family member’s dream represented the lives of the many people who our deceased loved one saved and/or improved through organ, eye, and tissue donation).
***Please submit your dreams for analysis to: dreams@thevailvoice.com . All shared information will stay anonymous.
