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Bears, death, dream interpretations, dream symbols, Dreams, Humor, rebirth, renewal
I’m going to die. Soon.
That’s what I thought, waking one morning, remembering three distinct dreams, each in which I was suddenly “taken.”
In the first, I was whisked away by a whirlwind that dropped out of the sky. In the next two, bears got me.
The dreams were so vivid and similar, I was sure they meant something significant. Knowing the best interpreter of any dream is the dreamer, I asked myself:
“What do YOU think it means?”
“It means I’m going to die!” was my answer.
This realization was so disturbing, tears sprung to my eyes. It’s too soon, surely! I have a lot of living yet to do. I’m not ready.
It wasn’t my first dream of death, or bears. Only a week ago I had a similar vivid dream of being chased by a bear in our garden. Fortunately, in that dream I managed to escape. It was my husband who got gobbled.
This dream fed my certainty that bears must symbolize death in dreams. I rushed to my computer. A quick google search confirmed my fate.
Bears do symbolize death!
Among other things, I learned as I searched further. Like rebirth and renewal.
Ever the optimist, I latched onto that explanation. Perhaps I wasn’t dreaming of my real death. Perhaps it was only symbolic. The death of my “little self,” and the rebirth of a brand new shiny me. What a relief!
This new interpretation seemed even more likely when I recalled that in the last two bear dreams I was walking with a “little sister” who was dragged away, kicking and screaming, before I was taken. But when the bear came back to grab me, surprisingly, its paw was soft as it led me away.
I realized then in my dream that I had been “chosen.” The bear was taking me on a journey and I was no longer afraid. In fact, the bear was so amiable that when I worried about leaving unprepared, he let me go home to grab a coat.
I was certain this must be the correct interpretation of my dreams since bears also act as spirit guides and signify fresh beginnings.
Still, the “death” scare lingered.
So I decided to share the dreams with my husband. Just in case. That way, if I did suddenly expire, he’d have a good story to share:
“Well, you know, she dreamed about her death only days ago!”
I didn’t tell him about the dream where he got gobbled. No need to alarm him.
Besides, that would make a good story for me. You know. “Just in case.”
[NOTE TO READERS – If this blog goes dark, you too have a good story!]
Deborah J. Brasket 
Dreams are so powerful and the interpretation is really want counts. I agree that death can symbolize so many things in our lives. I guess this is what dreams are all about. They give us a wake up call to the things we need to get rid of in our lives and change for the better.
Dreams always fascinate me. I do believe that our subconscious is trying to tell us something, if nothing more than bringing up unresolved issues. I did read recently that sleep is nature’s way of cleaning house, processing all the bits of useless data we’ve collected through the day so it can be tossed out. A kind of defragging or file cleaning perhaps.
nice one…he looks good 🙂
Very funny blog Deborah, and insightful. I like your interpretation. Noticing the details (those telling details) like you did, the bear’s soft paw, is critical to getting beyond face value. Lots to ponder. Sweet dreams!
Thank you. I had wanted to go into more detail on the dreams, but decided to spare the reader. It really does help to write them down as soon as you remember them.
I really enjoyed this – I love interpreting dreams. I particularly like your more positive interpretation!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I like the second one better too. But it was hard to shake off the first one!
Great post Deborah! Last month I posted about dreams several times because they were troubling. I also have a really strong spiritual connection to bears. I like the way you interpreted your bear dream and the lightness of your post despite some ominous undertones.
Stephanie
http://stephanierosebirdstudio.blogspot.com
I’m glad you picked up on that. Making it “light” helped to diffuse some of the anxiety I was feeling about the dreams. I will have to check out your posts on dreams. I seem to be on a roll here–lots of very detailed dreams coming my way lately.
This blog better not go dark!!
You have a shiny new self to explore 🙂
Thank you LB. You make me smile.
I always look for interpretations of my dreams. I had no idea that bears meant death though.
It seemed like grabbing your coat was the middle ground 🙂 An amiable bear could be a good ally – especially one that lets you consider your own needs first before running off into another world! Love your interpretation! 🙂
Yes, this bear, thankfully, was not so ferocious as the one who got my husband. Funny, I would intuit that the journey would be cold though. Thank you for coming here and commenting.
I love your dream, and your post about it. I’m very interested in dreams and love hearing the awesome metaphors in this one, the “little sister” kicking and screaming as she’s dragged away, then the soft paw and your being “chosen.” Lovely dream. Let’s go with the interpretation about rebirth! 🙂
I like the rebirth one too. The details from the whirlwind part were interesting too, though I didn’t go into it in this post. In that dream I was crossing the street with my little sister and we came upon another person crossin who was bent over and stumbling, like she was handicapped in some way, mentally or physically. We were about to walk by her, when I thought we should stop and help her across the street, even though it would slow us down. So we did. Then as we were crossing we noticed how beautiful the sky was, filled with rolling clouds, like a storm coming, only it was so beautiful and filled with light. Then we noticed part of the cloud breaking away and forning a funnel, only it was like the trunk of an elephant, nimble and alive. It kept growing and descending right toward us, and in a panic I thought it was going to take us all. Then I realized it was only me it wanted. I felt humble that it had “chosen” me, and I wasn’t afraid to go with it. I wanted to go. Weird, huh?
Wow!!! And I love elephants (especially) in dreams.
When I read the first part of this post, I immediately thought ‘a grand challenge/adventure ahead’ instead of ‘death.’ It’s likely you are embarking on a new project and are feeling nervous. I like the details in your dreams and I’m glad you felt that soft paw. Also, you’re right not to alarm your husband!
I like your thought, a grand adventure. I hope it’s true. I could use one!
Are you saying your husband doesn’t read your blog? 🙂 My husband reads mine only rarely – but that’s okay. It’s very rare that I read his (antiques, reenacting…) I am so relieved that you found a more comforting interpretation of your bear dream. If I have an especially vivid dream I make sure to tell someone. Once I dreamed of a night scene in a wet empty parking lot with a man walking toward me. A couple days later my car started smoking and I pulled over in an empty parking lot and got myself and my dog out just before car burst into flames. It was raining and a man was walking toward me – the exact scene as in my dream – the angle of the man walking, the shininess of the black wet pavement. The man turned out to be a cop who helped me out in the immediate crisis. I was so glad I had told my husband about that dream.
Reblogged this on irfansher2014.
Unbearable! 😜
😁