Dream Interpretation and Metaphysics M.Msc.

Dream Interpretation and Metaphysics

M.Msc. thesis for the degree of Master of Metaphysical Science

Every person dreams. Whether the dreamer remembers those dreams, or believes they drift into a dark see of absolute nothingness in sleep, the fact is that all people demonstrate the brain and eye activity that researchers know is associated with dreams. However, given that so many people fail to remember their dreams, it is clear that not all dreaming is memorable and productive. Even those dreamers who remember the majority of their dreams may find most of them to be insignificant and inconsequential. Likewise, even those people who find most of their dreams to be absolutely unmemorable occasionally have a dream that they believe reveals something significant. This leads the dreamer to question what it is about dreams that makes them so significant. Are dreams separate from reality, or do they exist in their own dreamscape, a separate reality, but not less real for their separateness? What is the physical nature of dreams? Are they a random firing of synapses as the brain rejuvenates itself and recuperates for the day, or are they a way for the metaphysical world to communicate with the dreamer? Finally, what do dreams mean? Understanding the archetypes that present themselves repeatedly in dreams, do those archetypes mean the same things to different people, and, if not, what makes one dreamer perceive an archetype differently from another dreamer? Policoff (1997: xvi) explains the complicated relationship that people have with dreams; "The twisted stories, images, and relationships we see in our sleep have been both feared and ridiculed; they have been thought of as a disgusting by-product of the mind and as the secret pathway to self-understanding."

Understanding these questions is essential to an understanding, not only of the self, but also of the dreams themselves and the unique role that dreams play as mediators between existence, being, and the metaphysical.

The first challenge that students of metaphysics face is defining the term itself. It has been used to define a whole range of things, including systems of philosophy, belief, and religion. Strictly construed, the term is derived from Aristotle's philosophy, refers to those things that are beyond the physical, and is applied to that branch of philosophy involved in discussing the essence of being. However, the term has gained a broader meaning in modern times and is used outside of philosophy to describe those things that are beyond the physical, such as imagination, spirituality, and even the occult and the paranormal. The modern study of metaphysics, like Aristotle's original musings, has the goal of determining what, if anything, exists beyond the confines of the physical world. The difference is that modern metaphysicists have rebelled against traditional philosophy, by trying to make their thoughts and musings readily accessible to the average individual. After all, universal experiences should be able to be described in terms that are universally understandable. The logical conclusion of this change in the approach metaphysics is that the very essence of the discussion must focus on those elements common to all of mankind, which makes the study of dreams an indispensable element in any metaphysical philosophy.

All men dream. Even more importantly, the fascination with dreams transcends cultural and temporal boundaries. Throughout history, dreams have been given an elevated status and dreamers have sometimes been labeled oracles and prophets. However, the power of dreams and dreamers has not always been viewed in a positive manner, and dreamers have also been viewed as madmen and lunatics. The fascination with dreams is both simple and profound, because dreams, themselves, can be both simple and profound. Regardless of the complexity of the dream, dreams are insightful, and, because they are insightful, they can be extremely helpful to the dreamer. According to Gifford (2007), "Dreams have a salutary effect (they promote good health) even when they are not interpreted. Dreams provide information about the dreamer that often is not available by other means. They provide the dreamer with information about one's current physical, psychological and spiritual condition."

While few who interpret dreams would disagree with Gifford's assertion that dreams provide information about individuals, what they might disagree about is what information is provided by a particular dream.

For example, according to the Jungian tradition, there are certain archetypes, which are consistent across human experience. Raffa (1999) believes that archetypes are "the ancient, unconscious source of much that we think, do, and say as human beings. They are the 'givens' in our psychological makeup, the patterns that shape our perceptions of the world, the furnishings that are present in our psychological home from the moment of birth. We inherit the same forms, but each of us fills in the content by the way we experience our lives. Thus, Father might be a positive archetype to one person, but it might be filled with negative meaning for another." According to Raffa (1999), the archetypes include the Male, the Female, God, the Devil, the Goddess, the Witch, the Father, the Brother, the Mother, the Sister, the Dragon, the Lion, the Priest, the Lover, the Hero, the Tree, and the Snake. The archetypes themselves have neutral meanings; it is the context of the dream that gives the archetypes their meaning. Raffa (1999) believes that "we humans automatically inherit the outlines of these archetypes, fill them in with colors and details of our individual experiences, attach meaning to them, and project them into the outer world."

Given that archetypes and dream types are consistent, but their meanings vary with personal experience, it seems logical that archetypes in dreams would have different meanings, depending on one's cultural context. Surprisingly little research has been done regarding how cultural upbringing impacts the interpretation of archetypes as they are presented within dreams. In fact, where cultural differences have been noticed, those differences are often compounded by differences in life circumstances and not just culture. For example, the day-to-day experiences of a modern middle-class American differ so dramatically from the experience of a modern Sudanese, that it might be inaccurate and unfair to describe the different representations of the archetypes in dreams as a result of cultural difference. However, given the cultural differences that exist across middle-class America, an investigation into how different cultural groups view archetypes within dreams can help reveal how cultural background provides the context for dreams. In addition, this information may help determine how dreams actually help shape the cultural context itself.

In fact, culture can have an even more dramatic impact on dreams. At its core, metaphysics is concerned about being. Therefore, understanding the relationship between the body and the soul is essential to the understanding of metaphysics. Many people believe that dreams can provide this link between the mind and the soul. However, others have gone so far as to hypothesize that dreams are not a connection between the mind and the body. In fact, some authors like Bosnak (1996:13) seem unable or unwilling to relegate dreams to the imagination. On the contrary, they envision a lively and active dreamscape, with inhabitants and dwellers that exist in something akin to an alternate reality. To Bosnak, it is the dreamer's inability to truly know those dreamscapes that makes dreams so alluring and so intimidating. He says, "A profound not-knowing is hard to bear. We wake up and try to get a grip on our dreams. We tame them with interpretations. We try to make them into pets, to render them relatively harmless, not like the unpredictable wild creatures they really are. We tell our dreams that they are our dreams, that we created them."

In addition to archetypes, there are other consistencies across dreamscapes. For example, grief is a central element of dreams. According to Wray and Price (2005), grief dreams are dreams that are centered on the death of a loved one and come in four major types: the visitation dream, the message dream, the reassurance dream, and the trauma dream. However, their discussion of grief dreams did not address differing cultural backgrounds; and, it is unclear whether cultural background can alter the nature and tone of grief dreams.

In fact, grief dreams may provide the answers to some of the most profound issues in metaphysics, such as when being and existence end, and whether there is something beyond physical existence. This is because grief dreams, perhaps more than any other aspect of human existence, transcend death, and, by doing so, can serve a very real and practical purpose. For example, according to Wray and Price (2005:2), "Grief dreams allow us to reconnect with our deceased loved ones, to return to that place where nothing has changed- a place where our loved one is still alive- a place where grief does not exist." In this way, dreams alter the fabric of reality, if only for the moment of the dream. On the other hand, grief dreams reinforce the notion of reality by highlighting an important fact: death does not end a person's connection to the living world. On the contrary, the dead remain very much attached to the physical world, because they continue to shape and influence the people left behind.

Given that archetypes appear consistent across dreamers, the impact that culture has on the meaning of archetypes and dreams, and the fact that mourners consistently have the four types of grief dreams, it seems logical that culture would impact the appearance and interpretation of archetypes in dreams. For example, given that, culturally, the mother plays a more central role in the African-American family than the father, it would seem that archetypal appearances of the Mother and the Father would have a different meaning for African-American dreamers than for non-African-American dreamers. One of the unique aspects of the United States is that, while people may have similar day-to-day experiences, they are influenced by a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, which suggests that the dream experience of Americans may be non-homogeneous. It is the intent of this paper to examine the role that archetypes play in the grief dreams of members of three Americans with different cultural backgrounds, to determine what role, if any, culture plays in the dreamscape.

Chapter Two: Review of Literature

The first issue faced by dreamers is determining what is a dream and what is reality. In order to do this, the dreamer must first understand the nature of existence and being. Not coincidentally, these issues are also central in the study of metaphysics. In fact, Taylor (1963:1) believes that, "To think metaphysically is to think, without arbitrariness and dogmatism, on the most basic problems of existence. The problems are basic in the sense that they are fundamental, that much depends on them." However, being is more than existence. To most, the concept of being implies an awareness that may or may not be present in those who merely exist. Furthermore, this awareness is the hallmark of humanity.

According to Heidegger (1960:22), "Man and Being are allocated to each other. They belong to each other." Dreams are one of those elements that elevate humans being mere existence and into being.

The second issue faced by dreamers is understanding the symbols in their dreams. While some dreams are straightforward and simple, with clear meanings, others are opaque unless one understands the symbolism in the dreams. To truly understand the symbolism in dreams, one must familiarize oneself with the archetypes found in the dreams.

Without understanding the symbolism meanings of archetypes, it might be impossible for a dreamer to understand the messages found within their own dreams.

At least in the Western tradition, understanding dreams can be the key to understanding oneself. While Plato believed that the body was a prison for the soul, those who believe that dreams are a way of connecting bodies to the soul are more likely to agree with Taylor (1963:12), who believes that, "The connection between oneself and his body is far more intimate and metaphysical than anything else we can think of." Furthermore, those who believe that dreams can connect the individual to something greater and more powerful than the self may find proper dream interpretation to be even more important and essential than those who only believe that dreams connect the soul to the body.

Though an understanding of dreams is central to an understanding of metaphysics, that does not mean that dreams are easy to understand. Since the dawn of human civilization, man has been intent upon interpreting dreams. In fact, Policoff (1997: xvi) makes it clear that dream interpretation is nothing new. On the contrary, "Virtually every ancient culture had men and women whose task it was to act as dream interpreters: priests and priestesses, shamans, oracles, and prophets." In more recent times, the major luminaries in the social sciences, such as Freud and Jung, have attempted to explain and interpret dreams.

However, not all dreams are so easily interpreted. McPhee (1995:142) makes it clear that "Some dreams, even after we have applied free-associative technique, remain elusive." According to McPhee (1995: 143), "In disguised dreams, the meaning of the dream- or rather the identity of the unconscious feelings and awareness that gave rise to the construction of the dream- remains obscured." McPhee believes that repression is the source of disguise in dreams, and it stands to reason that cultural influences would have an impact on what people repress, and therefore what people dream.

Because different cultural groups have different views regarding the connection between the mind and body, as well as the connection between the body and the other, it stands to reason that different cultural groups would have different views regarding the role that dreams play in these relationships. In fact, one interesting aspect of dreams is that cultural reality can have a profound effect on how one can interpret dreams. This reality is highlighted by Shafton (2002:3), who stated that "While the dreaming process is humanely universal, people can learn to be sensitive- or insensitive- to various dimensions of the dream life. Cultural groups develop their own distinct ways with dreams, seen in how they talk about dreams, in what they expect from dreams, and also to some extent in the content of their dreams." While a culture's view of metaphysics helps shape its view of dreaming, a culture's view of dreaming also helps shape its view of metaphysics.

In the United States, the emphasis has been on the study of dreams and dreamers from the Western tradition. However, this study ignores a vast proportion of Americans, and presupposes a universality that does not seem to exist across cultures. This dichotomy is most dramatically highlighted by examining the African-American community. Though the majority of African-Americans can trace their time in America to a more distant time than many non-African-Americans, the reality is that the African-American cultural experience differed vastly from the experiences of other ethnic groups. From the fact that the original Africans were forced immigrants, to the lives of African-Americans under slavery and the Jim Crow South, many African-Americans were denied access to the American dream. Needless to say, these experiences helped paint a cultural landscape that differs greatly from the stereotypical version of America. In addition, it is a gross oversimplification to assume that these differences have arisen solely as the result of how African-Americans have been treated in America. On the contrary, many of these differences can be attributed to the basic differences between African and European culture. As Shafton (2002:9), "Africa does in fact survive in the African-American way with dreams, in spite of the centuries and the changes separating the Millennium from the Middle Passage. At the same time, the African-American affinity for dreaming is also a distinctly American adaptation, an adaptation to oppression- a survival for survival."

While there is documentation that the African-American dream experience differs from the non-African-American dream experience, there is little documentation or theory to explain these differences. However, the very fact that there is a tremendous amount of emotion connected to the experience of being African-American may account for some of the differences in dreaming, in addition to accounting for some aspects of the racial cultural disconnect in American society. It is no secret that emotion can play a pivotal role in shaping dreams, despite the fact that these dreams may not reflect the reality that helped create the emotion. For example, Hartmann (1998: 62) explains that those suffering from post-traumatic stress are often plagued by nightmares, but that these nightmares are not necessarily directly associated with the even causing the stress. On the contrary, the dreams "contextualize the emotional concern." Therefore, differences in dreaming, even those differences that do not reflect racial bias or concerns, may be reflecting the reality of racism and bias in America. However, there is not enough research regarding non-white dreamers and dream analysis in America to support this theory and to provide non-white and non-African-American controls for the dream analysis.

Regardless of culture, it appears that all human beings have grief dreams, which are focused on a person who has died. Grief dreams serve four major purposes, many of them targeted at facilitating the relationship between the dead and the living. When one examines these dreams, one oftentimes finds that the dreamer expresses remorse of guilt about something he or she did or failed to do regarding the deceased. This aspect is interesting and has its own impact on the study of metaphysics because of its reflection on morality. Where do morality and moral impulses come from. Do they, as suggested by Taylor (1963:5), "presuppose the existence of moral agents who have responsibilities and are capable of incurring guilt?" It also brings to mind an interesting conundrum, which is whether the guilt in grief dreams comes from the dreamer or is placed there by the deceased. The author was unable to uncover any prior researched aimed at determining how different cultures interpret guilty feelings that are the result of grief dreams.

Some grief dreams contain elements of prophecy; the deceased person appears to the dreamer with a message, which the dreamer interprets is the deceased's way of attempting to get the dreamer to change their behavior. In this way, the dreamer feels as if the deceased is continuing to impact the living world, by influencing actions from beyond. According to Wray and Price (2005:154), "One of the most interesting aspects of prophetic dreams is that they offer the dreamer the opportunity to potentially change or modify the outcome of certain events." If there is something beyond existence, and life and advanced human cognitive function are more than simply a random result of evolution, then it stands to reason that mankind might not have, not only the ability to control its fate, but also precognitive awareness of fate." Not surprisingly, visits from ancestors have been considered a means of precognition throughout history and across many known cultures.

In addition, grief dreams exhibited nine common elements. While not all grief dreams exhibit all of the elements, they are sufficiently common to be associated with grief dreams. According to Garfield (1997:6), those elements include: "(1) the announcement, (2) the arrival, (3) the appearance, age, condition, and clothing of the dream messenger, 4) the attendants; (5) the message, (6) the gift, (7) the farewell embrace; (8) the departure, and (9) the aftermath."

Many dreamers report becoming aware of the significance of their grief dream at its very beginning, because of the announcement preceding the dream. In addition, Garfield (1997) that there is often a symbol that signals the arrival of something new, such as a ringing doorbell, a ringing telephone, the appearance of light in darkness, or smelling a familiar scent. In this way, the dreamer is alerted that this dream has some significance. The arrival of the deceased in a dream can be accomplished either by the deceased entering into the dreamscape, or by the dreamer entering into the same place as the deceased. According to Garfield (1997:9), where in the dreamscape the dreamer and the deceased meet is significant; "often the place where the dreamer meets the dream messenger has some barrier between the living and the dead. It may be a simple garden gate; a barrier at the airport; a glass partition, or some other boundary marker."

The third element of grief dreams can be surprising, because dreamers often assume that the deceased will appear as they did in life. In fact, Garfield (1997:9) believes that "Their appearance depends upon your feelings -- your hopes and your fears --about the dead person, and upon the message that follows." In fact, one of the most commonly mentioned elements about the appearance of the dead, which is that they are radiant or luminous, is clearly not based on actual physical condition. According to Garfield (1997:13), "This illumination seems to represent a transfigured condition in the deceased, and when present, invariably indicates positive emotions about the person as they appear in the dream, even if there were negative feelings about him or her prior to death."

In addition to the dreamer and the deceased, other figures sometimes appear in grief dreams. The significance and role of these figures is determined by the appearance of the figure. For example, Garfield (1997:13) reports that several dreamers reported seeing a personification of death, such as a tall man in a black suit, a shadowy figure in a hall, or a hideous old woman dressed in black. Though these figures may be intimidating or frightening to the dreamer, they are actually of little significance beyond illuminating the dreamer's own attitudes towards death.

The fourth element of the grief dream is that the deceased is attempting to deliver a message to the dreamer. These messages can be quite literally delivered in the dream. For example, Garfield (1997:14) reports that she has been told of dream messages delivered via letter, fax, computer, answering machine, telephone, as well as in person. However, the messages in a dream can be delivered in a more subtle manner, and many dreamers have to interpret their dreams in order to understand the message that the deceased was attempting to convey. The messages conveyed by the deceased can be both positive and negative. Garfield (1997) states that negative messages can include information that the deceased is suffering, that the deceased is not really dead, warnings that the dreamer is about to die, castigations from the deceased, and enticement by the deceased for the dreamer to join them in death. Of course, not all grief dreams contain negative messages. According to Garfield (1997), the two most common positive messages contained in grief dreams are reassurances that the deceased is okay and the goodbye dream. From a metaphysical point-of-view, the goodbye dream is particularly interesting, because it is oftentimes linked with paranormal activity. Garfield (1997:20) states that: "The dream message "Goodbye" is a classic. It has been reported over and over again in literature, usually when a death has taken place at a distance from the dreamer, or is sudden or vicious. You can also expect a "Goodbye" dream message to be delivered when you have been deprived of a chance to say goodbye in person. Sometimes people claim this message arrives in a waking state, with the deceased appearing at the foot, head, or side of the survivor's bed. This dream message is often thought to involve extrasensory perception, as the dream may occur simultaneously with the death. In parapsychological writings, it is the most commonly reported telepathic experience and is referred to as a 'crisis apparition.'"

In addition to a message, many dreamers report receiving a gift from the deceased. The receipt of a gift can be a positive or a negative message, and the dreamer oftentimes needs to consider and interpret the gift before determining the message contained in the gift. Furthermore, these gifts do not appear to be associated with archetypes, but instead tend to reflect something significant from the dreamer's life, or the life of the deceased.

One of the most alluring elements of grief dreams is the transcendence that is brought about by dreamt physical contact with the dead. Touch, or the lack thereof, is a very important component of grief dreams. Some dreams permit the dreamer to give a farewell hug to the deceased. On the other hand, where cultural taboos prohibit touching, the grief dream can serve to remind the dreamer that the death is real and that touching will never again be permitted. Because those who report touching the deceased in a dream seem to gain substantial solace from the contact, it would be interesting to see how many people violate cultural taboos in order to do so.

In most grief dreams, after the deceased has delivered his message and given any gifts or embraces, it becomes clear that it is time for the deceased to depart. According to Garfield (1997:23), the signal for departure can be verbal, but it can also be visual, such as the deceased turning pale like a corpse and fading from view. In other dreams, the deceased's departure is signaled and enforced by one of his dream attendants. Finally, in some dreams, it is the dreamer who departs, urged on by the subtle threat that the failure to depart will result in the dreamer's own death. The departure signals the end of the grief dream. However, according to Garfield (1997:24), the departure also serves a larger purpose: "Whether the dream messenger departs or the dreamer awakens, the border between life and death is erected again. Folk beliefs, such as the idea that the ghost must return to the grave by midnight, underlie the concept that the encounter between the dreamer and the deceased occurs under specific conditions, for a limited time, and has a precise ending."

However, the end of the dream itself does not end the significance of the grief dream. On the contrary, the most important aspect of any grief dream may be its aftermath. Garfield (1997:24) makes it clear that the emotions released by the grief dream can be intense and varied. A dreamer may feel peace, love, acceptance, and forgiveness after a grief dream. Most importantly, grief dreams appear to offer the dreamer a means to move on during his waking life, by placing the death in perspective and reinforcing the separation between the dead and living worlds.

Chapter Three: Methods

In order to determine the impact of culture on dreams and dream interpretation, the author decided to study a specific type of dream in several cultures. Because the prophetic grief dream appears across cultures, studying how different sub-cultures in the United States approach prophetic grief dreams and interpret the archetypes that appear in those dreams, should reveal how culture impacts dream interpretation. In order to do so, the author has to rely upon traditional methods of dream interpretation, but also on the individual's reports of any culturally-significant elements of dream interpretation.

First, the author selected four target groups for interpretation: African-Americans, Vietnamese-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Indian-Americans. In addition, the author selected an "average" American of varied Western-European ethnic background as a control. The subjects were initially identified via questionnaire, which asked a group of 50 people, 10 from each of the targeted cultural groups, to self-identify if they had lost a loved one and if that loved one had ever appeared to them a dream. To control for differences due to age and gender differences, all of the subjects were in the 21-29 age group and all of the subjects were female. All of those who self-identified as having had a prophetic grief dream went on to the second part of the study.

In the second part of the study, the subjects were asked to describe their grief dreams from beginning to end. They were asked to do so in an open-ended response and were given an unlimited period of time to do so. After describing their dreams, the subjects were given a questionnaire listing the most common archetypes, and then asked to identify which, if any, of those archetypes appeared in their dreams. From those responses, the author selected one member of each of the targeted cultural groups, based on the common presence of a major archetype in their dream. The major archetype identified was the Mother. Furthermore, the deceased person in the grief dream could not be the Mother; instead, the appearance of the archetype in the dream was secondary to the grief message. The author then asked each of the subjects for their cultural interpretations of the archetypes found in their dreams, and also for their overall interpretations of the dreams. Finally, the author asked each subject to describe the deceased as they were in life, how long ago the deceased died, how long after the death the grief dream occurred, and whether or not the subject did anything to try to bring about the grief dream.

Chapter Four: Results

Subject one was the control subject: a 24-year-old Caucasian-American of mixed ancestry. The deceased in her grief dreams was a five-month-old fetus that the subject aborted because prenatal screening revealed that the baby had trisomy 13, a condition that is widely considered incompatible with life. Though the subject was not aware of the sex of the baby that she terminated, in her dreams the baby appeared as a healthy, female toddler. Subject one's grief dream has many of the hallmarks of a traditional grief dream. The dream begins with subject one hearing a baby's cry. She follows the sound of the cry down the bedroom hallway, to the room that had been selected as a nursery, though it had not been decorated. When subject one enters the room, it is decorated as pink and white baby nursery. Subject one's daughter is playing on a rug in the floor and a woman sits on a white rocking chair, watching the baby play; her face is obscured from view by a curtain of shiny brown hair. Subject one steps further into the room, going to her daughter. As she gets closer, she sees that the baby is not really a baby; she is physically perfect toddler of about two years of age, with blond ringlets, chubby pink cheeks, and bright blue eyes. Subject one reaches down to embrace her daughter, but the woman in the rocking chair says, "no." The woman in the chair looks up, and subject one sees that the woman has the physical characteristics associated with trisomy 13- partially formed ears, a cleft palate, incompletely formed irises, and a very small head. She stands up and extends her hands, which have several extra digits and walks towards the child. The child opens up her arms and embraces the woman with a squeal of glee, calling her "Mommy." The woman picks up the child and embraces her, hissing at subject one as she picks up the baby, "You gave her up; you don't deserve a baby." Then the woman carries the child from the room. Suddenly the room that subject one is standing in morphs back into the guest room that is in her room.

One of the more interesting aspects of subject one's dream is how it manifests the Mother archetype. In subject one's dream, the Mother is not her mother or her, but the mother to the child that she terminated. The Mother is nurturing towards the child in the dream, but angry at subject one. Subject one believes that the dream reflects her own guilt at terminating the child. She acknowledges feeling like she should not have trusted the doctors, because she believes that her child may have been healthy. However, subject one acknowledges that the genetic testing that was done has no margin of error, and that her child would not have been born healthy, if born at all, and had only a small likelihood of surviving even one month and almost no chance of surviving to the age of one. In addition, in subject one's dream, the Mother archetype is marked by physical disabilities, but exhibits the protectiveness for which society glorifies the mother.

Discussing her dream with subject one, it became clear that she did believe the cultural and societal influences helped shape her dream. She acknowledges that her dilemma would not have existed prior to the advent of modern medicine, because she would not have known of her child's condition prior to birth. In addition, few cultures have as many prohibitions against abortion as modern-day American society. Therefore, she believes that culture has influenced her feelings about the termination. In addition, she believes that the American model of motherhood, which suggests that mothers should sacrifice everything for their children, is reflected by the fact that in her dream the Mother has literally taken on the child's disabilities, and the child is in perfect health. As a result, the Mother's physical disabilities actually serve to remind subject one of her own disabilities as a mother, because she was unwilling to take on the emotional and physical difficulties that would have been the result of carrying her child full term.

The other interesting aspect of the dream is that subject one believes it is prophetic. She believes that it means she will be unable to conceive and have a healthy child. At this time, it is impossible to determine whether or not this dream is true. However, subject one has been trying to conceive since three months after her abortion, a period of almost three years, and has not been able to conceive. Therefore, she believes this dream, which is recurring, is prophetic.

Subject two was a 27-year-old African-American woman. She dreamt about the death of her grandmother, who died of a heart attack at the age of 78. Subject two reported having a very close relationship with her grandmother, having spent summers during her childhood at her grandmother's home. In the dream, subject two gets a phone call. It is her mother on the phone, calling from the hospital to say that her grandmother is in critical care. Subject two then finds herself in her grandmother's hospital room. Her grandmother appears dead, and subject two begins to cry. Then her grandmother opens her eyes and says, "Don't marry him." After saying that, subject two's grandmother closes her eyes and is dead again. Subject two then turns around and leaves the hospital room.

Subject two reports only having this dream once, while engaged to be married and having second thoughts. Subject two did not listen to her grandmother's message and married the man in question. Within three months of the wedding, she discovered that her husband was having an affair and had been cheating on her prior to their wedding. The divorce cost her several thousand dollars, which she did not have, and she has been struggling to get out of debt since that time. In hindsight, subject two says that she believes that her dream was prophetic and that her grandmother was trying to warn her not to make the mistake.

One of the interesting cultural elements that subject two reports is the significance of her grandmother coming back to life in her dream. Subject two had been told that the dead return to life in a dream when the dreamer wants something impossible to occur. Looking back, subject two believes that she was hoping for her marriage to be successful, despite the fact that her instincts were telling her it would not be. However, subject two disavows those aspects of her culture which suggest that her grandmother actually visited her. Instead, she believes that she subconsciously knew that the marriage was a bad idea, and must have chosen her grandmother, a trusted and respected elder, as the best way to deliver the message.

Another interesting aspect of subject two's dream interpretation is the fact that her maternal archetype showed up as her grandmother. This reinforces the fact that the Mother archetype does not have to a mother, but can be anyone that is seen in a maternal or nurturing role. In addition, even though the maternal archetype, an authority figure, told subject two not to marry, she did so anyway.

Subject three was a Vietnamese-America woman, 27 years old. Her mother died in Vietnam when the subject was four years old, and the subject traveled to America with her father and a paternal aunt's family shortly after her death. Subject three's grief dream deviated very little from the pattern established for such dreams, except in one key manner: subject three reports that it is a recurrent dream, which she has had since she was 11. Though it did not begin with an actual announcement, in subject one's dream she knew that something significant was going to happen because she was traveling to Vietnam on a boat. After sailing over a vast and beautiful crystalline ocean, which subject three describes as looking like the Caribbean and not like the waters near Vietnam; subject three arrives at a large grassy plain. It looks like pictures that she has seen of Vietnam, and subject three has no actual memory of the village she lived in while in Vietnam, but in her dream the plain surrounds her village. She knows that the plain should probably be marshy and that it should be humid and uncomfortable, but she says that the climate in her dream is like that of Southern California. She begins walking down a dirt path, and is greeted by a small white spitz-type dog, which she describes as smiling and happy. Further down the path children, well-fed, clean, and happy, run to greet her. Dreamer three mentions that everyone in the dream is speaking English. They come to a small home, which appears to be a hut on the outside. She enters it, and it is as modern and has all of the amenities of subject three's American home, but is decorated in an Eastern fashion. Her mom is inside, dressed in the same outfit she wears in a snapshot that subject one's father keeps of her family. She embraces subject three warmly, and subject three sits down and they have tea. An entire afternoon seems to pass, and then subject three hears the sound of a ship's horn in the distance. Her mother admonishes her not to miss her boat. They embrace again, and subject three begins her journey back to the ship. The children accompany her for part of the trip, and the laughing, dancing dog accompanies her all the way to the dock. Subject three waves goodbye in the direction of the village, and then walks up the gangplank of the boat.

The Mother archetype in subject three's dream is clear, because the role is filled by subject three's actual mother. However, given how young subject three was at the time of her mother's death, she may be filling in cultural ideas of the archetype rather than actually remembering aspects of her mother. In fact, the archetype is painted with broad strokes. The mother in the dream is warm and very loving towards subject three, and they spend the afternoon companionably in each other's company, but subject three cannot recall the subject of their conversation. In addition the house is full of pets and children, so that it appears very warm and welcoming, though subject three does not recall her family owning any pets while in Vietnam and none of the children in the dream are her siblings. The result is a dream that feels like home, but without any of the details of her home.

Subject three feels that her grief dream is prophetic because of events that have consistently occurred following the dream. She feels as if the Mother figure in the dream is continuing to nurture her, even after death, and visits her in dreams just prior to major bad occurrences in her life. She reports having the same dream the nights prior to at least four major events: her dog being hit by a car and killed when she was 11, her brother being in a serious car accident when she was 16, her father having a non-fatal heart episode when she was 18, and the night before her boyfriend broke up with her.

Subject four is a 23-year-old Mexican-American woman. Her parents are alive and, in fact, she continues to reside with her mother in the family home. The Mother archetype that is present in subject four's grief dream is her great-aunt, who died approximately six months prior to subject four's interview. What is interesting about subject four's dream is that the deceased in the dream was widely reputed to have some type of sixth sense during her lifetime. In addition, subject four sought to bring on the grief dream; she slept with her great-aunt's rosary under her pillow for several weeks following her aunt's death.

In the dream, subject four is approaching a large Catholic church. Once there, she is led to a group of cells. In one of those cells she finds her aunt, a devout Catholic during her lifetime, praying a rosary. Her aunt finishes the prayer and rises to her feet. When subject four moves to embrace her aunt, her aunt shakes her head and steps backwards. It is then that subject four realizes that her aunt is dressed in the attire of a novice nun. Her aunt says that she is now married to Christ, and cannot anything in the living world. The two of them sit down on the little cot inside the cell. There, the aunt opens her Bible and points to a verse. It is the Biblical verse that begins with "Love is patient." Subject four looks questioning at her aunt, who smiles kindly at her and then fades away.

Subject four believes that her grief dream was prophetic because she had the dream a few nights before meeting her current boyfriend, whom she believes she is going to marry. The Mother archetype in subject four has dual symbolism. First, as an elder female in subject four's family, it makes sense that her aunt would be placed in the Mother archetype. In addition, as a novice nun, but still an elder, she would have the religiously symbolic role of mother and guide. It is this aspect of her aunt that subject four believes is the most maternal, because her aunt considered herself a spiritual leader for the family and did not see any conflict between her own belief in the paranormal and her devout Catholicism.

Subject five is a 21-year-old Indian-American. Her parents immigrated to the United States prior to her birth and she has not met any of her older female relatives on either side of her family. The subjects in her grief dream are her paternal great-grandmother and grandmother, though she has never met them. In her dream, neither of them is dead. Instead, they have come to visit her family and see America. Though she has not met them, she has heard many stories about both of them, not many of which are flattering. Both of them were very unfriendly towards her mother, and she reports feeling hostility towards them in her waking life. In her dream, both women are unfriendly to her. As soon as they depart from the plane, they both give her big hugs. Then they begin criticizing her appearance. They dislike her Western hairstyle and dress. They also criticize her appearance, though they cannot agree on their opinion of her; one of them finds her to be too thin and dark, while the other believes that she is too fat and too light. They agree that she looks like her mother, whom they both find unattractive. As they walk to the baggage claim, both of the women are criticizing the other people in the airport, loudly and in English. Subject five attempts to hush them, and they chastise her for being disrespectful to her elders. Instead of taking them to her family home, subject one turns to them and says, "You have to go back to India." Both of them begin to chastise her, saying that she will never find an Indian boy to marry her if she acts this way. She believes that this dream may be prophetic because her parents have been attempting to arrange her marriage for two years, but have not been able to do so.