A Dream’s Prophecy

Do you know that people have an average number of 250 dreams during each sleep period in the night? Yes, you read it right and neither is it a typographical error. It really is 250! But how come we only remember very few of our dreams. There are even times when we don’t remember any at all. I don’t want to be scientific so I would just say that we simply forget most of our dreams and remember at most five to seven dreams. I believe that one of those 250 dreams seemingly foretells an event of personal importance.

A dream of my friend strongly illustrates that dreams predict what will happen. Specifically, she had a dream that foretold the death of one of her relatives. Regarding who exactly this relative is was not known not after the actual event happened. She dreamt of a gathering held in a marquee where her relatives were present. There were white plastic chairs and snacks. There were people sitting and talking. There were also those standing around something. That something is vague and it was at that point where she became confused about the whole gathering because it somehow gave her a picture of a wake. All the images and sounds around her just mixed and her dream ended at that. After two weeks, her family was informed that her grandmother died. They went to the town to attend her grandmother’s wake. Upon reaching the house of her grandmother, she was welcomed by the same images and sounds as her dream presented her. That dream foretold the death of her beloved grandmother who she did not see for some time because her family was living already in the city. She told me that the dream she had helped her accept the death of her grandmother who she has not seen but remained dear to her. When she attended her wake, she did not cry and was just happy because her grandmother can already rest from all her pains. Her acceptance roots in the fact that she had been in that same gathering. The only difference is that she is no longer an observer but a participant to the sorrow of losing an important person. However, her sorrow is coupled with joy.

Another dream was that of my cousin who is now working in Manila. Her dream was about her close high school friend who is working in a province in the Visayas. They have not seen each other for quite a long time because they were both busy with their careers. Her dream was just simple. She and her friend were talking and laughing. Upon waking up, she called her friend to ask how she is doing. Her friend told her that she will be confined in the hospital during that day for pneumonia. Because of her dream, she was able to comfort her friend and let her know that she cares during that moment where her friend needs it the most. That event revived their friendship and communication. Their friendship remains up to this day because of that simple dream that reminded my cousin of a forsaken friend and an abandoned friendship.

My very own experience is the primary factor of my belief that dreams do foretell. One busy Thursday night in the month of August 2007, my auntie informed me that my grandfather died already after weeks of staying in the hospital for complications due to old age. I was so saddened about this news especially that I am far from home and cannot just go to the province to attend his funeral. He is so close to me and is a source of motivation. He gives me advices about life and encouragement on my ambitions. That same week, I dreamt about him. I said sorry to him because I cannot attend his funeral. I also said my goodbye and embraced him. He turned his back and walk towards a large theater door which is covered with leather. I followed him and when he faced me, he turned much younger-less wrinkles and more black hair strands. He said he will be going and entered the large door. My dream ended and I woke up. I checked the time and it was 3 am of Sunday. Before noon that day, my mother called and told me that my grandfather’s funeral is that same day. My dream foretold my grandfather’s funeral-his absolute departure from this world. Because of that dream, I learned to let go of the pain from not physically saying goodbye and being unable to attend his funeral. I know that he is already happy wherever he is and that the goodbye and sorry I gave him through that dream actually happened. I know that he made that dream possible because he knows how painful his leaving is for me. I would never ever forget that dream which not only foretold my grandfather’s funeral but also gave me the chance to say goodbye to him.

There is that one dream in that one night that offers what the future holds. However, the possibility of remembering this one dream over the other 249 is very little that is why it is so rare that the dreams that stay in our memory actually foretell future events. Even though it is so rare that because of its rarity can be considered coincidental by others, I still hold to my belief about the power of dreams to go against time and shed some light on what will still happen. After all, dreams are created by our unconscious selves. Who knows what is really going on in that state and what flows in that period of detachment from our environment? Moreover, the rarity of such an experience doesn’t make it coincidental rather a precious and purposeful one.