A Dream (possible repost)
I've been slipping on my faith lately...I don't attend church often unless goaded into it and I've been losing faith. But lately I've been having odd dreams, and last night I had a recurring dream that I think I may have posted about before, but I'll recap cause I don't feel like searching.
A little background: I never read Revelations. Anytime it has been brought up in church I leave. I have little to no knowledge of what it contains because the very idea of it always terrified me. I don't want to know what supposedly happens at the end. I just...don't. When I described this dream to my uncle (a pastor) he said it reads almost exactly out of it with some slight omissions/changes. Either way, I think this is just too deep to be my subconscious.
The Beast
This dream starts out with me standing on a hill holding an oddly shaped scythe. I'm looking down on a city being devoured by a Beast unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's got dog-like qualities, but it's got three heads and in place of the three tails are three cobras. There are no eyes and when it howls it makes a sound I can't even really describe. On the foreheads of the dogbeast is a symbol that kinda looks like the number 666. I distinctly remember it picking up a young boy and eating him whole, sickening crunch and cry and all. It literally turned my stomach. I could smell the blood, I could hear the screams...I could taste the destruction in the air. I remember taking the scythe and hitting the ground with it and there being a flash of light and a loud trumpeting from the sky.
Moves...forward? Back? Dunno...scenery changes.
The War
I'm in a battlefield. There's no sun or sky to be seen, only smoke and fire. There's guns going off, people screaming, bombs detonating. The ground is shaking, I hear the cries of the wounded as they're struck. I remember a man in the trenches next to me saying how he was tired of fighting, that it'd been 7 years and nobody even knows why they're fighting anymore. It's person against person, nation against nation and nobody even knows why. He turns on his fellow soldier and shoots him. Fighting breaks out in the trenches, you can tell it's happening on all sides. Everyone is just...fighting.
forward.
Reconciliation.
Chris and I meet in a tiny room...he apologizes for hurting me for so long, I apologize for not being a better lover. All around us people are apologizing for past wrongdoings to their friends, lovers, enemies, whoever. People are hugging and laughing; the sun is coming up. I go to my friend's house and she's making up to our other friend for being so distant the last few years. We go and sit on her lawn and watch the sun rise...then set...then rise...then set...all within seconds. Amy looks at me and very distinctly says "isn't it odd how the sun rises and sets so fast?". I remember this part very well because she stands dead in front of me, looks me in the eye and says this.
Rapture
Right after Amy says this, the sky darkens and it begins to rain. It's not a menacing rain though, just...rain. A very cleansing rain. The waters rise and flow into the streets but nobody is concerned. Suddenly from the sky bursts a song and trumpeting and just general noises of celebration and I see him. And I swear to goodness this isn't just my imagination working in my sleep. Jesus ascends from Heaven in sparkling white robes, takes my hand and tells says "I told you I'd never leave you or forsake you. I have not forgotten my Child. You have done well." and she smiles the kindest smile I have ever seen. I felt so calm and serene.
Eventually the water swallows all that we know but we don't drown. I remember swimming with dolphins and fish and singing at the top of my voice in a language that as far as I know doesn't exist. I woke up with tears streaming down my face. It was a happy dream, even if it's purely metaphorical.
I don't know why this dream came back to me...this is the second time I've had it and along with the series of odd dreams I've been having of this nature, it's really starting to make me think. Any interpretations anyone?
Like I said, I'm not really...religious...anymore. Spiritual if anything. Music touches/moves me more than any sermon on this planet could. Is this a sign? Another pre-9/11esque dream (dreamed what would happen before it did)? Or me needing to lay off the bedtime tea?
A little background: I never read Revelations. Anytime it has been brought up in church I leave. I have little to no knowledge of what it contains because the very idea of it always terrified me. I don't want to know what supposedly happens at the end. I just...don't. When I described this dream to my uncle (a pastor) he said it reads almost exactly out of it with some slight omissions/changes. Either way, I think this is just too deep to be my subconscious.
The Beast
This dream starts out with me standing on a hill holding an oddly shaped scythe. I'm looking down on a city being devoured by a Beast unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's got dog-like qualities, but it's got three heads and in place of the three tails are three cobras. There are no eyes and when it howls it makes a sound I can't even really describe. On the foreheads of the dogbeast is a symbol that kinda looks like the number 666. I distinctly remember it picking up a young boy and eating him whole, sickening crunch and cry and all. It literally turned my stomach. I could smell the blood, I could hear the screams...I could taste the destruction in the air. I remember taking the scythe and hitting the ground with it and there being a flash of light and a loud trumpeting from the sky.
Moves...forward? Back? Dunno...scenery changes.
The War
I'm in a battlefield. There's no sun or sky to be seen, only smoke and fire. There's guns going off, people screaming, bombs detonating. The ground is shaking, I hear the cries of the wounded as they're struck. I remember a man in the trenches next to me saying how he was tired of fighting, that it'd been 7 years and nobody even knows why they're fighting anymore. It's person against person, nation against nation and nobody even knows why. He turns on his fellow soldier and shoots him. Fighting breaks out in the trenches, you can tell it's happening on all sides. Everyone is just...fighting.
forward.
Reconciliation.
Chris and I meet in a tiny room...he apologizes for hurting me for so long, I apologize for not being a better lover. All around us people are apologizing for past wrongdoings to their friends, lovers, enemies, whoever. People are hugging and laughing; the sun is coming up. I go to my friend's house and she's making up to our other friend for being so distant the last few years. We go and sit on her lawn and watch the sun rise...then set...then rise...then set...all within seconds. Amy looks at me and very distinctly says "isn't it odd how the sun rises and sets so fast?". I remember this part very well because she stands dead in front of me, looks me in the eye and says this.
Rapture
Right after Amy says this, the sky darkens and it begins to rain. It's not a menacing rain though, just...rain. A very cleansing rain. The waters rise and flow into the streets but nobody is concerned. Suddenly from the sky bursts a song and trumpeting and just general noises of celebration and I see him. And I swear to goodness this isn't just my imagination working in my sleep. Jesus ascends from Heaven in sparkling white robes, takes my hand and tells says "I told you I'd never leave you or forsake you. I have not forgotten my Child. You have done well." and she smiles the kindest smile I have ever seen. I felt so calm and serene.
Eventually the water swallows all that we know but we don't drown. I remember swimming with dolphins and fish and singing at the top of my voice in a language that as far as I know doesn't exist. I woke up with tears streaming down my face. It was a happy dream, even if it's purely metaphorical.
I don't know why this dream came back to me...this is the second time I've had it and along with the series of odd dreams I've been having of this nature, it's really starting to make me think. Any interpretations anyone?
Like I said, I'm not really...religious...anymore. Spiritual if anything. Music touches/moves me more than any sermon on this planet could. Is this a sign? Another pre-9/11esque dream (dreamed what would happen before it did)? Or me needing to lay off the bedtime tea?