* # Dead Bodies on a Train

"_A dream is an invaluable commentator and illuminator of life. Listen to the wisdom of the dream."_ Carl Jung
        
        **Dear Lauri,** I am waiting for a train. A white train finally comes along. When I got on, I saw there were dead bodies wrapped from top to toe in white bandages placed on the seats. I realized that it was the mortuary train.  I walked around and was puzzled that two or three men were alive and standing up with just their bottoms wrapped in bandage (like a diaper). They were waiting for the rest of their body to be wrapped up.  This disturbed me so much, I woke up.   – Greer 62, UK
        
        **Lauri:** What in waking life are you waiting for? What seems to be taking a long time to happen? The fact that you are waiting for a train is a clue. It suggests that you may be wondering if you are "on the right track" as far as a certain idea or goal is concerned. Since the train is white it may mean a new direction is needed or you may need to start over in some way. Once embarking you discover that it is a mortuary train... yikes! This is a good indication that you may feel you are headed towards a "dead end" in some area of your life. As disturbing as the dream is, it is giving you a solution, and that solution comes in the form of the men that are still alive. Those men represent your male qualities, meaning the parts of you that can be assertive, take action, "grow a pair" and get the job done. Grab hold of and use these powerful qualities before they "die off."
        
        **Greer replies:** I've been out of work for twelve months!! I was hoping for a dream that would point me in the right direction. Now it seems everything is pointing me to go in a different direction.  Thank you for this interpretation. 

  * # Stuck in a Hotel

"_Dreams are the language of creation."_ \- Bernie Siegel
        
        **Dear Dream Zone,**
        
        I dreamt I was with my boyfriend at a convention in a hotel. We had a good time but when we tried to leave through the parking garage we encountered a mob on the street that prevented us from leaving. There were fires and chaos and the police were murdering people. We tried to go back up the elevators through the parking garage but two corrupt cops stopped us and tried to beat us up. That’s when I woke up. - Melanie 29, Virginia Beach, Virginia
        
        **Lauri:** Sounds like your inner mind is concerned that your relationship with your beau may not be going anywhere! When our dreams take place in a hotel it means our current situation is temporary. Dating is temporary because the couple will inevitably break up or marry. The parking garage also points to your relationship being "parked" and not moving forward. All that chaos surrounding you in the dream reflects your anxiety about the relationship coming to a nasty end if things don't change and the corrupt police are a definite sign of confusion as to what is the right thing to do. Step outside the situation and try to see if one of you is rushing things or if one of you is holding the relationship back. Hopefully you can find a way to be on the same page, if not then just like in your dream, dooms day may be near! Good luck.
        
        **Melanie responds:** Wow, I'm so thoroughly impressed! You couldn't have gotten any closer to the truth with this interpretation! Before even reading your response today I broke up with my beau yesterday. I guess my mind was telling me that it was doomed from the start. Fortunately, we are still really close friends.
        
        **Fascinating Dream Fact:**
        
        Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones claims he got the riff to "Satisfaction" in a dream… or maybe it was a drunken stupor!

  * # Dreaming You Ran Out of Pepper
        
        **Dear Lauri,  
        ** Last night I had a dream I was taking a shower, then I walked downstairs and my grandmother (who died in 2002) was really upset because we had ran out of pepper. I began to look for the pepper in the kitchen, but my grandma was right that we were out. She was really upset about it! I told her I'd drive her to the store to get some. I ran up to my room to get the keys and there was a moth flying around. I tried killing it numerous times, but kept missing. I finally smashed it with a shoe and I felt relieved. Then I woke up.  – Adam 24, Florida
        
        **Lauri:** Lots of endings in this dream. Is there anything in your life that has run its course, that has ended or that you have cleansed yourself of? The grandmother may mean some situation has really gotten old and the lack of pepper may mean something - perhaps a relationship - has lost its spice and excitement. The moth may be your attraction to someone or something, but the attraction turned into a nuisance and your dream is showing you did the right thing by putting an end to it.
        
        **Adam replies:** There is a guy I used to work with that I have been intensely attracted to for a long time. After my good-bye party at work I told him how I felt. Unfortunately, he only liked me as a friend. Therefore, that attraction grew old and lost its spice and excitement. So I decided to cut off all ties with him. I deleted him off my facebook and out of my phone so I wouldn't be tempted to reach out to him.  I've been feeling a lot better. I've been going out, meeting new people, and have a lot to look forward to now.

  * # At Work in Your Dream
        
        _"Dreams are the eyes of our mind."_ -Genevieve Bouris
        
        **Dear Lauri,  
        ** I dreamed that I was at work finishing up my paperwork at the end of the night and a pair of my pants and socks were on my desk. I tried to hide them before the next shift came in and saw them.   – Diana 25, Antwerp, OH
        
        **Lauri:** What are you wrapping up in waking life? What is coming to a close? Is there an issue or a decision you feel you have finally “worked” out, hence the reference to work? Your pants are your ability to be in charge, to "wear the pants" in a certain area of your life or in a relationship. It seems there is a need for you to assert yourself but you are afraid to. The socks are your ability to be comfortable with putting your foot down about this issue or decision. It seems that your dream is showing you that you certainly have what it takes to do this.
        
        **Diana replies:** My mother in law watches my son during the day. I want to find a new sitter because I don’t feel I have any control over what he is exposed to. My mother in law watches her other grand children as well. She lives with my husband’s brother, wife and kids so it is very hectic there and I feel the children are rude. I'm afraid my husband will be upset with my decision.
        
        **Fascinating Dream Fact:**  
         Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, E=mc2, was inspired by a dream whereby he was going down a mountainside ever faster, watching the appearance of the stars change as he approached the speed of light.

  * # Smothering a Woman in a Dream
        
        _"Our dreams can teach us to live a more insightful, meaningful life._ - Gayle Delayne
        
        **Dear Lauri,  
        ** I had a dream that I was a man in 1950's attire and I killed a woman that I dragged out of a motel. I put a pillow over her head and smothered her.  It was a horrific dream and very disturbing!   
         - Kim 48, Ogden, UT
        
        **Lauri:** Being a man in a dream means that in waking life, you "grew a pair" and asserted yourself in some way. The 1950's attire suggests this dream is connected to something in your life that has really gotten old and is no longer relevant to your life, in fact it is probably something that has dragged on for too long, which is why you dragged the woman in the dream. You wind up smothering her and killing her because you successfully put an end to the situation in waking life.
        
        **Kim replies:** This makes sense!  I recently had made a huge move from Virginia to Utah. Had lost both parents within 3 weeks of each other and was recovering from a long and lengthy illness that kicked my butt to say the least. I didn't know where I was headed and what was next in my life. I had to make a change. The change I made was to own up to something that had been in the back of my head for a very long time. A little voice that said, "Follow your dream."  I finally threw in the towel and followed that dream. I professed to the world that I was a psychic/medium and that I intended to pursue this area from a professional stance. I had to release what other peoples idea about who I was and I had to embrace that I was what I professed and let the chips fall where they may. I couldn’t be happier!

  * # A Tree Falling on Your House in a Dream
        
        _"We are not only less reasonable and less decent in our dreams... we are also more intelligent, wiser and capable of better judgment when we are asleep than when we are awake."_ -Erich Fromm
        
        **Dear Lauri,  
        ** I dreamed that a tree had fallen on my house. I knew I’d have to leave the house because the foundation was moving away from the side of the hill that it was positioned into. For the first time in my life I would have to file an insurance claim. I knew the house was a total loss. - Grisela 55, Naples, FL  
        
        
        **Lauri:** Houses in dreams symbolize the self, your state of mind, and sometimes even your body.  Since your dream house is in need of some repair, is there any part of you - emotional or physical - that is in need of repair? Trees in dreams mean family. Is there an emotional or physical issue that was somehow caused by family?  Just as you have to give up your house in your dream, what do you have to give up in waking life? What do you have to leave behind? The insurance claim symbolizes the insurance you have in your friends and family. The strength they provide you is what you need to call upon right now. The message of this dream is that despite what you have to give up in waking life, you've got a strong enough support system around you to compensate for it. When one door closes another one opens.
        
        **Grisela replies:** Your interpretation was on target and very helpful. It makes perfect sense that trees represent family. At the time of the dream, I was sick with a cold I caught from my grandson, which turned into acute bronchitis. Also, I was thinking about moving closer to family since I am single and getting older. The dream has helped me to make that decision with confidence before someone has to make it for me down the road.
        
        **  
        Fascinating Dream Fact:**  
         In Scandinavian folklore, it is said that the soul leaves the body and explores the world. The experiences are remembered by the sleeper as a dream.  
        

  * # Dreaming the World had Ended
        
        **Dear Lauri,  
        ** For the past few years all of my dreams take place when the world as we know it has ended and we are living life.  A lot of the dreams consist of me trying to get to my kids. I see people dying and I am freaking out because I can’t get to my family.  My dream usually flashes forward and I am without my family and am living life as usual but everything is in shambles and ruin.    – Cindy 34, Houston, TX
        
        **Lauri:** Since you’ve been having this dream for the past few years, it is connected to something in your waking life that has been going on for that long.  In what way has your personal world – as you once knew it – ended or changed? Not being able to get to your family suggests something is going on where you feel you are being pulled from them in real life. Are you a working mom and missing your kids? The people that are dying in the dream represent changes that are going on around you that you may be resisting. Your dream flashes to the future because you must fear that things will never get any better. Just remember, you are what you think. Change your thoughts and you’ll change your dreams… and your life!
        
        **Cindy replies:**  It all makes sense! Up until 5 years ago I was a stay at home mom with 4 children.  Since then I have been fighting in a man’s industry doing "a man’s job" (Oil and Gas and I am a Network Engineer). It seems hopeless to get ahead even with earned respect. I feel everything has been an uphill battle and I dearly miss my children on a daily basis.  I am starting to resent that I have to do this and feel the time being used is taking a precious part of my life from me. I often wonder why life is this way and maybe I shouldn't have had kids because this is all the future holds for them. I feel your analysis is perfect.

  * # Choking on Food in Your Dream
        
        _"In bed my real love has always been the sleep that rescued me by allowing me to dream." - Luigi Pirandello  
        _
        
        Dear Lauri,  
        In my dream I’m in a public place and thick food is coming out of my throat almost choking me (it is thick and dry) and I have to pull it out and dispose of it in a private place (like throw it in a planter!).  Help me! - Anne 38, Murray, KY  
        
        
        **Lauri:** Whenever your dream focuses on the throat or mouth it is commenting on what you have said or what you need to say.  To choke means you are likely holding back words. At the time of this dream were you holding your tongue about something? Was there something you needed to communicate but were afraid to? Are you the type that doesn't always speak her mind? Notice how you have to pull it out in a private place. This is the way you are telling yourself that yes, you do need to get these words out of your throat already... but you may be more comfortable doing it privately, not in front of others or perhaps not even face to face with whomever you need to speak up to. It is also significant that you throw the food out in a planter. You are telling yourself – through this dream - that you could certainly grow from this. So "spit it out" already.  
          
        
        
        **Anne replies:** Thank you for interpreting this dream. I believe you are right! It is a relief to digest what you interpret so we can use the meaning to help us with our daily living. You are awesome. Thanks!  
        
        
        **Celebrity Dream Fact:**
        
         Celine Dion reports that she has recurring dreams of swallowing a large cold apple. These dreams are literally a singer’s worst nightmare as they reflect her fear of her voice going cold.

  * # Snake Crawling on You in a Dream
        
        _"Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day." - Friedrich Nietzsche  
          
        _
        
        Dear Lauri,  
        I dreamed I saw a snake at my feet. It was blue, red and yellow. I lay down on the bed and the snake crawled up and lay across my chest. What does this mean?   
           - Tammy 40, Colonial Heights VA
        
        **Lauri:** Snakes in a woman’s dream can often represent a man in her life, hence the shape, that is exhibiting low down behavior. However, snakes can also representing health and healing because we see them in the caduceus, the symbol for physicians, the two snakes wrapped around the staff. Because of this widely recognized symbol, our inner mind automatically associates a snake with healing. That being said, the snake laid across your chest. Again this could be connected to a man you care about because the chest is where the heart is and where we hold our emotions.  Is someone you love acting not so lovely? Or is there a health issue you are dealing with, particularly in the heart, chest, breast area? The color blue means this issue is causing you to have the blues, red means it is alarming to you and yellow means you have some fear or trepidation about it right now.  Whichever is the case, I do believe your dream is reassuring you that healing is underway.
        
        **Tammy replies:** I found out last week that I have four lumps in my right breast. I went to have the aspiration (where they drain the fluid) and they discovered that the mass was solid. The night before going in for the draining of the fluid is when I had this dream.  So it makes sense. Thank you.

  * # Boyfriend Bursting in Flames
        
        Dear Lauri,  
        I dreamed last night that these people and I were stuffed in to an old, run down trailer. They were all whispering and staring at me. Then I saw my bf walk into another room with someone else.  I tried to reach out for him but when I did he burst into flames and everything got pitch black and I started falling. I woke up right before I hit what looked like rocks. Lucky, I was sleeping on the floor or I might have fallen out of bed!   – Nicole 22, Lewisberry, PA
        
        **Lauri:** Now why in the world were you sleeping on the floor, young lady? Interesting dream.  How are things with you and your boyfriend? Do you feel the relationship, or at least some element of it, is getting old and run down like the trailer? All the people stuffed into it suggest the relationship is stuffed full of issues, not leaving enough room for just you and him. It is very interesting that he burst into flames. Did he have a sudden burst of anger recently? Did he exhibit a fiery temper at you? I think the end of the dream shows us that you fear you two may wind up "on the rocks" as they say... or that the relationship has hit "rock bottom."  If you can’t find a figure of speech in your dream, you have found the message!
        
        **Nicole replies:**  We have a lot of issues right now, mostly trust issues. We almost broke up Sunday. It was horrible.  I felt like my whole world was coming to an end. He was going to leave without even talking to me and we fought until he found out I was telling the truth. But he still is being distant to me. And we sleep on the floor because we can’t afford a new bed! Ha ha.

  * # Seeing Your Face Choking in a Mirror
        
        _“I believe… dream work helps us see what amazing gifts are there, just below the surface of ‘manifest content’ and obvious appearance.-_ Jeremy Taylor
        
        Dear Lauri,  
        I was choking on something I drank. When I looked in the mirror, I saw all these veins of blue all over my face. The veins were heavier on the left side than the right. I was freaked out by the veins so I woke myself up.   – Nikole 35, Memphis, TN
        
        **Lauri:** Like a mirror, dreams are a reflection of what’s really going on in our life as well as what is going on within the self. Your dream seems to be showing you that you may have recently choked on your words. Is there something you need or want to say but can't or didn’t? When a dream draws attention to the face, it usually means there is a reality you need to face. Veins may be a play on words and mean vain. Are you afraid that speaking up may be "in vain?"
        
        **Nikole replies:**  This is too funny. There's definitely a situation I could've handled differently. I could've spoken my mind but decided it would be in vain and not worth the trouble. Funny how I missed the literal translation because I was so focused on the color blue. I didn't explicitly tell someone how I felt about their actions and I just let the friendship end quietly. It wasn't worth the effort when I looked at it as a whole.
        
        **Lauri replies:**  That may be why the veins were heavier on the left side of your face. Through the dream you were probably "facing" the reality that this issue would be better "left" alone.
        
        **Nikole replies:**  That makes perfect sense. Thanks for making it all so clear.

  * # Bit by a Dog in your Dream
        
        _“Dreams are the eyes of our mind." - Genevieve Bouris_
        
        Dear Lauri,  
        I had a dream the other night that there was this ugly black dog in our house.  It was attacking my children, my dog, and me.  The strange part is, even though he seemed very offensive and was biting us, it was not graphic (none of us were bleeding), but I could actually feel the dog biting me.   –Barbara, Oshkosh, WI
        
        Lauri: Has some ugly situation invaded your peace of mind recently? The biting dog suggests this may have to do with the fact that a relationship or friendship, someone that ought to be loyal to you - symbolized by the dog - is offending you in some way, with criticism or harsh, "biting" remarks.  You feel the bites in the dream because it hurts you emotionally in waking life. Whatever this ugly situation is, your dream is warning you that it is beginning to affect your children too.   
        
        
        **Barbara replies:**  Actually, it’s kind of funny Lauri. My sister and I have both been sharing similar stories lately of how our mom is playing us against each other. Or that she is using us (me in particular) as a butt of jokes to boost her own self esteem. What’s worse is I haven’t really even had a conversation with her since Christmas, as I haven't done the calling. I (and both my children as well) have even unfriended her on Facebook and she didn’t even notice. Yet I am constantly hearing how she bashes me and my kids. So, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Thanks!
        
        **Fascinating Dream Fact:** Dr. Frederick Banting’s dreams of insulin led to a solution for diabetes and the Nobel Prize for Medicine.