Dream #1:
I was standing by the door inside a dark paneled room with red carpet. A lot of dark wood molding was everywhere. One wall was all windows. Red curtains were pulled aside in sections. I could see that it was VERY dark outside. My father (same one I have in this life, although I'm not sure he looked as he does now) was standing behind his desk, silent.
His hands were set on the desk top as he looked down at some papers. About 15 businessmen, all dressed in black tuxes, were lined along the walls in a curve; from the wall of windows to the door. They were smiling down at me. I was patiently waiting to gain my father’s attention so I could ask him a question, but he was ignoring me. He was all business.
I was wearing a fancy white (lacy) dress which went to my knees. My hair was long, curly and blonde. I remember thinking in the dream that I was wiser than my father. Lol! He basically ignored me and I remember thinking it was probably b/c I reminded him of my mother, who had died. I thought his behavior very childish. It didn’t bother me much though. (What's funny is that even when a little girl, I was constantly thinking about how lucky I am that I have a mother, and that she's so nice).
Dream #2
I was anywhere from 20 to my 25, I suppose. I wore a very rich looking burgundy dress. My brown hair was pulled up in a bun. I think I wore a hat, too. I had just arrived someplace.
An old man, carrying a lantern and wearing a soft, fuzzy gray vest (large checkered pattern), led me up some stairs to an old attic. The stairs had no railing and were very narrow. I even remember noting the wood splinters and nails sticking out of the wall on my right.
When I reached the attic, I saw many sick children. They were all lying in perfectly straight rows, wrapped tightly in white sheets. It was very quiet. I was thinking to myself that these kids had no one and what the heck have I gotten myself into?! I thought it just too sad. I remember thinking that I just couldn’t do this. Here they were, all sick and with no parents.
Only two kids were up and well. They were chasing each other in front of a half-oval table set against the back wall with a lit candle set on it.
Dream #3
I was at least in my late teens and was living out in the woods, up in the hills. There were lots of pine trees surrounding me. The family I lived with were poor, but happy. I didn’t understand this at all!
I was sitting underneath a tree with a kind woman. She was shelling peas out of a basket as she spoke. Her kids were chasing each other in the woods. I particularly remember seeing a dark headed boy playing in his church clothes. I told her I didn’t belong there with them. Very cheerfully, she told me – “You will!”
I vividly remember her ‘knowings’ and constant cheerfulness frazzling my nerves. I didn’t believe one word that came out of her mouth. It was like I was suddenly orphaned/marooned with these people. I think I was about seventeen. I wasn’t very young.
Dream #4
This was a very short and quiet dream. No speaking was present. I was just sitting in a chair at a dressing mirror. Three ladies were standing behind me, getting me ready for some social event downstairs. They were putting on my jewelry and doing my hair.
I looked up and saw my reflection in the mirror. I looked a lot like I do now, and I wore a pretty, mint green colored dress. I’m not sure if I was happy or sad in this dream. I think I was just accepting the fact that whatever I was about to do when I went down those stairs… I didn’t have much choice and supposed things could be worse.
Dream #5
This is my favorite b/c it was a very happy dream. I had to have been about 9 or 10 years old. I was in a very fancy house, which I think belonged to an uncle? I was very happy there.
I had many cousins. They were all boys and I had my hands full with them! They were real rascals and I had much trouble trying to calm their wild spirits down to an acceptable level; to a dull roar if you will.
It was Christmastime and we were expecting guests. A large winding staircase was in front of me and the room I was in was very large. Huge french doors were to my left, leading to the backyard. I remember seeing a Christmas wreath hanging above an entrance that led to the next room; above the wreath was the lookout from upstairs. (There was dark wood paneling on the stairs and where the wreath was). I was speaking to a maid that worked there. She wore your typical black and white maids uniform from back then, and had blonde hair. She wore a maids cap also. I remember thinking she was very pretty and very sweet.
The boys came downstairs; at least one sliding down the banister! They were all dressed up real fancy-like in the suits that go to their knees; all their outfits looked the same and they each wore black boots. I threatened to lock them outside if they misbehaved for our guests. They would just laugh and act wilder, running around the room and screaming. I ran after one of the boys that ran out to the back. It was nighttime. He was sitting on top of a garden wall, at one part where it curved/dipped, absently swinging his legs back and forth. He was laughing at me.
When our guests arrived (a man and woman) I answered the door and ushered them inside myself. I felt like I was playing 'grown up.' There was a little Christmas tree in the entrance hall.
Dream #6
I was standing at the side of a dirt road, dressed in traveling clothes. I had a little suitcase in my hand. In the distance I could see a white house. I remember hoping that the people there would welcome me back with open arms. I was really worried about that.
Mom tells me that the way I describe the house and its surroundings... it sounds like her Granny’s old house. There were trees behind the house, which faced a huge open field. A few low bushes were near the dirt road. I was standing at the spot where the road curved. It was a small dirt road.
Dream #7
Not sure this was past life related. (I'm not sure I even believe in past lives. I only started entertaining the notion after having all these dreams. For a few months time I was completely bombarded by them). I think it was just a normal dream, but it was very vivid.
My sister and I (same sister I have now. She looked the same as she does now, too) were at our very first fancy ball. My sister wore a yellow dress. We were sooooo overjoyed to be there. It was so exciting to us that we couldn’t stop smiling.
My sister, myself and a few friends were on one of the stairs landings, looking down at the waltzing couples below. It was very hot in the room, but we were having so much fun that we didn’t care. The stairs had to have gone up four levels, and had many twists and turns. They were VERY WIDE as well. The stairs were beautifully carved and the landings had a large checkered pattern of dark and light wood.
It was loud and incredibly packed at this party. And so, so miserably hot!
Dream #8
I really hate to say it, but I was male. I was on a ship. I was a businessman with a black mustache. Unmarried, but very happy.
I remember walking on this ship at night. I was in a small, closed in area which led to the outside. I saw a few couples walking by; one was a woman in a very fancy, but I thought ugly, orange dress with lots of ruffles gathered at the back. (In the dream I was thinking to myself that this woman probably thinks she's 'all that' in her fancy dress with all her jewels, but that my personal opinion was that it was ugly and overdone). I think she had her fancy umbrella with her, though I can’t fathom why as it was nighttime! A little bit of water was rushing onto the little inside ‘room’ at my feet.
I don’t know that this was the Titanic, as no one was panicky. (I had this dream long before the movie Titanic came out, btw). It was very dark out, but I remember wondering why there was water coming onto the deck. I think the floor of the deck I was on was an orange or brown color.
Then I remember having a business meeting with some people during the day. I don’t know if we were near a white sandy beach, or if the sun was just really beaming down on the white ship deck. It was VERY bright out and hard to see. I remember thinking that I couldn’t wait for this boring meeting and the superficial chit-chat to end. I THINK we were bound for Italy? If so, this wasn't the Titanic.
Dream #9
I'm pretty sure I was male in this dream. (I think it's related to the dream above). I was walking along the beach at night. It was a dark, starry night. I could see a fancy white hotel off in the distance that was sitting right on the beach. It was very beautiful and very big. No other sign of civilization was nearby. It reminds me a lot of the Hotel Coronado in California. It was a white hotel with red roofs.
I was walking along this beach. A few men were walking together nearby, just ahead of me. In the water we saw a ship that was on fire. It looked like a smaller version of a big ship. I saw people screaming. I remember one lady jumping in the water to swim to shore. She had straight, black hair; or it could just be that it was wet. This ship was very near to the shoreline. The men walking ahead of me wanted no part in helping these people, so they ran to the hotel!
I was appalled at their behavior. Just as I was going to help them, the dream ended.
Dream #10
I was dressed in a fancy Victorian dress, walking near the water. I think it was Venice? All of a sudden I hear a lot of people shouting. People in the gondolas are very angry about something. They start throwing things off the boats and the people on the streets are freaking out. I was confused and didn't want any part of it - afraid of getting hurt - so I quickly ran to hide in some corner of a building.
Dream #11
Pretty simple dream. I was looking at the open sea with a LONG dock crowded with people standing in long lines. They were all dressed in Victorian style clothing and the women had parasols with them. Steamboats were moving towards the dock.
Dream #12
I dreamed once of seeing the Titanic underwater. Oddly enough, it was a pretty peaceful dream. I saw one of the outside hallways, and the light filtering in was a serene blue. It was also completely silent save that 'roaring' type sound of being underwater.
Reading someone did, which matches a few of my dreams:
Your next life you are just as beautiful. This is some place in Italy. I’m judging this due to your house. It’s huge girl!!! I see you as a 22-24 year old girl Laraine? Loraine… Something like that.
Your family has a sense an authority. It seems your dad is some sort of an official in the country. The times seems Victorian to me.
Titanic
The following is a vision which just popped into my head one evening...
Oddly enough, this happened on April 14th. It wasn't until years later that I discovered April 14th was the day the Titanic sank. (And this vision happened YEARS before the movie came out. I'm not a Titanic history buff either).
It was like seeing a scene from a movie. I saw a man, probably in his early thirties, wearing a suit. There were two young boys with him. They were in a hallway which had silver tea carts lined up against the wall with teapots and fancy pastries. Maids would walk past them, as well as people dressed in Victorian clothing. It was very crowded and busy, despite the fact that this hallway and the surrounding area (more halls) were a "backstage area" if you will.
The man conversed with the little boys almost the same as he would speak to an adult. (Like he saw the boys as equals and while he knew they were still young, he wasn’t going to ‘talk down’ to them). He spoke to the youngest boy the most, who was your typical happy child. Very imaginative I think, too. I seem to remember dark brown curly hair. The other boy with him was a little older and much quieter. I think the kids’ suits were a light shade of blue? (Their suits went to their knees, I think).
And that was it. Just these three people conversing in a hallway, then walking and still talking to one another through another crowded, very busy hall.
For two days this vision (or whatever you want to call it) bugged me. It felt so very REAL, which prompted me to think that perhaps I was remembering a scene from an actual movie. I cannot begin to express how real this all felt. I’m not sure it was past life related, but I suppose it could be a possibility. It was strange b/c this was only the second ‘vision’ I had ever had. It just blindsided me. It just popped into my head out of nowhere, about one minute after turning out the light to go to bed.
UPDATE:
My mother just told me something interesting. When I was a toddler, she says I went beyond disliking baths. It was as if baths were sheer torture and I was deathly afraid of them. She said that out of all the babies she's ever raised or babysat, never had she encountered screams like that. It got to the point where she finally just gave me sponge baths on the bed. Lol!
So now I'm thinking maybe that's Titanic related? (Or just any sunken ship really. I only say Titanic b/c of the coincidence mentioned earlier, about the date). I don't really have a fear of water these days though.
Genealogy
Below is an excerpt from my mother's genealogy files. My mother told me about this. Maybe there is a connection here b/w my ancestors and these dreams of mine? I'm the first to admit though that this is grasping at straws. I had to include it here though b/c it was fun to read:
The plantation was in Monroe County, Mississippi. The third county down from the Tennessee line. The Tombiggbee River ran through their plantation. He said he and his two younger brothers and some of the little slave boys used to slip off and go fishing down to the river on Sunday afternoons. One time they caught a lot of fish, took them to the house and all of them got hard spankings for fishing on Sunday and he said they ate the fish. He never thought that was right.
His daddy made all the German boys (Note: 'German' was my grandmother's family's last name) help the slaves with the work; around the house, at the barn and in the fields.
The Plantation House was a big two-story white house with big rooms and a winding stairway. The parlor was huge. They used to give weekend dances. People would gather Friday P.M. and stay until Sunday morning. The children had to stay upstairs while the dances were going on and they would peep down through the banisters and watch the people dance. One night one of the girls lost her bustle while dancing. Said it rolled all across the floor. He always laughed when he told that. He was a good storyteller. They only had sixteen grown slaves and some children. He didn't have an overseer over his slaves. They went and came as they wanted to - to the fields....
Their slave cook was named Sally. Some slaves followed along behind the wagons and came all the way to Texas with them.
The kitchen was built far away from the main plantation house. Across one side of the kitchen was a nursery for the slave babies. Granddaddy and his two younger brothers had to take care of them.
The description of the house and all the parties my great-great-great grandfather always held match a few of my dreams. Also, in that one dream I was no longer rich and was orphaned with strangers; although nice strangers. I didn't feel like I fit in with them. Could this have been after the civil war? My ancestors did go from being high society to destitute after the war.
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