My previous article regarding dreams and how they’ve influenced my life started the same way I’d like to start this one: It has been an age-old debate as to what exactly dreams are.
Many questions have arisen on the topic, and dreams are filled with so much speculative history that it has become a concept of wondrous intrigue. Throughout documented time, dreams have been revered, feared, judged, and interpreted.
Entire careers have been created for the purpose of understanding dreams, and entire lives have been spent driven toward answering the question: what are dreams and how can they help us?
I’ve spoken to a lot of people about their dreams from an analytical perspective. Every single person I’ve talked to rarely experiences recurring settings in dreams, but there’s always one dream, and it’s always one aspect of each person’s dream which is consistent: the feeling masked behind the setting.
Sure, the specific setting may change in each recurrence of the dream, but the person dreaming always knows it’s the same place.
Each time she dreams of this place there is something highly relevant to a stressful part of her life, something which she needs to think through that ultimately helps her through whatever hardship she is facing.
My sanctuary is a palace with hundreds of rooms and off chutes – skyways to separate buildings, and a racetrack for a driveway.
After a lot of thought and research into this topic, I’ve come to the conclusion that dream sanctuary is a representation of our subconscious mind. The best example I have out of all of the sanctuaries I’ve discovered is my own, the palace.
Within this palace, there are many locked doors, many things which my subconscious knows my waking mind is not prepared to accept or face.
Also, there are many levels, many buildings, and the external influences which can alter the layout of this palace. It is so vast that I could never imagine exploring all of it, even if I was dreaming all of every day, but every room and hallway seems to hold significance.
I’m 26 years old and have only dreamed with myself in this setting on 4 occasions, but each time was a significant part in my life, and each time, reflecting upon the dream helped me to get through a particularly hard time.
Aside from the feeling of familiarity and significance, these dreams can be recognized by how vivid they are, and how well we remember them the next day.
That is because our subconscious construct represented in a dream state is just that, a viewport into our own minds, and at a time that our minds “want” our conscious selves to remember.
I do believe that about 80% of our dreams are significant and that dreams are entirely based in the subconscious realm, sometimes even to the extent of bringing the astral realm into our perspective.
Our logical minds have a tendency of seeing what we think we want to see and creating justifications to believe what we think we want to believe – as such, our own analysis of our dreams may very well be completely wrong and should not be acted on, only speculated about.
I have warned many people of the issues which acting on personal analysis could create, and absolutely do NOT want any of my readers thinking they’re qualified to act on what they interpret their dreams to mean.
Only use them and what they show you for speculative figuring and leave any conclusions you reach as a part of your overall view on reality, but not a driving factor.
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I don’t have any sanctuaries (almost everywhere is stressful), but I’m wondering if other people go to the same imaginary places over and over again in dreams? For example, there’s a certain section of my “city” that has restaurants. Whenever I end up there, I’m like “yeah, this place has good burgers and if we go over there, they have a certain kind of food, etc.”. I know the biking and hiking trails (even though they’re not real). I know where the waterfalls are. But it’s always different events, although I remember events in those places from previous dreams. I haven’t met anyone else who dreams like this, so I’m wondering if there is anyone out there that does!
I don't know if this is what you mean but I have dreams where the events are very different but it's the same location - my primary school. I wouldn't describe it as a sanctuary though, and I'm not exploring the place as others are describing, it's more just the backdrop of my dream, but it's a pretty accurate representation of what school actually looks like.
I have had dreams where I have fled from huge monsters chasing me all over the school area and just last night I had a dream where I was attending a magicians show, which warped into a sort of conference for magicians where I myself knew some magic tricks - as we walked out of the conference I realized it had taken place in a classroom in my old school.
I have probably had 5-6 very different dreams that turned out to take place there, all very vivid and detailed and easily remembered when I wake up.
This sounds so similar to my reoccurring dreams. I go to the same "city" almost every night. I mostly visit what i can the hospital or the hotel.. however, i know this city is by the ocean, since i have seen hundreds of different events happen here, I've had trips with my family here. Last night, i even had dinner with my grandparents in the hotel and it was far to vivid, i was even reading the menu. It feels so real.
Hey, I really find this interesting.
I am finding that I have a city that I keep visiting in dreams, and every single time it is unsettling. Its a mostly dark city, and it never feels healing,. More of a dream hell, rather than sanctuary. Im really stumped on this myself, and would honestly love to never have a dream about that area again.
I have two sanctuaries. One is around a junction that five roads meet. It’ feels like a junction I got lost on my bike as a child (around 9) but it’s not. I fly in this dream but I need to get home. I feel like I can fly big distances with confidence but as soon as a need to go the short distance home I can’t get off the ground. I’m from England but I remember flying over Brazil and other countries, over long distances over seas but I’m always attached to the junctions. Sometimes I feel like I was concious that I was flying when I was dreaming. I always feel like I’m going to get in trouble at the junctions. Get beaten up by a gang who are looking for me. I run around the streets to avoid them. I’ve had this dream over a dozen times.
The other space is a corner of a playing field on my old school. It’s dawn or dusk. I’m grounded there. Stuck almost. No need to go anywhere else. I remember picking magic mushrooms there when I was around 14 and taking them in school with a friend. I’ve had this about 4 times.
I think both places feel like I had life changing experiences at the time of being a child and they seem to call me back in my dreams.
I have had numerous dreams that occur at one of my favorite places as a child: my grandparents old home. They had it built on a piece of land they purchased around when they married. It had a lot of property that my sister & I would go exploring for hours each day. My grandparents divorced when I was around maybe 10, and they moved out of that home. But just like you mentioned, my dreams are altered in the context of what’s happening but I always know that the setting is at this home. It’s a bittersweet feeling each time I wake up. I love the memories from this place, but I miss it deeply.
I was so very interested when i saw this article! I have always been a vivid dreamer, since I can remember. For years, when I dream I go to the same place. It is a composite of actual places from my waking life. Some of the people are from my real life, others are just familiar to me in my dream life, some are composits of people I know or knew in my real life. It is like living 2 separate lives- one when I am awake, one while asleep. The dreams are (or seem) very long. I sleep a great deal when I am able to sleep. I don't know anybody else that has this wonderful sleep life- most people I talk to don't remember their dreams. Mine are so detailed- sometimes break my heart- but I would be devastated if the dreams ever stopped. Please help me- do you know of anybody else this happens to?
I suppose I have two, one typically nightmare based and one, I guess, for a 'normal' dream. The nightmare one is similar to yours, many layers but more of a house. Attic, basement, a few floors. But more stairs, just these tiny little hallways with stairs connecting every room, stairs going up and down and sometimes just no where. I always end up in the basement, hiding behind like a boiler in this tiny room. I can never remember what it is that I'm hiding from.
The regular one is a grocery store, one I don't remember ever going to. Most of it is like any other store, food isles the frozen section. But the middle two isles are seemingly miles long covered in books and clothes, blankets and purses all on sale. And that's where I always find myself. Near the front where these really old looking registers are, mostly wood, but still having the computers, no plug ins. I'm always trying to get out but something or someone that I'm attached to is always there and I can never bring myself to leave. Typing that out really helped me start to figure that out. Maybe I just feel trapped