Any dream interpreters here?

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

Here´s my story. About 5 years ago I had a dream about my aunt (who is very sweet by the way) that she was in a back yard and grabbing kittens by thier back legs and pounding them against rocks until they died. It was a terrible dream and I told her about it and she laughed and laughed. I asked her then, do you have a secret or a dark side. She just laughed louder.

In August of this year, this Aunt of mine was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery, chemo, etc but she passed away 4 days ago. I´m devastated.

Tonight, her husband was going through her stuff and found out that she was diagnosed with cancer in 1998 and told no one - not even him. She was told she had cancer and did NOTHING and told none of us. I guess that is what they call denial. In August I guess she accepted it and told us and started chemo.

Now this beloved aunt of mine wouldn´t even kill a spider - she would catch it and let it outside so for me to dream she was smacking kittens on rocks was really out of the realm of reality. Do you think the dream was trying to tell me she was keeping a secret or do I just have sick dreams?

I would love to hear from some of you that KNOW about dream interpretations.

ps I posted this at another forum so if you read both, this is not a fake post, I am seriously devestated here

[NVMojo]

1. I am sorry for your loss ...the dream connection thing is weird but

plausible, IMHO.

[sjess]

2. "cats symbolize independence and power...

... they are symbols of the feminine, prosperity, sexuality and power" - the Dream Encyclopedia

Your aunt knew she was getting weaker and losing these aspects of her physcial self and maybe you had the premonition that she was allowing this to happen by not telling anyone and not getting help.

Also, Hendrika Vande Kemp delineates the following types of dreams (regarding death): telepathic: in which the dying person appears in the dreams of friends or relatives; Premonitory: in which the dying person appears in the dream with those who are already dead to announce his or her impending death.

I'm starting to sound dark, I'm sorry...

Did you have any kittens that died when you were young... any other people in the dream?

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure your aunt knew what she was doing...

Peace

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

4. Sj, at the time of my dream i was neck deep into a cat rescue organization

it was all consuming. I was rescuing a dozen a week at least. Your post floors me. You think she knew she was being consumed? I was thinking she was in total denial. I will never ever know the truth now. Thank you so much for your response.

[sjess]

9. I'm sorry my outlook was so negative...

I guess I was thinking if she didn't tell anyone she had a good reason not to. Maybe she knew she was going to a place that needed her to share her wisdom from the lessons she learned while she was here. You know, I believe she is always here with you and your family. You are souls connected by undying ties.

Whenever I look up at the shining stars one word pops into my mind.

Ancestors...

Life is but a mystery, eh?

I send my good thoughts your way.

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

11. Thank you ... it mean a lot

[jayctravis]

13. Very possible your brain picked up on her brain's vibe.

And that was your subconscious reaction to the news. Since your conscious brain wasn't involved in the exchange, it interpreted some really confusing imagery.

[newyawker99]

14. Hi sjess!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Psephos]

3. Rest your heart

It seems likely the kittens your aunt was smashing were symbols of the cancer cells. Under her nonplussed exterior, she had been engaged in a serious struggle, and subconsciously, you picked up on that. Why kittens? Because cancer is a fight of the body against itself, and your aunt was a lovely person. Kittens were your way of noting the paradox of that self-division.

The raw materials of dreams are experiences, memories, and perceptions, all jumbled up like a big kitchen drawer full of odds and ends. These are collected each day deep in the emotional center of the mind, in a part called the hypothalamus. In dream sleep, the mind sorts through this drawer, deciding what to discard, what to analyze further, and what to move over to long-term memory storage. Dreams are literally how we make sense of the chaos of living, and sort out what's important from what can be erased.

Dreams aren't supposed to make literal sense - think of them more as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that the mind is moving around, looking for a fit. When you picked up emotional clues that your aunt was struggling with something, that became one of the jigsaw puzzle pieces your dreaming mind tried to fit into a larger picture. Remember, the conscious part of your mind would not even be aware of this.

In short, I think you saw right through your aunt's secret. It's a sign that you were very close, and in harmony. That kind of harmony persists even after death. Carry an awareness of that harmony forward in your own heart, and let it light your way. You will feel your aunt as a continuing, immortal force in your life.

Remember, just because someone is a gentle person does not mean they don't harbor secrets. Everyone harbors secrets. It's part of what makes us human. I'll bet the main reason your aunt kept the cancer a secret was because in her view, she would feel like she was unloading her burden on the people she loved. She wished to spare others.

Peace to you.

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

6. Your post has me in tears. peace right back to you my friend.

I am going to tell my family what you said. We are all so confused.. This will help. Thank you

[bananas]

5. Maybe the kittens represented the cancer cells

and the way she was catching them and killing them might represent how she was fighting them. What kind of cancer was it?
Sorry for you loss.

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

8. Well banana's that a good question and now I just feel so lied to I don't

even know if what I was told is true

She had bladder cancer. They removed her bladder in September. Then they said her intestines were full of cancer. They took the lab results to the Navy lab. They said this was an unrecognizable type of cancer. It was like when you are exposed to asbestos you get those roots that infaltrate evertything. Her intestines showed roots upon roots of cancer, I don't know if I even beleive any of it anymore. I'm in a weird state right now. up is down, you know?

[WiseButAngrySara]

12. If she had bladder cancer that infiltrated into her intestines, and looked

like a mesothelioma (the type of cancer you get from asbestos exposure) the type of bladder cancer might have been a sarcoma, which is rare, but fits what you have described more than the usual type of bladder cancer. The sarcoma arises from the bladder muscle cells, and the usual transitional cell carcinoma arises from the bladder lining. When cancers metastasize or infiltrate, they can become undifferentiated, and unrecognizable.

I am so very sorry for your loss. I do believe that you somehow sensed her fear and that explains your dream. You did everything you possibly could have done by telling her about your dream. I agree with the above posters who said that your aunt probably kept her diagnosis a secret so as not to alarm her loved ones, and I'm sure there was an element of denial as well.

I hope this wasn't too technical. I hope your suffering is brief, because hers is now ended, and she didn't want you to be in pain in the first place. Losing loved ones is one of the most awful aspects of being alive!

[lovuian]

7. this is your dream what does a cat symbolize to you???

Sometimes a cat can symbolizing something trying to hurt hour aunt and she trying to fight her cancer... people killed litters to be kind so they wouldn't starve ... it wasn't pretty but oldfashion and pratical... She was pratical she fought it the oldfashion way...

just thought I give it a try!!!

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

10. They were kittens not cats. They symbolize innocence to me I guess