I dreamed of a moose with an antler missing?

[IveBeenThinking]

Let me first say I've been a dreamer my while life. Crazy, weird, and usually frightening dreams. In the last year or so, the dreams have been much more intense, and there are a few I know God was trying to communicate something to me. Those I'll post at another date.

The last 2 nights I've had these dreams, which are very vivid and not like most dreams I have. Usually if I am dreaming and wake up, a new one starts when I go back to sleep, but with these last 2, when I go back to sleep they continue on and on.

The one last night was peculiar to say the least, and felt like God may be trying to show me something. It was cold and snowy, and my grandmother was in it looking like she was losing her mind from old age. Crying and talking like we wanted to put her in a home, and how she was upset, etc.

After my mother and I calmed her down and reassured her, I went home and checked my mail. I was out at my mailbox and looked up and saw a large moose staring at me. It was as big as any moose you might see, and it looked right in my eyes. It only had 1 antler though. It was very obvious this antler wasn't there. I immediately jumped back in my car, got into the garage, and into the house. As I did, relatives just came over and I was talking to them through the window in the kitchen as they got out of the car and started coming into the house. Every time I tried to bring up that the moose was outside and to be careful, I was interrupted and never got a word out about it.


I'm really glad I found this site, to be honest. I've been such a dreamer my whole life, even to the point where I had nightmares as a kid that almost came to a tipping point with my family because I would wake up screaming every-night, that it will be nice to come here and expel what they were and hopefully get some feedback.

Any advice anyone can give me I would love.

I usually dream that i'm running out of oxygen, or flying and then falling, or trying to get away from someone but have no energy, and my legs feel like im moving in slow motion.

I also have had dreams about war more-so the last few years. On a few occasions.

I don't want to delve too much into the dream-book/dream-meaning secular world because 1.) They rarely say anything bad in their dream interpretations, which tell me they just want to make money by telling everyone good stuff. 2.) I wouldn't believe most people because what do they know? I want to trust the Lord, and even if they were somehow enlightened on the dream world, it wouldn't be from a good place.

CF, please, please, please help a brother out.


I pray this can be therapeutic for me.

Blessings in advance.

 

[singpeace]

I'vebeenthinking,

I tend to refrain from posting about dreams. Why I am doing this now, I'm sure I don't know. All I can give is my honest opinion, okay?

BTW, welcome to CF.

I believe certain kinds of dreams - the kind like yours which repeat themselves for years - are not spiritual but physical manifestations of anxiety.

The only dreams we should look to for any kind of message or revelation are those undoubtedly sent from God by his Holy Spirit. Since God is not the author of confusion, his dream would not confuse the dreamer. Since He has not given us a spirit of fear - (fear is a spirit) - but love, power, and a sound mind; any dream which leaves us edgy, concerned, anxious, or fearful are never sent by God.

Sometimes we are tempted to look into ordinary dreams anyway and search for hidden meanings or messages. God warns us against this as it leads to something which resembles a form of paganism and can potentially open the door for the enemy to move in and deceive us. Once that happens, dreams take on a whole new life, and we can get sucked into the fascination of a lie.

I have read so many goofy dreams here and it pains me to see people playing with fire. I have dreamed all my life that I have to save people from a flood or tornado, or that I am on a Nazi-style train as a prisoner. God didn't give me these dreams; they are part of our rough road through this life.

That is my honest and humble opinion. Let me say again, look ONLY to things which are good and spiritual and Godly for enlightenment.

 

[bill162]

First I would like to say that if you are dreaming you are running out of oxygen you might have something like sleep apnea which is a sleep disorder. It is easily treated by wearing a special oxygen mask at night or specialized mouthpiece. It is when a persons tongue goes too far back into the back of the mouth at night and blocks the airway. People with Apnea usually snore loudly and then stop for several seconds because they aren't breathing and then go back to snoring and aren't even aware of it. They also dream about having a lack of oxygen. But please keep in mind I don't hand out diagnosis only ideas and suggestions.

As far as your nightmares are concerned, because you have so many of them I am wondering if you don't have some kind of sleep disorder. Perhaps ask your family physician what he thinks.

Some of the things I have learned over the many years and many Christian and non Christian books I have read about the topic is that the nonchristians will say dreams are purely biological and point to how the brain and its chemistry processes them and can even monitor a person at night when dreaming by placing special eletrodes on the sleepers head. When the chart on their monitor goes a certain way they know the person is dreaming and in what point of the 90 minute sleep cycle they are in etc.

From Christian point of view I measure the importance of the dream by a number of things: #1. How strong were your feelings during the dream and what kinds of feelings were they? #2. The clearer and more vivid the dream is the more important it is. #3. How bright the colors there are increases the value of the dream even more. If the colors are red, orange, green, yellow i.e. like the colors in Noahs rainbow those are the most important colors. #4 The length of the dream is important. The longer the dream is the more important it is. #5. Who or what is in the dream and how significant is that person or object or animal to you. Such as I had a dream of Jesus Himself speaking to me once and that means that it is a very very important dream! #6 If the dream is well lit and I could see what was going on because there was enouph light tells me that the light of God is illuminating the things I see in the dream. The more light = more important the dream. #7. If the dream is a recurring dream, the more it occurs the more important it is. Along with this goes over what length of time has it been recurring. If it is many years it means you haven't really figured out what the dream means yet. Once you solve the riddle of the dream or its problem in waking life it will not recur. The dream can be considered recurring even if it is similar to the other prior dreams and not the exact same dream. Note what the recurring theme(s) are within your dreams. #8 Dream visions usually have many levels or layers of meaning and you must go through them layer by layer like pealing an onion. The deepest layer is the most important. #9 What sticks out the most in the dream? That is the most important part of the dream. #10 There is a tendancy for dream visions to be prophetic but you may not understand what it means for years. #11 The more combinations of the above principles that are in your dream vision increases the importance of the dream to another level yet. Finally the most important part is to pray about the dream daily asking the Lord for all the levels of meaning in it especialy the deepest levels Only 5% of the dreams we have are as vivid and in color as yours. They are the important ones. In the other 95% of the dreams everything in the dream is a part of some aspect within you. In the dream visions or some people call them open visions that are very colorful and vivid - these do not have to be something within in. They can be totally outside of your life or part of it or both. Dream visions are rare. I get about two a year and it is usually a sign from the Lord that something bad is going to happen but that the dream vision is indicative of the type of blessing the Lord will give me when the trial is over. However some dream vision blessings have gone unfullfilled for many years. the longer you have to wait for the fullfillment the better the blessing.

I have a number system for my own dreams for each of the above. One is the lowest and the least important and 10 is the highest in importance for whatever .

If you are in a very emotionally wrought time period in your life you may not be able to interpret the dream or dream vision properly because of your hard life circumstances wait a while and then reexamine it.

When done with an evaluation at the above levels I go to my Bible Study program and look up things like I saw in the dream. In your dream vision you saw an old lady crying. Find any examples of old ladies crying in the bible. You won't find any moose in the Bible but they are similar to deer so use your concordance to look up the next closest thing to a moose which is a deer. Not everything will fit the situation. Look for the Bible verses that fit the situation and feel right.

Be carefull who you tell your dreams to as some people will mock you just for thinking they are from God. Find someone who is knowledgeable about them and confide in that person. Remember that dream interpretation is an art not a science and that the best person to interpret the dream for you is the Lord. Keep praying about it and searching the scriptures for the symbols and it will be revealed to you. There are a number of good Christian books available. Check out James Ryle. He has a great book on dream interpretation.

These above rules are what I go by.

Since you have had problems with nightmares since you were a kid I suspect something traumatized you and the pain of that trauma is signaling you via the nightmare that it wants to come out. People like myself with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an example. Since I was badly traumatized as a child I have had abstract nightmares about the event for a lifetime. People with ptsd usually have alot of trouble with nightmares but I am not saying you have ptsd. It may be that you are eating something you are allergic to that is causing these nightmares or just exacerbating their intensity.

For most dreams I keep in mind what has been happening lately and about to happen in my waking life and this would apply to the 95% of common dreams but this rule does not neccessarily apply to dream visions

One last thing. Your dream vision does not have to neccesarily make sense right away. In the James Ryle book about dreams He had a dream vision of a hipopatamus in his back yard and it took some time for him to understand what that meant.

 

[Firewater]

The Lord can use dreams to speak from a several different perspectives. As with any kind of input we allow into our life, we just need to check any messages are consistent with His word & character.

There are a few things in the dream that suggest one perspective that the dream is nudging you in the direction of being more assertive.

my grandmother was in it looking like she was losing her mind from old age. Crying and talking like we wanted to put her in a home, and how she was upset, etc

This could be seen as a feminine side to who you are that does not want to be "put away". A natural response to this situation is to show compassion & try to keep aging family members out of institutions. There are times tho when this is the best course of action, for example when the aging family members have dementia & wander on streets. Widsom & responsibilty need to overrule compassion.

I went home and checked my mail. I was out at my mailbox
A mailbox is a place where you receive messages. What is the mesage?

looked up and saw a large moose staring at me. It was as big as any moose you might see, and it looked right in my eyes. It only had 1 antler though. It was very obvious this antler wasn't there.
Antlers or horns speak of strength, power & leadership (See Deuteronomy 33:17 2 Samuel 22:3 Daniel 8:20). Hopefully without sounding too sexist, these are maleness attributes. This moose had an antler missing. A symbol of its strength that was not there.

it looked right in my eyes
Jesus referrred to the eye as the lamp of the body. We perceive things with our eyes. One perspective I see here is that you are looking into an area where you can grow, or how you are responding to some situation you are involved in.

I immediately jumped back in my car, got into the garage, and into the house
You would have been safe in your car, in fact your car is a lot more powerful than a moose. Was there a need to retreat further into your garage, where you park a car rather than driving it?

As I did, relatives just came over and I was talking to them through the window in the kitchen
I do most of the cooking in our house so I can say this without sounding sexist, I hope. A kitchen involves preparing food that has already been gathered. Traditionally this is more of a femine role. You are relating to people in the dream via this 'window'

as they got out of the car and started coming into the house. Every time I tried to bring up that the moose was outside and to be careful, I was interrupted and never got a word out about it.
A normal thing to do when being repeated interrupted is to say something like "Excuse me, will you pls wait for me to finish what I am saying." Instead you let them continue doing this.

If you were to look at any significant situations you were involved in around the time you had the dream, could there be some circumstance where you could be more assertive next time you are in a similar situation?

 

[heron]

Start with the unusual part of the dream. You probably don't dream about moose often, and might not even think about them during the day.

What does your brain associate with moose?

I think of a very large, almost uncontested thing appearing out of the blue. Their appearance makes everyone take note, even if they are not afraid. We can't overpower a moose, but it might not attack if we leave it alone. We know it existed nearby, and might have more long-term right to our territory than we had. We know it will probably leave after a short event.

The antler of a moose shows prowess, because it is used in conflict. Whether angry fighting or just territorial, the moose braces antler against antler to keep its own flesh from being used in the fight. The antler is not a vulnerable area of its body. He/it was able to lose it and still go on. But the loss also weakened his ability to fight the next opponent.

Now look at some of the themes across the whole dream.

circumstance where you could be more assertive next time you are in a similar situation?

That's one. You felt helpless in front of the moose, and helpless with the relatives. Maybe even helpless with the snow/grandmother scene.

Your action of hopping into the car was an effort toward getting things back in your control. (Even a little comical, driving back up the driveway.)

 

[gracechick]

Are you from the US? If you want you can pm as yes I have a reason for the question

 

[IveBeenThinking]

I'vebeenthinking,

I tend to refrain from posting about dreams. Why I am doing this now, I'm sure I don't know. All I can give is my honest opinion, okay?

BTW, welcome to CF.

I believe certain kinds of dreams - the kind like yours which repeat themselves for years - are not spiritual but physical manifestations of anxiety.

The only dreams we should look to for any kind of message or revelation are those undoubtedly sent from God by his Holy Spirit. Since God is not the author of confusion, his dream would not confuse the dreamer. Since He has not given us a spirit of fear - (fear is a spirit) - but love, power, and a sound mind; any dream which leaves us edgy, concerned, anxious, or fearful are never sent by God.

Sometimes we are tempted to look into ordinary dreams anyway and search for hidden meanings or messages. God warns us against this as it leads to something which resembles a form of paganism and can potentially open the door for the enemy to move in and deceive us. Once that happens, dreams take on a whole new life, and we can get sucked into the fascination of a lie.

I have read so many goofy dreams here and it pains me to see people playing with fire. I have dreamed all my life that I have to save people from a flood or tornado, or that I am on a Nazi-style train as a prisoner. God didn't give me these dreams; they are part of our rough road through this life.

That is my honest and humble opinion. Let me say again, look ONLY to things which are good and spiritual and Godly for enlightenment.

Thank you for your honest opinion, I do really appreciate it!

Maybe it was just a vivid dream, but I've been such a dreamer my whole life that I know this one was different. Maybe just different because I'm changing as a person, or maybe different because God wants to show me something.

I don't know?

 

[IveBeenThinking]

First I would like to say that if you are dreaming you are running out of oxygen you might have something like sleep apnea which is a sleep disorder. It is easily treated by wearing a special oxygen mask at night or specialized mouthpiece. It is when a persons tongue goes too far back into the back of the mouth at night and blocks the airway. People with Apnea usually snore loudly and then stop for several seconds because they aren't breathing and then go back to snoring and aren't even aware of it. They also dream about having a lack of oxygen. But please keep in mind I don't hand out diagnosis only ideas and suggestions.

As far as your nightmares are concerned, because you have so many of them I am wondering if you don't have some kind of sleep disorder. Perhaps ask your family physician what he thinks.

Some of the things I have learned over the many years and many Christian and non Christian books I have read about the topic is that the nonchristians will say dreams are purely biological and point to how the brain and its chemistry processes them and can even monitor a person at night when dreaming by placing special eletrodes on the sleepers head. When the chart on their monitor goes a certain way they know the person is dreaming and in what point of the 90 minute sleep cycle they are in etc.

From Christian point of view I measure the importance of the dream by a number of things: #1. How strong were your feelings during the dream and what kinds of feelings were they? #2. The clearer and more vivid the dream is the more important it is. #3. How bright the colors there are increases the value of the dream even more. If the colors are red, orange, green, yellow i.e. like the colors in Noahs rainbow those are the most important colors. #4 The length of the dream is important. The longer the dream is the more important it is. #5. Who or what is in the dream and how significant is that person or object or animal to you. Such as I had a dream of Jesus Himself speaking to me once and that means that it is a very very important dream! #6 If the dream is well lit and I could see what was going on because there was enouph light tells me that the light of God is illuminating the things I see in the dream. The more light = more important the dream. #7. If the dream is a recurring dream, the more it occurs the more important it is. Along with this goes over what length of time has it been recurring. If it is many years it means you haven't really figured out what the dream means yet. Once you solve the riddle of the dream or its problem in waking life it will not recur. The dream can be considered recurring even if it is similar to the other prior dreams and not the exact same dream. Note what the recurring theme(s) are within your dreams. #8 Dream visions usually have many levels or layers of meaning and you must go through them layer by layer like pealing an onion. The deepest layer is the most important. #9 What sticks out the most in the dream? That is the most important part of the dream. #10 There is a tendancy for dream visions to be prophetic but you may not understand what it means for years. #11 The more combinations of the above principles that are in your dream vision increases the importance of the dream to another level yet. Finally the most important part is to pray about the dream daily asking the Lord for all the levels of meaning in it especialy the deepest levels Only 5% of the dreams we have are as vivid and in color as yours. They are the important ones. In the other 95% of the dreams everything in the dream is a part of some aspect within you. In the dream visions or some people call them open visions that are very colorful and vivid - these do not have to be something within in. They can be totally outside of your life or part of it or both. Dream visions are rare. I get about two a year and it is usually a sign from the Lord that something bad is going to happen but that the dream vision is indicative of the type of blessing the Lord will give me when the trial is over. However some dream vision blessings have gone unfullfilled for many years. the longer you have to wait for the fullfillment the better the blessing.

I have a number system for my own dreams for each of the above. One is the lowest and the least important and 10 is the highest in importance for whatever .

If you are in a very emotionally wrought time period in your life you may not be able to interpret the dream or dream vision properly because of your hard life circumstances wait a while and then reexamine it.

When done with an evaluation at the above levels I go to my Bible Study program and look up things like I saw in the dream. In your dream vision you saw an old lady crying. Find any examples of old ladies crying in the bible. You won't find any moose in the Bible but they are similar to deer so use your concordance to look up the next closest thing to a moose which is a deer. Not everything will fit the situation. Look for the Bible verses that fit the situation and feel right.

Be carefull who you tell your dreams to as some people will mock you just for thinking they are from God. Find someone who is knowledgeable about them and confide in that person. Remember that dream interpretation is an art not a science and that the best person to interpret the dream for you is the Lord. Keep praying about it and searching the scriptures for the symbols and it will be revealed to you. There are a number of good Christian books available. Check out James Ryle. He has a great book on dream interpretation.

These above rules are what I go by.

Since you have had problems with nightmares since you were a kid I suspect something traumatized you and the pain of that trauma is signaling you via the nightmare that it wants to come out. People like myself with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an example. Since I was badly traumatized as a child I have had abstract nightmares about the event for a lifetime. People with ptsd usually have alot of trouble with nightmares but I am not saying you have ptsd. It may be that you are eating something you are allergic to that is causing these nightmares or just exacerbating their intensity.

For most dreams I keep in mind what has been happening lately and about to happen in my waking life and this would apply to the 95% of common dreams but this rule does not neccessarily apply to dream visions

One last thing. Your dream vision does not have to neccesarily make sense right away. In the James Ryle book about dreams He had a dream vision of a hipopatamus in his back yard and it took some time for him to understand what that meant.

Thanks so much for the long response!!!

-- I never thought about the sleep apnea. That does make a lot of sense, and the fact that I rarely sleep well. I will have to try a mouthpiece for sure!


-- Not sure about a sleep disorder. I really don't know. I always thought I just have a very active mind and I am an emotional person, so this was/is a natural affect of that.


-- Like I said before, I've never even told anyone about my dreams. In fact, when I was a kid the nightmares scared me so much that I worried about going to sleep at times, but made a conscience decision as an adult I wouldn't worry about the dreams anymore. Whenever I had a bad dream, or one that scared me or embarrassed me, I would wake up and tell myself it's just a dream, it means nothing. But as of late, I've been having much, much different dreams. Dreams never like I've had before. There has to be some correlation or explanation for the reason they changed the way they did. I know a dream that is just a byproduct of my life and environment, and one much different like the moose dream.



-- As far as what am I feeling in my dreams? I rarely, rarely, rarely, like less than 1% of the time, feel good in my dreams. I always feel scared, embarrassed, fearful, or ashamed.


-- What stood out to me was the moose. Why in the world would I dream of a moose? I never think of moose? In fact, i cant think of too many things I've thought of less than a moose!


Thanks again -- I hope I can make sense of this.

 

[IveBeenThinking]

The Lord can use dreams to speak from a several different perspectives. As with any kind of input we allow into our life, we just need to check any messages are consistent with His word & character.

There are a few things in the dream that suggest one perspective that the dream is nudging you in the direction of being more assertive.

my grandmother was in it looking like she was losing her mind from old age. Crying and talking like we wanted to put her in a home, and how she was upset, etc

This could be seen as a feminine side to who you are that does not want to be "put away". A natural response to this situation is to show compassion & try to keep aging family members out of institutions. There are times tho when this is the best course of action, for example when the aging family members have dementia & wander on streets. Widsom & responsibilty need to overrule compassion.

I never thought of it relating to myself, in fact whenever I dream of othe people, i never think it could represent me. That's a very, very interesting point about the feminine side of me. I can tell you one thing, I am an emotional guy, but I hold it in for the most part. And I do have a big heart, but I don't show it that much because I just get walked on when I do.

I will say this: I am very, very close with my grandmother and I am not surprised at all that she was in my dream. She is much more than a grandmother to me, she was/is my grandmother, mom, dad, and friend. I just figured because I spend so much time with her that it was natural to have her in the dream??

I went home and checked my mail. I was out at my mailbox

A mailbox is a place where you receive messages. What is the mesage?

Good point. I don't really know? I really don't?

looked up and saw a large moose staring at me. It was as big as any moose you might see, and it looked right in my eyes. It only had 1 antler though. It was very obvious this antler wasn't there.

Antlers or horns speak of strength, power & leadership . Hopefully without sounding too sexist, these are maleness attributes. This moose had an antler missing. A symbol of its strength that was not there.

Maybe a lack of self confidence? Maybe the presence of self-doubt that has been with me my whole life? Maybe the fact that I wish I were more confident in my abilities, but yet still feel like it's missing??

it looked right in my eyes

Jesus referrred to the eye as the lamp of the body. We perceive things with our eyes. One perspective I see here is that you are looking into an area where you can grow, or how you are responding to some situation you are involved in.

I dunno -- the more I think about it, maybe it has something to do with me wanting and desiring to be married? Maybe the antler represents the piece that is missing from my life? I always think about who I might be married to, why it hasn't happened yet, why every relationship I get into crumbles? Maybe that Antler is the companionship I desire? Maybe my grandmother is the part of me that wants it and doesn't want me to go live alone? Maybe the family members coming over but not being able to talk is representative of me wanting to talk about it, but never really being able to because everyone else is worried too much about their own lives??

I immediately jumped back in my car, got into the garage, and into the house

You would have been safe in your car, in fact your car is a lot more powerful than a moose. Was there a need to retreat further into your garage, where you park a car rather than driving it?

I don't know? I was just thinking of how to get to a safe place, and there is always that feeling of someone chasing me in my dreams so I wanted to be in my car and house where I was completely safe.

As I did, relatives just came over and I was talking to them through the window in the kitchen

I do most of the cooking in our house so I can say this without sounding sexist, I hope. A kitchen involves preparing food that has already been gathered. Traditionally this is more of a femine role. You are relating to people in the dream via this 'window'

Again, I am an emotional guy who has a big heart? I really don't know.

as they got out of the car and started coming into the house. Every time I tried to bring up that the moose was outside and to be careful, I was interrupted and never got a word out about it.

A normal thing to do when being repeated interrupted is to say something like "Excuse me, will you pls wait for me to finish what I am saying." Instead you let them continue doing this.

If you were to look at any significant situations you were involved in around the time you had the dream, could there be some circumstance where you could be more assertive next time you are in a similar situation?

I'm lost here too. I am an assertive person, very much so. I really can't think of a time I haven't said something I wish'd I had?


Wow, thank you so much! I've never had anyone take the time to show me some possibilities, and I sure didn't think of it the way you have explained a few possibilities, but I will continue to ponder and pray about it.

 

[IveBeenThinking]

Start with the unusual part of the dream. You probably don't dream about moose often, and might not even think about them during the day.

What does your brain associate with moose?

I guess a strong, quiet, peaceful being.

The antler of a moose shows prowess, because it is used in conflict. Whether angry fighting or just territorial, the moose braces antler against antler to keep its own flesh from being used in the fight. The antler is not a vulnerable area of its body. He/it was able to lose it and still go on. But the loss also weakened his ability to fight the next opponent.

I don't know? Maybe the fear of me losing my grandmother? I have been worried about that a lot lately. She is very old, and the glue to our family. My whole world is going to change when she dies. My mom will be an absolute basket-case. I'm not exaggerating either, and I will feel like a part of me is dead. She has been such a blessing in my life, more than anything the Lord has given me. As I said earlier, she's been a grandmother, mother, and friend. I will be devastated more than I have ever been.

Now look at some of the themes across the whole dream.

That's one. You felt helpless in front of the moose, and helpless with the relatives. Maybe even helpless with the snow/grandmother scene.

Your action of hopping into the car was an effort toward getting things back in your control. (Even a little comical, driving back up the driveway.)

I dunno -- maybe this represents a situation with my grandmother?

I am at a loss, but I do thank you for your time and thoughts. They are much appreciated.

 

[Look Up]

I have few dreams, at least so far as I can remember in waking life. Of these, fewer still are vivid. But the few vivid ones I have had give me some sense of why you are seeking meaning in yours. Some psychological explanations given so far at least seem plausible, though I do not know how they can escape being also rather tentative. Spiritual meaning likewise may be plausible, but I for one am concerned about epistemological questions. How do we know what we know?

My approach (which is surely not unique) would be to start with what you know, or what I presume you know, about Jesus, the Bible, and the gospel.

If you believe Jesus was and is the long foretold Messiah and Son of God, you believe with Him in the the canon of the revelation of God, that is in what we call the Old Testament, and you also believe that Jesus appointed Apostles to bear witness to what they saw and heard of Jesus, Jesus being the apex of the revelation of God. I mean, you believe Jesus in effect commissioned the New Testament under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I do not mean to answer all questions about canon of the Old and New Testaments, but rather to paint a broad picture of what we have reason to believe. We know Jesus spoke only what His Father told Him to say. We know the Bible is God's Word. We know Jesus died and rose again. We know that because He died and rose, we die and will rise with Him and have power now not to sin even though we do sin.

And the canon of Scripture was given in order that the "man of God might be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (excusing if you would some "King James-ese" from my memory of 2 Tim 3:17).

It isn't then that what the Bible says of Jesus and the gospel and so on necessarily gives us the where-with-all to know the meaning of the moose's missing antler or why the volume of H2O increases when it freezes. It is just that Christians have a basis for knowing ethical right and wrong, the interaction between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, an explanation for evil, a hope for the future, and the core of what really matters: the true and living God.

And by this in turn I am not saying that blowing one's nose, repairing the car, dreaming, and all the rest of life is unimportant, but rather that the epistemological anchor of Jesus and the Bible still holds despite uncertainty and trials elsewhere, and that it is enough for us to cope and even do well in God's eyes. Therefore, beware of drifting by the waves of dreams--yes, or by the worries and pleasures of life, by the deceit of sin, by worldly argument, and so on--away from what we know that we know.

The above is not meant to suppress discussion or disparage experience. If I had similar dreams, I would very probably be seeking answers as you do. It is only meant as a caution and hopefully as an encouragement. Perhaps in particular, I for one think this topic provokes questions such as what the Bible says about the nature of God's causation in human history and regarding evil and good. If such a discussion is not likely to yield answers to the specifics of a particular contemporary dream, it can reveal certain boundaries and give grounds for wonder and waiting.

A God, for example, who lacks control of dreams or to any circumstance that may in some way trigger the dream, is subject to doubt among his followers. The circumstances surrounding dreams surely include (among other things) our sin and our being sinned against. Is God in control of sin ... more than in that he permits or allows it to occur? This is not to say that God sins or approves of sin, but it is to ask if he can be trusted and if we trust him, depending on the nature and actions of the trusted God.

The question I am proposing we ask is, "What does the Bible say?"

 

[ScottMShafer]

Animals in dreams often represent a kind of person. Moose can be very aggressive and strong though for the most part they appear docile. If it is missing an antler it would tell you something about it's condition. With one antler missing it is not nearly as strong to defend or at a disadvantage to fight. It is weakened by the missing antler. The dream may warn you of such a person and give you some insight into their condition. It sounds like you were frightened by it's presence and thought it represented some kind of danger for you or others. The fact that others would not listen to you as you tried to tell them about the moose may also give you some very helpful insight. In other words, for some reason if you try to tell others about this person and your concern about them others may not be ready or able to hear it.

I hope this helps some.

I liked your comments about some of the dream books written from various perspectives.

I have written a book on dreams from a Christ-centered perspective titled, 'What Every Dream Means'. Please check it out!

Scott M. Shafer
Author Of What Every Dream Means

 

[IveBeenThinking]

Animals in dreams often represent a kind of person. Moose can be very aggressive and strong though for the most part they appear docile. If it is missing an antler it would tell you something about it's condition. With one antler missing it is not nearly as strong to defend or at a disadvantage to fight. It is weakened by the missing antler. The dream may warn you of such a person and give you some insight into their condition. It sounds like you were frightened by it's presence and thought it represented some kind of danger for you or others. The fact that others would not listen to you as you tried to tell them about the moose may also give you some very helpful insight. In other words, for some reason if you try to tell others about this person and your concern about them others may not be ready or able to hear it.

I hope this helps some.

I liked your comments about some of the dream books written from various perspectives.

I have written a book on dreams from a Christ-centered perspective titled, 'What Every Dream Means'. Please check it out!

Scott M. Shafer
Author Of What Every Dream Means

Thanks so much! Those all make a whole lot of sense!

I will def check out your book. Do you have a link?

 

[ScottMShafer]

I don't think I can post a link specifically here but my book can be found on amazon, b&n, iBooks etc. Let me know if you have problem locating it. Best!

 

[heron]

Hi Scot, thank you for your thoughtful input. Did you know that it is against forum rules (most forums) to join it for the sake of promoting your own work? It uses resources of one site to leads people off to another site. I know that you need to market, and appreciate that this takes time and ingenuity.

Most members do not mind if you get to know people first, and then throw in an oh-by-the-way. But think about the ethics of what you are doing, stepping into an established realm with the savior approach.

You are correct, newcomers cannot post links -- for this very reason.

 

[heron]

The question I am proposing we ask is, "What does the Bible say?"

Hi Lookup,
It sounds like your well-written statement was crafted with the intent to influence all of the dream forum, rather than this one post. I wonder if you would want to start your own thread with this same post, rather than allow it to be buried in a discussion on moose.

Many of us on the forum have spent an extensive amount of time weighing the validity of dreams, prayerfully comparing with scriptures, watching information unfold, and seeing how dreams can influence our perceptions.

Some of our lives are immersed in reflecting on scriptures, and praying over our decisions. The dreams are only a small sector of our lives, and the forum is a designated safe spot to discuss these.

A forum brings together the voices and experiences of many diverse believers, bringing insights and information beyond each member's individual limits. In a forum we do not take one voice as the single source of knowledge, but we enjoy gaining bits of wisdom and insight from many counselors.

 

[heron]

Gosh, am I sounding irritable today?