Rattlesnake Dream

This is so weird and I just can't believe that it happened. Last night as I was sleeping I had a dream that I was walking down this trail and I slipped and fell down. As I was lying on my back and I started to get up and I saw two rattlesnakes at me feet ready to strike. I started to move my foot away but every time I moved my foot just a little the snakes became more irritated and threaten to strike. I couldn't move. It scared me so bad that I woke up in a sweat.

Today I took a friend of mine for a ride up Four Peaks which is a mountain east of Phoenix and I told him about this dream. We went across the mountain and decided to come back the way of the Apache Trail which is a very scenic gravel road that connects Roosevelt Lake to Phoenix. On the way back we took this side trail that leads to this very scenic overlook and we got out of the car. As we were walking around all of a sudden I heard this rattle sound, I looked down and there was a rattlesnake at my foot ready to strike. Needless to say it scared the hell out of me. I jump back just in time and the snake slowly moved off into the bush.

Now I don't believe in premonitions but if this happened to you wouldn't it make you wonder a little. What are the odds of dreaming about a rattlesnake the night before you almost get hit. This is so weird. Anyway, has anyone ever had a dream about something like this and the next day it almost comes true?

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Nope. That's scary man. Glad the snake wasn't like the ones in your dream. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Miracle on Probability Street - The Law of Large Numbers guarantees that one-in-a-million miracles happen 295 times a day in America

The Skeptic's View: Clairvoyance or Second Sight

Lebkuecher, man are you bringing back memories!! My in-laws live in Apache Jct. and I lived in Glendale for 6 years. Spent almost every weekend out at Apache & Roosevelt Lakes fishing, hiking, & camping.

Indeed prime rattlesnake, king snake, scorpion, tarantula, lizard, jack rabbit, coyote, kangaroo rat, mule deer, & javelina country! I'd be surprised if you didn't run across a snake out there!! Certainly been there and done that!! Beautiful desert out there in the Superstitions!

Don't know about the dreams though! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hmmm... Maybe I'll just ramble a little.

In attempting to connect the two, the real event and the dream, then we look for a cause and effect relationship. If there's a cause and effect relationship, then, since casual perception on the physical level indicates causality precedes the effect, the "logical" conclusion is that the real event was caused by the dream. So, was the snake there because you had a dream? I doubt it. Did you have the dream because you were going to encounter the snake? The time relationship between cause and effect stands in the way of that reasoning. Or does it?

There is a very possible cause and effect involved that does satisfy the time relationship. If the effect was having a heightened nervousness or reaction time, permitting an almost instantaneous ability to move out of striking range, then the cause would have been the dream. In that sense, your dream served a purpose for you. Generally though, purpose is a product of rational intent.

I could go on, but why put it all in one post. The odds are, I've said enough that more comments would be required later. And then, maybe not.

Empath,
What I am going to say is a compliment so please take it that way.
When I read some of your post I feel like Yosimite Sam. You remember when Sam and Bugs Bunny were playing cards and Sam says "And my head hurts". That is the way I feel when reading your post sometimes. You are so articulate and smart that I sometimes have to read your post several times to get the full effect of what you are saying. You really talk over my head sometimes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

On the issue of dreams that come true. I have had several dreams come true in the last few years. Unfortunatly they were all bad. In fact the only dreams I have had in the last few years had come true. They were all bad dreams until the one I had last month about our unborn child.
I finally broke the cycle of bad dreams and of dreams coming true. I had dreamed last month that we were having a little girl and the ultrasound my wife had the other day showed a boy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

I think dreams have many purposes.

One purpose is a defrag of thoughts and memory episodes. Some dreams associate experiences which causes a memory to be more easily accessed by your CPU (brain).

My sleep doctor says if I remember my dreams that is a sign that I'm not sleeping well. I don't totally buy that but I think there is some truth to it.

I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP breathing machine. I've been visiting a sleep disorder forum. It is a common occurrence that when a CPAP user's mask leaks, they will have a bad dream and wake up. The lungs aren't getting the O2 they need. The O2 level in the blood goes down. The heart increases its' rate to get more blood to the lungs for O2 retrieval but they aren't delivering. I'm not sure what the exact trigger is but I think the brain has a self-preservation routine it goes into when the pulmonary system is whacking out. It creates a bad dream. In my case these dreams are usually about being disoriented, lost, no transportation, no place to go and no money.

I'll wake up and fix the mask to great relief. Curious to me, I'm even more relieved to know that I'm in my home, my truck is outside, my checking account is balanced, I have a secure good job and there is a small tribe of flashlights standing vigilantly on the headboard.

Here is another purpose for dreams, I believe. Preparation. I've had dreams in which I was involved in a debate with someone. I might have that dream multiple times but each time it is a little different. Then, in reality, that debate takes place. I feel like I don't have to think it through because I already have. I remain calm and hold my own, often times the result is that the outcome of the debate goes in my favor.

I think this may be what Empath's cause/effect post is about. Lebkuecher knew there was a good chance he would be in rattlesnake territory. He had a "preparation dream" that involved failure to get away from two snakes. Success would have been to move. When he actually encountered the single snake, there was nothing to calculate. He had a heightened sense. Snake = Move = Success.