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Last Night I Dreamed of Death
Jan. 8th, 2020 09:11 amLast night I dreamed of death. I had a succession of four linked dreams each relating to death. I only recall dying a couple of times in dreams before last night, it’s not something that my sleeping mind has ever shown much preoccupation with before. These were vivid and highly affecting but only rarely actually frightening.
In the first dream I was being led to a scaffold for an execution. I exchanged some small pleasantries with the headsman who wielded a huge sword. This done I knelt and lay my head calmly on the block. There was a moments pause and then I heard the sound of the sword cutting through my neck. My head was severed with a single stroke and went rolling through the air before landing on the ground. I was able to see the world spinning wildly round and round before consciousness faded. I realised I was unable to move my body.
The second was a re-run of the first except that the executioner stated that he had made some small error the last time he had cut off my head and therefore we would have to try again. I willingly acquiesced and once again my head was cut off and went spinning through the air. This time my awareness of my body somehow remained and I was able to raise my hands to feel the blood spraying from the stump of my neck. It felt like a lawn sprinkler.
The third time I was climbing up an incredibly steep mountain with a mysterious guide who urged me on to reach the summit despite my strong fear of heights. Upon the very pinnacle of the peak someone had set a single telegraph pole and I was informed I must climb this as well. The wood was ancient and rotten and peeled away in great fistfuls under my hands. I made the mistake of looking down and at the same time I lost my grip upon the crumbling pole and plummeted down, blacking out almost immediately.
In the final dream I was alone standing on a balcony near the top of an immense skyscraper. Unlike the previous dream I was completely calm and at peace. I understood that my previous failure had been to look down and accordingly I stepped up backwards onto the low balustrade and looked up. It was night and there were many stars. I took a single step backwards and fell with amazing rapidity. I was aware of a sudden stop which framed the skyscraper for a single instant like a photograph and then everything went black.
In the first dream I was being led to a scaffold for an execution. I exchanged some small pleasantries with the headsman who wielded a huge sword. This done I knelt and lay my head calmly on the block. There was a moments pause and then I heard the sound of the sword cutting through my neck. My head was severed with a single stroke and went rolling through the air before landing on the ground. I was able to see the world spinning wildly round and round before consciousness faded. I realised I was unable to move my body.
The second was a re-run of the first except that the executioner stated that he had made some small error the last time he had cut off my head and therefore we would have to try again. I willingly acquiesced and once again my head was cut off and went spinning through the air. This time my awareness of my body somehow remained and I was able to raise my hands to feel the blood spraying from the stump of my neck. It felt like a lawn sprinkler.
The third time I was climbing up an incredibly steep mountain with a mysterious guide who urged me on to reach the summit despite my strong fear of heights. Upon the very pinnacle of the peak someone had set a single telegraph pole and I was informed I must climb this as well. The wood was ancient and rotten and peeled away in great fistfuls under my hands. I made the mistake of looking down and at the same time I lost my grip upon the crumbling pole and plummeted down, blacking out almost immediately.
In the final dream I was alone standing on a balcony near the top of an immense skyscraper. Unlike the previous dream I was completely calm and at peace. I understood that my previous failure had been to look down and accordingly I stepped up backwards onto the low balustrade and looked up. It was night and there were many stars. I took a single step backwards and fell with amazing rapidity. I was aware of a sudden stop which framed the skyscraper for a single instant like a photograph and then everything went black.
