Hi there,

Last night I had a dream that really bothered me after I woke up, so I wanted to reach out somewhere to have it interpreted. I was looking for a dream interpretation forum and after several suspect/dead end ones, I found this. Considering my dream... it's just weird that I'd stumble on this website. You'll see.

In the dream, I was waiting at a bus stop with my husband. It was a large, concrete lot hemmed in on one side by a fence with trees on the other side. I milled about close to the fence, when a young raven wearing a red harness (like guide dogs wear) flew out of the trees and onto my right arm. I was so delighted by it and wanted to keep it. I decided to walk home with the raven while my husband continued to wait for the bus. It wasn't a long walk - my house was apparently only 8 minutes away. So, I started walking down the street with the raven on my shoulder, trying to think of how I was going to feed and care for it, where it came from, etc. It was very friendly with me and seemed to like me. While I was walking, the street grew dark and loud vehicles started rolling by. The raven was startled by all the noise, so I drew it into my arms against my chest. It didn't seem to mind... however, it clearly didn't like the surroundings. I was worried it would fly away, but it didn't.

I walked and walked and walked... I should have been home... but instead I was walking through more and more chaos... I walked through a store as it was being robbed. All these people were walking around in the dark and it felt unsafe. The raven was getting hungry and agitated, and poking at me with its beak, and I searched the ground for insects to feed it but couldn't find any. I felt the pressure to get the raven somewhere more comfortable, but suddenly the street appeared like an empty tunnel that would go on forever. The people had disappeared, the buildings disappeared, everything was gone except the road. Then road rotated and became less distinct, and it felt like I was falling into an abyss. I stopped in awe. I knew I'd never get home this way.

Then I "woke up". I was sitting in my bed... holding the raven. My cat who passed away a couple months ago was also sitting on my bed, and I didn't even think about the fact that she wasn't supposed to be there. She sniffed at the raven and then jumped off the bed and trotted into the bathroom (it's right off my bedroom and has no door between). I followed her there, still holding the bird, and noticed it was misty and humid as if someone had just taken a shower.

Then I actually woke up. What's funny is I didn't even bat an eyelash at my cat appearing in my room in the dream - it didn't register for a good 10 - 15 minutes that I hadn't actually been in my room with a raven and my deceased cat. Like such a thing was totally normal. I've been stuck in a quasi-dreamlike state for most of the morning after that and it is unsettling.

So here I am at a spirit keeping forum, looking for an interpretation for a dream where a totem animal "guide" shows up and I wanted to keep it. I've never heard of spirit keeping before. What are the odds? Not exactly the same from what I'm reading about the practice, of course, but is there anyone who can help me navigate what this dream might mean? Thank you!

Hi and welcome to the forum

My own belief is that dreams hold the most meaning or significance for those who have them. You may be best placed to work that out. What's your own gut feeling?

Dreams may have psychological components, even if there seems to be some spirit contact in them.

There can be several levels to them and one dream may hold several insights into either what your subconscious wants to tell you; what's on your mind; or paranormal aspects.

The fact that your deceased cat showed up could be taken by some people as it being there to protect or reassure you. Some believe that cats as pets are far more active on the astral / unseen plane that we'd think. And it's by no means uncommon for deceased pets to show up in dreams.

Spirits can and do show up in them too.

When it comes to dream interpretation, for what it's worth, if I wanted to set out on a project of decoding them, I'd get a very good dream interpretation book; set my intention that I'll use this to interpret them; then, rather like using an oracle (I Ching or Tarot etc), my subconscious - or even spirit guides - might then be able to start influencing them in a way that could make sense, using the book.

Or, if I had a personal spiritual mentor who's into dream interpretation...I'd do the same...stick to their interpretation and over time see what consistency comes from that approach.

It may be just me but I probably wouldn't normally use one such source to retrospectively interpret one dream. You may get that from us forum members too.

At a minimum, I'd take several, apply my intuition too and see if there's a common thread.

And different books, as well as different people, may very well give widely ranging interpretations of the same dream. So, what's your gut feeling?

Thank you, Lewk. That is great advice. I don’t have a good book on dream interpretation. I should invest in that for when these kinds of dreams arise. Do you have any recommendations?

My gut feeling is that it was an important dream. Like I was at the “veil” between consciousness and unconsciousness? Like there was an opportunity to understand something about reality, if that makes sense. I woke but didn’t, and my cat was there. Yet after I did wake, it didn’t occur to me that couldn’t be. It was like time didn’t have meaning.

It’s a little impatient to want to understand it all at once. Sometimes it can take months or even years to fully understand a dream that had an impact. Writing it out helps. I noticed when I wrote it out that the number 8 is also is the symbol for infinity (I would be walking forever to get home). Dreams do tend to make puns like that. Again, time seems to be an thematic component.

I’ve had birds in dreams frequently - often associated with synchronous events - but never has a raven show up in my dreams.

I appreciate your taking the time to provide such a thoughtful reply.