Historical Dreams
I often dream of being another person in another period of history. I can be either gender, aged between 7 and 70, so far. However, the locations are limited to Europe and North America.
Looking over my notes, most of my historical dreams take place in the 19th century, and most have to do with one or more members of a group of dark-haired women. I do not know what the meaning is of this; it is simply a feature of my dreaming career.
I do not see any wish fulfillment in these dreams. I do not see what could make them Freudian. Below are several examples; you can decide for yourself whether these dreams are personal — or, as I believe, they point to some strange fact about the dreaming world.
Glass Jar Factory
I dreamt of working in a 19th century glass jar factory. I was a woman working in a large room where women were sorting and packing storage jars and candle jars. Some of the women were trying to organize a covert recycling program for broken jars. Others were fatigued and indifferent. The supervisors would have been angry about the wasted time, if they had found out about the recycling. Or maybe the mere discovery of broken jars would have triggered their anger. That was the only interesting thing going on. Otherwise, the dream was just about working.
Naughty Maid
I dreamt that I was a disembodied presence in a 19th century townhouse observing a middle-class woman confronting her maid about the maid’s relationship to her husband. She offered the maid the choice of a sacking or of corporal punishment. Before the maid could reply, the mistress looked suddenly in my direction and said, “Now!”
I awoke. I realised that she had awakened me to force me to remember the dream. The whole thing had been staged for my benefit, but what that could be eludes me.
Village Outrage
As I was falling asleep, I saw a vision of some 19th century rural people in a one-room building, like a school house. They were agitated about something. They were on one side of the room. I couldn’t see what they were looking at — presumably some leader(s). A teenage girl was among them, wearing a simple skirt and blouse. She was silent and unemotional, in contrast to those around her. Although there was nothing frightening about the image, the clarity frightened and awoke me.
Gilded Age Dream
I dreamt of a businessman whose wife was bed-ridden with some malady. She had a young, educated woman as an assistant. This seemed to be after the turn of the 20th century, like 1905-1910 — the first time I can remember dreaming of this era.
The assistant discovered that the husband was involved in an affaire — or affaires, the first of which certainly involved a woman, the second of which might have involved questionable business practices during his many journeys.
Somehow, the assistant learned of these misdeeds and was naïve enough to let that be known to the husband. He begged her to not reveal what she knows to the wife, but the assistant had grown quite fond of the wife, who was of a noble character. The husband warns her that if she cannot maintain her silence, nor could he. Thus it was implied that the disreputable people with whom he does business might find out that she had become a loose end.
The assistant decided to tell the wife anyway, along with the veiled threat. There was some issue of the wife’s medication. That was delivered by the husband, or at least came from a doctor in his service. The wife and the assistant realised that the only source of medication was from people who might well wish the wife dead and the assistant held to blame. That is all I can remember.
Strike Courier
I dreamt of a young woman writing by lamp light in a rough cabin. That was all the action there ever was in this dream, but as I watched, I became magically aware of what her situation was.
The cabin was in a largely inaccessible area of low forested hills. There were no roads. Surrounding the area on nearly all sides were factory mills.
The mills were on strike or on the verge of strike. The woman acted as messenger between the mills. Either the roads going around the forest were too long, or it was simply faster to travel directly, I didn’t know, but I certainly had the sense that she was engaged in the struggle.
I’m quite keen to look this up on a map, but there the forested area could be quite residential by now, and the mills likely removed.
Smashing
In February of 2020 I dreamt that a feral girl was brought to a cliff house and presented to the residents as a distant relative. The young mother would find in the girl her soul mate and they developed a passionate relationship that was everything but sexual or romantic. The modern eye would regard with suspicion the intensity of their relationship, but I learned in subsequent study that in the 19th century, such relationships were common. My dreams had revealed a practice that has been erased from all but the dustiest of history books! I also was able to locate a place on the Massachusetts shore that matched the look and the layout of the cliffs. This series of dreams lasted about 18 months and resulted in The Salt Island Diaries.