Scratches in the Dream and Scratches in the Morning

A Troubling Dream From a Reader:

I sit up out of the bed with a strange feeling. I look at the clock and its 3:10 still early in the morning. My throat is dry so i get some ice like i always do and try to turn on the kitchen light, but it doesn’t turn on. My mind makes me turn to the door as i feel something there. I see a shadow with a short height as i peer at the dark blue curtains. I walked over to the curtains and opened them up to see my son of 6 years standing outside with a blank expression on his face. I opened the door in a rush and asked him why he was outside at 3 in the morning. He didn’t answer me. When I went to reach for him something gave me a small cut on my hand. I thought nothing of it as I brought him inside. I took off his brown coat and something swiped across my hand again. when I looked at his hand he held up a gold screw about the size of my pinky and I could see the extra sharp point on it. I watched him take his hand across his chest and felt the point swipe across me again. I jumped up out of my bed to notice everything was like my dream. My house was dark, it was 3:10, the only difference was that my light turned on in the kitchen, and my son was peacefully sleeping on the couch. My body was cold and tingling and on my hand were 3 small cuts. They weren’t random as they are above each other…my hand was really scratched..maybe you could help me and tell me what this means or what’s happening to me. I remember dreams often some more than others and I have some dreams repeatedly altho this is the first time I ever had this….thank you.

It’s really a wonder that this sort of thing doesn’t happen more often. While we’re asleep, sometimes we’ll scratch ourselves, get our limbs twisted around, or just find ourselves in some sort of uncomfortable position – then, our mind will work this into our dream. Some people dream that their finger is bitten by an animal only to wake up with their finger in their own mouth!

More likely than not, you somehow managed to scratch yourself while sleeping (it’d be much easier to explain if you had a pet!) – then your mind sort of inserted the experience into your dream.

Many times when we dream of a loved one in this sort of dream, it’s an indication that we were thinking about them right before we drifted off to sleep. I guess that’s why parents so frequently dream of their children.  The dream also seems to indicate that you’ve been somewhat worried about “getting through” to someone recently.  This person could or could not be your son.

It appears that you know what is best for someone else but are having a little trouble helping them to see.  It could be something like trying to convince a friend that she’s wrong about a certain guy or it could be a case of trying to get your son to pick up his toys – it honestly could be just about anything.  However, the intensity of the dream suggests that it’s something you feel very strongly about and that has been worrying you more than you really realize.

As for the clock reading the same time, that can be chalked up to crazy luck.  The fact that you were cold and tingly can be attributed to the fact that you are a mother who was dreaming about her young child.  Lots of emotions are involved there, and your body registered each one.  Also, the fact that this dream seems very much like a lucid dream would explain its extreme effects on you.

Thanks for sharing your dream and I hope your scratches heal soon.