Dreams as Omens of Physical Illness

Dreams as Omens of Physical Illness: A woman, feeling extremely fatigued, continues to push herself to work. One night, she dreams of desperately clutching onto a window frame to prevent herself from falling down, but eventually succumbs due to exhaustion. Two days later, she faints while working. The doctor diagnoses her with a urinary tract infection caused by prolonged standing.

An 81-year-old woman had a dream three days before her death: She saw all her ailments gathering together, and upon closer inspection, realized they had transformed into roses. She knew someone would come to plant these flowers, and she also knew they would bloom again the following year.

Renowned Western dream analysts believe that there is a "premonition dream" before the onset of physical illness, as in dreams, all subtle bodily sensations are magnified.

In the case of the woman mentioned earlier, her dream serves as a reminder not to push herself too hard and also reveals a subconscious desire to stop and quit. Interpreting her dream as "you are getting sick" seems somewhat inappropriate because the dream's content does not directly relate to diseases like urinary tract infections.

For instance, a person with gallbladder inflammation may dream of a spring, while someone with lung disease may dream of suffocation, and so on. This perspective has persisted from ancient times to the emergence of scientific medicine, and even today, dream analysis experts have not raised objections.