I believe this dream is telling me what I have just gone through and what is to come.  A warning that the trying times I am experiencing are not done yet.

In the dream, my husband and I went through a carnival Haunted House adventure.  It was set in a large warehouse and had three separate Haunted Houses within it.  Everyone had to go through one specific Haunted House first.  We did this and came out onto a metal landing set in the middle of the warehouse which indicated we were at least two floors up. This landing connected with the other two Haunted Houses.  One of the entrances was directly across from the Haunted House we were in, and the other entrance was up a short flight of stairs and slightly to the left.  Each entrance was dimly lit by a single, metal fixture above the closed door to the Haunted House and had a sign to the right of the door, also dimly lit, which gave the name of the Haunted House. It had the distinct look of a “Resident Evil” video game.   In the dream, I read the names but don’t remember them now.  The name indicated the type of Haunted House it was (just as an example, Haunted Forest or Haunted Hospital).  At this juncture, you could pick which Haunted House to go into next.  The one directly in front or the one up the stairs and slightly to the left. I assumed each person based their choice on what would seem the most appealing to them-more scary or less scary.  I was inclined to go with less scary next.  The first Haunted House had shaken me up and I needed to rest.  My husband wasn’t bothered by it all and went into the store to look around.  I sat down on a bench right outside the exit.  Almost immediately behind us by just a few minutes came our daughter.  She had walked through by herself.  She had a smile on her face as she had enjoyed the experience.  Just as she came out, the lights went out and the hallway we were in was plunged into darkness.  The only exit visible to the eye was to the gift store/restaurant.   Somehow I could see what she was doing and knew she needed to put her hand on the railing to her left and feel her way along until she reached the store.  I was going to speak up and tell her, but then saw she figured it out before I even had the chance.  She felt her way along using the railing and entered the store without ever seeing me.  Perhaps a minute later, a girl who appeared to be her cousin came out of the Haunted House as well.  She had walked through with two friends and they were smiling and laughing, but I could tell her cousin had been shaken up like I had been.  They didn’t notice me even, though the lights were back on, and proceeded to the store.  Then my daughter came out just a minute later and looked at the next two Haunted House entrances.  She picked the one on the same level as the first and entered by herself without hesitation. I waited for my husband.  I knew we would be going through the same Haunted House behind her.

Significant Symbols

Husband-literally my husband and/or what he represents to me

Carnival-how I am handling the situation

Haunted House-the status of one’s state of consciousness/current situation or experience

Three-body/mind/soul (trinity), great strength

Doors-opportunities, openings, directions or new pathways to personal expression to unexplored regions of the self

Stairs-rising or descending to another level of consciousness, awareness, spirituality, etc.

Left-receptive, open-minded.  The unconscious part of one’s self.

Store/Restaurant-a place to buy any need, idea, possibility or to be fed or nurtured physically, mentally, spiritually

Lighting-bringing something under investigation, a lesson/truth/knowledge coming to light

Atmosphere-indicates how I feel about what is occurring

Daughter-literally my daughter and/or what she represents to me

Cousin-literally the cousin and/or what she represents to me

In this dream, I am shown what I have just recently experienced and what is still coming my way. I have voluntarily put myself in a situation which I find “scary”, but it is not a truly terrifying experience as it is a “fun” Haunted House. The carnival Haunted House indicates that the experience can be taken in a light-hearted fashion or in a more serious fashion, depending on one’s own personality and fears. The Haunted Houses seem to be more than one story high, indicating there is a change in consciousness that is required to move through them.  The Haunted House up the stairs and to the left requires a slight shifting of one’s consciousness (more open and receptive) before you can even enter into that experience. The lighting represents that each Haunted House brings a particular light/truth/knowledge into the awareness of the person experiencing it.  The sign at each door is a warning of how that experience will be presented to the individual.  For example, there will come an experience of an actual health crisis or a situation that calls for the deliberate “fixing” of some portion of one’s self in the “Hospital Haunted House”.  The “Resident Evil” video game indicates the atmosphere related to the experience as a whole.  To me, the game is scary yet it is fun to play.  It is also a puzzle game.  If you don’t figure out the clues, you will be stuck inside the game. In other words, it is possible that if I don’t figure out a way through the Haunted Houses (dealing with and accepting the truths they represent) then I will be stuck until I do. The fact that I find the experience of the first Haunted House difficult shows that the issues the Haunted House represents are truths/knowledge I find challenging.  My husband seems to be experiencing his own personal challenge at the same time, but it doesn’t bother him the way it bothers me.  The fact that we do this together shows we help each other out during this time. We complete the first portion of the experience and I have to take a mental/emotional break before continuing on.  My husband, who is unfazed by his experience, considers new ideas but doesn’t buy into anything that I know of (the store/café). Our daughter is also having a challenging experience, but like her father, she is unfazed by it.  She does this by herself.  She too considers new ideas but doesn’t buy into anything that I know of.  We become aware that her cousin is also experiencing some “scary” situation, but has the support of her friends . Like me, she seems to be shaken by what she experiences but comes through okay.  Then our daughter decides to continue on by herself to the next part of the experience.  She chooses the most logical place to go next, just as her father and I would.  She doesn’t seem to need any help.  There are three Haunted Houses which must be experienced before the journey is complete.

Three represents body/mind/soul or great strength.  Each Haunted House represents an opportunity to gain a significant change in my thinking/behavior/beliefs.  This significant change is sought by my Soul for greater Soul development and growth towards God.  The first Haunted House is an experience that is chosen by my Soul and over which I have no choice in what is to happen.  It is an occurrence in the physical realm which brings about issues that must be dealt with.  A reaction is required by me whether I want to or not.  How good or bad I react determines the quality of the experience.  I could react on instinct or I can take a moment to think about what my reaction should be to what is occurring.  If I go with my instinct, there is a good possibility that I will lose control of the situation and make matters worse.  For example, in a carnival Haunted House, if I choose to react instinctively to the scary people and situations presented, I would scream and possibly run and/or hide.  This is funny to everyone else but would be a terrible experience for  me. If I take a moment to logically think about what is occurring and what would be the best way to react in that situation, then I will be able to maintain control of my reactions and enjoy the experience. It will still be scary to me, but I won’t be running and hiding and screaming like a frightened child. I will be able to look around and logically assess what is happening and make the best choices in how to react.

As the physical experience unfolds (it could be a work situation, a bump in your personal relationship, etc.), then there are reverberations that occur in the mental mind.  We still have to process the experience in our thinking (the mental).  This portion of the experience is different from your initial thinking, as you can actually develop new ideas, behaviors, beliefs over time based on the physical experience and how you deliberately choose to react. This change in thinking/behavior/belief will probably be permanent.  Once you have fully incorporated the new thinking/behavior/belief into your mind, then begins the third phase-the spiritual- of actually using your new thinking/behavior/beliefs in the physical world in other situations.  You will now react in a different manner in the physical realm because you have changed your thinking.  As you do this, you expand your spirit by being more loving, forgiving, patient, responsible, selfless, etc. This helps you to gain a greater understanding of God and a greater relationship with Him.  You become stronger by being stronger spiritually and mentally.

There is a down side to this situation.  If you go through the physical experience with your initial reaction and do not think about behaving any differently than what you normally would (as my husband and my daughter have done), then the next phase of the experience will prove to be more difficult.  Instead of expanding your thinking/beliefs/values based on your experience, you instead solidify what you already believe.  You perhaps feel more justified in your current thinking/behavior or you just don’t care about the direct connection between your behavior and the bad experience you just went through. It evidently wasn’t bad enough to make you want to change.  Experiences such as these are meant to serve as opportunities to expand one’s self (physically, mentally, spiritually).  If you initially refute the lessons of the experience, then your soul will be forced to continue the lesson but it will become significantly more difficult.

What you refused to learn before will be presented to you again in a fashion that is less pleasant and harder to ignore.  In this instance, this is represented by the second Haunted House.  You will be placed in another physical experience where your thinking/beliefs/values are again tested, only the experience will be more difficult.  If you gained new thinking/beliefs/values before, then this experience will help to solidify them through practice and the experience itself will not seem as difficult as it could be.  If you did not gain new thinking/beliefs/values, then what you still believe will be tested in a more significant manner, to again give you the opportunity to expand and change what you believe/practice to be more selfless and less selfish.

If you did not learn before what you needed to, then hopefully at this stage you will.  Because if you don’t, then the last phase of the lesson will be very traumatic.  This is the third Haunted House.  Again, what you have learned or not learned is tested and put into practice.  If you changed your behaviors/beliefs/values, then the lesson itself might not actually be that bad.  It might just be the opportunity to put your new beliefs into practice in a long-term fashion, as a commitment to others.  In this phase, you will show greater spirituality by the way you live and work.  But if you didn’t learn from the 1st lesson and the 2nd lesson, then the 3rd lesson will probably be an experience so severe that there is no ignoring it and the devastation that comes from it.  This type of lesson could be the loss of your home, your job, your spouse, your money, your status, or something even more important.  Think of what is truly important to you, and that is what you could lose.

You will either be transformed by this experience (slowly or quickly) as your Soul desires, or you will fail the lesson.  If you fail the lesson, you force your Soul to go to Plan B.  This might be a repeat of another series of lessons in this lifetime (if the Soul believes it is possible to teach you the lesson) or the necessary growth and development will be delayed for a later time in another lifetime, otherwise known as Karma.  There will be no denying the lesson if you force your Soul to use Karma to teach you.  Your Soul and God will not be denied in the deliberate growth and development of the Soul.  You can either be a willing participate or not, but it will happen.

In this dream, I successfully made it through my first Haunted House (the changes at my work).  I believe my daughter’s cousin did as well. But my husband and daughter did not learn what they were supposed to in their experiences. I know this because of another dream I had which I have not posted.  Our lessons will continue in the next Haunted House, whatever those experiences are.  Hopefully, all of us will be successful in this lesson.