A "Gift", a Journey and a Deity

Alright, I know I should interpret my dream, but this is the first one I've had that seems to make some sort of sense, and has far too many symbols for me to be able to easily look up. Random spiel of information: I'm female, 15 years old and currently seeking a religion that I can believe in. I often have dreams involving dragons, wolves, shapeshifting and many fantasy elements, but considering I'm a writer of fantasy, it's not that surprising.

Anyway, the dream starts in a European village, surrounded by forest, near a mountain (also heavily forested). It looks similar to a German village I visited in the summer, but it isn't exactly like it. My dream consciousness informs me that I have a sister, and that I live along with a group of children in either a church or a schoolhouse of some sort, with a belltower. We are apparently rebuilding it, or something of the sort, though I do no work. I simply sit there and watch the children stack coloured bricks to form pillars and walls. They are, at this moment, younger than me. However, when someone comes into the room, most of them disappear, they become my age and suddenly there are only girls there. The person who triggers this change is... amazing. It's a tall man, wearing a white mask with a curved beak, reminding me of a stylized hawk's head. The mask ends right beneath his eyes - but I can't tell what colour they are. His hair is black. Though I'm staring at him, all the details slip away, except for the mask. At this point, I feel worshipful. This mixture of awe, fear and admiration - and apparently everyone else felt it too, as we stood there and apologized to him as he began to chide us for not working well enough. He then announces that we have to leave the building, and to give him all our money. We willingly do so - but then he takes me to the side and tells me that I need to leave the village entirely, without my sister. I simply stand there and nod, feeling terrified and in awe because he could kill me right now. There was this sense of amazing power from him. The scene changes to the forest nearby. I'm walking with him, listening as he explains that I can't take any possessions, any food. Trying to get to the next village with nothing, not even money, would spell death, but I don't seem too concerned. I'm too happy following after this man.

He offers me an ability to ensure I don't die: I will not feel hunger and thirst until it is extreme, and heat and cold will not bother me. The price is that when I do die, it will be very slow and painful. I take it. The scene changes to night, walking on a beach (though the village is nowhere near a lake or sea). I'm still trailing after him, as it seems I need to leave by tomorrow morning. I babble something about Artemis, the goddess of the moon and nature, and how I wanted to learn more about her. I then add something about how she also has flowers... Then the clearest part of the dialogue comes in. He says "That goddess does not exist. However, I rule over both of those things, as well as others." Cue fawning, admiration and intense happiness from me upon hearing this. Then, I leave, and the clarity of the dream fades - as if only when the man came in did it become important. I've had this dream nearly three weeks ago, yet I can still play it in my head. I've never had such a vivid dream that stays with me before. And I'm still confused about what it could possibly mean.

Well dreams are often like a little dialogue to yourself. they show you thinking about religion perhaps.. and you mention religion in your post.

If it was about religion then the classic sign would be that you were thinking about it the day before.. if you are going to have a dream it will often follow a day when you were thinking about such a topic. Or perhaps if you woke up in a very religious mode of thought. In that case the dream would capture the trail of your thinking at that time... as you woke up./. capturing emotions and feelings... openness

Think about several details f the dream.. you give him all your money... think about that and what it makes you think of... then see how that relates to real life emotions

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Take two example incidents. One dreamer saw his brother and half sister kissing in an intimate way when he was twelve years old. The same dreamer got annoyed with a man who was causing trouble on the train the previous day. Which issue would you think is presently most likely to cause a dream? Well of course its the incident the previous day. We constantly react to little incidents and changing situations. Many decisions that we have to make are based on inadequate information. We try to read the feelings of others and assessing what their real motives are. We try assess the potential for danger. We finally monitor our own performance and see ways in which we should alter our behavior. Our brains do not spend time on things long forgotten. Most dreams then are very much in the present and symbolise our actual thoughts on real issues. Try the following web pages as they help you understand the meaning of dreams and dream symbols.

http://www.unclesirbobby.org.uk/dreamessayhowtopost.php UNDERSTANDING SYMBOLISM
http://www.unclesirbobby.org.uk/dreamessay.php DREAM DICTIONARY
http://www.unclesirbobby.org.uk/dreambookpolice.php SAMPLE DREAMS
http://www.unclesirbobby.org.uk/dreambookpolice.php

Hm. >< I and a friend weren't talking about religion before I went to bed, but rather, an acquaintance of ours who gradually became anorexic and slipped from being a rather nice, if shallow person to a nasty, selfish one that uses other people like tools to help her own status. As well, the religion which I belonged to was Catholicism, and this deity doesn't remind me of that God. For one thing, the Christian God doesn't attach prices to gifts.

Oh - I can't believe I forgot to mention this. My close friend - we call each other sisters - also had a strange dream. Its details were different, but she was in a place that was familiar and seemed similar but not quite the same as place she knew well. She was surrounded by children, who were building something, but she didn't take part in it. An authority figure - a teacher of some sort - came and scolded them on how horrible their work was. Small similarities perhaps, but when you put it together, on the same night... Also, we both woke up with an alomost overwhelming urge to call and tell each other about our dreams.

...Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but it is rather strange, this little coincidence.