Can Dreams Predict the Future?

By Parthena Black
BellaOnline's Dreams Editor

Can dreams predict the future? There is surprisingly little scientific information available to provide concrete answers to this common question. While methods exist to test the abilities of individuals who claim to be psychic, I have been unable to find studies of this nature dealing specifically with dreams.

Accounts of predictive dreams can be found dating back to the stone age. In the Old Testament, Joseph interpreted Pharoah's dream as predicting seven years of abundance followed by famine, an event that actually occurred. According to a close personal friend, Abraham Lincoln dreamed that his funeral was taking place in his home shortly before his death. James Watson dreamed of a spiral staircase, leading him to the discovery of the double-helix component of the structure of DNA. This editor dreamed of a large nail being removed from my spine more than ten years before spinal fusion surgery and subsequent removal of the broken hardware five years later.

Eerie dreams that pointed to waking life events have been featured in films and literature. A good example appears in the movie "The Mothman Prophecies". Connie has a recurring dream where she repeatedly hears someone say, "Wake up, number 37." Connie is not able to connect the dream with reality until after the fact, when Klein rescues her and prevents her from becoming the 37th victim of a bridge collapse.

Despite thousands of accounts from individuals who claim that their dreams have predicted events that actually occurred, the majority of dream experts seem to believe that these dreams are more coincidental than clairvoyant.

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