I have been having some really horrible dreams lately. The one that keeps recurring (two or more times a night) is this:

I am back in high school, but not the one I really attended. I am there with all of my friends and my boyfriend. We are in math class, and then all of a sudden there is a flash and I'm witnessing my boyfriend getting hit by a car. He is lying there dead in the street. And somehow I'm back in school, but I'm sitting there crying my eyes out.

It seems that I'm the only one that the death is affecting. My friends are all sad, but I'm the only one who is crying or even showing that I'm grieving. Everyone is like, "Oh well, nothing you can do. Just move on," and I get even more upset and emotional.

Then I see myself lying in a casket. I don't know how I die; I am just lying there. This dream doesn't make any sense to me, but every time I close my eyes, it just starts playing over and over.

Can you please help? This dream is causing me to get no sleep and to be very emotional constantly.

—Marissa, Age 18, In a committed relationship, Riverside, CA, USA

Hi Marissa—

Dreams of death and dying always are disturbing -- especially if we see ourselves lying in a casket! What can the meaning of this strange dream be?

Fortunately, death in dreams almost never should be interpreted literally. Instead, death is a metaphor for change and separation. Because you witness your boyfriend dying first, we know that you are witnessing a change in your relationship with him. We also know that you most likely are worried about being separated from him. The location of your dream -- set back in high school -- provides the final clue we need to solve this riddle. Now that you have graduated high school and are leaving your younger years behind, are you worried that your relationship with your boyfriend is "coming to an end"?

Curiously, your friends from high school are not very sympathetic. Some appear sad, but they also tell you that "nothing can be done" and that you have to "move on." This does not mean that your friends from school are uncaring. Instead, it simply means they are ready to accept the uncertainty of the future (moving on from high school), even if it means letting go of the past.

As this dream ends, you see yourself lying in a casket dead. Your dream indicates that a period of transition, within yourself, already has begun. What is the true meaning of this strange, disturbing dream? The old you is "passing away," and a new you is growing in its place. It's time to embrace the future, and make room for a brand new you!