I've died in dreams many many times, LH. I've drowned. I've had the sun fall directly on my head. I've been stabbed in the back by a certain former acquaintance of ours. I've even had my head chopped off with a sword. Never in my life have I heard such an awful metallic whoooosh!, and I hope I never hear it again!

I was 'me' in that dream, but different physically; the voice was much higher in pitch, and the hair flying around my face was very long and black and tangled - looked like it hadn't been combed in a decade). In the dream I saw my head lying there on the ground in front of me. In absolute shock, I'd picked it up and tried to put it back on my neck, holding it in place while just screaming with hysterical rage - in some unfamiliar language I could not make heads or tails of - at the one who slew me.

And stole my babies after she slew me.

Now, that latter experience was no 'random firing of neurons' in some unknown location deep within my semi-conscious brain. I still suffered that horrible painful slicing through the left side of my neck for about a year or so afterwards. And there's a lot more to this story but this is already WAY more than enough for a Mudcat thread, I think! So just suffice it to say that in my best estimation to date, it was no 'dream'. It was a past life experience.

Or rather, a past death experience.

And nothing too surprising either. Times were pretty barbaric, way up there in Finland a thousand years ago ....

:-)