Images also include Apocalypse, Flood, Natural Disaster, Tornado.
The radical annihilation of the world is a theme that seems to recur in many of the world's cultures, cults, and religions. Sometimes there is a subsequent reordering and renewal of the world that includes a particular group being placed in supremacy. Other times, there is a mystical translation of chosen inhabitants into a structured paradise. Another option is unrelenting chaos and loss of this world without recourse.
Sometimes, the premonition feeling that you get after these dreams leaves you feeling very eerie. You may be unsure (or fairly sure) that what just happened in dreamland may be about to happen out in waking life. The means may be different for any given dreamer depending on your worldview, but the feeling is roughly the same-that time seems short for this world.
There can be several different approaches to seeking meaning in this dream. The origins of these approaches are in personal psychology, cultural tensions, and religious or spiritual revelation.
Feeling dramatically out of control in your personal life can trigger apocalypse dreams. This may be caused by hormones in adolescence, the death of a loved one (especially parent), or divorce and other significant relationship losses. The ending world is an escape mechanism to avoid dealing with a world so dramatically changed by new circumstances. This world-ending dream often features the dreamer alone amongst generally unrecognized figures. This reveals that all people close to the dreamer are gone.
Cultural cues for world-ending dreams come out of a collective angst about the frailty of our planet or the human race. Angst is concerned about what might not be, as in radical non-being of the self, planet, etc. These dreams may be triggered in times of global hopelessness and unpredictability. A millennial change generates this kind of dreaming for some people. Damaging news about the earth, global warming, and cosmic collision potentials will do it for others.
Economic uncertainty will create angst for some people. Whenever instability or insecurity become themes of cultural awareness, apocalyptic dreams increase. Interpreting this type of dream asks, How is the world ending and who is to blame? This dream may be a calling for you to protect yourself against a risk that is beyond your comfort zone, become more involved in a particular cause, or to think again about the rationale of your fears.
Religious or spiritual revelation that heralds the end of the world is a powerful image. Usually, the dreamer will see some significant icons of their faith initiating or withstanding the destruction. Another scenario is that adherents to the mysticism are identified in a particular way and survive the destruction because of their association. In these dreams, the world is often reordered. Many times, these dreams will accompany a time in the dreamer's life when he or she feels that the entire world is against them and only their association with something larger than themselves can provide a resolution to the struggles being faced. (Or, they may just be receiving an oracle about the conclusion of this world ....)
