One of my readers recently wrote in to share a very interesting dream she had involving Anne Boleyn. Was it just a dream or something more?
Dreaming Anne Boleyn by Tiula
Last night, I dreamt I was at the court of Elizabeth I. I saw her famous Chequers ring, which I knew to contain a portrait of Anne. So I asked to see it.
She declined, but someone came up to me and introduced herself to me as “Kat”. (Having done more research, I now think it may have been Kat Ashley, Elizabeth’s friend and governess. At the time, however, I had not heard of her.) She said that if I wanted to see what Anne looked like, I had only to follow her.
I followed her to a wooden door – no glass panes to see through inside – with a small plaque that read “subconscious” on the front. (I recognised this door and have seen it in dreams before – see below.)
I followed her through the door and my dream changed, I felt as though I were under hypnosis. All my emotions were heightened, the dream became very colourful. I also know that when I go into this dream state (as I have before) I cannot be woken; this has scared my mother more than once!
Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn's ghost
The room was filled with hundreds of people, almost like shades. They were entirely grey – even their skin and hair – and wearing Tudor dress. “Kat” faded away and a woman stood in front of me – tall, slender, and with a certain quality of independence about her. I recognised her at once as Anne Boleyn. I said something – I don’t know what – and she replied, “Tonight is my birth night.” Then she faded away.
I left the room (the dream became normal again) and suddenly I was able to wake up. (When I woke, I was told that my mother had been trying to wake me for several minutes, but I wouldn’t wake until I had left the dream-room.)
I would be tempted to dismiss this as a (rather cool) dream, if it weren’t for the door marked “subconscious”. I have seen this twice in a dream before, once when someone told me that my dog had gone missing and I would never find her again and once when my mother (in a dream) came up and told me that she was very ill, and would be in hospital for a few days.
On both occasions, I have woken up to find that these things were true.
I’m not sure I believe in premonitions, but these experiences have certainly spooked me.
Was that night (10th-11th November) Anne’s birthday?
Wow! interesting stuff!
To reply to those interested comments on Facebook – Anne’s face, to me, was probably closest to this portrait: http://tudorhistory.org/boleyn/anneboleyn3.jpg
Her hair – a dark chestnut colour – flowed to waist length, and was slightly wavy. Her eyes were black and sharp, as though trying to convey a message. Her skin was lightly tanned and she had high, defined cheekbones. I don’t remember much more than that though – sorry!
Nobody really knows her date of birth.
I have a few questions about the dream though. When you woke, did you have a feeling about what it meant? Just the first feelings. Something you understood when you woke, but couldn’t accept afterward?
There is also something not clear about the dream. Your Anne Boleyn was in the same room as the grey Tudor-dreamfigures, but she wasn’t grey at all?
If the two dreams before where you went to the sub-room became reality, was there a child born in that night? (in your family or neighbourhood)?