Most dreams are born of the subconscious.
Even the Bible indicates this in passages like Isaiah 29:8 ("as when a hungry man dreams of eating, but awakens hungry still, and as when a thirsty man dreams of drinking, but awakens faint and thirsty still. So will it be with the nations that fight against Jerusalem.")
But God does sometimes speak to people in dreams.
And when He does, He sometimes uses symbols.
As He did here, when He sent these dreams to Jacob's son Joseph.
"Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. So he said to them, 'Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding bundles of wheat in the field. Then behold, my bundle arose and stood upright; and your bundles stood around and bowed down to my bundle.' And his brothers said to him, 'Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?' So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, 'Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.' So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, 'What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” (Genesis 37: 5-10.)
In these God-sent dreams, bundles of wheat, sun, moon, and stars are used as symbols.
This brings me to a dream I had, and subsequent experiences.
After my mom died, I dreamed of a purple butterfly.
Purple was my mom's favorite color, but I didn't know what this dream meant (if anything.)
Then a Greek Orthodox priest I knew told me that the butterfly is an ancient symbol of the resurrection--because it starts out as a caterpillar, and emerges from the cocoon (a type of the grave) as a butterfly.
After that I had a dream I barely remember, because it really puzzled me, and pushed it out of my mind.
But it had to do with artificial, mechanical butterflies.
Then when dad died (almost five years later), I was deeply depressed, walking through a grassy field with my head hung low, and I saw a tiny (almost translucent) purple butterfly landed on the grass next to my right foot. I immediately thought, "that's nice, but (if it really is a symbol of a glorious resurrection) what I really want right now is to saee two of them. Right at that moment, another one of these nearly translucent purple butterflies came and landed tight next to the first one (on the grass in front of my right foot.) I stood there looking at them, and they stayed there while I did.
Then they left, and I continued walking home (and feeling better.)
But recently I've been struggling with doubts, and asking God to send my some confirmation that these were a sign from Him that my beloved mother and father were alright.
And now I think I even understand the dream about the mechanical butterflies.
After I prayed recently (asking God for confirmation that the purple butterfly I saw in the dream, and the two I saw later, really were a sign from Him), Wendy Kay Burnfield (who had no way of knowing any of this) sent me the following video.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1MYRf8Pg3b/
In this video (sent from out of the blue, from someone who could not have known what it would mean to me) there are two purple butterflies. Mechanical purple butterflies. Confirming to me the Divine nature of the first dream I had, and the subsequent experience of seeing those two purple butterflies. And also explaining the second dream I had forgotten (where I saw mechanical butterflies.)
To me, this was a timely answer to prayer. And a confirmation of God’s existence, and His love, and the safety of two people I love.
God bless you all,
Michael Burke