I had attended some kind of elaborate world political event at Buckingham Palace with my family. I was standing in a room on an upper floor with large floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over an ornate garden where various world political figures were observing the Queen of England giving an important speech. After the speech was over, the world leaders who had been in the garden were coming inside Buckingham Palace and they were walking through the room where we had been watching the speech. At first, my mom chased down the Queen, who was wearing a purple dress, and was able to have a picture taken with her. I was so excited by her having done this, thinking how cool it would be to have a picture with the Queen. After everyone was gone, I found myself alone in the large room. I saw Obama, dressed in a white shirt and tie with black pants and shoes, come through a side door with his entourage and I yelled out “Mr. Obama, can I have my picture taken with you?” I was really nervous at first because I was not sure if I would be allowed to take the picture with Obama due to the secret service personnel. He told them to go away and come back later and he said he would be more than happy to take a photo with me. At that point, I felt thrilled to be able to do this. I was having trouble with the digital camera, so Obama took a look at it and he was able to get it working! We took several photos and eventually Obama began making silly faces at the camera as we took photos! He began to act goofy, just like we were best friends hanging out. At one point, Obama began to break dance and he allowed me to take pictures of him while he was dancing. We talked for a long time and I felt so excited to be hanging out with the President of the United States. Eventually, Obama said he was really disappointed that he had to go, but he said if he didn’t, the Secret Service would be angry with him, and then I woke up.

From a 26-year old U.S. History teacher in Tennessee, July 18, 2010

The dreamer enjoyed the dream and said, “I felt really happy to have had such a cool experience, even though it wasn’t real.”  A liberal Democrat male, he thought the dream had somewhat changed his view of the President:  “It made me see Obama more as a human being or ‘average guy.’”

The Queen of England’s recent visit to the US, where she spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on July 6, very likely influenced the setting of this dream.  The symbolic grandeur of a true Queen speaking to the United Nations, the embodiment of an ideal global community, certainly provides potent raw material for the dreaming imagination.  We might expect a teacher of U.S. History to be especially sensitive to the impact of such momentous events.

Obama’s friendly presence in the dream suggests that he may, at one level, represent for the dreamer a personal sense of connection to that collective realm of political idealism.  The playful, surprisingly competent figure of Obama mediates between the dreamer’s individual reality and an idealized collective reality.  Obama is the President of the US and the most powerful man in the world, but he is also a goofy dancer who’s an average guy just like the dreamer.

I dreamed that I was in some kind of hotel in some kind of social event and that Obama and I knew each other. He made arrangements to meet me in a hotel room where we spend a nice romantic night and he gave this beautiful Orange/Red $700 dress for me to wear the next day. He treated me like a gentleman and was sure that i was taken care of all along. He asker me several times not to be upset at him and to please understand him. The next day we showered together and used different doors to leave the suite. It felt as If we both knew this was an affair. I remember thinking to myself how bad it was for me to be doing this and i was also preparing to the karma that being with a married man will bring to my life. The dream ended when we bumped each other in the middle of the crowd and he gave me instructions on where to meet him next.

From a 30-year old woman in Florida, June 5, 2010

The dreamer, a liberal Democrat who works in accounting, said her feelings about the Gulf oil spill may be a factor in this dream:

“Despite the fact that I was a huge fan and voted for Barack Obama for president, I have been VERY VERY dissapointed by the President’s response to the oil leak catastrophe in the Gulf.  I have cried in silence and I feel a personal dissapointment so I have no clue if this has something to do with my dream last night.”

She said the dream has “not really” influenced her view of Obama: “I am still mad at him.”

Interesting, then, that the dream presents a secret relationship of shared intimacy with Obama, quite the opposite of her waking-life feelings.

It’s tempting to see this as a conscious/unconscious split.  The woman may say she’s mad at Obama, but really, in the secret recesses of her unconscious, she remains attached to him, even though she has a sense within the dream that it’s a morally questionable relationship.  This would be a Freudian kind of interpretation.

Alternatively, she may consciously recognize the complexity of her feelings about Obama, and the dream presents a positive portrait of the President to compensate emotionally for the anger that currently dominates her waking views of him.   This would be a more Jungian kind of interpretation.

Both perspectives probably carry some truth, though only the dreamer could say for sure. 

I would be curious to know more about the dreamer’s associations to the line about the karma of being with a married man.  There may be a metaphorical dimension to this notion that has more to do with the dreamer’s personal life than with her political views.

From a Republican businesswoman in Washington state, in February of 2009.

The dreamer describes herself as follows: “I’m a single woman and own my own thriving business. I have been a self-employed business owner over 25-years. While I voted for John McCain, in my heart of hearts, I always felt Barack would be the better president. I’m also a sucker for the underdog. When I voted in Seattle on election day, the presidency was pretty much called by the time I went to cast my vote. I pondered. I figured I’ll vote for the underdog–the guy who ISN’T going to win. I actually was starting to feel sorry for McCain. I always liked McCain’s policies for entrepreneurs like myself—so it wasn’t all out of pity that I voted for him. But my admiration shined for Barack. I was so proud to see him accept the nomination in Grant Park–where I used to live across the street for over 10-years! I cried. I wished I was back in Chicago!”

From a 66-year old woman in New Mexico “who is interested in being a “good” person and always trying to become better – i philosophize and meditate and hope for the best and try to create conciousness around me – that is awareness of the need for kindness and compassion for all living things.”  Reported in January of 2009.

Obama’s appeal to someone like this seems to be reflected in a feminizing dream that opens up an experience of pleasant intimacy but leads to possible danger and weakness, in tension with his need for official security.

From a 46-year old mother in New York City, in March of 2009.  She was a Hillary supporter during primaries and Barack supporter during the general election who spent time campaigning for him.

From a 34-year old stay-at-home mom in Portland, in March of 2008.

The mystical intimacy many people feel toward Obama makes some of them wonder, unconsciously at least, if there’s a sexual dimension to this attraction. 

People’s dreams of Bill Clinton during the 1990’s included numerous instances of flirting, romance, and sexual activity (a theme that appeared well before the Monica Lewinsky scandal).

It’s impossible to reach certain conclusions with such limited data, but people’s dreams of Barack Obama in the last two years seem to have a lower frequency of overtly sexual behavior compared to people’s dreams of President Clinton.  

We have gathered several sexual dreams about Obama, to be posted in coming weeks.  But as the dreamer points out, the attraction for many people is not romantic but something deeper and stronger.  Seeing Obama is “like seeing an old friend.” 

As will be found in future posts, several Obama dreams include his wife Michelle.  In this and many other reports, she appears as a formidable figure with a strong attachment to her husband.

 From a 24-year old female graduate student in Oakland, California, in the summer of 2008.

From a 28-year-old graduate student in New York, in September 2008.

From a mid-40’s woman in September, 2008.

            Chris Matthews, MSNBC, 2-5-08

            Obama Is NOT My Messiah

                                                                                 (popular conservative bumper sticker)

             The public projections onto Obama have focused with special intensity on his religious background, which by any measure is complex and unorthodox.  He is by far the most religiously unusual President in US history.

             Obama was primarily raised by his mother, an anthropologist and unchurched spiritual seeker, and her parents, who were nominally Protestant Christians but never attended church.  Exposed early in life to Islam while living in Indonesia, several of his paternal relatives were Muslim converts.  Obama had no explicit religious faith in his adolescence, but he does describe a spiritual change in his late teens when he quits drugs and begins a new regime of physical health and mental focus, which included fasting every Sunday. 

When he began his community organizing work in Chicago he quickly realized the power of the city’s black churches.  Soon thereafter he became a Christian himself and joined one of those churches—Trinity, a member of the relatively liberal (and historically white) United Church of Christ denomination.  In his writings Obama says his religious doubts did not disappear after his conversion to Christianity, and he continues to see his life as an unfolding process of spiritual development.   

            For some people this background puts Obama so far out of the American religious mainstream that he can never be trusted. 

             For others, Obama’s lifelong spiritual journey mirrors important aspects of their own journeys of faith, doubt, and self-discovery in service to others.    

             The passions Obama has aroused in millions of people in the US and around the world reflect real spiritual energy, the kind associated with gurus, prophets, and shamans throughout history.  Obama rallies and speeches often have the qualities of a religious revival meeting, with him playing the role of the inspired preacher with divine oratorical gifts.  Several of the dreams on this website refer to the exhilarating experience of attending an Obama rally, sometimes with a skeptical eye—is Obama strong enough to channel the overwhelming spiritual yearnings he evokes in people?  Is he a heaven-sent savior or a false prophet?

             Fox news mocks him as “Obamessiah,” while his GenX supporters refer to him, with only partial irony, as “The One.” 

             Obama’s mixed religious background contributed to the “perfect storm” of his election.  In the 2006 and 2008 national elections the “religion gap” that used to favor the Republicans over the Democrats has been shrinking, while a “non-religious gap” has been widening, to the benefit of Democrats, as increasing numbers of Americans describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, or “unaffiliated” to any church tradition.  Obama has benefited from both of these trends, appealing strongly to black and liberal white Christians while also attracting the rising population of non-church goers and secular humanists. 

             Once again, a perceived weakness of Obama’s (his religious exoticism) becomes a source of his political strength and success.

            Many of the rockiest moments in Obama’s political journey have revolved around religion.  These include:

             The Reverend Wright controversy

            The SF comments about “bitter” Americans who “cling to religion”

            The invitation of the Rev. Rick Warren to the Inauguration

            The minimal presidential acknowledgment of National Prayer Day (5-7-09)

             In each case Obama faced sharp criticism over his beliefs about religion.  Yet in each case he has responded by sharing a perspective on personal spirituality and the public role of religion that actually resonates very strongly with the core principles of America’s “civic religion” (as described in Robert Bellah’s classic sociological work). 

        Obama is not a mystic, but he evokes the mystical in his followers.  Many of their dreams have remarkably positive content, with the characteristic patterns researchers have found to be associated with mystical dreams, including supernatural characters, friendly social interactions, happy emotions, good fortunes, and magical events. 

             In several dreams he gives people guidance in ways that resonate with a deeper mythic sense of life as a journey.  Obama appears to offer advice, guidance, and comfort.  His suggestions are not always taken, but he nevertheless leaves a lasting impression. 

            In waking and in dreaming Obama appeals to people as a spiritual seeker like themselves, someone who is uncomfortable with any one creed and feels religion means more than any church can encompass.  Obama has doubts and uncertainties, but also inspiring visions of a better life for all. At this level he emerges as the newest voice of a deeply-rooted American Transcendentalism, where an active moral conscience and a mystical yearning join creative forces.