Ok, I'm going to try this again. . .
Precognition... is highly misunderstood for the most part and due mainly to folklore, Hollywood, dime store novels and of course the public love affair when it comes to being in love with the fantasy of things "Psychic"/Magickle. . . and it really is a romance -- even skeptics have a deep inner-need (desire) to see it really proven, it's just human nature.
90+% of the time our dreams reveal ONLY subconscious perspectives pertaining to things its picked-up on through the day or past year or two for that matter; it is trying to help us be aware of issues in our own life and has no application towards others EXCEPT for how we treat and are perceived by others. The balancing factor is where we step to the other side of the proverbial veil; both, in the literal sense of "spirit world" type things, as well as the sense of things clairvoyant.
Prophecy, Premonitions, Hunches, etc. are 100% natural and for the most part, have a somewhat logical basis to them. . .
When we have a sudden urge or feeling it is the result of our intuition -- the culmination of personal study, discipline, life experience, sub-conscious observation, etc -- warning us that stuff is about to happen... that danger is right around the corner, etc. Sometimes this can show up as a visual "flash" (psychic impulse) sometimes it's in a dream, sometimes it can be triggered by some odd smell or image -- a Deja Vu moment!
In the 40ish years I've studied this stuff from both sides of the fence, I have to say that at least 93% of the time this is what's going on -- it's natural and there is no boogieman at the helm. I leave the door open however and for good reason; far too many incidents in which the same general "vision" is shared by "like minded" people (and even those far removed from all the psychic stuff. . . including now reformed skeptics).
In August 2001 I was invited to be a guest for KBZZ AM Radio in Reno, NV. for National Psychic Week. At the end of the interview the requisite question was asked, "Do you see anything dark and gloomy on the horizon?"
With a deep sigh I explained a dichotomy that was plaguing several area Readers, Shaman, etc. a vision of a fire and smoke filled sky, the ground shaking worse than any earthquake any of us had ever experienced. We knew that this would be a calamity unlike anything the world had seen in the past 1,000 years; that it would affect everyone and everything especially on the economic, social and political fronts. But here's where things get "human". . .
Skeptics complain about how vague psychic visions can be, the reason is actually more down to earth and honest than they're willing to admit; the fact that the information is being processed through our own subconscious mind that can only convey the information it wants to share with us via images and sensations we are already familiar with. This particular vision suggested a voluminous mass -- a "Mountain" for lack of a better term. So when you sense something of said density, size, mass along with seismic vibration, smoke, fire, etc. what is your first assumption?
That's right, Volcano!
When you reside in America's Northwest and more so, when you witnessed the devastation of St. Helen's back in the early 80's . . . well, you are going to ASSUME this kind of vision is a warning about a huge volcanic explosion that is going to take place in the Northwestern U.S. or Southwestern Canada, the most volcanic part of mainland U.S.A.
When asked when this event would take place my answer was, "Within the next four to six weeks"
Four weeks, almost to the hour, airliners crashed into the World Trade Center.
With the exception of the key things we consciously ASSUMED, every single point shared on that broadcast turned out to be 100% on the mark; the failure was on the human side of things and trying to look at these shared images "rationally".
BUT WHY DIDN'T YOU SHARE THIS KIND OF THING WITH THE AUTHORITIES? Screams the cynic in an arrogant tone.
Keep in mind that when this happened we had an idiot in office that ignored the warnings of two previous presidents (one was his daddy) as well as key intelligence reports warning that such a thing could happen. How do you think he'd respond to the hunch of a bunch of New Age hippies (which is how this good "christian" would view us. . . and with that part in place, we'd only know this if the devil told us, right?)
I share this for a couple of important reasons, the first of which is to reveal how difficult it is to interpret visions & dreams; even psychologist and other mental health experts get things "confused" and too, what may mean one thing in one nation/culture/region may means something entirely different elsewhere; look at how OBE's in Western/Christianized cultures give us JC or Lucifer while those in alternate cultures reveal the deities common to their understanding. The second reason I wanted to bring this up is to look at the issue of "Prophecy" in that most of it is personal, it is very rare that it entails something on a global scale such as this situation brings up. The post 9/11 situation revealed that spiritually attuned people all over the globe were having this same kind of vision and no, it is not coincidence or a bunch of fools trying to "cash in" on the events by making such a claim, there are safeguards against such in that there will always be that handful of wannabes that will do exactly what is assumed.
When prophecy of this sort happens. . . well, let's just say that it is less than .5% of the time, probably even less it's such a rare occurrence. On the other hand, a prophetic dream/vision that centers on say, members of your community, the gang at work, etc. While still rare, they are closer to how genuine prophecy happens; it is limited to a specific group or region and only for a determined period in time.
None of this should get confused with Divination or the kind of Visions one can have when enduring certain shamanic rites; most of which focus on the individual and his/her personal destiny, which is the ONLY THING we actually have power over in life.
NOW THAT I'VE CONFUSED YOU ALL. . . well, I hope not. . . but, I hope that what I've attempted to give you a condensed overview on will shine a bit better light on how it all works at the metaphysical level (boogieman free). There's a lot more to it than I've desire to write about, but this will hopefully give you a better picture to things.
OH! And NEVER trust those "Dream Books" that are out there. Most of them are very much dated and likewise host strong churchianity and Victorian perspectives that are not common in today's mode of things -- symbols and their meanings are fluid and must be viewed in context which, as I've hopefully shown, ain't an easy thing.