Sacred Blood and Monarchy

E arly modern English dream books often discussed dreams about monarchs, both kings and queens. Andrew Seyton, the “celebrated seer of Cumberland,” suggested that if in a dream one saw the queen, one would soon find honor, joy, and prosperity. But Thomas Hill informed his readers that dreaming of a queen “signifies deceit to follow.” 1 The various ways that dreams about queens were interpreted in a century when women were actually ruling monarchs suggest loyalty to a specific ruling queen—Elizabeth—as well as a sense of insecurity brought about by woman’s rule, especially in a time of intense religious change. Historical records chronicle dreams both about and by queens of the time. We also have stories of queens’ dreams that may or may not have actually occurred but were repeated and used for a variety of political and religious agendas. If some dreams or reported dreams did suggest honor and joy, more were symptomatic of deep cultural, political, and religious divisions and anxiety. Dreaming about the ruler has not been limited to past times. From surveying approximately a thousand individuals about the current British monarchy, Brian Masters found that “quite often, the Queen and her family are the unwitting dramatis personae of the plays, masques, farces and dramas which we elaborate in the night.” Several hundred people were willing to share their dreams of the royal family with Masters, and he published them in a collection in 1972.