Old dream: Lionheart

This dream started in the living room of a house. The decor was very dark (lots of black and grey). I was at what looked like a house party, and appeared to be the oldest one there (everyone else was around 17-18). I was chatting to a nice girl to my right and turned my back to briefly address someone else, but by the time I'd turned back to the girl, she was already talking to somebody else! Suddenly, most of the people in the room vanished, leaving me with a couple of miscellaneous stragglers. I was annoyed and frustrated that my chance with the girl had been spoiled and now wanted something else to do, so I wandered out of the room and into the hallway.

Heading left down the hall lead to the kitchen and to the right, the front door which was opposite a set of stairs. I heard excited voices upstairs and started to make my way up, only to be met by a pot bellied man in his late forties. He was grey and balding, had an unhealthy complexion and wore a dingy string vest. He never spoke, but I knew he was the "man of the house" and father of whoever it was that had thrown this party. Obviously, he didn't want me going upstaris so he blocked my path, so I turned and went the other way, only for him to slowly saunter after me brandishing a magnum pistol.

The next thing I know, the house disappeared and I was in a grassy woodland area, and the same guy was joined by about 4 others just like him all of whom were also armed. They were all hiding behind trees and rocks and started shooting at me, so I got on my belly and crawled the other way to avoid getting hit. I then suddenly turned into a lion and ran up a hill that was in front of me. On the other side of the hill was a swimming pool with lots of random people of mixed ages standing around - another party. However, because I was a lion, people were scared when they saw me and started running away. I also felt compelled to devour people, but I was still mindful of my previous humanity and held back those instincts.

I was running around in lion form for what seemed like ages when I noticed someone by the pool standing with a small group who just stood out. Ethnically, he was what you might describe as a light skinned black man, he wore a grey hooded cloak and had what I can only describe as incredibly intense brown eyes that were bright in a manner that was truly unearthly. As soon as I saw him, I instantly KNEW I'd encountered him before in other dreams that I'd forgotten about. He looked straight at me and said something like "You know why I've come - to tell you the other is here!". Now, not only did I recognise him from other dreams, I also had a feeling that despite the weird vibe he gave off, he was actually here to help me. I also felt that he wasn't really human (it's difficult to explain how , but I did). In lion form, I approached him, stood up on my hind legs, and placed my paws on his chest.

I then said "I'm not scared of you", to which he replied with "I think you are" and we started to out-stare each other. As before, his eyes were very intense and he gave off an aura that suggested he (or it) was incredibly powerful and not someone you'd want as an enemy.

I then said "I'm not, because I know who you are!". He then shot me a look somewhere between incredulity and amusement - a look which said "Who do you think you're talking to!?". I started to answer his question with "You are..." then I woke up.

This dream unnerved me because of that mysterious man. Like I said, I KNOW he's been in other dreams I've had, even though I've forgotten, and it was the eyes and the weird vibe that triggered the recollection. As I slowly returned to full consciousness awareness, I was left wondering who, or what he was...

UPDATE: I've been reading a lot on dream symbolism, reincarnation (of which I am a believer), near death experiences and other paranormal phenomena of late. Something I came across in my readings was the concept of Oversouls, beings placed in our lives as guardian spirits that oversee our development. After some consideration, I am convinced with absolute certainty that this being was an Oversoul of mine. As stated above, I felt as though he knew me very well and was trying to help me. I also knew that I couldn't mess with him.

The day before I had this dream, I was actually feeling very very low for reasons I do not intend to write here. I was so low in fact that I actually contemplated taking my own life (something that had been on my mind a for a few days). That evening, I was invited out by a friend for her birthday. We were accompanied by some people I didn't get on with and one of those people spitefully put a spanner in the works when she saw me chatting up another girl with whom I was getting on well. She leaned over and whispered something in her ear and the girl never spoke to me again for the rest of the night. After the way I was already feeling, this was like the final nail in the coffin. I think that explains the incident at the house party. I was of course pretty mad about this, but I bit my tongue even though I wanted to tear this individual a new one and tell her what I really thought about her, which may explain the part in the dream with the lion and its desire to devour the party goers (in other words, me controlling my "beastly nature").

I am certain I saw this Oversoul because of how I was feeling I and he was there to encourage me to persevere. The appearance of this being shocked me so much, that my dark thoughts slowly dissipated after that.