Dreams of Death, Dying, and the Departed

In a recent post on Facebook, my niece expressed sadness over the death of her best friend. This caused me to reflect on death and consider doing a post about dreams and death. The past few years we have all seen more deaths than normal because of Covid-19, so I thought such a post would be relevant to many. I have posted about death in the past, but often only the most recent posts are noticed so I am posting about it again in relation to dreams. A physical death is something we must all face, and I believe the fear that many people have of death is misplaced. I hope this post helps alleviate that fear.

 

Dreams of death are common, but they usually do not mean a physical death will occur. They are symbolic of a death of something else such as a habit, belief, or behavior. However, dreams that foreshadow a physical death of yourself or someone else do occur, although the dream may appear to be about something else entirely.

 

What if you dream about your death or the death of a family member, close friend, or just someone in the news? You don’t need to panic because the dream is probably not about a physical death. As an example, I once dreamed that I was by a graveside watching the casket of my mother being lowered into a grave. My mother did not die. In fact, she lived another twenty years. At that point in my life, I had been indulging in pastries and other sweets, but had recently completely changed my diet and given up all desserts. My mother was a cook and among the family members well known for her pies and cakes, which I strongly associated with her. The death of my mother in the dream symbolized the death of something I associated with her, which was the presence of pastries in my life.

 

If a dream about the death of someone is not literal, then how is an actual death shown in a dream. There are many ways, and I have experienced several common ones. Once I dreamed that I saw a family member and a large clock. The minute hand moved a short distance and stopped. I instantly knew that the person was not going to live much longer. Within a few months after the dream, they were diagnosed with terminal cancer and did not live much longer.

 

Another time I dreamed that I saw an old woman dressed in black. She asked me something that was family related, which I answered as best I could. She then floated upwards into the sky. Several days later I learned that she had died the day of my dream.

 

In still another variation, I found myself on a train. The train car was empty except for two men, one of whom I knew from work as a coworker and friend. They did not seem to be aware of my presence. The coworker had been ill for some time, and I learned the next day that he had died. In the dream the other man asked him for his birth date, which he gave. Then the other man related his birth date. They both seemed aware that they were going off to a new unknown destination.

 

Many years ago, I had an office off a main walkway. A man who was a supervisor in manufacturing would often pass by, and sometimes he would stop to chat. One day he stopped to tell me about a dream he had the previous night. He was not aware of my interest in dreams; I think he just felt the need to tell someone. He had been experiencing some health issues for several months and was having trouble getting a medical diagnosis. In the dream, he was walking up a spiral staircase to a higher level. He asked me what I thought it meant. I did not give him an interpretation but felt that he knew. Within a few months he passed away.

 

I am reminded of a story that Hugh Lynn Cayce, the son of Edgar Cayce, told at a lecture he gave that included a discussion of dreams. He said that when he was a teenager he had a friend with a car that they used to cruise around the area where they lived. One evening his friend wanted to drive around, but Hugh Lynn said he was tired and decided to go home and turn in for the night. In the middle of the night, he was awakened by a dream in which his friend’s hand came down from a cloud reaching for him. His friend wanted Hugh Lynn to join him, and said it is great where he was. Of course, Hugh Lynn said he was in bed and wasn’t going anywhere. The next day Hugh Lynn learned that his friend had been killed in an auto accident after he left him and went home.

 

Many people wonder if life after our physical death exists. Although I cannot give you proof that scientists will accept, I believe you can answer that question for yourself to your satisfaction through dreams. You must be careful though in your interpretation of dreams. Just because you dream of an encounter with someone who has died does not mean you are meeting that person in your dream. In fact, most likely you are not. That person my be used by the dream to symbolize what that person represented to you while alive. In your daily life, you may soon encounter, or have recently encountered, someone who you associate with the departed person. As an example, you may unexpectedly receive a call from someone you have not heard from in a long time. The previous night you may have had a dream in which you received a telephone call from someone who has died who reminds you of the person who called.

 

However, I do believe there are certain times when you will encounter the spirit of the person who has passed over. As described in my examples, you may encounter that person right after they pass over. If you have a close bond with someone, you may encounter them in a dream. I have met my mother a few times in dreams that I thought represented actual encounters. Once was shortly after her death and over the years a few times in her current environment. Others, such as my father who died when I was a young child, I have never encountered. I have two brothers who have passed. One I observed in a dream soon after his death as he was making the transition to a new existence. The other one has never appeared in my dreams.

 

As a final comment, I want to point out that there is no evidence to suggest that people suddenly become wise and all knowing after death. New age literature suggests the opposite: people continue to learn and evolve. Psychics who claim contact with the departed report that many of them are confused about their state and are no wiser than when they were alive. They may have a different view from the one they had on Earth, but their struggles and mental problems do not suddenly vanish.

 

I make many journeys in my dreams. Sometimes I have encountered people from my past who have passed over, but the encounter is very brief. There is an acknowledgement of meeting on both our parts, and I move on. Again, the encounters are more common when someone has just passed. And often I am not aware of their passing when I have the dream. It is later that I learn of their death.