Decoding Dreams of the Dead Through Science and Spirit

Death is a concept widely studied yet has no clear answer to it. We are always told that if someone is born, they also must die someday. Meanwhile, there are studies and countless research to know how to live forever and escape death. When one dies, they become a part of your memories and occur in your dreams. Memories, I understand are voluntary and conscious but what about dreams? what does it mean when you dream of someone who has died?

What are Dreams?

A dream is a collection of ideas, feelings, sensations, and images that come to mind while you sleep, especially if you are in the REM (rapid eye movement) stage. Many researchers have given different ways to interpret it, meanwhile, mythology gives it a whole new meaning. Hence, this article will be divided accordingly.

Read More: The 5 Stages of Sleep Cycle

Scientific Interpretation

Dreaming of someone who has died can evoke strong emotions, and its interpretation varies:

• Freudian Perspective: A reflection of unresolved grief or repressed feelings toward that person.
• Jungian Perspective: Dreaming of a deceased friend might represent your need to reconnect with qualities that friend embodied, such as courage or kindness.
• Grief and Mourning: Current research suggests that dream is a way for your subconscious to process the loss and cope with the absence.
• Cognitive Theory: Dreaming of a deceased person might simply be your mind reviewing past memories, replaying significant moments or conversations you had with them.
• Lucid dreaming: If you are aware that you are dreaming while seeing a deceased person, this could allow for conscious interaction. You might use the opportunity to have a conversation or resolve feelings of grief.
• Symbolic relationship: Dreaming of a deceased mentor could symbolize a time in your life when you felt guided or supported, reminding you to draw on those qualities in your current situation.
• Physiological explanation: You dream of a deceased person when you’re under stress, as your mind associates that person with comfort or stability.

For instance, following Ajay’s death in an aircraft accident, Karan (Siddharth) gets visions of his friend Ajay (Madhavan) in the 2006 film “Rang De Basanti.” In this case, DJ’s dream or vision of Ajay is a reflection of unresolved grief. It illustrates how experiencing dreams about the deceased can help the mind deal with the anguish and sadness following their death. Karan’s nightmares are thought to be a psychological interpretation of his unresolved grief at his friend’s passing, which he finds difficult to accept.

Religious Interpretation

Different religions have different interpretation of this phenomenon:

• Hindu Mythology: It can either be seen as a sign that they are reaching out, indicate unfinished karma, or indicate the ancestors are blessing you.
• In Islamic tradition: It can be seen as a communication from them, especially if they are seen in a state of peace or distress. They can even be seen as asking for prayers or for you to give charity on their behalf and a reflection on one’s actions and seek repentance.
• Christianity: It is considered to symbolize reassurance from the deceased, and a nudge to focus more on one’s faith or spiritual life.
• Buddhism: It may symbolize impermanence and the cycle of rebirth, reminding the dreamer of life’s fleeting nature.

Is there an Overlap?

However, even in this case, it is possible to find out that different aspects of the religious and scientific perceptions of dreams concerning the deceased are entirely different. Hypotheses drawn from science and theology imply that dreams of the dead may well be soothing, or at least offer persons exactly what they need. The two perspectives are that the two philosophies agree that dreaming about death is a profound experience related to the concept of growth and, therefore, such dreams are significant in the emotional lives of people.

The explanation from science is that the dreaming of a particular person is a signal you have to reconnect with several qualities or a memory connected to the individual. They may have more moral implications in religious frameworks: for instance, to dream about dead people may mean something different than it does when dreaming of animals. In Christianity, for instance, such dreams can be regarded as revelations or comfort from God. Notably, religious contexts and scientific views of both traditional and modern science also state that such dreams have curative qualities.

Dream analysis and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for example will study dreams about the deceased to assist people in their grieving and to bring healing. By this same yardstick, numerous religions have rituals or activities aimed at paying homage to the deceased or making it possible to speak with them to assist the dreamer arrive at closure. Interpreting dead people in one’s dreams has both scientific and religious explanations besides the various psychological and emotional implications.

Psychology asserts that such dreams might symbolize unresolved loss, ways the brain processes information, or the body’s response to stress. From a religious perspective, they might symbolise direction, divine revelation or an understanding of the ephemeral quality of life. It could be noted that although these views portray certain differences in explanation, both viewpoints share the concept of a rather significant link between these dreams and our emotions/psychological development.