Having dreams about the dead

amother

Sun, Aug 03 2014, 10:58 am

I often have dreams about my grandmother who was niftar quite a few years ago with whom I was immeasurably close. In my dreams we are usually doing something insignificant like sitting and chatting and I am well aware of the fact that she is really dead-sometimes I try asking her questions about the beyond like "are you with grandpa now" but she doesnt answer as if to say it's not something I'm supposed to know now.

My question is, is there any significance to dreaming about dead people? Or is it just a manifestation of my subconscious like all my other weird dreams

I once asked my rav-he said there's no significance but I'm sure if I asked a kabbalist or something he would say different.

AlwaysThinking

Sun, Aug 03 2014, 11:25 am

I don't know but I always dream about my mom - and she's always angry or acting crazy like she did right at the end because of the pain relief medication she was on... never the fun loving, beautiful mother I spent the first 18 years of my life with! And I'm always confused in the dream, thinking 'why is she alive again? I thought they buried her, now she's alive? Is she still sick? Will I have to go through this again - the death, funeral and shiva?' It's really strange, and I also wonder if it has meaning, but I assume not.

amother

Sun, Aug 03 2014, 12:33 pm

I think you should trust your heart. If you feel that it is real, it probably is. I know my father had several dreams of his father after he passed away, and years later, one of his mother after she passed away. His father would appear with a radiant face, and his mother looked young and calm, much unlike her final years. Each dream was different, but they were all very comforting in some way. During all of them he knew that they had already passed away and he felt very deeply that the experience was real.

As for the pp who wrote about dreams where her mother is "always angry or acting crazy," I think it's self understood that such a dream is simply a way for her subconscious to work through the trauma or pain or memories of that difficult period. I highly doubt she woke up from those feeling that this was in any way a real experience of reconnecting with her mother on the other side.

amother

Sun, Aug 03 2014, 1:37 pm

Riff wrote:

My mother's been gone for almost 35 years and I have yet to have a normal dream about her. Truth is, she seldom features in my dreams but when she does it is very disturbing and confusing, like you describe. I do not attribute any spiritual significance to these dreams. I'm just happy they are so rare because they are in no way comforting. They're creepy and unsettling.

Scrabble123

Sun, Aug 03 2014, 1:41 pm

I was also immeasurably close with my grandmother, who was niftar 8 years ago. It was an extremely difficult situation on so many fronts. I dream about her as well as other deceased family members often, not every night, but quite often. The dreams are in no way scary, and I enjoy them when I am dreaming them, but when I wake up I always feel disturbed about it. I do not attached any significance to the dreams, but if I am very bothered I will light a candle l'ili nishmas the person.

amother

Sun, Aug 03 2014, 8:31 pm

I never had a dream about my grandmother but sometimes out of the blue my house smells like corn muffins, or mothballs, two swmells I associate strongly. Whenever it happpens I feel very at ppeace, and likeshe is letting me know she is with me.

sushi galore

Sun, Aug 03 2014, 8:50 pm

I dreamt of my dear grandmother o"h a day after she passed away. I was extremely close to her and her passing was very hard on me....I remember seeing her in her favorite Shabbos attire smiling and happy and I grabbed her hand asking her where she went, why she left us alone.....
The next day I repeated this to an aunt of mine who said I should never have grabbed her hand...we may not do so...but her shabbos attire and happy face meant she is happy up there and is in her Best place.
I usually dream of my grandparents just before I find out I'm pregnant..of my grandfather when I have a girl and my grandmother when I have a boy.
I once heard that dreaming about them means they paid you a visit..... Smile