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“The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul”, Carl Jung, 1934.
Legitimately, dreams may be one of my favorite topics ever. In fact, I have put off writing this post because I have so much to say about dreams, there is a real chance I won’t be able to put my thoughts together on the subject. Consider yourself warned.
Personally, I put a lot of stock in my dreams. I am not ashamed to say I have made significant life decisions based solely on my dreams. If it weren’t for the visitations from dead people in my dreams, I may not have pursued my mediumship work. Without a doubt, I am not only a dream club member, but it’s possible I am on the imaginary board of directors.
There are so many different kinds of dreams: some present the mundane musings of the day that need working out, some are prophetic, still others may serve as visitations from the other side. Some reflect long hidden hurts we haven’t addressed; some reveal inner wisdom or gentle nudges from our higher self about next steps or coming changes we may be afraid to make and still others have us flying or traveling to places we have never been… in this lifetime anyway. I feel like Bubba from Forrest Gump over here – for the sake of brevity – like ways to prepare shrimp, there are lots and lots of kinds of dreams.
Since this is a blog about mediumship and spirit and not a psychology class,
I will limit my thoughts to dreams that stay on topic. (Sidebar, I love dream talk and if you ever want to chat about it, hit me up. I am here for all of it.)
First, the things I am going to share are my experiences and opinions. Your own intuition is your best guide for weeding through the wilderness of your dreams. There are truly no distinct rules.
Second, my brain has been likened to Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, so please bear in mind that I have some pretty weird dreams. I once had a dream that Danny Wegman took me on a tour of Wegman’s land wearing very bright red pants and it was amazing.
So now that we have level set, let’s get to it.
The number one question people ask me about is loved ones visiting in dreams. Is it real? Or just a dream? Again, defer to your own internal guidance on this one because truly, I do not know. That said, in my experience, a visitation is usually more distinct and memorable, a dream you can recall long after it occurred and often in vivid detail. Regular dreams might not include such detail or memorability.
For example, my dad passed away on Halloween in 2001 and I don’t think he really “visited” me until the following spring. He showed me images from a family vacation we had taken that winter from his vantage point. Scenes from the hotel, restaurants we ate in and more. He had been with us the whole time in varied places and what was even cooler, he had a rainbow over his shoulder in the dream. (If you haven’t read my earlier posts, the rainbow is a sign my dad sends me.) I can still picture these images in my mind almost 19 years later. What was even more remarkable, was that at the end of the dream, he got right in my face and pointed to my forehead that he was always with me, right there. That was something he did at the end of his life. I woke up in tears.
Which brings me to tears, not literally, but the topic. Anytime I wake up in tears, I take notice. Mostly because I am not much of a crier but also because any time I have had a truly prophetic dream or visitation, I usually wake up in tears. Again, grain of salt, if you cry during commercials maybe that isn’t a good litmus test for you. You are the best judge of your dream content.
To me, visitation dreams feel more real than the average dream. Shortly after my mom passed, I was napping and I had a dream that my mom was talking to me from some near but distant place. She sounded like she was next to me on the couch, I could feel her presence, she told me she was healing and didn’t have much energy to talk right now but that she would be back. Nearly two years later, and I can recall so much richness and imagery from that dream.
Once I developed my mediumship, I found that this is how some readings are: I can still picture some of the people who come to me and the images they have shown me.
Then there are the prophetic dreams, another hot topic people ask me about a lot. Unlike visitations, you will know in time if these are real or not. Again, tears for me are often a clue here, and I think the same rules apply with vividness and recall factor. I dreamt about both of my parents dying before they were even diagnosed with cancer. This begs the question of why. If I can’t intervene, why do I have these dreams? Again, pure speculation, but maybe we have these dreams to let us know that sometimes we truly can’t intervene, that we didn’t miss anything or “do enough” or any of the things that people kick themselves for after losing someone they love so much.
Recently, a family member recalled a dream of a funeral scene she had months before the sudden passing of her sister. She hadn’t known in the dream who died but could tell from the images it was a family member and the dream stuck with her even after her sister passed. My feeling is that this dream was meant to both prepare and comfort her in the knowledge this was out of her hands. There was nothing she could have done. Of course this provides little comfort in the here and now, but in time it can help with acceptance.
One of the wildest dreams I can recall was my dad, again visiting, but in the days just before my mom passed. He told me what day and time, and my brother who is very much alive, was also in the dream but was not listening. He was distracted, like he already knew what my dad was telling me. When I later mentioned this to my brother, he said my dad came to him the week before with same information. So, as predicted, he wasn’t listening because he already knew. My younger brother told us the same day that he had a similar dream. So, yes, it’s possible every other dream I have ever had was made up but I will fight you on this one. Not only was the date and time correct, we all heard the same message.
The other thing I hear a lot is that people don’t remember their dreams, is there anyway to make them more memorable? The short answer is YES. Before you go to sleep, set an intention to help remember your dreams. Whether you pray on it, create imagery where you remember or ask the universe or angels to help you, make it a pre-sleep habit. I also recommend a notebook or journal to write them down, next to your bed if you can. That not only sets the intention but helps with recall in that magical moment in between sleep and waking known as the hypnagogic state. That is the easiest dream recall moment for most people. This also happens to me if I wake up at 4 a.m. for the bathroom as I often do, so I will write stuff down then. Usually those are just quick notes at that time, but I will follow up with a full journal entry later in the day. Occasionally, I forget a dream until something in my day triggers recall or I may remember bits and pieces during meditation.
A journal for dreams is highly recommended. I have only been keeping one for about 3 years, but in that time, I have filled about six or seven journals. They are great for reviewing to see trends in thematic or recurring dreams, or to remember those magical glimpses that might slip your recall before very long. I have been able to follow and track thematic dream trends from beginning to end which helps me to figure out what those have been about. I am not sure if this is a technical category of dream, but I dream about ‘things” continually without them being specific recurring dreams where the same thing happens over and over. For example, a baby girl was a theme for a while, while pizza is a theme currently. I am still decoding the pizza theme but the baby girl theme definitely coincided with my mom’s passing. Like anything else, what you focus on expands so getting a journal and specifically making it about dreams is a sure-fire way to focus and expand your dream life.
Self-compassion is key here so don’t kick yourself if it doesn’t work right away. I am a dream nerd extraordinaire and some nights I don’t remember anything and other nights I only remember one significant dream. I also set an intention to help me remember those dreams that I really need to be aware of because I am a lazy journal keeper.
I have lots more to discuss about dreams so stay tuned for part 2. I will cover symbols and spirit animals, lucid dreaming and much more! If you have specific questions or topics you want covered, leave a comment or shoot me a text or dm.
Sweet dreams!
