VISITATION DREAMS

A visitation dream: when a deceased visits ones dream. 

Psychologists describe visitation dreams to have a hyper-real intensity and believe that such dreams help with the grieving process and can encourage a wider spiritual perspective. A lot of people who have experienced visitation dreams describe the deceased to appear younger and healthier than when they passed. (McNamara, 2011) The deceased is often someone that the dreamer knows who has recently passed but can also appear decades after their passing. Some believe that the deceased visits for a few reasons. (OMtimes Magazine, 2013) 

To comfort the sleeper, to provide guidance. 

They are looking for forgiveness in order to move on. 

They want share a message or a warning.

Spirits in dreams can appear loving and kind with an angelic glow or less commonly, can appear as dark threatening entities.

Tim Walker for Vogue Italia, March 2011

Spirits and Dreams


In older times, a preferred method of contact with the departed is through dreams and hypnagogic visions. Historically speaking, dreams of the dead are some of the earliest transcribed accounts of dream life. Aristotle mentions that the characters seen in dream imagery actually seem to be the spirits of the departed. Citing Ancient China and Egypt, as well as other contemporary indigenous cultures; dreams have been noted as a natural place for the deceased to contact the living. Perhaps, dreams take place in the underworld of our minds. Cognitively speaking, themes of mortality, depression and sickness outnumber themes of happiness and bliss. One recent dream research study found that the longer a dream narrative is, the more negative in theme and emotional content it becomes. Some theories go on to suggest that visitation dreams prove the existence of an after-life, or the possibility of soul travel. (Hurd, 2009)

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Hurd, R, 2009. When the veil between worlds is thin. Dream Studies Portal. Available: http://dreamstudies.org/2009/10/29/visitation-dreams-when-the-veil-between-worlds-is-thin/ 

McNamara P, 2011. Visitation Dreams, Psychology Today Available: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dream-catcher/201110/visitation-dreams

OMtimes Magazine, 2013. Dream Visitation: Why the deceased show up in your dream. Available: http://omtimes.com/2013/02/why-the-deceased-show-up-in-your-sleep/