Death is a very mysterious subject for most people. To dream of death would be the mystery of mystery. Although death can be thought of essentially as a symbol of transformation, whenever we encounter it, the lack of guarantees and certainties destabilizes the ego. Thus, we are forced to search for some meaning, some reference that balances our anxiety and fear.

To understand the meaning of dreaming of death, it is also necessary to understand the place from which the dreamer starts to explain and understand death, whether it is related to religion or not. There are those who believe in eternal life, others believe in reincarnation, or even that nothing happens and that we simply cease to exist.

For this reason, it is also essential to know how the dreamer deals with death, and thus we can better understand what dreaming about death means for each person.

Since dreams can be a channel of communication with oneself, a form of self-knowledge, let's understand better about the symbol and what it means to dream of death in different contexts.

In this article we will deal only with the death of people. Dreaming about someone who has already died, or dreaming about a dead person being alive, for example, have very different affective weights.

To dream of death: is it a sign of something bad?

What does it mean to dream of someone who has died, to dream of the death of a friend, to dream of a dead sibling, or to dream of a dead relative? Is it a good or a bad sign? To find out the answer, it is important to explore what representation these people have to the dreamer.

We should probe quite sincerely what characteristics of that person have marked the dreamer and in what way they have affected him.

This exercise can be done with people who have marked the dreamer's life in both negative and positive ways, since it is not a rule that dreaming of a loved one implies a "positive" dream - nor the opposite.

Dreams about dead public figures, be they singers, actors, politicians, spiritual leaders, among other personalities, can also be thought of according to the exercise proposed above. However, one has to consider the collective value of that figure, that is, its collective representation, even if opposed to that of the dreamer.

What does it mean to dream of death?

At each great experience - not necessarily concrete, but mainly emotional - the human being renews his existence and the meaning he attributes to it. But he is also confronted by the finitude of cycles, of attitudes and, in the case of death, the finitude of the body.

As Jung wisely explains, symbols related to the individuation process (self-knowledge) can be symbols of death.

In other words, dreams that bring symbols or content related to death, but which refer to profound changes in the dreamer's life, do not indicate concrete death.

Dreaming of death can happen in numerous circumstances in life, which are marked by profound transformations, such as:

• The transitions of stages of human development (childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age)
• Marriage and the birth of children
• A marital separation
• The abortion experience
• A very invasive surgery
• The end of a relationship
• The loss of a loved one or a pet
• A robbery
• An experience of abuse
• Each choice meaningful and relevant to our development, since when we choose something, in general, we are giving up some other possibility

This understanding is very important, because it helps us to distinguish when dreaming about death has a connection to life, and when the dream really suggests a concrete death. To do this, we must carefully pay attention to the totality of the dreamer and the reality that he experiences.

Can dreaming of death mean someone's death?

There are dreams that really seem to prepare the dreamer for death.

Important studies conducted through the analysis of dreams of terminally ill or very old patients have revealed that symbols emerge from the unconscious that prepare the dreamer for the dying process, and also abound in mythical symbols that clearly show the dreamer the continuity of consciousness in the afterlife.

Clocks that stop, trees that fall, crops that are trampled, some animal buried, and even some more obvious ones like passing through dark and narrow tunnels, the dreamer seeing himself healthy next to a sick body in a hospital bed, among countless others.

It is as if the unconscious understood and expressed through dreams that, just like the great transformations experienced in this existence, death is another moment of profound transformation within the process of consciousness development. The unconscious houses this human experience: the possible continuity of psychic life.

One cannot help but pay attention, although not in detail, to the religious beliefs of the dreamer in order to understand the fact of dreaming about death.

The various religions deal with death under different approaches and from different premises, often even opposite to each other, such as beliefs that accept reincarnation and beliefs that accept the process of resurrection and eternal life after death.

The social role of religions has always been to weave a thread of meaning into death, but this path has not always been sufficient or satisfactory.

There is a lot of death going on around us. The big problem is that we have never been taught to talk about death, to think about and use certain death as the meaning of life.

We learn to fear death, to cling to our body, which is often directed by social conventions that don't make much sense to us.

How to understand the meaning of dreaming of death

Obviously younger people die, and there are dreams that might worry an analyst-for example, dreaming of a dead child.

We experience death subjectively, and indeed, aspects in us as well as plans and ideas die daily, but in some circumstances one has to be careful.

Often death dreams - whether of our own death or of other people - are accompanied by important religious symbols that will vary, in most cases, according to the dreamer's belief. And this makes the dream again very unique, and necessarily needs to be contextualized.

Therefore, if you had a dream about death, it is important to pay attention to all these details and try to contextualize them with your reality.

In this sense, consultation with a psychologist who specializes in dream interpretation can help you to understand more deeply the messages that your unconscious is sending.

Some questions that you can ask yourself can help in this process of understanding the dream's symbolism, facilitating self-reflection and stimulating associations with what you live in everyday life or with situations that you have already experienced. And, above all, to take the interpretation to reality and be able to take some action.

STEP ONE: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ABOUT THE DREAM

• Who was the person in the dream and what did they represent to the dreamer?
• What are the dreamer's interactions with the person in the dream?
• What are the circumstances in which this person appears in the dream, what is the setting?
• Is there a sense that the dead person would still be alive, or is one aware in the dream that he or she is already gone?
• Is the person who appears dead in the dream alive in conscious life?
• Are there dialogues with this person and what do they say?
• What feelings come from the contact with this internal character?
• What does the death of this person remind the dreamer of?

STEP TWO: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR REAL LIFE

• What needs to be transformed in me?
• Is there anything I need to say goodbye to and let go of?
• What in me is difficult to handle and look at?
• What aspects of myself do I find difficult to transform?
• What is dead in me?
• What needs to die and what should remain in my personality?
• What needs to be reviewed so that I can proceed in peace?
• Am I putting too much energy into things that destroy me believing they are good for me?
• What in the collective affects me and asks me for personal transformation?
• How does the collective interfere in my life?
• How do I understand death and what meaning do I give to life?

To dream of death and its possible meanings

The meaning of dreaming of death depends on the context and what happens in the dream. The dream does not necessarily mean someone's death, in fact, premonitory dreams are rare, but they can be the amplification of something that is happening in your life.

Below, see some of the main explanations of what it is to dream of death.

To dream of the death of a friend or to dream of a dead relative

What it means to dream about someone who has already died, when that person is a friend, relative or loved one who has already passed away, may be an unconscious way of satisfying a need for contact with that person, considering the compensatory function of dreams.

To dream of the dead, in general, especially when loved ones who have passed away appear to the dreamer to tell them that they are well, to bring some specific message, or even to say nothing, but to be present there with the dreamer, brings encouragement.

Certainly,the opposite is possible, the dream puts the dreamer in deeper contact with his sadness and grief.

To dream of the death of someone you don't like

Dreaming about the death of someone with whom you had difficulties in your relationship may indicate just that part in our psyche that we don't deal with or understand very well. It may indicate a need to look at those issues and transform them in yourself.

It is worthwhile for the dreamer, when identifying the characteristics of the character in the dream, to ask himself at what moments or situations in his life he has acted in a similar way.

I have heard dreams in which the image of the deceased, despite being very dear to us, directed the dreamer to complicated and destructive situations. This may indicate that what we fully trust may be doing us harm, boycotting us, or simply hindering our individual development.

To dream that someone who has already died is alive

There are dreams in which the deceased person is perceived as still alive, still present. There is no awareness in the dream that he or she has left. This may indicate a certain attachment and difficulty letting go.

Or it may indicate that certain aspects of the psyche may be "dead" in the concrete life, but continue to exist within the dreamer.

To dream of a dead person who is alive

To dream of a dead person who is alive, but who appears as dead in the dream, makes one reflect on what aspects are dying in us, or what of that person in us is dying.

Again, dreaming of dead people requires thinking about the representation of these people to understand the symbol of the unconscious.

To dream of the death of famous people

Dreaming of dead people when it comes to public figures requires consideration of the collective factor.

That is, dreaming of a personality that has a negative representation for the dreamer, but collectively positive, may indicate a conflicting relationship with the dreamer's collective and internal values.

Once there is an alignment between the collective and what the dreamer thinks about that person, we can start searching for how this interaction of collective and personal values affect, interfere with, or help the personal development of the dreamer.

Everything will depend on the character chosen by the unconscious.