![\"dreaming](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/267\/2025\/07\/pexels-cottonbro-10034379.jpg\")
<\/a>Have you ever dreamed about friends or loved ones who have died?<\/strong><\/h3>\nLike me, you may dream about your deceased mother, your recently departed Uncle Pete, or a friend who left too soon. In my dreams, these people seem to pop up in odd and unexpected ways, sometimes as a leading figure, but other times part of the supporting cast. My father, who passed away five years ago, recently showed up at a beach party I was hosting.<\/p>\n
In the new memoir The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You<\/em>, the singer-songwriter Neko Case<\/a> writes about her hardscrabble upbringing (reminiscent of Jeanette Walls\u2019 The Glass Castle<\/em>) in the Pacific Northwest. But in one chapter she talks about her dreams, specifically ones where a recently departed friend or relative turns up, just to tell her they\u2019re okay.<\/p>\nIn one dream, Case receives a phone call from a recently departed friend. After telling her he was \u201cfine,\u201d she asks him, \u201cWhere<\/em> are you?\u201d His response: \u201cI\u2019m just a couple of dimensions over<\/a>, I\u2019ll be here for a little while.\u201d The friend says, \u201cI\u2019m looking out for you,\u201d and Case awakes with a feeling of \u201cpeace and lightness\u201d she hadn\u2019t felt in a long time.<\/p>\nAnother of Case\u2019s dreams<\/a> involves her \u201cGramma.\u201d A few weeks after her death, Case dreams she is sitting on a chair in an open field, a tiny wooden table with a gray Princess phone next to her. It rings. She picks up the receiver and hears her grandmother\u2019s familiar greeting, \u201cSaaaaay! There\u2019s my girl!\u201d<\/p>\nHer grandmother\u2019s voice sounded like it hadn\u2019t in years, \u201cas ringing and robust as it used to be\u201d when she was younger and healthier. When Case asks her how she was doing, she says, \u201cI feel so much better. I\u2019m traveling and feel great!\u201d Gramma later said she had to go, \u201cto get my connection to Thailand!\u201d But just before that, she offers some guidance in this exchange:<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0\u201cGramma, what do you have to tell me?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\nShe was quiet on the other end of the line for a second.<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cHave your say<\/strong>,\u201d she said in a very sober and serious voice.<\/em><\/p>\nI told her I love her, weeping in the dream.<\/em><\/p>\nShe said, \u201cI love you, too. I\u2019ll look out for you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nCan the dead really talk to us in our dreams?<\/strong><\/h3>\nI\u2019ve previously told the story about my cousin<\/a> who has the occasional ability to hear from and talk to those who have \u201ccrossed over,\u201d including her deceased mother, father and husband. They appear to her as faint and fleeting images, often times whispering in her ear. But her experiences, which happen during her waking life, are uncommon.<\/p>\nFor Neko Case, the dearly departed visit in her dreams and there may be a reason for this. It the book The Holographic Universe<\/em>, the late Michael Talbot explains there is much happening in our subconscious that we are only remotely aware of. \u00a0He believes that when we dream, \u201csome deeply unconscious part of us can reach across the boundaries of time\u201d and even space.<\/p>\nTalbot mentions studies that show 60 to 68 percent of all precognitions, defined as the awareness of an event before it happens, occur during dreaming. Seeing the future, or communicating with the dead, is something our conscious brains are unable to do\u2014because we are thoroughly conditioned to believe it isn\u2019t possible. But the subconscious, which is linked to the soul, does not share the same belief system<\/strong>. Talbot writes:<\/p>\n\nThe mind appears to be able to access some type of \u201cholographic soup\u201d (or field of information), in which all points are infinitely connected not only in space, but in time as well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nIt is in this realm that we might see the future, like the bassist from the band Weezer who predicted his own sudden death<\/a> by heart attack. It\u2019s also a place where we might reunite with those who have passed to the other side. We cannot see them in our waking life, but when the thinking, overly rationale part of the brain shuts down during sleep, magical things happen.<\/p>\nEncountering the deceased while asleep is often called a \u201cvisitation dream.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\nPeople dreaming of deceased friends and family who come to comfort them is a widespread phenomenon.\u00a0Dreamers often describe these experiences<\/a> as feeling incredibly real, sometimes more so than ordinary dreams. They\u2019re referred to as \u201cvisitation dreams.\u201d Two notable examples include:<\/p>\n\n- Paul McCartney<\/strong>.\u00a0The former Beatle has spoken about having a visitation dream from his deceased mother, Mary, when he was a teenager.\u00a0In the dream, she reassured him with the words \u201cLet it be,\u201d which inspired the song of the same name.<\/li>\n
- Carl Jung<\/strong>.\u00a0The Swiss psychoanalyst, known for his work on dreams and the unconscious, was visited several times by his deceased father.\u00a0The encounters influenced his theories<\/a> and in one instance, he was forewarned by his father about the impending death of his mother.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Then there are countless lesser-known stories too, like this one reported by the Dream Studies Portal<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n
In one dream, Case receives a phone call from a recently departed friend. After telling her he was \u201cfine,\u201d she asks him, \u201cWhere<\/em> are you?\u201d His response: \u201cI\u2019m just a couple of dimensions over<\/a>, I\u2019ll be here for a little while.\u201d The friend says, \u201cI\u2019m looking out for you,\u201d and Case awakes with a feeling of \u201cpeace and lightness\u201d she hadn\u2019t felt in a long time.<\/p>\n Another of Case\u2019s dreams<\/a> involves her \u201cGramma.\u201d A few weeks after her death, Case dreams she is sitting on a chair in an open field, a tiny wooden table with a gray Princess phone next to her. It rings. She picks up the receiver and hears her grandmother\u2019s familiar greeting, \u201cSaaaaay! There\u2019s my girl!\u201d<\/p>\n Her grandmother\u2019s voice sounded like it hadn\u2019t in years, \u201cas ringing and robust as it used to be\u201d when she was younger and healthier. When Case asks her how she was doing, she says, \u201cI feel so much better. I\u2019m traveling and feel great!\u201d Gramma later said she had to go, \u201cto get my connection to Thailand!\u201d But just before that, she offers some guidance in this exchange:<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cGramma, what do you have to tell me?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n She was quiet on the other end of the line for a second.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHave your say<\/strong>,\u201d she said in a very sober and serious voice.<\/em><\/p>\n I told her I love her, weeping in the dream.<\/em><\/p>\n She said, \u201cI love you, too. I\u2019ll look out for you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ve previously told the story about my cousin<\/a> who has the occasional ability to hear from and talk to those who have \u201ccrossed over,\u201d including her deceased mother, father and husband. They appear to her as faint and fleeting images, often times whispering in her ear. But her experiences, which happen during her waking life, are uncommon.<\/p>\n For Neko Case, the dearly departed visit in her dreams and there may be a reason for this. It the book The Holographic Universe<\/em>, the late Michael Talbot explains there is much happening in our subconscious that we are only remotely aware of. \u00a0He believes that when we dream, \u201csome deeply unconscious part of us can reach across the boundaries of time\u201d and even space.<\/p>\n Talbot mentions studies that show 60 to 68 percent of all precognitions, defined as the awareness of an event before it happens, occur during dreaming. Seeing the future, or communicating with the dead, is something our conscious brains are unable to do\u2014because we are thoroughly conditioned to believe it isn\u2019t possible. But the subconscious, which is linked to the soul, does not share the same belief system<\/strong>. Talbot writes:<\/p>\n The mind appears to be able to access some type of \u201cholographic soup\u201d (or field of information), in which all points are infinitely connected not only in space, but in time as well.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It is in this realm that we might see the future, like the bassist from the band Weezer who predicted his own sudden death<\/a> by heart attack. It\u2019s also a place where we might reunite with those who have passed to the other side. We cannot see them in our waking life, but when the thinking, overly rationale part of the brain shuts down during sleep, magical things happen.<\/p>\n People dreaming of deceased friends and family who come to comfort them is a widespread phenomenon.\u00a0Dreamers often describe these experiences<\/a> as feeling incredibly real, sometimes more so than ordinary dreams. They\u2019re referred to as \u201cvisitation dreams.\u201d Two notable examples include:<\/p>\n Then there are countless lesser-known stories too, like this one reported by the Dream Studies Portal<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n
Can the dead really talk to us in our dreams?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Encountering the deceased while asleep is often called a \u201cvisitation dream.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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