They were there. Not a memory, not a wish—they were present in your dream in a way that felt completely real. Now you’re left wondering what it means. Generic explanations about “processing grief” or “wishful thinking” don’t capture the specific way they appeared, what they did, or why this particular night.

Get Your Personal Dream Interpretation Now

Download and get your first dream interpreted in seconds

7-day free unlimited trial • Powered by Lauri Loewenberg

Takes less than 30 seconds • No signup required

The world's most trusted dream expert in your pocket

I’m often asked about those dreams we have about our loved ones after they die. Are they really coming through to us while we dream? Read on to find out what I think. This is a correspondence between a lady who was recently widowed and me…

My husband died 9 months ago and since then I have had four short dreams of him. I’ve seen his face in only one of the dreams. In all of the others we are side by side – in one he is driving, in another we are going through the mail, and in the other we are standing at his workbench.
– Valerie, Chicago, IL

Lauri: Your dreams during this time can be very helpful to your grief process as well as comforting. I believe you may have  seen his face in only one of the dreams because it has been difficult to “face” the reality of his passing. That’s usually what it means when we can’t see faces in a dream, there is something difficult to face in waking life. As the grief lightens, rest assured, you will have dreams where you can see his face.

In the dream where you are side by side, I believe that it is him, his spirit, his consciousness, letting you know that he is still with you, by your side. Believe me, I have heard countless dreams from people who have lost loved ones and they entail this same sort of detail where the loved one shows he or she is still around.

In your other dream he is driving because – I believe for two reasons – on one level (the spiritual level) he is driving because he is not only with you but also guiding you right now as you try to navigate through the grief. And on another level (the psychological level), he is driving because he is still a driving force in your life, in your thoughts and in your heart. Your grief over him probably drives most of your decisions and even behavior. But that’s okay. You MUST grieve and not be apologetic for it.

I do find it interesting that you are going through the mail. The mail represents your ability to communicate with him, in which case he is letting you know that – through your dreams – he is communicating with you. And even through little signs throughout the day he may be letting you know he is around: in the butterfly that lands on your windowsill, in the bird that lands on your porch and looks at you, in the colors in the sky and in the sound of the wind, he is sending mail to you, messages that he is still around.

Standing at his workbench may be a message of encouragement that you need to and that you can “work” through the grief. And on a deeper spiritual level, he may be telling you that you can feel his presence there when you need to. It is also possible that this could be a message regarding your own work or job. Anything going on there? Perhaps he is telling you to hang in there and that he is, as always, by your side.

While I can’t say with 100% certainty that your husband is communicating with you through these dreams, I can say that I have heard enough “after death” dreams to draw my own personal conclusion that our loved ones can communicate while we are in the dream state. That’s not to say every dream you have about you husband will be him – sometimes he will be standing in for your own male, assertive, get ‘er done energy… but sometimes it could be him. You’ll know. Those dreams feel different than other dreams and you wake from them still feeling him near you, even smelling him. I believe he is with you, around you and communicating with you.

Read one of my personal experiences with dreams and death.

Valerie replies: Your analysis is spot on and has brought me a great deal of comfort and joy. Yes, it has been difficult to “face” the reality of Christopher’s sudden passing.  I so look forward to when I can see his face in my dreams. I do believe he is still with me and has been communicating with me. In the dream where I saw his face, I walked in the front door and saw him bent over to pick something up. I said “Oh, there you are” and he stood up and said “Yeah, I’m right here. Where’d ya think I was?”

Funny you mentioned a butterfly and a bird. Prior to emailing you today I noticed a colorful butterfly on the windowsill – a very unusual sight in April in Chicago. And on two occasions since his passing birds have flown close and touched me and that never happened before in my life. There have been many other “communications” including his picture falling off the china cabinet into my purse on Christmas day – I now understand he “mailed” me a Christmas card.

Most amazing is that you mentioned my job in regards to the workbench dream. He wanted me to quit my demanding job, but I knew the economy would eventually take its toll and I wanted to stick it out to get the severance package. By the end of August grief and the tense work environment were taking their toll. As I was getting dressed I said out loud “Alright Christopher, if this job is ending let’s get it over with.” Three hours later I was handed my severance package. In the dream the workbench was perpendicular to where it actually is… now that I know the dream has to do with a job I think it may mean to go in a different direction work wise.

Thank you for confirming that loved ones can communicate while we are in the dream state. Grief books only hint at it, but hearing it from an esteemed researcher means so much. Lauri, I am so glad I turned the radio on this morning. I know much of your work concerns funny, strange and wild dreams, but I’m sure you know how important dreams are to those of us experiencing loss. I know I am blessed to have had dreams of my Christopher – a lady in my grief group would give anything to dream of her husband. Thank you for the work you do and thank you for your sweet analysis of my dreams. I have printed your email and will reread it whenever I need a pick me up.

After hearing me on WGN in Chicago, Valerie went to my site and purchased a personal dream interpretation. As you can see, dreams have an awful lot to tell you! 

“Dreams really do hold the answers! Thank you so much for your interpretation. It totally made sense. It helped me to avoid making the mistake of a life time.”  – Judy, Strathroy, Ontario

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

The post Someone Who Passed Visited Your Dream? This Is More Than Memory appeared first on Lauri Loewenberg | Dream Expert.

Wow.

Symbols for depression that show up in dreams

Gravy and Rachael wanted to know if our departed loved ones can communicate with us in our dreams. This is a question I am asked frequently, as well as one I wonder about myself. Science shows us that all energy travels in waves: light waves, sound waves, radio waves, etc. If consciousness continues to exist once the body has died (this has been neither proven nor dis proven) it would also travel in waves. If that is true, perhaps our brains are equipped to pick up on those waves. Our brains also work in waves and when we sleep, our brain wave patterns slow in frequency with each stage of sleep: alpha, beta, theta, etc. Perhaps  the REM stage of sleep is that perfect frequency that acts like a radio and allows us to tune in to the conscious energy of the departed.

I’ve certainly had enough dreams reported to me and even had dreams of my own that sure seem like an actual encounter. Those dreams feel different than regular dreams. They are far more “real.” and one often still feels the presence of the loved one when awakening. Sometimes their perfume or cologne lingers.

Read my experience with a contact dream here.

Read my analysis of a very disturbing after-death dream here.

The thing about Dana Carvey’s dreams is that he has these experiences or encounters while in the lucid state, which is when you are in a dream and realize it is a dream. When we are in a lucid dream (not all of us can reach this state), our brain waves are operating in Gamma, which is the fastest frequency ever recorded. Operating from this frequency allows our brain to link and process information from multiple parts of the brain. We use more of our brain when we are experiencing lucid dreaming than we do when we are fully awake… which leads me to believe that perhaps lucidity or Gamma is the frequency where we can more easily tune in to those that have passed on. If it is ever proven to be conclusive, we may find that Gamma plays a role.

Psychologically speaking, Dana’s lucid experiences with Robin could merely be very deep self reflection. A recent study out of Germany found that a particular brain region known to be involved in self-reflection is larger in lucid dreamers. Dana did say that he asks Robin’s questions in his dreams about his kids, career, health, etc. In Dream Psychology, just about everything in your dream is symbolic of some part of the self. Robin could symbolize Dana’s own inner wisdom and through these lucid experiences he is having a deeply profound conversations with himself.

I suppose at this point in time, what it boils down to is taking all available research and experiences and forming your own opinion. Is Dana merely self reflecting or do you believe consciousness continues? Me? I choose to believe.

You can read more about lucid dreaming and dreaming after the death of a loved one in my ebook So, What Did You Dream Last Night? It’s only $4.99 and you can start reading it in just seconds from now!

“I just love your books. They are spot on in your interpretations.”
– Carol Falkowski, Pittsburgh, PA

“I don’t know why I didn’t order your books YEARS ago. I am so excited! I’m halfway through “So What Did You Dream Last Night” and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. You had me cracking up several times. I’m so happy to know I’m not the only one with completely off the wall dreams.”
– Gina, Springdale, PA

The post Is Robin Williams communicating with Dana Carvey in his dreams? appeared first on Lauri Loewenberg | Dream Expert.

When someone we love passes away, it is so very difficult to continue to live without them… especially when that person passes way unexpectedly, way before their time. In all my years of dream research, it still amazes me how wonderfully comforting our dreams can be. They are a built-in healing mechanism, carrying us through the grief process. It’s like, they somehow know exactly what we need to hear, and what we need to know. And sometimes, it’s like they are a conduit from the other side, allowing us to receive that final, and much needed message from our loved one.

Below is a message I got from a young lady who recently lost her brother. It’s a beautiful example of the powerful and healing messages our dreams bring to us when we are deeply grieving. Get your Kleenex ready!!

***
PLEASE HELP LAURI! This dream is haunting me.

My big brother Daren passed away January 21st 2013. Last night, I dreamt of him, a dream that has haunted me. My siblings, my husband and I sat in a modern room, on large leather sofas. We were all looking at what appeared to be a large movie screen. The screen was white and the scene was that of a long white hallway. At the end of this hallway there was a door, also in white. We sat watching.

The door slowly opened and through the entrance my brother stepped over the threshold and into the long hallway. He looked younger than when he passed, he appeared to be clean, healthy and freshly shaven. The only thing he was wearing was a leather loin cloth; like that you would see Jesus wearing at the time of his crucifixion.

Brown leather straps wrapped each of his wrists. His left hand wrapped the handle of a very large dagger that curved into a “C” at the tip. He moved slowly toward us. His walk tall and his eyes forward. After what seemed like a minute he began weeping, he then spoke.

“Do you forgive me?” He asked. Horrified, those of us watching the screen yelled “YES!!!” through tears.

He slowly turned, and when he did his back was marked with three very distinct tattoos. Three large circles, the circles appeared to be twisted ram horns.

“Do you forgive me?!!” He cried out, his back facing us.

We all again yelled “YES WE FORGIVE YOU!!”

He then lifted the dagger up and over his head and began slicing his back open, blood poured from his flesh. Those of us watching screamed for him to stop. My husband quickly jumped up and grabbed a blanket and ran for the screen, he ran right through it and to my brother who stood slicing his flesh with the dagger. My husband attempted to wrap the blanket around my brother, but he pushed him away.

“DO YOU FORGIVE ME!!??” He cried out in agony as he tore at his back.

Desperate for him to hear us, and horrified at the sight of his flesh being torn open I quickly stood and ran through the screen. I made my way around to face him. I placed my hand on his face and whispered through a flood of tears and emotion,

“Daren, we forgive you.”

His beautiful blue eyes searched mine when his voice again spoke, shaken and full of sadness.

“Rainee, do you forgive me?” I quickly wrapped my arms around him, I could feel his blood and flesh warm on my hands.

“Yes my brother, I forgive you.” I sobbed.

He then dropped the dagger and fell into my arms, which brought us both to the floor. I held my brother, wounded and bleeding in this white space behind a screen.

This dream has left me very much unsettled and I need desperately to understand so much of it. The screen, the straps that bound his wrists, the tattoos and the dagger and slicing of his flesh. This dream will forever haunt me. Please help me understand the message. I am begging you.
– Sincerely, Rainee

MY RESPONSE: I think this dream is a reflection of your inner struggle over your brother’s death. Did he take his own life? Or did his actions lead to his death? The way he keeps asking for forgiveness suggests you have been harboring anger towards him. I have suicide in my family so I know how angry it can make you feel towards the person that took their own life. Even if his death was not intentional, it seems like you – at some point – blamed him for it.

Through this dream, you are letting that anger go.

The way his wrists are bound is interesting. It seems to suggest he was chained or bound someway to the point that he would not bend for others or himself. Was there an addiction or something?

The way he is carving at his own flesh suggests that you feel his death was of his own doing and whatever emotional pain he had in real life was of his own doing. But the bound wrists suggest he was a slave to some degree. The depression or the addiction or perhaps even a mental disorder was stronger than he was.

The C shaped dagger is important. Did he have cancer? Or an addiction to cocaine? I don’t know, you may need to put on your thinking cap and see if you can connect the C to your brother.

The twisted rams horns are also interesting. Was he an Aries? If not, then they may represent that he was hard headed, hard to get through to and perhaps butted heads with others. The twisting may mean that you feel his mind was twisted, he was not himself.

The fact that it was a tattoo that he seemed to be tearing at with the dagger, I believe, is the way you are tearing away at the idea of his addiction, depression, whatever it was, as a permanent identity of him. Again, whatever he did that lead to his death, that is not who he really is (I say is because he still is… just in different form).

The white room, the threshold, that is his new beginning. He is born again. He has a pure new life. Your dreaming mind wants you to see this but you have to forgive, and let go of the anger so you can see him as he truly is now: new, pure, pain free… free!

RAINEE’S REPLY: Oh Lauri, my breath was taken when reading your reply, a reply which I so appreciate more than you can ever understand. I know this is your livelihood, and I am wiling to pay you for this remarkable and phenomenal interpretation which has left me feeling at peace. A feeling I have not had since January. I literally received a whisper from within to just try to reach you, that I would gain understanding to this dream. I am so glad I listened to that whisper.

My brother was an amazing man, he and I were cut from the same cloth. He battled addiction, cocaine and pills his entire life. After the passing of my father in Nov. 2011 his depression worsened and with that so did his addiction. Daren passed away due to an accidental overdose leaving us all devastated and me, angry. I do forgive him and will continue to send my love to him out into the universe. Lauri, thank you so much for taking the time to read and interpret my dream. Your words have helped me see what I have needed to see for months. You have brought peace to my aching soul.  Thank you.

Are you grieving? Are you having dreams that you can’t shake? The more intense the dream, the more important the message… and I can help you get that message. Don’t let it go to waste. Set up a private reading with me here. You’ll be so glad you did.

“Your interpretation was most helpful. I cried and got goosebumps when I read it for it was true! You have great insights and are blessed with God’s wisdom. Are you sure you are not psychic? Seems like it to me or perhaps clairvoyant.”
– Elaine Bales, Anchorage, Alaska

The post Can dreams be messages from the dead? appeared first on Lauri Loewenberg | Dream Expert.

At that point, I did not view my dreams as signs “to get ready” (as my dad had told me in the dream) but I did find it interesting that the two nights before Grandma’s death my dreams took place in her house. I chalked it up to coincidence and did my best to push through the day while fighting back the grief.

Later that afternoon, my husband told me to look out my office window. Gleaming through all the miserable, dark clouds (which ironically is how I felt on the inside) was a beautiful rainbow. My husband, who is quite the skeptic said, “Maybe that’s a sign from your Grandma.” Well, even though it does rain in Florida all the time, it is rare to see a rainbow afterwards, especially one so bright and clear. Okay, I thought. I’ll go with that. It makes me feel better. Why not?

The next day my father called again and asked if I would give the eulogy at Grandma’s funeral. Gah!! I had quite a few mini freakouts before I decided I really should do it, even though I knew it would be one of the hardest things I will have ever done… mainly because I cry very easily so holding back the tears in front of all those people would be TOUGH!! When I finally sat down to write it, I was pretty surprised how easily it flowed out of me and onto my computer. It’s almost like I’m being guided from above, I joked to myself. Hmmm…

So we had the funeral and I managed to push through the eulogy, which was very well received, and then we laid my sweet Grandma to rest. After the funeral my family and I went up the mountain to say good-bye to our family home… the home I had lived in from age 8 to age 18… the family home my parents lived in until a year ago… the family home where we all gathered for holidays, birthdays or whenever we could, just to be together. It was pretty ironic, considering all the years the home was for sale, that my parents finally sold it within days of Grandma dying. And now here we all were not only saying good-bye to Grandma but also (on the same day) saying good-bye to our beloved family home. Is this some kind of sign? Or just another coincidence like my dreams? What is it a sign of?

Anyway, the house was completely empty except for a very few remaining boxes. There was, however, a bag with about 20 pictures in it. After 32 years of life lived in this house, the pictures in the bag could have been of a myriad of things.

This was one of the pictures in the bag. That’s my Grandma and my Papaw. I had never seen it before and I’m not sure where this is. In fact, my husband was the one that brought the picture to me. And when he did, he said, “This is a sign.” Remember, my husband is pretty skeptical of an afterlife so this, coming from him… AGAIN… well, it’s odd. None the less, this time, I completely and fully agreed that this was a sign, a sign from above that my grandparents are back together again and someone or something is trying to let us know.

I would have chalked this up to yet another coincidence… if it weren’t for the ending of my eulogy… that eulogy that flowed so easily out of me to the point it felt like I was being guided from above:

But my sweetest memory of Grandma will always be the last time I saw her, surrounded by her children, her grandchildren and all of her great grandchildren. I thought to myself, “My gosh, I can only imagine the pride she must be feeling when she looks at this room full of people that are here on this earth because she lived and because she loved. What a long, full, happy, life this sweet woman has lived.”

So God, we turn this sweet woman over to you now. We thank you for letting us have her for the time we did. And please, make sure you get her back into Papaw’s arms ASAP… he’s certainly waited long enough!

Some people might say, “You’re looking for signs right now so naturally you’ll take anything as a sign to make yourself feel better.” And to be honest, this is something I would probably say to someone else. In fact, I often say that we need to be careful that we don’t paint the bulls eye around the arrow when people tell me a dream they think was showing them the future. Human nature causes us to manipulate reality in order to fit our narrative. The thing is, I wasn’t looking for signs. These signs were literally brought to me and pointed out to me.

I can’t help but think of a quote I once saw: “Coincidences are God’s way of choosing to be anonymous.” Come to think of it, I saw this quote on a SIGN in front of a little church that I drove by every single day when I lived in the family home. Now, I wait for one last sign from above… a dream where Grandma pops in to say, “Heyyyyy!”

Have you lost a loved one recently? Your dreams are not only a pretty nifty, buit-in healing mechanism but can also – possibly – be a means by which those that have passed on can communicate. My ebook So, What Did You Dream Last Night has a whole chapter devoted to dreams we have after the death of a loved one. It’s only $2.99 and you can start reading it in seconds from now!

“I don’t know why I didn’t order your books YEARS ago. I am so excited! I’m halfway through “So What Did You Dream Last Night” and LOVE LOVE LOVE it. You had me cracking up several times. I’m so happy to know I’m not the only one with completely off the wall dreams.”   – Gina, Springdale, PA

The post Signs from above? Death, dreams and coincidences appeared first on Lauri Loewenberg | Dream Expert.