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What are seeing a dead relative dreams about?

This symbol is identified by words like (?:dead|deceased) (?:husband|wife|spouse|boyfriend|girlfriend|bf|gf|lover|partner), (?:dead|deceased) (?:grandmother|grandma|grand mother|grand ma), (?:dead|deceased) (?:my cat|my dog|my kitten|my puppy|my fish|my pet|pets), etc.

Seeing a dead relative in dreams is a relatively uncommon dream symbol, occuring in about 1.6% of dreams. That's about 1 out of every 60 dreams.

What are the major highlights of seeing a dead relative dreams?

Seeing a dead relative is an interconnected dream symbol. Having seeing a dead relative in a dream changes the dream more than most other dream symbols.

Seeing a dead relative dreams seem to lack places or locations

Dreams of seeing a dead relative frequently do not mention places or locations. The dream may or may not take place in varying locations. But dreams of seeing a dead relative simply do not mention the location, places, or settings occuring within the dream. Other symbols that are like this include fingernails, hair falling out, break ups, roosters, pus, testicles, seeing a dead grandmother, pregnancy, leopards, and rodents.

Seeing a dead relative dreams are very social

Dreams of seeing a dead relative contain more characters than most other dream symbols. While dreams are often about other people and social relationships, dreams of seeing a dead relative are especially related to having lots of characters. Other symbols that are like this include teacher, hosts, boyfriends, qualities, general animals, fantastic beings, horses, vision, doctors, and brothers.

Seeing a dead relative dreams are about family

Dreams of seeing a dead relative are more related to family than 90% of all other symbols. In other words, dreaming of seeing a dead relative will increase your chances of dreaming of a family member. Other symbols that are like this include pregnancy tests, cousins, infidelity, Poland, seeing a dead grandfather, talismans, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, brides, and home.

Seeing a dead relative dreams might be about death

Dreams that contain seeing a dead relative are highly related to death. They are more related to death than 90% of all other dream symbols. Other symbols that are like this include hunger, blood, bobcats, verbs, going to die, chemical weapons, war, being shot, losing a body part, and ammunition.

What symbols less present in dreams of seeing a dead relative?

What are the symbols that help define seeing a dead relative?

How does the dream symbol of seeing a dead relative affect the different aspects of a dream?

Explore different elements related to dreams of seeing a dead relative

Who is in seeing a dead relative dreams?

Overall, dreams with seeing a dead relative are much more related to characters in dreams. Specifically, dreams of seeing a dead relative are more related to close people, much more related to family, and more related to romantic partners than dreams in general. They are much less related to animals, much less related to insects, and much less related to different roles.

Animals

much less than usual

Insects

much less than usual

Different roles

much less than usual

Fantastic beings

less than usual

Distant people

much less than usual

Close people

more than usual

Family

much more than usual

Romantic partners

more than usual
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What are the emotions in seeing a dead relative dreams?

Overall, dreams with seeing a dead relative are less related to emotions in dreams. Specifically, dreams of seeing a dead relative are more related to happiness, much more related to sadness, and much more related to grief and sorrow than dreams in general. They are less related to embarrassment, less related to confusion, and less related to fear.

Happiness

more than usual

Sadness

much more than usual

Grief and sorrow

much more than usual

Embarrassment

less than usual

Confusion

less than usual

Fear

less than usual

Pain

less than usual

Hatred

less than usual

Fun

less than usual

Love

more than usual
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Who is in seeing a dead relative dreams?

Overall, dreams with seeing a dead relative are much less related to places in dreams. Specifically, dreams of seeing a dead relative are less related to work, much less related to human places, and less related to transportation.

Home

the same as usual

Work

less than usual

Human places

much less than usual

Transportation

less than usual

Natural places

much less than usual

Magical places

the same as usual
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What happens in seeing a dead relative dreams?

Overall, dreams with seeing a dead relative are more related to events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of seeing a dead relative are much less related to aggressive interactions, less related to friendly interactions, and less related to sex.

Aggressive interactions

much less than usual

Friendly interactions

less than usual

Sex

less than usual

Disasters

much less than usual
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How do seeing a dead relative in dreams related to other dream phenomenon?

Overall, dreams with seeing a dead relative are less related to dream events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of seeing a dead relative are less related to lucid dreams, less related to nightmares, and less related to recurring nightmares.

Lucid dreams

less than usual

Nightmares

less than usual

Recurring dreams

the same as usual

Recurring nightmares

less than usual

Sleep paralysis

less than usual

Sleeping

the same as usual

Waking life

the same as usual
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How do seeing a dead relative in dreams related the senses?

Overall, dreams with seeing a dead relative are less related to senses in dreams. Specifically, dreams of seeing a dead relative are less related to hearing, less related to taste, and less related to vision.

Hearing

less than usual

Smelling

the same as usual

Taste

less than usual

Vision

less than usual

Touch

less than usual
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How can you make sense of seeing a dead relative in dreams?

Seeing a dead relative dreams are relatively uncommon. Among other things seeing a dead relative dreams are positively interconnected, lack places or locations, very social, family oriented, and about death.

Do you think this is true for your dream of seeing a dead relative? How might your dream of seeing a dead relative be different?

All dreams have meaning

You can gain insight from thinking about any dream, no matter how strange. Only you, as the dreamer, have final say on what your dream may or may not mean. Each dream is unique.

Look for the differences

The DreamWell dictionary provides information on how each dream symbol appears in dreams in general. Finding how experience seeing a dead relative in dreams can be a key to understanding its meaning.

Return to the feelings

Our emotions in dreams can help us understand its meaning. Pay attention to how you felt in the dream. Pay attention to how you feel about seeing a dead relative in dreams. See how you feel about seeing a dead relative now, in your waking life.

What are possible meanings for dreams of seeing a dead relative?

The first possibility to consider for the meaning of a dream about a deceased loved one is that the person is a projection of yourself, a character in a story, not your loved one. Otherwise, strong emotions and thoughts tend to muddy the water. It’s difficult to step back and analyze the dream as you would any other dream-story, but that’s how you get to the bottom of it. Eliminate other possibilities before thinking it’s spiritual contact with the person in the afterlife.

Grief and loss are the two most common subjects of these stories. You’re processing emotions related to the death of the person you love, or adjusting to life without him or her. In broad terms, the tone and tenor of the dream show where you’re at. If the dream is distressing or your deceased loved one’s character acts strangely, it indicates that you’re still processing the emotions and getting a grip on your loss. An encouraging dream generally indicates you’ve made it through that part of the grief process, at least enough to find balance within yourself again.

For example, a young man whose father died dreams about balancing the water temperature in a fish tank. Once it’s balanced, his father appears in the room, and they have a happy reunion. Balancing the temperature of the water symbolizes balancing his emotions, giving him access to the memories of his father in positive ways.

That dream contrasts with one a young man had about seeing his father at a memorial service and being unable to get his attention. It’s a way of saying his father is no longer around to hear him, to share his life.

A widow dreams that she’s lost her car, and a man offers to help her find it; then he wants to kiss her. She refuses his advance. The dream could be interpreted as her needing physical closeness, and the time has come to find it with another man. But the dream is actually about moving on from her grief. It’s what keeps her connected to the memory of her deceased husband, and she feels that moving on from her grief, as symbolized by finding her car, means losing the last thing connecting them. She’s not ready to move on.

The actions and behaviors of dream characters are projections from inside you, so if you dream about a deceased loved one in distress, it probably means you are in distress.

In dreams, you project your inner life to see it more clearly and from different perspectives. That key piece of information helps you decipher your dreams about deceased loved ones.

Dreams about a deceased person can relate to fears about your health or the possibility of death, or fears about someone you know. It can express a wish that the person were still part of your life, especially during a time of need, when, in the past, you would turn to that person. For example, missing the advice your father used to give you, or the company of a friend. It can mean simply that you miss that person. Whose memory is still alive within you.

After many years of studying this subject and speaking with people about their dreams involving deceased loved ones, I am convinced that dreams can act as a sort of telephone line between those alive in this world and those alive in the next worlds. The subject is way too deep to explore here, so I encourage you to go to my blog at dreams123.net and search for “dead loved ones.” I give a thorough breakdown of how to tell when a message is coming through from beyond, or is coming through from inside you.

See also: Afterlife, Children, Death, Family, Fathers, Mothers, Love, Precognitive dreams

This interpretation is from ""The Dream Interpretation Dictionary: Symbols, Signs, and Meanings" and is provided by J.M. DeBord aka "RadOwl". He is the author of several acclaimed books about dreaming, the host of The Dreams That Shape Us podcast, and is a moderator of r/Dreams, one of the largest dream sharing communities on the internet.

Examples of dreams of seeing a dead relative

Read some real dream reports of seeing a dead relative dreams.. These real life dream reports come from the moderated dream sharing communities of Reddit including r/Dreams, r/Nightmares, r/DreamInterpretation, or r/thisdreamihad. Please note that some of these may contain graphic, sexual, or violent images and text. Use the source link for each dream to view and join the discussion of each one.

I dreamt of my dead friend

My best friend committed suicide, I haven’t been mentally stable since. I haven’t gon crazy but somethings changed in me ever since i heard that news.

The other night I dreamt of him, he was asking me for help. He’s was asking to get him out of a place, he looked so worried, he was holding me and begging me for help. Some some reason I couldn’t do anything in my dream, all I literally did was stand there and look at him.

Maybe that portrayed that I couldn’t help him when he needed help but I didn’t know he was in pain.

My best friend committed suicide, I haven’t been mentally stable since. I haven’t gon crazy but somethings changed in me ever since i heard that news.

The...

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I dreamed I saw a dead friend, who told me I would die on the anniversary of her death.

I had a good friend who died last year on October 17th. She dated one of my good friends and as such we grew close. Important Characters are Me, my friend Kyle, my friend Roy, my friend who died Rose, and another friend Alisha.The nightmare is as follows.

It started with me, my siblings, and my mom packing up her car. We were seemingly leaving and trying to do so in a hurry. But I got the impression we took to long, and when we began to pull out of the driveway we hit my friend Kyle's car as he was trying to pull into the carport. We canceled our plans to leave and me and Kyle decided to drive to what I think was a high-school reunion.

We arrived at the event, and it was almost like a chapel/gym hybrid with large windows towards the front of the room. I saw most of the people that I went to high school with conversing and interacting with each other. I saw my friend Roy who was our senior class president cutting up pineapple and putting it into a drink. He said he didn't have enough pineapple and me and my friends laughed at him for it. Now the nightmare/dream starts.

I walked outside for some fresh air, and when I came back I saw my friend Rose, who is dead, and my friend Alisha who is alive. They both looked like spirits however. I asked Rose how I could see her, and asked if I was going to die soon. She said yes I was going to die, she started becoming more solid. I asked her if she could as God of I could live longer. She said that she would ask but its going to happen anyway. She started getting more solid, so I left the room to try and escape my death.

As I walked into the foyer to escape, a blonde skinny teenager came in. He pulled out a gun, and I was shot with either lightning, or the gun. I don't know which but I felt myself dying. I was then teleported to a city block where I saw a newspaper on the road. I picked it up and it had a picture of me, saying I died on October 17th. The day was Friday. I woke up and wrote the dream my journal quickly. I then went back to sleep, and had a dream where me and rose went to Wendy's just like we used too when she was alive. I ordered her food and we hung out.

That was the end of it, and it's not as scary as some experience. But I woke up sweating and scared. Thanks for listening.

I had a good friend who died last year on October 17th. She dated one of my good friends and as such we grew close. Important Characters are Me, my friend Kyle,...

Source | Show dream

Dream of dead mother in a week of her death

My mother passed away recently due to an accident. I had a very bad dream 5 days after the incident. I saw my mother was sitting in a room I approached her and tapped on her sholder her eyes were closed and she was bloatted and she fall down on me. The weight was too heavy that i was not able to move. There was some dark figure standing on the door. I was not able to breath. I tried to shout but was not able to do so. I woke up from the dream but still was not able to shout and move I was still feeling the huge weight after few minutes I was finally able to move.

I am still trying to figure out this dream. After this dream around 20 days I saw her again this time she was accompanied by a lady she wore new clothes and she called all of us in living room. We all were crying. She told that she is fine and she looked happy and asked me to take care of everyone.

My mother passed away recently due to an accident. I had a very bad dream 5 days after the incident. I saw my mother was sitting in a room I approached her and...

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My dead grandma told me I’m next

So I have a fear of death especially in my sleep and horrible health anxiety. Last night I dreamed of seeing her in the car and I said how are you here you’re dead, and she looked straight at me and said you’re next. And then I felt myself fighting to wake and telling god no I’m not ready. I’m honestly really scared this means I’m gonna die

So I have a fear of death especially in my sleep and horrible health anxiety. Last night I dreamed of seeing her in the car and I said how are you here you’re...

Source | Show dream

Did I subconsciously predict my dad's death?

My dad passed away in January of 2016. In November of 2015 I had a dream that I vividly remember and actually wrote about. I wrote about it before he passed, the day after the dream. And I don't know why.
For a little bit of context he was a single parent and raised me by himself. He was also very sick for my entire life, never drove throughout my life and was pretty much bed ridden in the end.

In this dream he drove me to a convenience store in a super nice, old, red car. I walked into the store with him and he turned around, walked out and drove away. I remember feeling extremely panicked. I kept trying to call him and it wouldn't go through. I tried to call everyone I knew and no one would come get me. I remember the sinking feeling of being so distressed and alone.

After he passed I told my grandma about this dream and she told me when he was in his 20s he drove a really nice red car like the one I had described and it was pretty much his baby. I think about this often and wonder if it was a sign. What do you think?

My dad passed away in January of 2016. In November of 2015 I had a dream that I vividly remember and actually wrote about. I wrote about it before he passed,...

Source | Show dream
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