Read my new article on the science of

psychic abilities and ESP

Again, we need to identify if the dream is telling us something about ourselves or something external. Dreams of dead people are common but usually relate to parts of ourselves that we are not caring for and are consequently "dying". I describe these kinds of dreams more fully on the common dreams page. However, some people report dreams where they strongly feel they are communicating with someone who has died. Here is one of mine:

I do not have many examples of this kind of dream but here is one I experienced some 12 years ago and I will never forget it. I had not been asleep very long when I experienced one of the most vivid and real dreams I have ever had.

I have been asleep for only 20 minutes or so and into my mind comes a young man of about 24 years old rushing towards me in a panic. It's like he is floating above me while I am in my bed. I know I am laying on my back asleep in bed. The man has motorbike leathers on and has some cuts on him. I see an image of his bike mangled and laying in the road. He starts to tell me that he has had an accident on his bike and he doesn't know what to do - he is panicked and scared. He can't get back into his body and he doesn't know where to go. I tell him as gently as possible that he has died. I spend time reassuring him and calming him down while he tries to accept this information.

I can see a light up ahead behind him and I tell him that's where he needs to go. He is frightened but I reassure him that someone who loves him will be there to meet him. After a lot of reluctance he floats towards the light and disappears into it.

A few nights later the young man came back to me in a dream to thank me for guiding him to the right place.

A dream involving a deceased person we do not know

Dreams involving ESP

In my experience there are several kinds of psychic dreams and also some dreams that get confused with psychic dreams. I'm going to help you identify what kind of dream you have had and how to interpret it.

Types of Psychic Dreams

A dream of a deceased relative of friend

A dream of a deceased person we do not know

A dream involving extra sensory perception (ESP)

Dream of angels, spirit guides or religious figures

Dreams of past lives

Out of body experiences in dreams

A haunting experience - ghostly dreams

Dreams involving a loved one that has died

The first thing when thinking about a dream of a loved one that has passed over is to identify the feeling quality of the dream. There are two distinct types of dream relating to those who have passed over explained here and you will be able to identify which type you've had by the emotions involved in your dream.

Type 1

If your feelings are mainly confused, sad, lonely, angry or despairing then this is unlikely to be a psychic dream. It's much more about your mind trying to come to terms with the loss. Grief is one of the hardest and most painful processes we will have to go through in our lives and it is often an extremely confusing time. Since on of the functions of dreaming is to help us sort out our feelings, thoughts and beliefs then it's not surprising that when we lose someone close to us we often have dreams about them. This is our mind trying to process what has happened. For a better understanding of grief click here.

Type 2

This type of psychic dream will be characterised by feelings of love, joy, warmth, peacefulness and serenity. When your loved one appears in your dream and you experience these feelings then you need to know that this person has actually come to communicate with you. Often our loved ones want to reassure us that they are ok, still with us and continue to love us.

If a loved one comes to you in a dream really pay attention to the message they have for you. They could be telling you about dangers ahead, a poor decision you have recently made, or offering hope for the future. Loved ones who have passed over seem to be able to connect to us more easily during the dream state and often come with reassurance and guidance for us.

Most of us at one time or another have had a psychic dream or we know someone who has. Often these occur quite soon after someone close to us has passed away or when we are having a particularly difficult time. Psychic dreams have a quality of realness that most other dreams do not have and in most cases the feelings we experience are of love, joy, peace and deep serentity.