Death in Dreams

[Amethyst Rose]

A long time ago I heard the saying (belief?) that "when you die in a dream you die in real life".
I thought that was reallly interesting seeing as how I have never died in a dream....I either wake up or find some way to survive (like being able to breathe water, all of a sudden). The other night I dreamed I was drained of blood by a vampire and was on the verge of death....I could barely move, I was barely conscious, before the dream took a more positive turn.....

So what do you think? Have you ever died in a dream?

[Raevyn]

Yep, I've died in my dream at least twice. In the last one, just at the point of dying (after careening off a bridge in a car accident and splashing into the water and drowning) I woke up. My immediate thought was "am I in heaven or hell???" - turns out neither ;)

In the first one, which was years and years ago, I was searching for my family as the house had been hit by a tornado. I was desperately crying and screaming when I realized, *I* was the dead one and I was in purgatory.

[Ahautenites]

I'd always heard that if you fall in dreams, you need to wake up before you hit the ground, or else you'll have a heart attack in your sleep and die.

Well..... I fell twice in my dreams (once off of a high wall onto the sidewalk, and once through a hole in the first floor to the concrete basement floor below), but I'm still living. Both times, I was aware in the dream that I had died. And I remember waking up at that moment and thinking, "Huh! I died. Weird." And then I rolled over and went back to sleep. **shrugs with a grin** It was a peculiar thing to realize that I could die in a dream.

I've also had the dreams where vampires are hunting me and/or catch me. In one, I remember being in a white nightgown saying goodbye to my last sunrise and sunset. Never saw the vamps in that one. I just knew what was going to happen in the dream. Oddly enough (or perhaps not so oddly), it took place in my grandparents house. (And these people were as Christian as it was possible to get. They didn't even have a radio or television because it took away from their time to read the Bible.)

[Flaire-FireStar]

No.... Although in one of my dreams, I was in something much like the GoldenEye video game, and ended up getting shot in the stomach....but wouldn't die. I just sat on a staircase & watched all these other characters run past me. :huh: Odd......

I have had other dreams where there are dead people though......

[Mnemosyne]

No, I don't recall ever dying in my dreams. I haven't heard that if you die in your dream, you die in real life. But then again, we will all eventuall die.
I have heard that you aren't suppose to fall to the ground in your dreams. In the past year, I have had a few years where I was falling from high places. In every dream though, I either float down peacefully to the ground or end up flying to another place. I have these dreams when my life is somewhat chaotic. To me, these falling dreams to tell me that everything is going to be all right. After all, I am never injured in them, and they turn out to end peacefully.

[FaerySong]

oh that's interesting. I've been swimming in my dreams and for some reason I can breathe the water, and just a few days ago I was in the bath and I submerged and I felt I could breathe the water if I tried, but good thing I didn't 8O. I've had near-death things, I've almost been exploded by bombs in war, or got shot with arrows in war, or something wierd like that, but I always managed to wake up or move on with the dream. LoL once I was really little and I dreamt I was a worm, and I was wiggling around with another worm, but we were "running" and then my worm-pal yelled "LOOK OUT" and I turned around and a robin was swooping in with it's mouth opened. Then I woke up screaming :T. *shrugs* interesting thing, dreams.

[Ryhla]

I've never dream of dying or beind dead in a dream, but I've had many dreams in cemetaries. I did once dream about my ex-boyfriend being dead, and buried and his mom was fixing him breakfast. It was like his grave was more of a bed. Very strange indeed. Falling and flying have quite often, though sometimes I wonder if I'm having an OOBE during some of it.

[jelly.belly]

I heard that too, that you can die in your dreams, tho I think that it's only if you think what's happening in your dream is real... Personnally I've never died in my dreams, I always wake up just before, but I dunno, maybe you could die and never wake up...

[Psyche Ague]

I've died in a few dreams. I think it's just superstition that if you die in a dream you die in real life.

...But who's to say we AREN'T dead?:woah:

[AradiaSupernova]

I've heard that too. I've had dreams where i'm walking around my house trying to talk to my family, they don't hear me, then I realize that I'm dead and am a ghost. I've had dreams of breathing under water too :) Which is weird because one of my biggest fears is drowning. I think it's superstition. I've died many times in my dreams (including being turned into a vampire once) and I'm still alive and kicking :)

[Valnorran]

Only croaked once in a dream. Any of you ever see the movie "Predator"? I dreamed that critter got a hold of me. I felt his double bladed knife thing he wore on his wrist slice my back open and knew he was about to yank out my spine. I thought, "Oh, well. This is it." Then I was in a black void. I didn't seem to mind the lack of scenery. In fact, I found it to be enormously relaxing and peaceful. I just settled down and waited to enjoy my new existence, sort of like settling down to enjoy a new movie. Then the dream switched to something else and I was alive again. In fact, this new chapter had a definate sexual component to it. I wonder if that was symbolic of life after death, the whole polar opposites, life/death, destruction/creation thing. At no time, either during the dream or after, did I find it the least bit disturbing. The dreams that disturb me the most are remarkable for their lack of anything really overt happening.

[Azure]

All the old folklore I know associates death in dreams much the way many people read the Death card in tarot - as a herald of major life change.

Some cultures say to dream of death means there will be a mariage in the family.

Symbolically, your old life is coming to an end, and a new life is beginning. Especially if you are planning a move, a major celebration, graduation, changing jobs or something like that, a deth dream wouldn't be all that unusual. If it's a precog dream, then it may mean your life is in for a shake up, but it could just as easily be good as bad.

[Amethyst Rose]

Originally posted by Azure
All the old folklore I know associates death in dreams much the way many people read the Death card in tarot - as a herald of major life change....Especially if you are planning a move, a major celebration, graduation, changing jobs or something like that,

This is a really interesting (and helpful!) way of looking at it. This would really apply to me because I'm taking steps to go back to school, which means moving, AND a new job for my husband. I think this warrants further thought and reflection! Thanks :)

[Azure]

:)

[mecca]

i've died in my dreams way more times than i can count. and i have near death experiences a few times a month.

in one of my first death dreams i got shot a few times in the chest. this was when i was around 10. i've been shot a few times, been in plane crashes, falling off cliffs/buildings, drownd, stabbed etc...

one time i even had a dream where death itself creeped up behind me and sucked my soul out of me from behind me. now that, was a creepy dream. i dont remember waking up, i just remember standing downstairs in the kitchen with on hand on my head bewildered.

i think dying in your dreams mostly signifies change.

[Tranquility]

Well, i have heard that saying too, but I have to say that i do not believe in it. I think also, as others have said that its just common superstition, just like in the 5th and 6th century, superstitions were developed about the Host in the Christian religion. Speaking of this, i also don't believe in dying if you died in a dream because i believe in making my own destiny, thats one of the many reasons i left christianity, i don't believe in this manifest destiny stuff i make my own destiny

[mydemand]

Funny, I've heard the complete opposite - whoever dies in a dream would have a long life in reality.

I just dreamt I died a few days ago, though the odd thing is, after I had "died" I dreamt that I was trying to SMS my friend and something in my brain clicks and thinks "how can I SMS her if I'm dead?" Which leads to this whole thing about my mum telling me that someone was suspicious of me being dead and I wasn't dead to begin with but only in a coma.

o_O

[oddgrace]

I have died twice. In my dreams of course. :) Many dreams I've had near death experiences, or those times where you would die in real life but are somehow invincible in dreams, like jumping or falling from high places, end of the world, and so on. But twice I fully died. Once I was shot, and once I was stabbed, but the creepy thing about both dreams was that I fully experienced the death. Like, not the pain, thank god, but the fear, and I so clearly remember in both of those dreams the feel of my heart slowing down, beating its last beat, of my breath stopping, of no more air filling my lungs. And unlike alot of people, I didnt wake right up when I died. The first one I sort of just came outside of myself for a few minutes and looked around and knew I was dead, and looked at my own dead body, and the second time, ironically, I saw "jesus" which is wierd because I dont believe in Jesus! :) So anyways, obviously you cant die in real life if you die in your dreams. But makes you wonder....vivid dreamers like myself....when your body and your mind physically react in dream state as it does when you are wide awake....just how different are dreams from reality? And what exactly is that difference?

[MaryE]

I've died in my dreams several times. Even attended my own funeral in some of them, lol, and I'm still here....








I think. :lookaroun

[AlanP]

I have never died in my dreams. Been shot and stabbed but never died. When I get shot it don't hurt and I can see where like my body is trying to push the bullet out..lol. But I am not scared that I have been shot. Like everything is ok.....I think it would be weird going to your own funeral Mary! Seeing yourself laid out and stuff....

[kazzeh]

hmmm... dying in dreams. i think i've experienced it, but only when i was alot younger. and stuff like falling from a high place and then gently floating down to the ground... i used to dream a lot more when i was younger. must be the stress or something, 'cos i don't dream that often now... is that supposed to be good or bad??? and... has anyone ever heard of an out-of-body experience? i think it's freaky... but i suppose no one wants to hear me rant about my experience. *sigh* nevermind. but i think seeing yourself die is... scary. i've been stabbed in dreams at least three times... *wince* and once i even felt the pain. ow. i think that was the one time i felt myself die... just that once. the other times i just... don't die? well...

[Agayvli Wahya]

I've died several times in dreams, some of which were falling from great heights. Haven't died from it yet.

Always wake up feeling like I've been beat though when I have those falling dreams.

[tangerine_smile]

Yep. i once died in a dream a few years back. i dreamed that someone was trying to kill me while i was in my bed, using black magic and a crystal. the dream ended when i started screaming for dear life. after that dream, i didnt have any other death dreams...which is good, for that one alone had haunted me for a year or two.

[Black RiverWolf]

i want the death in my dream just to see what its like. it could be a very interesting thing then again i could wake up screaming like a little girl

[soilsigh aingeal]

I've never died in my own dreams, I once had a dream that people were mourning me but I never saw my body and it was an empty space with just people in it.

Oh and my mom used to say that if you dream of death than someone could be pregnant.

[violet rain]

that is soo crazy ameythest!!!! I had that exact same dream last night!!!!! :0 I am being serious too that is just crazy!!!

[Amethyst Rose]

Hehe, that's cool, but I started this thread over a year and a half ago....so it's not too unusual. :D

[violet rain]

ohhh ooppssss I really don't pay attention to the dates owell :)

[aluokaloo]

I had a couple of dreams like that where I died, I died in the bathroom and me and a dog (can't figure that one out) were both waiting to go to the afterlife and the whole room filled with this golden glow, and I got this incredibly peaceful feeling, and the dog became young and became whole again, it ears had been clipped. Another time I was in some really weird video game and I falling into a pit with really sharp rocks.

[Elise]

Some cultures say to dream of death means there will be a mariage in the family.

.

I don't remember where I heard it, but years ago, before I ever had my kids I heard if you dream of someone already dead, it's a sign you're pregnant.. Many years ago a boyfriend died..Life went on, I met hubby, and every time I dreamed of Curtis, I was pregnant. It could have been coincidence though..

As a little kid, I had a repetitive dream 3-4 times a week... From the time I was about 6 until I was about 18.. My mom died when I was two..I knew from the age of 12 how she died... My dream was about my mom.. The very same dream..I dreamed she died because I flushed her down the toilet..

I took a psychology class when I went to college the first time and asked my professor about the meaning of this dream..His reply was that at 2, we don't understand death. The dream was my mind's way of explaining my mother never coming back.. And at 2 years old we figure out that if something is flushed down the toilet, it usually doesn't come back.. Thus the way my little brain explained my mom never coming back.. The weird thing was, after he explained that to me and my mind "accepted it" as plausible, I never had the dream again..

[Elise]

ohhh ooppssss I really don't pay attention to the dates owell :)

Me either *L* there ought to be a :highfive: *L*

[DixieWitch]

I've never died in my dreams, woke up before. But I have had the falling of soemthing high or bouncing really high and waking with a start when I should have hit. More annoying than anything else because it wakes me up!!

[Philbo]

The one time I died in a dream was a very strange sensation. I remember being shot to death, and watching my surroundings spin around. When I fell, I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything except watch what was going on (sideways) for a few seconds before everything faded into darkness. A few seconds later, I was floating above the whole scene, watching from a greater distance, and gradually just floating away. I awoke with an oddly peaceful sensation.

[mydemand]

I don't remember where I heard it, but years ago, before I ever had my kids I heard if you dream of someone already dead, it's a sign you're pregnant..

o_O I would have a whole LITTER of kids by then! :ahhhh:

I'll stick to my death = long life theory, thanks :crazyman: :uhhuhuh: XD