Let's Talk about Death in Dreams

Greetings,
Peace & Blessings to you, your family and loved ones.  My name is Nana Baakan and today, I want to talk to you about dreams.

I am conducting dream workshops on the second Saturday of the Month, at Atiya Ola's Spirit First Foods and on the following Sunday, I host this workshop at the Health & Nutrition Center.  Each time we meet we discuss our dreams and the various scenarios that occur in the Dream Universe.  I have often said that our waking life is just a dream slowed down.  And remember that childhood ditty that we sang, "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."  How simplistic this little song was and so much fun to sing it chorally but did we actually realize what we were saying?  And if life is but a dream, who is the dreamer?

If you haven't seen the movie "Inception"  I strongly encourage you to do so.  There are so many keys and nuances to the dream world that are pinned in this movie.  Some of them may seem quite fanciful, but if you are a dreamer, I am sure you can related to this movie.  I often ask my workshop attendees if have they seen this movie.  Beyond the special effects, stunts, cliff hanger scenes, interwoven in this movie are valuable keys to understanding the dreaming self.

Today, I specifically want to focus on dreams of death and dying.  Particularly because many of us become extremely alarmed when we see a loved one, friend or even enemy die in a dream.  Sometimes we may be the antagonist, or facilitate the actual demise of one of our dream characters or we may simply witness it.  It may come in a dramatic scene of a car crash or some extremely disturbing accident, or it may be a slight of hand, where the individual or individuals are killed.  When we have these types of dreams we tend to wake up alarmed, in a panic or feeling a very strong urge to tell the individual because we want to protect them.  If it's an enemy we may smile with glee that finally they have been done away with.   But, we must remember that dreams are often more symbolic than literal.  And while we may want to warn our loved ones, we may be creating more panic and mistrust, if we blatantly divulge what we dreamed.  Not to mention the various incredulous reactions one may receive from folks who are not too given to your dream panic.

On the other hand, after further analysis, you may find that the person in the dream who died, my very well be yourself, and an aspect of yourself is being portrayed as the antagonist and therefore, in your defending yourself, you had to get rid of it.  The dream scenario and all the details that can be remembered are the best tools for determining what this dream is really telling you.

All in all, Death in dreams primarily mean transformation.  As the Tarot Deck Card "Death" teaches us. It's a transformation, a change from the old to the new, a renewal, a total revamping of the old self to allow for a new self to emerge, and so on.  So when we dream of someone's death even our own, let's begin there and examine what part of ourselves is dying.  Is it the death of a relationship, a bad habit, a perspective once held dear, an idea that no longer makes sense, a moving from one location to another, a loss of a job, friendship or even capital.  All of these losses and many more can be seen by the subconscious as a death or form of death. It may then present it to us in the dream state as death.

Death across cultures is represented in many different ways.  Depending on the culture there are other ways that the image of someone dying may be referred.  Families in Toraja in South Sulawesi dig up the bodies of their dead relatives before washing, grooming and dressing them in fancy new clothes.

Some mention the loss of a tooth, some mention being welcomed by the Ancestors, some say seeing a dead bird in a dream, some say reading an obituary in their dream and so on.  However, I must stress again, that these symbols are transformative symbols, and that to avoid embarrassment after cheering the death of your boss who subsequently goes on to be the President of the United State, remember, the details and symbols tells us more about the situation than the actual death scene.

Again, this is only one of the many topics we cover in our dream workshops so don't forget to come out.  We will be hosting them every 2nd Saturday at Atiya Ola's Spirit first Foods, 310 S 48th Street, Phila., PA 19143 from 4:30-6:30 PM and every Sunday following, at the Nutrition & Health Center, 5601 N 10th Street, Phila., PA 19141, from 3 to 5PM.

To register in advance contact me at metaphysical.nana@gmail.com

Peace and blessings to you your family and loved ones.