Dreaming about ghosts

24th January 2025. Reading Time: 9 minutes General, Paranormal Theories. 914 page views. 0 comments.

Most people at some stage in their lives have had a dream involving what can be described as a ghost.  Some find comfort, others are scared and some are just confused.  Is it paranormal or is it our subconscious?  What does it mean when we dream about ghosts?  In order to explore this concept further, we need to understand where our dreams come from and what they typically mean. 

Most people at some stage in their lives have had a dream involving what can be described as a ghost.  Some find comfort, others are scared and some are just confused.  Is it paranormal or is it our subconscious?  What does it mean when we dream about ghosts?  In order to explore this concept further, we need to understand where our dreams come from and what they typically mean. 

What is REM sleep?

When we sleep, we go through 5 stages of sleep. 4 of these are considered to be NREM - non-rapid eye movement, with the final stage labelled as REM sleep - rapid eye movement. We can dream during any cycle of sleep, but it is most common and most vivid during REM sleep. It is believed that we have between 4-6 dreams every night, we just don't always remember them.

Image Source: https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-four-stages-of-sleep-2795920

What do our dreams mean?

A dream is a story or a movie that our brain creates while we are in REM sleep. There is still a lot about dreaming that Science does not yet know or understand. Some speculate our subconscious plays a major role in 'creating' these stories. So much so in fact there is what is called a dream dictionary. Psychology suggests that it comes from our subconscious and our current state of mind or emotions can play a role in the type of dreams that we have. There are common dreams that people share. From falling from a building to turning up to school or work completely naked, we have all had a certain type of dream at some point in time. A lot of people however do tend to argue over what the meaning of these dreams is. In the early 1900s, Sigmund Freud explored this quite extensively. He believes a dream was a result of our deepest anxieties and desires. He believed they often had a connection to repressed childhood memories or obsessions.

What does dreaming about ghosts mean?

I am no psychologist, nor a dream interpreter so I scoured the web to see what deep psychological meanings dreaming of a ghost could mean.  I read a lot of dream dictionaries and sites which all gave subtle different meanings of what different kinds of ghost dreams could mean.  There was however one common theme.  All signs point to unfinished business including unresolved feelings and dreams.  What is ironic is that it indicates that the ghosts of our past are haunting us subconsciously through dreams.  

Facing your fears
Dreams of ghosts telling you to leave a place or chasing you may symbolise fears or anxieties holding you back in life. The ghosts represent the worries and doubts preventing you from moving forward. The only way to overcome them is by facing your fears head-on. Stand up to the ghosts in your dreams and tell them you're not afraid anymore. This can help you gain confidence and the courage to move past what's holding you back in your waking life.

Unfinished business
Do the ghosts in dream seem sad or stuck in one place? This could indicate there are unresolved emotions or past relationships you need to address. The spirits are a sign that it's time to deal with this unfinished business. It may be difficult, but finding a way to get closure will help release their grip on you and allow you both to move on in peace.

Looking for connection
Sometimes ghostly dreams reflect a desire to connect with something greater than yourself. The spirits could represent your longing for purpose and meaning. Look within to reconnect with your core values and spiritual side. Nurturing your relationships and engaging in self-care can also help fulfil this need for connection. The ghosts are calling you to reconnect with yourself.

https://dreamapp.io/blogs/ghost-dream-meanings

Photo by Zachary DeBottis

The theory of our subconscious and unresolved feelings or trauma links heavily with Carl Jung's Shadow Self theory.

Shadow Self

Carl Jung is considered the forefather of analytical psychology. He is well known for his views on collective unconscious, synchronicity and Individuation just to name a few. Jungian Psychotherapy (quite obviously named after Jung) is a therapy designed to bring together the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind to help a person feel balanced and whole. We are always referring to consciousness on varying levels when it comes to paranormal discussion so it seems fitting to explore Jung's concepts. You will find quite a lot of people in the paranormal field who will know quite a lot about Carl Jung and his theories.  One of his famous theories is that of our Shadow Self.

“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.” Carl Jung Aion(1951)

In short, it is aspects of our personality that we choose to repress and put away deep down into our unconscious. We always know that things can't stay buried forever.  It is thought that these repressed feelings or trauma can haunt our dreams.  In a sense yes we are being haunted, but it is not paranormal, it is by ourselves.  This ironically can manifest as a dream about a ghost.

Hypnagogia

Hypnagogia is a state where you aren't quite asleep and you aren't quite awake, you are a little bit of both. It would probably be what you would associate with dozing. It is a state that is compared to REM sleep where a person is in their deepest sleep. Your mind is going through a lot of thoughts, emotions, ideas and accessing memories. During REM sleep, you are in such a deep sleep that you are not aware that you don't remember this. When you are in a hypnagogic state, you are in between full sleep and being awake so you are aware of these thought processes. A lot of people enter a meditative state which is pretty similar to hypnagogia in order to 'meet' their spirit guides or have some form of communication with the spirit world. They also claim it is the perfect time for spirits to communicate with us because our minds are open and free of outside influence and even our own subjectiveness. You essentially are letting stuff happen without your own judgment clouding things as you are virtually asleep. It isn't until you wake up and start looking at things that your judgment comes back into this. It is of course how you interpret everything you have seen felt and experienced when you wake up as to if you think you have had a hallucination or if you think it could be something more. This state is thought to be closely associated with sleep paralysis and it can cause a person to hallucinate. Certain medications, stress, tiredness and alcohol can all be factors that can cause a person to have a hypnagogic hallucination. It is the number one conclusion that a lot of people will jump to when a person claims to have some sort of alien visitation in bed. While there is a scientific explanation here, this doesn't necessarily explain all occurrences

Sleep paralysis

Sleep paralysis occurs when a person is in REM sleep - Rapid Eye Movement. It is in this state that the brain has vivid dreams. It also sends a message to your muscles to relax which puts you in a state of temporary paralysis so that you don’t go and start physically acting out what you are dreaming. If you dream of punching someone, you don’t want to be punching your partner in your sleep - or if they snore as mine does maybe you do! Sometimes a person wakes up and becomes conscious before the brain sends the signal to the muscles to wake up. It means a person is lying there and is conscious but is unable to move and unable to speak. It is common to hallucinate in this state as well as you are still technically in REM and some people report seeing figures in their room or at the foot of the bed. They can feel a heaviness on their chest or a choking sensation which makes you feel like it is the figure at the foot of the bed doing this to you. It doesn’t take long for the body to catch up, but it can feel like an eternity when you are in this state. It is absolutely terrifying. It is called sleep paralysis. It can occur if someone is sleep-deprived, stressed, on certain medications or if they suffer from other sleep disorders such as narcolepsy or sleep apnea. People often associate this with what they consider negative spirits and feel it is a form of psychic attack.

Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) The Nightmare 1781 Oil on canvas 101.6 × 126.7 cm Detroit Institute of Arts

So how do we know what is a dream and what is paranormal?

I wish I could answer this.  Some will swear that a visit from a loved one in a dream is their way of letting them know they are still around.  Others may feel it is our psyche dealing with unresolved feelings.  In the grand scheme of things here, I think we should have a bit of compassion.  If I have a dream about a loved one and I feel they have visited me and it makes me feel loved and comforted, what is wrong with that?  Equally, if I have a dream of a loved one that I know is really just my brain trying to process something, I don't have to accept that it is a ghost if I don't want to.  It is something so personal that only the person experiencing it can answer.  I also think it is important to not let our personal beliefs influence others.  I have seen many posts stating that when you dream of ghosts, it is a message from the other side which is not really a harmful statement.  But when you suffer from sleep paralysis, some will tell you it is dark spirits or even the d-word.  These are heavily biased and damaging statements and quite honestly, for someone who is already scared from a terrifying experience, telling them they are being attacked by a negative entity is not helpful.  It can cause more fear, sleep deprivation and some may even feel like they can't sleep in their bed anymore.  What is important is to think about why we might be having these dreams or experiences.  While a dream may be comforting, do we have some unresolved feelings we need to address?  In the same way a paranormal investigator will investigate a haunting, if we are dreaming of ghosts, maybe instead of reaching straight for the KII, some healthy reflection or even therapy can be of help.  Regardless of if it is ghosts or our subconscious, this is a highly personalised experience and it should remain as such.


References

https://www.dreamdictionary.org/meaning/ghost-dreams/

https://www.dreams.co.uk/sleep-matters-club/what-do-ghost-dreams-mean

https://dreampaths.net/symbol/ghost

https://eternalisedofficial.com/2024/06/05/the-psychology-of-the-paranormal-carl-jung/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-four-stages-of-sleep-2795920

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/parasomnias/sleep-paralysis

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/lucid-dreams-overview

https://dreamapp.io/blogs/ghost-dream-meanings

Cover Photo by Mohamed_hassan

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