Past Life Dreams - Common Characteristics

[Ailish]

A dream is a "spontaneous self-portrayal, in symbolic form, of the actual situation in the unconscious."
-- CG Jung, 1916.​

One very common question we receive on the forum is, “How do I know if this is a past life dream?”

Past life dreams are different from the norm in that they:

• Contain historical information.
  
  
• Are unchanging in events and details.
  
  
• Are outside of our range of experiences in this life.
  
  
• Are highly emotional in content.
  
  
• The “you” in the dream is not who you are now. You can be a different gender or race.

I think it’s important to note – that not all recurring dreams are past life related. Just like all dreams that feel emotional in the moment are not past life related. Edgar Cayce once said, "Dreams, visions, impressions, to the entity in the normal sleeping state are the presentations of the experiences necessary for the development, if the entity would apply them in the physical life.”

Dreams are a doorway to unconscious and I think it’s extremely important – especially when you are first learning to differentiate – to consider the situations, thoughts and feelings that you are experiencing in your present life. Dreams are often the way we work through the daily turmoil of our present lives.

Also consider – a past life dream may show itself when something is “triggering” it in our present life – such as a pattern about to repeat itself that we need to be aware of.

In her book “The Dreamer’s Way,” Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Ph.D states the following about past life dream triggers:

“Other triggers of past-life dreams are unfinished business, phobias, and affinities. An event, a meeting or a trip may stimulate dreams in which we feel compelled to do something in order to bring a closure to an unhealed wound from the distant past, or finish something we started long ago and never completed.”

Deborah posted some wonderful insight into various types of past life dreams:

Sabine Lucas PhD - who studied under Jung states there are three types of past life dreams: The classical type, the informatory type and the hybrid type. She states that it is the informatory type that suggests that the eighth chakra is open.

The classical is realistic and factual - having the deja vu feeling of half-conscious memories. Often in a different century and culture and the dreamer is present as an observer of the scene.

The informatory is devoid of images and action. The dreamer is directly informed and simply knows that he was, for example an American Indian in 1875 and killed in a battle.

The hybrid type, which is the most common one can be easily missed. The reason is because it combines realistic and symbolic elements. The criteria for determining if it is past life related is the presence or absence of realistic and personalized elements. This is because past life material is personal, while archetypal material is universal and numinous.

If you’re interested in learning more about your dreams, I’d recommend checking out the thread How can I learn more about my Past Lives? in the FAQ Section. Denise Linn’s book "Past Lives; Present Dreams" may be extremely beneficial to those of you who are looking to do a little more self-analysis and past life work.

I think all of our dreams are significant. I also think it's important to keep track of our dreams in journals -- they actually end up containing a lot of enlightening information, both past life and present day related. A journal allows you to read back over your dreams, piece things together and figure out patterns and/or symbolism involved.


Some tips for journaling:

• Keep a journal and pen handy beside your bed. If you wake up in the middle of the night and have had an important dream – take a few moments to jot it down before rolling over and going back to sleep. If you don’t it will be lost, no matter how much you think you’ll remember.
  
  
• Write down the entire dream in chronological order. Include as many details as you can – colors, people, setting, time period, clothing, symbols, languages, accents etc.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley also speaks about visionary dreaming in her book. She believes that with intent, we can ask our dreams to show us a past life or lives. She suggests the following as intentions:

• 
  
  
  • Show me a past life that is meaningful for me now concerning my talent for________.
  • Show me a past life that helps me improve my relationship with________.
  • Show me a past life that explains why________and provides me with helpful insights.
  • Show me a past life that will help me heal________.
  • Show me why I have a recurring dream about________.

 

[deborah]

Ailish has posted some very interesting references for working with and recognizing past life dreams. I am wondering if anyone else has any good reference materials they care to share? Or if members have questions regarding past life dreams.

 

[Draco]

Really interesting post Ailish.


I only ever had one dream, which I feel must have been past life related, because I dreamt that I was an oriental girl. This is the only dream I ever recalled having in which I had dreamed I was actually somebody else - very weird.


This dream didn't repeat however.


Was this a dream of the 'classical type'?


At least I though this was the only one - I had a realisation in thinking of my response to this.


I had another dream (how could I have forgotten this!), in which I found myself floating above a town, I could see the streets and the roads and the tops of houses, and this was somewhere in America, Florida perhaps, as this dream occured shortly before a family holiday to Florida, I was fourteen. I could tell that it was the late Fifties or early Sixties, I could tell by the style of the cars on the roads. I floated down to one particular house, all the houses in the area were large but all on one storey, like bungalows. I floated right up to the front of one house, and I could even see the four digit number on the door, which was '8118' or something like that, although I no longer remember clearly. I went into the house, and it was all bare and empty like it had been moved out of. I floated along the hall and into a room painted pink, and there was a cot in the room with pink blankets, and when I floated over it, it was empty. This had been a room intended for a little baby girl. I think that she had died, probably of cot death. I think that this baby girl was somehow 'me'. I don't think the parents could live there any more after that. It was meant to be a family home.


I think this may have been a 'hybrid' type dream?


Thanks all of you, this is the third time in 48 hours that I have made some significant realisation regarding possible past lives, just for the inspiration provided by this forum.


The Guiley techniques are interesting. I'll have to experiment with these.


Do you think it would be possible for me to try and get 'back into' the dreams about the oriental girl, and the dream of the house in America with the empty cot of a baby girl? Can that happen? Has anyone of you ever succeded in 'getting back into' an old dream?


I mean, I used to remember the house number and everything - can you imagine if I could glimpse the name of the street and find that the house exists? Wow! Am I being too wishful in thinking this?


I do hope I am not bugging anyone by keeping recounting these experiences of mine, it's just since joining here, all of this stuff is firing through my mind like a machine gun, I'm remebering things I hadn't realised I had forgotten, as well as coming to new realisations - the floodgates are open! :tongue:

 

[deborah]

Your posts are inspiring Draco - we are thankful you are willing to post your experiences, ask questions, reflect and share your thoughts. I will respond to some of your posts later today. I have spent far too much time here myself this morning.


Please know you're welcome.

 

[Sunniva]

I agree with Deborah I enjoy reading your posts very much and it's wonderful that you want to share your experiences and reflections.


Without being an expert on the subject, I think the 'American dream' you described sounds very much like a past life dream. I don't know if it's possible to go back into an old dream - I haven't been succesful on that myself unfortunately. However, I did have a dream taking place in a Victorian apartment and when I do meditations where I focus on that past life I go to the apartment as a starting point for my regression.


That's something you could try if you want to find out more about that American neighbourhood

 

[curious_girl]

The hybrid type, which is the most common one can be easily missed. The reason is because it combines realistic and symbolic elements. The criteria for determining if it is past life related is the presence or absence of realistic and personalized elements. This is because past life material is personal, while archetypal material is universal and numinous.

Most of my past life dreams are of this type.


I think that most of my dreams are very short, but that one dream follows another.


Sometimes there's a past life dream among them, and it's imbedded between "normal" dreams.


Sometimes a dream really stands out and impresses me, whether it's a past life dream or not.


How easy is it to distinguish a past life dream if you're not familiar with dream symbolism and interpreting normal dreams?


I don't know or understand much of the symbols that occur in dreams.


And I never take much trouble analyzing them.


That's why I'm not sure if all of my past life dreams are really past life dreams.


If I have similar flash backs or if I react at the same kind of trigger while I'm awake, than I'm easier convinced that it could be past life related.


There are also triggers and impressions that occur while I'm awake, but I never dreamt about these things.


And there are things I dream about, that seem to leave me cold while I'm awake.


I never dreamt of persecution for instance, but I have an inner feeling that I was persecuted in a past life.


I've had several WWII dreams that were very real, but in this life I never had any interest in WWII.


But that changed after I had these dreams about myself as a teacher in a German city that was bombed.


The most creepy thing is that she looks so much like me, she is almost like a shadow of me, she has the same mind-set, the same ideals and the same frustrations.


She only wears different clothes and lives in a different time.


And since these dreams are so intense and since she looks so much like me, I wonder why I didn't know about this life before.


I probably blocked it, though there is still the possibility that it was just a dream.


Curious Girl.

 

[Draco]

Please know you're welcome.

Thankyou Deborah.

I enjoy reading your posts very much and it's wonderful that you want to share your experiences and reflections.

Thanks Sunniva. I enjoy reading all about all your experiences too. You know, there is so much to read around here, that it was only last night that I actually realised that there is a board where each member can list their past life notions, memories and experiences. How did it take me so long to find this? Haha. I just hadn't yet clicked upon that particular section of the forum. I began reading about Ailishs' past life memories (fascinating stuff), which I haven't finished yet, and I will proceed through the list until I have been introuduced to the memories of all of you who have submitted such experiences here, then I may feel ready to share my own experiences (although I'm still writing and trying untangle all this stuff).


Amazing how Ailish and Deborah have had a past-life connection! May I ask Deborah, did you and Ailish first meet via this environment, or did you already know each other?


I'm realising more about the American baby girl dream. I will share in due course. You know, re-remembering that dream I had, had a really emotional effect on me. I feel really silly and soft for saying it, but I had to go away and cry, and I mean really cry, I was rocking backwards and forwards and everything (that primal motion which comforts a baby), and I haven't cried properly for years - I think I might know what happened here, and what the floating down to witness the empty cot in the empty house meant. I'm not sure it was a 'hybrid' dream, there was no symbolic, it was quite literal.


I'm so glad to be here, I have been guided here for a little enlightenment with the help of you all. You know what? I have made more realisations about these past life notions I have since joining this group, than I have ever made since I first started having these things years ago - I really feel that I am embarking upon a path of wonderful discovery, so thanks all of you, and to Carol Bowman for this environment.

How easy is it to distinguish a past life dream if you're not familiar with dream symbolism and interpreting normal dreams?

For myself, I woke up in bed one morning - at least I thought I had woke up in bed, and I was someone else, I was an oriental girl (I think Japanese). However, I didn't realise that this was a dream until I woke up again, and I was 'myself'. Now, if past lives do ever come to us in dreams, then I think that this one of them, as this is the only time in my life I recall ever having dreamt of actually being, and waking up in a bed in another place in another time, as somebody else, even someone of the opposite sex and a different race.


The dream in which I floated down to the house and to the empty cot, wasn't so much a dream of being someone else, but I was more of a disembodied spirit, and I was witnessing the place that a baby girl had died, and I felt that the baby girl had been the vehicle that I as the disembodied spirit had occupied. I think this may have been a dream reflecting the 'between lives' state. Then again, I ought to be mindful not to jump to conclusions just yet.

I had these dreams about myself as a teacher in a German city that was bombed.
She only wears different clothes and lives in a different time.

Which rather suggests that this may indeed have been a past life dream. I'm not sure it's all too common to dream of being somebody else. However, I understand your reservation in not jumping to any quick conclusion, this is something I need to bear in mind, indeed, it's something we all should be mindful of, to observe these things, but to avoid the temptation to slap a label on it too quickly. It is a good thing to be self-critical.


A question to all: why might it be that some past life snippets are glimpsed in dreams, some come spontaneously, some come via meditation and some only through regression?


As this is a thread concerning the dreams in particular, perhaps we should just focus on the dreams - what is the qualitative difference and the reason behind those past life notions that visit themselves upon us in dreams rather than in some other way?

 

[deborah]

HI Draco,


Ailish lives in Canada - I live in central California. We first met here on this forum. She is a kindred spirit - high energy, bouncing -thorough and compassionate. Her energy and kindness toward others is rare. I felt very close to her before meeting her a few years ago. When we finally did meet, it was fun to experience, we finished each others sentences, could relate in meditations and both of us could talk for hours about inner light, dreams and spirit. That too is rare. I can only say it has been this strong for me with two individuals.


I never go looking for a connection - but I do watch...I am mindful and never, ever do I jump to conclusions that there must be a PL connection. The awareness landed in our lap the day she was leaving and in a very poetic way. Names, circumstances, family - all fell into place. We also have validated our experiences in shared meditations. I am assuming you have read through the life time we shared in Italy WWI.

A question to all: why might it be that some past life snippets are glimpsed in dreams, some come spontaneously, some come via meditation and some only through regression?

I would highly recommend that you study consciousness and read the book The Holographic Universe, by Michael Talbot.


In altered states (dreams, regressions, meditations) consciousness is not bound to the physical. If you are deep enough into an altered state that is. Spontaneous memories are usually triggered by something in the physical - a relationship with another person, an event etc.


I am so glad you are enjoying the forum. It has been in existence for ten years. Although the older versions were deleted as we upgraded - it has a long history. There is also a wonderful group of people making sure it stays in tip top shape. ENJOY

 

[Draco]

Hi Deborah.


Thanks for the information.

I would highly recommend that you study consciousness and read the book The Holographic Universe, by Michael Talbot.

Thanks for introducing me to this book. It looks very interesting and I have found it on Amazon and ordered a copy. It seems to be rather popular among the reviewers.

In altered states (dreams, regressions, meditations) consciousness is not bound to the physical.

Oh, I know, I know!

 

[Koshka]

a little grisly, question related to a holocaust PL dream I had last night


Do hybrid dreams include slight historical anachronisms? Like having the impression that you're handling a dead body covered in a sort of glossy matter? It looks to me (as I go over this dream in my head now-) like plastic wrap?!? But I know no one would have taken the trouble to cover dead bodies in a cattle car with any sort of glossy wrap. It might be my subconsious trying to personally separate myself from what I was doing in the dream, trying to keep my hands clean- so to speak.

 

[Karoliina]

I think that anything's possible in dreams. Even though you're having a PL dream, or at least a dream with PL elements in it, there can sometimes be symbolism, things from your current life or just "silly" dream elements thrown in.


But you never know - you might one day find a rational explanation to what you saw, to find out it really happened.


Karoliina

 

[Ailish]

An interesting thread for newer members