Dreaming of dying

Dreams about death are very distressing, rarely discussed and often quickly removed because you could think it may be somewhat premonitory.

Such a dream is rarely premonitory, even if there are many anecdotes of famous people (for example, President Abraham Lincoln, or John Lennon) who seem to have had the vision of their imminent death in their dreams, just as it then occurred.

These premonitions can be rationally explained, considering the particular sensitivity of our mind during sleep. Seeing your own death in a dream can be considered as a warning, an invitation to be more cautious, to look after your own health, avoiding unnecessary risks, or certain situations, etc.

Dreams in which you are very close to death are very frequent, but they usually end a moment before the real death: for example, you dream of falling from a high spot, or from a plane; you can see the soil getting closer and closer, almost crashing to the ground, but you wake up before the impact.

Sometimes, however, you may also dream about the real death of your own body. Some people report intense physical sensations: for example, they say they felt their heart bursting, their blood coming out of their heads, etc.

Sometimes in dreams it may happen to die a violent death: it is possible to dream about being killed, strangled or getting a gunshot, and so on.

Dreams about death may have various meanings:

These dreams may indicate the end of a phase of your life and the beginning of a new era; your death shows your willingness to abandon an old image of yourself and create a new one. These dreams may happen in particular phases of life (adolescence, pregnancy, menopause) or if you are facing profound changes, such as a new job, a new home, or living alone, getting married, experience the birth of a child, the death of a family member, etc

• Your dream may originate from the fear of death, which is a human and natural feeling. It is normal that sometimes, in your life, some events lead to reflect on death, on your own death in particular. Death (even your own) must be accepted as part of life, necessary for life itself. You should not be scared about death, think instead about enjoying your life, cultivating the eternal moment it contains.

• Your dream may mean that you are experiencing a very oppressive and frustrating situation or relationship. Perhaps you expect too much from yourself, your mind is desperately looking for a way to escape.

• Your dream can be a warning: you should reconsider the cause of your death in the dream and try to understand if somehow this could happen in reality and what you can do to avoid it. In general, it may mean that you are lingering in a self-destructive behavior.

Seeing yourself dead in dreams:

Sometimes it may happen to see yourself dead in your dream; there’s a split, in which you are both the subject who looks and the object of looking: you are the one who looks at yourself, and sees it dead. The dream means the overcoming of a negative period, or an inner change, an evolution of yourself.

Dreaming that someone tells you that you will die:

In your dreams it may happen that you receive the announcement of your own death, or hear about your own death. For example, you might dream of a dead person telling you that you will die; maybe including the exact date. This kind of dreams causes great anguish and fear of dying for real. This dream indicates that you feel the urgency of change: you’re feeling that there is something you must change in your lifestyle; or you have to make an important choice.