By Valley Reed
I walked into the local watering hole the other night for some open mic fun, and sat myself down at the bar to order a glass of wine. Sitting there taking in the scene, I notice a man down the bar from me who looks positively terrified after making eye contact with me. I then notice he is crossing himself and praying, before looking up at me once again, as I am met with a look of someone who has just seen a ghost. I decide to go over and let him know I am not a ghost, and reassure him he is not being haunted. He was visibly shaken and showed me a photo of his departed wife, who to my eyes, looks nothing like me, and then showed a photo of his 9 year old daughter, who he also lost. It was a sad story which had taken it’s toll on his soul to have incurred such a loss of his family. He certainly brightened up during our conversation and I began to feel that the presence of his departed wife was close by me, and that was who he was seeing when he looked at me. I have never been mistaken for a ghost before, but this is the time approaching when the veils between the worlds thin, and departed spirits walk amongst the living.
In traditions such as Dias De Los Muertos celebrating departed loved ones with colorful altars and favorite food and drink is a way to feed not only the memory of the departed, but also keep them happy, so as to not have them hanging around when they are not wanted. It’s just like when you invite friends over to your house for dinner, and when you are done you expect them to go home again. Beyond celebrating the memory of departed loved ones, there are other connections to explore through our night time dreams where departed loved ones show up.
The Departed may still be among us and not realize they are dead, they may need assistance in helping them to cross over to their soul’s ongoing journey. The morning of 9-11-2001, I woke from a dream where I was in NYC and it looked like a war zone. There were ashes raining down from the sky and people running around in chaos and fear. A woman came up to me and told me how glad she was to see me there. I looked at her and said, but don’t you know you are dead? She looked down at her hand which was no longer part of her body and knew it was true. At that point a portal of light opened up and I helped guide her through the portal. EOD
I woke from this dream shaken, but had to get up and take my young children to school. On the drive back home, listening on the radio, I heard what was actually taking place in New York City that morning. I went home and turned on the T.V. and saw some of the images from my dream playing out in front of me.
In dreams, the departed can visit us and may often appear in the guise of a younger happier time in their life. Visitation dreams from the departed can bring timely information about future events that may play out, from health advisories to stock tips. I often smell cookies baking, when my grandmother visits me in dreams, who was a sweet as she smells, and loved to bake. It alerts me on a sensory level to the energy of her spirit visiting me, and the very real nature of her presence.
Ancestral dream visits can also bring through lost lineage or ancestral wisdom, as well as spiritual gifts or talents that have been passed down to you through the family tree, but perhaps not yet developed or cultivated in this life. My Grandfather who played fiddle music by ear, once presented me with a mandolin in a dream and told me I needed to learn to play. I have also dreamt of lost family connections, showing where Native American Ancestry are located on my family tree through my great grandmother on my paternal side. Which may also explain the many Native American guides which appear in my dreams frequently.
Dreaming with the departed also offers us the opportunity to experience reunion with loved ones or healing difficult relations toward reconciliation and forgiveness. This can be on a collective ancestral level or on an individual level specific to your relationship. My relationship with my father had much left unsaid when he passed, but through dreaming I was able to bring through forgiveness and reconciliation for us both.
Sometimes in cases of sudden death or difficult relationship losses, we may experience soul loss where part of our energy goes away with the one we love. Dreams may show locals where you are still living with a departed spouse or ex-lover. You want to be sure and bring back all of your energy through soul recovery and dreams are the best doorway through which to travel, to bring back lost soul energy into this realm. My ex-husband passed many years ago, and in waking life he had addiction problems. In the afterlife, he was still hanging around to fill his addictions through the living, and in fact took part of my energy with him into the afterlife, because he was so afraid to go there alone. Through the dreams that came during this time, I was able to re-enter my dreams for the purpose of soul recovery with the help of my teacher Robert Moss, to reclaim the parts of me that had gone missing, which included several of my younger selves from ages 4-11. I was also able to then help my ex-husband cross over into a higher realm of soul, where he was met with beloved family members and did not need to be afraid or cling to the living.
In Dreams, you can travel to explore the afterlife with departed loved ones and gain a glimpse toward understanding the other side. The departed can become helpful dream guides in this life and the afterlife.
Awaken the Sacred Dream 