DREAMS OF THE DEAD dream meaning

It is by no means uncommon to dream of the dead, and as a rule such dreams are of little or no significance. There are, however, exceptions, as, for example, dreams which are extraordinarily vivid and in which the dead appear with some specific purpose; and in these cases I fancy projections take place, and the immaterial body of the sleeper meets the phantasm of the dead on the super physical plane.For the following illustration of this kind of dream I am again indebted to News from theInvisible World. The events in the story, I am about to quote, happened about seventy years ago in the south of Scotland.”Mr. Reid, of Bowland, a gentleman of landed property in the Vale of Gala, was prosecuted for a very considerable sum, the accumulated arrears of tithes, for which he was said to be indebted to a noble family, the lay proprietors.”Mr. Reid was strangely impressed with the belief that his father had (by a form of process peculiar to the law of Scotland) purchased these lands from the titular, and, therefore, that the present prosecution was groundless. But after an investigation of the public records, and a careful inquiry among all persons who had transacted law business for his father, no evidence could be recovered to support his defence. The period was now near at hand when he conceived the loss of his lawsuit inevitable, and he had formed his determination to ride to Edinburgh next day, and make the best bargain he could in the way of compromise. He went to bed with this resolution, and, with all the circumstances of the case floating upon his mind, had a dream to the following purpose.His father, who had been many years’ dead, appeared to him, he thought, and asked him why he was disturbed in his mind. In dreams men are not surprised at such apparitions. Mr. Reid thought that he informed his father of the cause of his distress, adding that the payment of a considerable sum of money was the more unpleasant to him, because he had a strong consciousness that it was not due, though he was unable to recover any evidence in support of his belief. ‘You are right, my son,’ replied the paternal shade,’ I did acquire rights to these tithes, for payment of which you are now prosecuted. The papers relating to the transactions are in the hands of Mr., an attorney, who is now retired from professional business and resides at Inveresk; near Edinburgh. He was the person whom I employed on that occasion for a particular reason; but who never on any other occasion transacted business on my account. It is very possible/ pursued the vision, that Mr. may have forgotten a circumstance which is now of very old date; but you may call it to his recollection by this token, that when I came to pay him his account there was difficulty in getting change for a Portugal piece of gold, and that we were forced to drink out the balance at a tavern.'”Mr. Reid awaked in the morning with all the words of the vision imprinted on his mind, and resolved to ride across the country to Inveresk, instead of going straight to Edinburgh. When he came there he waited on the gentleman mentioned in the dream. Without saying anything of the vision, he inquired whether he remembered having conducted such a matter for his father. The old gentleman could not at first bring the circumstances to his recollection, but on the mention of the Portugal piece of gold the whole returned upon his memory. He made an immediate search for the papers, and recovered them; so that Mr. Reid was thus, by the instrumentality of his vision, enabled to carry to Edinburgh the documents necessary to gain the cause, which he was on the verge of losing. Here the account ends.”I think a feasible explanation of the dream is, that it was in reality a case of unconscious projection during sleep, when the spirit of Mr. Reid was disembodied through the agency of his dead father, who, having something of such vital importance to communicate, was thus permitted to converse with the phantasm of his son on the super physical plane.Lady B., with whom I am slightly acquainted, once had a very vivid dream of this description. She had been left a widow for some time, and was contemplating marrying again, when she dreamed one night she met her late husband on the margin of a beautiful lake. She went up to him and, laying her hand on his arm, said,” I know you will not object to anything that will promote my happiness. I am thinking of marrying!”Regarding her with a look of the greatest kindness and affection, the phantasm remained silent for a few minutes, and then replied, “No, I object to nothing that will ensure your happiness; but marriage with Mr. S will have an opposite result. He does not love you, he only wants your money. If you wish to know more — to find out what manner of man he really is, write to Mr. Scott Tanner, of West Watling Street, Brisbane, enclosing your fiancé’s photograph.” The phantasm then kissed her, and, with the impression of his lips still upon hers, she awoke. Much startled by the dream. Lady B carried out the instructions Contained in it; and in due course of time actually received a reply, stating that, from the photo and the description she gave of Mr. S. , there could be little doubt that he was a scoundrel of the name of Grigson, who, a few days after his marriage with Scott -Tanner’s daughter, had absconded, taking with him all her jewellery and other valuables. Lady B now felt constrained to put the matter in the hands of a detective; but before she had time to carry out her resolution, her would-be bridegroom disappeared, and nothing more was heard of him.Here again I am inclined to attribute the dream to projection; and in this case I think the projection of Lady B was brought about through the friendly connivance of her dead husband, who, eager to save her from an awful fate, was for that reason permitted to converse with her on theSuper physical plane.