Crystal Aura Gaze

Dreams are one of the most mysterious parts of life. Despite all of the scientific research, there are still so many unknowns. What they have proven for sure is that everybody dreams, every night, for multiple times – but often struggle to recall them. Upon waking up, you have already forgotten 90-99% of your dreams.

We know that there are herbs and supplements (blue lotus, valerian, melatonin, etc.) that can create more vivid dreams, even lucid dreams, resulting in strong dream recall. On the other side, many drugs (alcohol, cannabis, benzo’s, other prescriptions and sleep medications) can suppress dream recall. And then there are simply some people who naturally have stronger or weaker dream recall abilities.

What do dreams mean… anything?

The current science says that dreams are most likely a big blob of memories and experiences from your waking life. It’s like a “photo dump” of the camera roll of your brain. When you sleep, your brain is processing everything from your waking life, sorting and organizing files.

There is absolutely some truth to this. But there is a problem with accepting this theory as total truth. Dreams play out like a storyline. Quite similar to waking life, dreams are like movies with settings, characters, dialog, and plots. Dreams are not the same thing as opening up a photo album in your phone, and scrolling through the pictures – like a photo dump. Dreams have much more substance than that.

Many people dismiss the importance of dreams, because dreams tend to make us uncomfortable. Every now and then, you might have a dream worth sharing to others. But many times, dreams can scare us – not necessarily in a “nightmare” way (although that can definitely happen!) Dreams bring up repressed emotions, people from our past, unconventional situations, and all of the things that we’d rather not face.

That’s why, it’s easy for most people to say, “dreams don’t mean anything – it’s just a photo dump of memories and experiences.” But not only do dreams have their own plot lines, they often contain things that we have never experienced before. Or, it can bring up old experiences, but play out in a brand new way. People want to dismiss dreams because it makes them uncomfortable.

I’ve had some very interesting phenomenons with dreams. Once, I woke up from a dream about an old friend who I hadn’t talked to in a long time – and when I checked my phone that morning, I had a message from them. There’s also many times when I completely forget about a person, and then I randomly have an extremely vivid dream about them. Usually, if I am wishing to dream about someone who I miss, I can’t – until I have stopped thinking of them.

Visitation dreams

I believe in a phenomenon called “visitation dreams.” This is when someone comes to visit you in your sleep. There are two very different types of visitations – 1) from someone who has passed away, 2) from someone who is still living.

Visits from the deceased

I believe that when someone passes away, their spirit has the ability to visit you in your dreams. And there’s reasons why your loved ones who passed away won’t visit in every single dream – it doesn’t mean a lack of connection.

First, they may visit you far more than you realize, but you don’t have total dream recall. Second, if they were to visit too often, it can prevent you from moving forward. They want you to remember them, but they also want you to keep living life to the fullest and be happy.

These types of dreams may feel like you are catching up with one another. They may ask how you’ve been. This can be any loved one who you’ve lost, including pets and animals. If it’s a lucid dream where you are more conscious, it may feel like more of a shock to be seeing them again.

But a lot of times, dreams with the deceased can feel more “mundane” than you’d think. When you’re on autopilot in the dream world, you expect the unexpected. Weird things happen and you don’t question it. So often in dreams, when you see the deceased, it doesn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.

Visits from the living

Dream visits from the living are much more complicated. While we are still alive, we have absolutely no awareness of who’s dreams we are visiting. (It’s hard enough to remember your OWN dreams!) But I do believe that our souls can visit other people in our dreams. However, it happens on a deeper level, that we cannot consciously see.

There is a phenomenon called “astral projection” where you can use techniques to travel to a person’s dreams. So, the act of traveling between dreams is not a totally foreign concept. But I think that astral projection is very difficult and almost every time it’s going to be completely unconscious and out of your control.

The reasons for visits from the living are the same as visits from the deceased… because they miss you. However, visits from the living come with a lot more baggage and complications. It happens when your spirit misses someone but believes that communication in “waking life” is not sufficient. Maybe you have burnt a bridge with this person, or there’s too much distance, or they are in denial of missing you.

Dreams are a great chance to find closure with someone from your past, or express your repressed emotions towards them, or have another chance to explore your connection.

Are dreams real?

The current science admits that they don’t really know much about dreams, despite all of the modern research. The problem with this question (are dreams real?) is that it’s not a very straightforward thing to ask. What is your definition of “real”? What is “reality”? This is such a big question that it simply cannot be answered with a yes or no.

If you want to know if dreams are real, you first have to look at reality. This opens up a whole rabbit hole of quantum physics. Currently, humanity is not evolved enough to have the intellectual ability to understand what reality is. The same way that humans used to think that Earth was flat, we currently are trained to see Reality as “flat.” We just do not yet have the intellectual capacity to think beyond reality.

The laws of physics are different in dreams verses waking life. In terms of physics, we have way more laws in waking life. Does a different set of laws of physics automatically mean that something is fake? In fact, having more laws of physics could actually be what makes waking life hazier and foggier, compared to dreams.

Another problem with questioning the realness of dreams is our lack of dream recall. And science has proven that most of us have extremely limited dream recall. When your dreams are always fuzzy, and you barely remember any little bits, it’s easy to dismiss them as fake.

Ask yourself this question after you’ve woken up from an extremely vivid and lucid dream. Once in a blue moon, I have lucid dreams that feel more real than reality. In dreams where I have almost full consciousness, my senses are heightened to the point that I have never experienced in waking life.

So from my experience, I think that dreams are actually more real than what we call reality. But then again, it all depends on what your definition of reality is.

What’s the point?

The science says that the purpose of sleep is for restoration and memory processing. But the purpose of dreams are entirely different. In fact, some people with strong dream recall report that dreams actually do just the opposite, as they can cause stress and disrupt rest. Dreams can also mess up our memories – ever have a moment when you were like, “wait, did I dream this, or did it actually happen?”

Sleep is how we rest and restore, but dreams are entirely different. Dreams are important and you should really try your best to remember them, think about them, and learn from them. The issue is that many of us have uncomfortable dreams or nightmares that we don’t want to face. But the more we avoid our subconscious, the stronger it cries out for attention.

Dreams force us to face and process our repressed emotions. But here’s another point that most people don’t realize… dreams serve as social purposes. It’s not just about facing your own inner world, it’s also about seeing other people’s inner worlds. You are not alone in your dreams – people, both living and dead, are visiting you.

A very interesting scientific fact about dreams is that every person is your dream is someone you have met before. It could even be someone you passed in a crowded room for two seconds. But we are incapable of dreaming about made-up people. So every person (and I think every animal too!) is REAL! (To me, this further proves that dreams are real.)

Dreams – exploring & repairing relationships

Not every single thing that you experience in your dream has to do with your own emotions. You’re also dealing with other souls – their emotions, their feelings, their inner worlds. I would argue that dreams are far more social than you’d think.

We can all meet each other in the dream world every night. Your spirit is unlimited and unbound by the laws of physics. You can travel to thousands of people’s dreams in a single night. And vice versa.

Dreams are a place of connection. We all have complicated relationships with many people – family, coworkers, classmates, teammates, acquaintances, ex-partners, ex-friends, even our closest friends or current partner. Dreams are a great way to work on these issues, especially with people from your past who you’ve lost contact with.

But it’s just a dream…

Having said all of that, despite the importance of dreams, you may still take them with a grain of salt. You should reflect on your dreams – but don’t dwell on them. Dreams can bring up some deep emotions about people who you haven’t thought of in a very long time – and that can feel haunting. Don’t let it spook you. Understand the lesson and keep moving forward!