Gladden me in my dreams (welcoming the night visitors): the felt sense of presence of the dead in visitation dreams
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Authors
Kovelant, Kevin
Issue Date
2008
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Consciousness
Alternative Title
Abstract
Visitations from the dead in dreams may be one of the few truly "universal" experiences of humanity, transcending both culture and history. Many traditions, both spiritual (and even psychological) hold that at least some of these encounters, may, in fact, be real. Yet, too often, these dreams are dismissed as being "merely" symbolic, symptomatic of grief, or wishful thinking. The dreamer is treated as being in a deficient state of mind, or overly credulous. While visitation dreams show many similar features, it would be extremely ambitious to suggest that all dreams of the dead are somehow actual visitations. Too often, it becomes difficult to assess whether the deceased person in the dream might have actually somehow been the person they appear to be. One area of inquiry that may prove to be helpful in solving the riddle of visitation dreams is the oft-reported experience of "felt sense" that the deceased person in the dream actually was that person. This presentation explores how this "felt sense" is experienced in dreams and waking, and how it may lead towards greater understanding of the phenomenon of Visitation Dreams. How we perceive identity, and the epistemologies of waking, dreaming, and death are also explored. By understanding how this "felt sense" is experienced, we can begin to look for ways it is utilized both in dreams and waking, and to learn how we recognize the living and the dead in both states.