A couple of weeks ago I read for a woman – I’m going to call her “Sharlene” and she has given me permission to tell you this story.
At the end of our session, Sharlene told me that for a long time, she’d been having precognitive dreams (dreams which reveal the future to her.) And not necessarily very nice ones that came true. They were usually very nightmarish – like murders, bombs and abductions. Then the next morning she’d often wake up to the news of the specific murder/abduction/bombs she dreamt about. Only the people closest to her knew about this gift she had, and she would ring her sister to tell her about the dreams she’d had as a kind of validation when, within 24-48 hours of the dream, it would come true.
Sharlene mentioned that frustratingly, all the dreams EXCEPT one seemed to be random and there was nothing she could do to help anyone with the information that she got.
She told me about the only dream she’d had which she thought was an exception.
I think it’s hard to put a dream into words as dreams are composed of feelings, sounds and sensations, with energetic subtexts that you can sense, even in the telling. But here is what she told me:
In this dream, she met a wonderful man. There was a specific look and feel about him. They had been walking and talking and were in a pub and there had been fireworks they had watched. In the dream, he told her that he had a very specific role within the Canadian Olympics, which I won’t reveal here for privacy reasons. Then she heard his friend call to him, and he had to leave her.
She had been touched by the dream and felt that he had wonderful energy.
Intrigued by the dream, shortly afterwards she did some research to see if this man might exist. She did a Google search for the professional role he had had in the Olympics and found him on the internet. It seems that in real life, he existed. He had the professional role in the event he said he had in the dream. Then she found his name, saw his photo, recognized him and his energy. Then she saw he was dead – he had died mysteriously before the Olympics, before he saw the fruits of his labour and had left behind a family.
Sharlene asked me –
Why would she have this dream if it didn’t mean something? What was she supposed to do with the information?
She had never had any interest in the Olympics or heard of this man before. He wasn’t exactly famous. He was an ordinary person.
It reminded me of the TV show Medium (which I used to love) where Allison Dubois agonizes over the information she’s been given, that she often can’t do anything about because it’s not specific enough, or it’s too late.
I listened back to the recording of the session with Sharlene and listened to myself trying to explain why she’d had this dream. I think the real answer was – I don’t know.
The fact is, some of us, like Sharlene, are really tuned in – to the collective consciousness, to the realm of the dead, to what’s about to happen in the world.
I believe that the spirit world is a huge place teeming with souls, with stories, with love and joy, with agendas, with things they occasionally need us to do. And if we tune into that (even accidentally), we can get overwhelmed or hit over the head with something irrelevant. I used to have faces of what seemed like real people with identities pop into my mind with messages that meant nothing to me or to anyone I knew. It just seemed like they were passing through. Eventually, I tuned out from those souls, real or not.
It is possible to set the intention for the phenomenon to disappear – and it does. You have to want it to, though.
When should we make it our business?
The same afternoon that I did a reading for Sharlene, I had a nap. I usually ‘log off’ after a reading, but I can’t have done it properly this time. I lay down on the sofa, went to sleep and dreamt of the man she told me about. He showed me his child and the things he wanted to do with his child when she was growing up, but would miss out on. He asked me to publish his name and his story on my website in case someone found it. I felt like he really wanted to reach his family in some way and he wasn’t going to move on unless I did this. I felt a lot of pressure but I love helping souls out – dead ones and living ones – so I said I would.
I woke up and wrote back to Sharlene, who gave me the go-ahead to publish her story and even the details of this man.
Then in the next couple of days, I felt the presence of this soul – who it seems, was also a very persistent and determined soul when in a body – pester me. At the same time, I decided it was too private a story to publish on the internet and wasn’t appropriate to do so. I trusted my gut.
Sharlene and I both searched online for his wife but we both wondered what we were going to tell her if we did find her. Sharlene had had information and details from a drawing of a woman that the man showed her in the dream, but nothing concrete that she knew constituted evidence that this spirit had visited her.
Then I realized it wasn’t the right thing to do. I told him no, and called on the spiritual Third Order (the spiritual group that escorts deceased spirits to the appropriate astral plane after death) to help him cross over if that was in his highest good. I didn’t hear from him after that.
I’m not sure if Sharlene learned something different from me from this experience, but two things I personally took from it, that I wanted to share with readers in case there is anyone out there who’s ever had a similar experience:
1. We don’t always get information for a reason
The onus isn’t always on us to take the information and assume that we’ve been given it for a reason. Sometimes if we are sensitive (or were born that way), we’re accidentally tuned into the ‘bad things happening in the world’ channel or the ‘dead people’ channel or the ‘earthbound souls’ channel or the ‘what people we walk past in the street are feeling today’ channel. Sometimes, no matter how intriguing an experience, it’s OK to shrug it off and forget it. We don’t need to do other souls’ work, unless we want to.
2. Just because a spirit (even one with wonderful energy) wants us to do something, doesn’t mean we should
I always used to have such reverence for souls who were not in a body (perhaps because I used to be Christian.) Now I know they are human souls, just like us – deceased spirits are human souls, with human foibles. They shouldn’t invade our space or our minds unless we give them permission, living or dead. The deceased guy wasn’t concerned about how that article would be received by anyone who knew him. He just wanted to try it out and he seemed desperate and he was going to pester. God bless him. I thought he had wonderful energy too.
What about you? Have you ever had an experience like the one above, or got information you didn’t understand? Did you later understand it?
Ah the dreams of not understanding….then something happens in your waking life and it makes sense. This has happened to me off and on since i was 15. Most of the time i do understand my dreams but yes, sometimes they have really thrown me.
Before his untimely death at the age of 47, i got a glimpe of my ex hubby’s death ( i didnt know it was him tho..i wasnt shown his face) but for a week after the dream i had a bad feeling i couldnt shake. then the call came. my daughter letting me know that her daddy had been hurt. thats when it hit me. in the dream i had seen a car, a man on the ground, a woman wailing in grief. This dream was about John. He was hit by a car and died from brain trauma. Also before the dream i kept having visions ( i have those when im awake) from a scene from a movie..it involved a brain.
anyway…yes, very tough stuff. Tho we were divorced i
loved john dearly as a friend. His death left me devastated for over a year. On the flip side….I saw him being reunited with his mother,grandmother and lil neice joanna who had died at the age of 4. It was beautiful to see and tears came to my eyes at the beauty of it all. There truly are no tears in heaven.
I recently dreamt of my high school sweethear,whom i havent seen in 30 years. We were sitting down, face to face,wrapped around one another. He was singing to me a rather cute lil song,tho i cant remember the lyrics.
when we had our arms and legs wrapped around one another,we looked like a yin yang symbol. Not quite
sure what the dream is trying to tell me,but it wonderful to see him!!
I’ve seen where to look for jobs, have seen some folks in my dreams before i met them in the physical..and for a time would see departed loved ones standing in back of others. Have seen angels from time to time too.
Karen
I connect with the Angelic Realm, so when they were moving en masse to greet a special soul who has touched millions of people on earth and who was about to cross over, I felt/saw them moving from that realm to this one. It always happened EXACTLY two hours before the death. I never knew who it was going to be. I was given no clues whatsoever. The first time it was Diana, Princess of Wales. The second, Mother Teresa, the third was John Denver. It was terribly upsetting. I asked that since I could do nothing to prevent the deaths that I be desensitized to that particular kind of event. Happily, my prayers were eventually answered/granted and it has been about 5 years since the last occurance.
Interesting story! I am from Vancouver, and I know exactly who you are talking about… I think he must just have really wanted someone to finish some things he just could not. He worked very hard to put the Olympics together… I always thought it was a shame that he didn’t get a chance to see things all the way through. I felt for him and his family.
Hi Anna, when I was in a group for doing psychic detective work I had a daytime dream of a local girl who had just been murdered. She was really scared and wanted to stay with me. (this feeling transferred over to the same feeling when i was awake). I rang this guy in NZ called the Ghost Mover because I didn’t know what to do. I knew her energy would pass the minute her funeral started as spirits will stay around until after the funeral. Sure enough she left then. I also had a dream that Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) came to me and wanted to get a message to Terri. This was not long after his death. A few times Ive passed on messages from spirit but I dont really like to do it unsolicited because it may feel relevant and vital to you but to the people who are grieving its probably not comforting. Unless they ask for it.
Hi Anna,
I always love reading your blog and newsletter. So pragmatic and sensible.
I would like to elaborate on your point #1 though. I believe that when we are touched by others passing by, it is sometimes just enough for them to be heard, to be acknowledged, to experience some passing warmth and encouragement. We don’t have to be heroes every day. Sometmes just smiling at someone in a parking lot is enough to refresh their faith and give them direction. So we’re not necessarily shrugging them off. I believe every contact is important especially if it is infused with love and understanding.
Hi Mary,
Yes, that is a really interesting point, that I didn’t think of before. We can have a tendency to think that we need to do something helpful with the information or encounter but perhaps it was enough by itself.
Thanks for your thoughts on this!
Wow Karen, You have had some amazing experiences with dreams. The one involving your ex husband is particularly amazing.
Kiera, that’s good you managed to turn it off, as it sounds like a pretty pointless (if incredible) thing to experience if it had no personal relevance to you. I am a big believer in turning off those aspects of our sensitivity, if we want to, because they can be distracting.
Andrea – yes, I felt bad because I really wanted to help him, but I trusted my gut which told me not to. Maybe he will move on now.
This is so great. I have always wondered WHY???? information is received that is not relevant, where nothing can be done with hit. Its very distracting and nerve racking. I felt like I was the only one.
Where to begin…
A year ago I woke suddenly from an afternnon nap, sweating and crying. I don’t remember what I had dreamt, but the thought ‘some girl is getting raped and murdered right now’ popped into my head. I was disturbed by this morbid thought, considering the day was sunny and warm. I didn’t think much of this thought until later that night when the local news came on. The headline story was that of a 13 year old girl that had gone missing. She had gone mising around 3:30 that afternoon. This was the exact time that I had woken up from my nap. My mouth dropped open.I immediately felt drawn to this girl. Sure enough, she was found dead 12 hours later, in the woods right across the street from her house. I couldn’t get this girl at of my head. No matter what. I eventually contacted her mother (I don’t know why, just something told me to) I have met with her several times. It was at this time that Istarted having dreams about running on this hill, with this huge resevoir, and a cemetary near by. As I’m running, a large man comes out of the woods, and comes at me. I crouch down in fear and wake up. I brushed this dream off as weird, and didn’t think of it again. One day the girl’s mother decided to take me to the spot where she was murdered. During our walk, we passed a cemetary with a resevoir across from it. I felt dizzy with deja vu. This was the exact place I had dreamnt about! After I left, I started having dreams about (what I believe to be) the murder. It’s terrifying and tragic, but it all happens so fast. I’m not watching it happen though, I’m actually the young girl being attacked. I become her in the dream. After this dream, I went into another dream. This time, The murdered girl (I’m calling her E from now on) showed me mundane instances in my life. However, I could see her spirit floating near me during all these momentes. We spoke telepathically to each other. She said she was trying to show me that she is always so near to me, and that I shouldn’t grieve for her anymore,nor hold anger for the killer who did it because she is exactly where she is suppossed to be. I told her that going through that murder just made me hate the killer even more. She didn’t respond, and I woke up. I don’t know why she picked me. I keep getting this urge to write her life’s story. I feel crazy. I never knew this girl. Now I know everything about her from her mother whom I have a close relationship with now. I haven’t told her about the dreams. I’m not going to because I don’t think the images I saw she should know about. Also, I get the impression that message was specifically directed at me. Am I crazy?
I am very happy that I found this site…it does give me a sense of relief.
As a child, I used to see spirits of people who will die few days later.
I am now in my mid thirties and about two years ago, I began experiencing precognitive dreams. The dreams usually happen during waking up hours (6-8am). Which I have waken up but happened to go back to sleep for half an hour at the most because I feel my eyes are still very heavy. The thing I have noticed repeatedly is I only dream when my husband have left the room.
One particular dream that came true was..On November 26, 2010 I was dreaming that there were several small closed coffins laying on the ground while children are laying on top of these closed coffins. After couple of weeks after I dreamed, our small village have experienced six deaths of children ages between six to sixteen years old almost every week ever since. In my dream, I did not have a chance to count these coffins because I was too scared. I also didn’t recognize these children either.
Anna, when I dreamed these kind of dreams, I usually jerked up and even though I am still too tired and want to go back to sleep, I force myself to stay awake because I strongly feel that I will repeatedly dream the same dream with more horrific details. What should I do? Please Help.
Thank you!
It was comforting to go back and read the replies to this article. I am “Sharlene”. Last night I had a terrible dream about a tragedy in Africa. I couldn’t shake it and still cannot. This has been the first dream I’ve had since this interview/article was written.
Finally I typed into google keywords that represented my dreams and the tragedy was there.
It is difficult to see such horror and sadness, for so long, and be completely unable to do anything about it.
Sometimes I wish this part of my brain would silence — if i cannot intervene and save anyone….If i cannot extend my hand in humble help to the suffering…If I cannot reach out and transform destiny because my dreams do not afford any notice but one day then I cannot see the point.
I am a much more compassionate, deep human being because of these dreams about tragedies. When I am in the dream, I feel it completely, as if I was a victim myself sitting there amongst the wounded left alive to witness it all.
Thanks for providing this forum.
Sharlene
There is something very simple that we all can do when we get dreams unbidden of people we don’t know or situations we don’t understand and that is to pray for them. Just send prayers of love to them and their families. Ask that they be guided to the place where they need to be and vision them well and whole and at peace.
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