Death dreams can be a way of our subconscious mind to convey important messages about different aspects of our lives. What do they mean?

Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to have a dream in which a loved one has died will know that it can be a very upsetting experience. But dreaming about death does not necessarily mean that someone will die. Death dreams can relate to many different aspects of our lives. This can be the ending of an important phase in our lives, the start of a new beginning, overcoming a bad habit or even recognizing that an aspect of yourself that has ended.

It all depends on who has died in your dream and the nature of their death. When we dream, people in our dreams tend to symbolize different aspects of our personality or life. It is important, therefore, to understand what this person represents for you.

If for instance, an old person dies in your dream, it could signify a time to shed old habits that are becoming destructive. If a child has died, perhaps the underlying message is that you should start acting in a more and responsible manner.

Here are some of the most common death dreams and their meanings:

1. Death of yourself

If you are the person that has died in your dream, this could mean a number of things. You could feel like you are always making sacrifices and no one notices, or that it is time to put yourself first. It could also be a wake-up call, time to end unhealthy habits and practices that could be putting your life in danger.

2. Death of a baby

This is a very common dream where new mums realize the importance of their duty regarding their new-born babies. New mums come face to face with the fact that they alone are responsible for their baby’s safety.

3. Death of a child

A very common dream that older parents might have and typically occurs at a time when their children are leaving the nest. The parents are actually mourning their children’s childhood and the fact that it is now over.

4. Death of a parent

If your parents are not dead and you dream that they are, it could be your unconscious mind worrying about losing them in the future. This is especially true if they are elderly. If your parents have passed away, you are taking this opportunity to say goodbye for the last time.

5. Death of a sibling

Dreaming that your brother or sister is dead could an indication that in your busy life you have not got the time to properly spend with them. Take time out to tell them what they meant to you and remember happier times together.

6. Death of a husband or wife

Anyone that dreams that their most precious loved one has died might be unconsciously admitting to themselves that they are lacking in a certain quality that their partner possessed. To understand this death dream in more detail, explore what it is about your loved one that you particularly admire or love, and see if it is a quality that you lack.

7. Dreaming of someone who is already dead

Dreaming about dead people could be a warning that you are being influenced by the wrong people in your life. It could also mean that a situation in your life should be resolved and it is time for you to move on.

8. Death of a stranger

If you don’t know the person that has died in your dream, then this is an indication that there are changes going on around you but you feel completely detached from them.

9. You find a dead body

It is important to look at the circumstances surrounding the discovery of this dead body. Is it someone you know? When and where was the body found? Do you know the reason why the person is dead? Once you have these answers, look to your own life and see if there is any correlation between the two.

10. You killed someone

To dream of actually committing murder and being on the run from the police is an indication that some pervious guilty feelings or a bad judgment you made recently are coming back to haunt you.

Death dreams can be particularly distressing. However, most experts agree that dreams about death, despite their disturbing nature, are reminders that life itself is precious and to be coveted.

References:

  1. https://www.psychologytoday.com
  2. https://dreams.ucsc.edu

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This Post Has 56 Comments

  1. User

    8 years ago I saw a dream where my father died from train accident and the same night one of my father’s friend called and said that he is dead from train accident ( at that time I was 10 years old) I was so shocked that I couldn’t eat 3 days and had have really high temperatures………..: I think if I didn’t saw that dream then he would be alive

    1. Giorgi

      Sorry. he died by train accident?

      1. David Duda

        I had a dream that I went back to my childhood home with somebody behind me I didn’t know who it was knocked on the door asked the person if I could come in and see the house that I grew up here after viewing the inside of the house which looked almost identical to when I lived there I walked out in the driveway and the gentleman said why did you really come here and I turned around and told him I came here to die…

    2. Sol

      You have a special gift my friend. You had a premonition. You need to get a hold of a medium so they can help you out with this special gift so they can guide you.
      I’m sorry about your father by the way 🙏

  2. Onyeaku jovita

    Comment…last night i had a dream seeing a dead child alive in that dream i was still able to know that the child is dead but i ran away from the child and the child started looking for me.
    what does it mean?

  3. Maxine

    I had a dream of this priest reversing his car to the back of our house hitting the house as well. my mum and her deceased sister that was alive in my dream was in the house. But for this priest to use the garage has set up a funeral for a deceased baby only to find out this baby came back to life after settling it in its position.
    No. 2 Death of a baby
    No.7 death of someone already dead

    In my waking life I’m being run down for not being a good enough mother from where I come from I’m doing a excellent job I have after school activities 5times a week at the end of the night my child goes to bed with a smile on his face… I’m a awesome mom so don’t judge me. Ask my son he has a mother and a father that love him so much we may not know how to read and write but that why we pay the teachers to teach him

  4. Elizabeth

    My daughter dreamed of me having 10 dead identical babies where I also died.what could be the meaning of this.

  5. Levi

    I had a dream, where I was sitting in back seat of a truck positioned in the middle so I could talk to my friends up front, we hit something and I flew threw the window. Next thing I feel is floating sensation and it was pitch black couldn’t see my hand that touched my face couldn’t tell what was up,down,left,right,, all of a sudden I see a little yellow speck, and the floating sensation drifted toward the light, as I got closer it got bigger until I could see it was a fire, and tons of people standing around it. As I got closer I realized something was in the middle of the fire, and as soon as I realized it was my body in a casket in the middle of the fire, The floating went to the the light of speed and bam I sat up in my casket and confused and asked what happened, they got me out and explained that I had died 3 days prior and that this was my funeral, as the funeral turned into a party I heard this female’s voice say “run they are gonna kill you” so I ran ended up in this house where the basement was at ground level with glass window walls I ducked behind a billiard table, the whole time this female voice guiding me, as the human looking figure walked past the glass wall the voice said if you run now you can make it, so I ran busted through the wall and knocked down 1 of the creatures ducked behind a van and the voice said go and as I took off I got stabbed in the heart, and woke up….

  6. Estelle

    What does it mean if my mum had a dream the my nan who has passed away spoke to her in a dream and told her that I need to call her cause she wanted to talk to me

  7. Samantha

    I had a dream about avenging a young girls death and was determined even though no one else was to find out who killed her, and some where in my dream nouns were involved, they were chasing me because they thought I was some sort of “freak” for visiting I think it was the home of the little girl who passed away(not sure) and when they caught me I had to explain to them what I was doing, and when I showed them who I was(I was wearing a mask) they applauded me as if they knew me and then left me alone to I assume continue on my quest to avenge the little girls death. I did not know any of the people in my dream what could this dream possibly mean?

  8. Jad

    I had a dream when my brother and I went to a zoo and when we got near the pool he thought it would be nice to take a picture of the animals but then he fell inside the pool and got eaten and ripped apart.That was a horrible experience to take in.

  9. Leigh-Anne Chin

    I took a brief nap today an had a dream about a mass death. Like a HUGE freak accident on a highway I was on. I was watching people everywhere get crushed by things and run over etc and somehow the car I was in wasn’t damaged until I suddenly ended up on my feet walking around in the chaos. It seemed like the more I moved forward was the more the accident continued until I woke up. I didn’t wake with a start. It was just a normal ‘get-up’ from my nap. I can’t find anything on a dream like this.

  10. homer

    i am always dreaming a dead persons, while in my dreams i normally talking sometimes they are two or three persons, please can someone to voluntarily to interprete,,

  11. Luanne

    Had a dream of someone that I knew committed suicide years ago but dreamed I get call from him on my husband number but 2 weeks later I get a call from him on my cell phone that he did not know what does this mean just lost my sister in law.

    1. Destiny

      I had a dream today actually because I woke up @8 and went back to sleep and well I had a really bad dream that all the people I love, my boyfriend, friends, some family, and even strangers all died or killed them selves…but before they were going to they put pictures of themselves and pictures with people and the date they passed away…and I talked to a friend of mine and I said “Bry don’t go please” and she’s like “It’s because I’ve been hurt a lot I don’t know what to do” and I was like “Please don’t leave me alone Bry I need you” and then boom next day I saw they passed away but there were ghosts and then I saw this girl a stranger but I’ve seen her around before in real life I know her name but I never talked to her, and well she was dancing with a boy idk who, and she actually does dance in real life as well, and she said “Look I’m a picture now” and I looked and it was actually a picture of her and the day she was born to the day she passed away…I was planning on leaving as well but I said I wasn’t ready, then I kept walking it was so lonely it was just some adults no people my age and I wondered like why does this have to happen to me…and I went to hug my dad and I cried and cried and he asked what happened I was like “All my friends killed themsleves I’m lonely now I’m alone!😭😭😭😭” and then I woke up crying

  12. Iyke

    I was passing by a hospital and I saw many dead people, accident victims
    Hospitals mortuary was filled and many dead bodies were outside
    What’s the meaning of this dream please get back to me asap.

  13. kiarra

    what if its a friend who dies, and there are three friends, and a killer/stalker for each? you find your way onto a roof after a really long chase (you meaning all three friends), end up with a severely sprained ankle, a bullet graze, knife and or other sharp object wounds, and to top it off you get pushed off? you survive the fall, but one of the company does not. the killers think your dead, so they leave you. what does that mean?

    1. Suranjan timalsina

      Ihad seen my two friend died one in accident and other ididnt remember what does it mean

  14. Faustus

    In my dream, Death PREVENTED my death. What does that mean???
    Like, I was refusing to wake up, but then the cloaked skeleton forcibly pulled and dragged me away from that place an into the waking state-

  15. Nuriyat Salihu

    Yesterday i dream’t of some body drowned in a large body of water and died. every body knows she was dead but she could still talk and do some things in the waking life. i have had this same dream before, i don’t understand this dream.

  16. Amy

    I have the same death dreams every night and sometimes they change but it every night the same dream and it won’t go away

  17. Nganthoibi

    I saw a dream were a death body is lying in a coffin were the hand started to move suddenly2….
    A child was sitting beside me but I wasn’t scared she was somewhat scared n making me also scared but at last the body remains still I saw the body inside a room/bus with men the child I couldn’t remember it….
    Wht would it mean by that?

  18. Debbie

    I had a dream that I was being sentenced to death I hadn’t commuted a crime and had no idea why .in NY dream I’m trying to find my children so I can say good bye to them but don’t succeed in finding them .then I’m lying in a open coffin and someone is placing a cloth over my mouth .I’m so scarred I’m thinking it will only be like going to sleep before a op station like going to sleep.but I’m so scarred that I fight against it and the cloth is removed from my mouth and am told they will have to arrange another date for my death sentence.this dream has plays on my mind and wonder if anyone can put my mind at ease and tell me what this dream means

  19. Norma Bryant

    I had a dream that me and some friends went some where. (do not know the place we went) The girl that drove us all got killed but we do not know how we just found here dead. Now the strange thing about this is me and the girl who drove are alive in real life, but my other friends in the dream are all dead in real life.

  20. Tasha

    I dreamed that my second and third sons died the same day same time but I have no idea the cause of death they just died

  21. Sarah Elaine Hughes

    I had a dream about my daughter ….she had died and came back and she came to me and i was holding her she mumbled as fluids ran from her mouth and asked me momma why canr i talk…..what does this mean

  22. DAWN m TORFASON

    I JUST HAD A DREAM OF GOING TO AN UNDERTAKER AND WANTING TO COMMIT SUICIDE BUT IN THE DREAM THEY COULD NOT KEEP ME FROZEN AND I EVENTUALLY WOKE UP

  23. obellah yoweri

    It’s a common thing always

  24. Champha

    I was trying to kill my Aunty who died 6 yrs ago but every time I attempted her nothing happened instead she chessed me and caught me. At the end I begged for forgive and she appreciated. What does that mean? I’m very scared

    1. Dawn

      It means you are trying to deal with the feelings of death, but each time you try to take a mature look at it, you panic and fail. But you try to comfort yourself and tell yourself “it is okay”, everything is okay, you can look at this transient world. Nothing stays the same, and that is okay, because that is the very nature of this world’s lessons for us.

  25. Jayendra Manek

    Last night I saw dream where I was driving bike and in middle of road there was many dead bodies.
    What does this means?
    All dead body’s face were covered by cloth.
    I don’t understand this meaning.
    It is connected to me anyhow?

  26. Ositadinma kosi

    I dreamt Were i took my late bro to the hospital please i need the i meaning

    1. Dawn

      You are trying to process his death. Perhaps a therapist would be good to help you walk through your process of grief.

  27. Lisa

    I dreamt I was dead my mum came to collect e but she is still alive but could here and talk to me we both rushed to get a medic to do CPR witch failed my mum told my dad I was dead he was mortified she told my sis who was heartbroken but what’s straight GE is that my ex husband was their and my mum told him I’d died Hart broken and before he said anything I woke up !!!!! So I’m worried that in my dream why did my mum collect me and not my extended
    family

  28. Sri

    I dreamt mum has dead and I am crying why did u leave me wt does it mean pls reply

    1. Dishu

      I dreamt same and its horrible experience 😭😭😭

  29. Monica Perpetual Mphuka

    I had a dream that my grand mother who s alive has died,but no one showed up for her funeral Nd we kept her body in the house Nd her body started swelling…I had to go Nd look for some boys to help as with the burial on my way I met her Nd I apologized for not barring her Nd she just Sayed it’s ok it happens……same night I dreamt I went to a toilet i found a black Nd white small snake on the war it dint do anything not even move I got scared nd I woke up

  30. Rawinia Harrison

    Hi, I dreamt my of three deaths at once. My mum in law who I was once close to but she is still alive today, my brother inlaw who died at the age of 14 who just died again in my dream and a 3rd person whom I’m not sure who it is. My husband’s family I class as my family just like I would my parents and siblings so what does this mean? It was a very peaceful, heartfelt dream but saying goodbye again to my brother inlaw was very hard again and he spoke about the 1st time he died and how I reacted and how I said good bye to him then and told me not to worry again. When saying goodbye to my mum inlaw, who never liked wearing a dress but was wearing one she told me she forgave me and that everything will be ok. They were both dead, then came back to talk to me and were dead again. I’m puzzled with the 3rd person but there was a 3rd body. Just cannot see them.

  31. christiuna pirie

    I DREAMT I WAS CLUTCHING A DEAD BABY TO MY CHESTWHAT DOES THIS MEAN.

  32. Donna

    I have been dreaming about everyone I know that has passed away was in one room and i was there too but it wasn’t myself it was like i was looking through someone else’s eyes me in the dream was trying to talk but nobody was listening to me could someone please help me

  33. Dorah ogesh

    To idreamt that we were in the funeral of my nephew and then an announcement came that my brother who died 9 yrs ago has dead in adiffrent town n I feared that what will people think about my family that’s all I remember

  34. Danni

    in my dream I was spending time with friends, whom I do not know in waking life, but they feel familiar for some odd reason. One girl was named TJ. We were just hanging out. Then some other people show up. Again I don’t know who they are. One girl didn’t even have a name. We were all trying to help her and her adoptive mother choose a name. Another girl with her boyfriend came up and asked for money to help a friend in dire straights. They got $10 from someone. I had the rest they needed. $15. At some point before reaching the ones in trouble, I had gotten them food and coffee. We went to the hotel. I somehow remember this hotel from before. Supposedly I had lived in it for a year. I knew the layout. And all of its secrets. Before it was great with minor problems. Now the suite was in bad disrepair. I placed the food onto a shelf for the couple. Dropping the cream and sugar packets. I hear crying about the situation. I went to wash my hands. There is a guy in the living room portion of the suite. He asked if I had anything left for him. I said I’m sorry I gave all I had left for the couple. But offered a few bucks to him. He took it and went back to sleep on the couch. I walked back into the far room. We all walk back out to the living room, then to the kitchen. A girl named Jessica, I don’t know her in real life, went out onto the patio/balcony area. She gets taken by this guy who claims, “stay away, I just lost my job”. He takes her to the edge and starts to climb down a rope. She is struggling hard. I go to help her, but I am held back by her boyfriend because the guy is violent. We all watch in horror as her fighting him result in her getting her neck tangled in the rope and starts being strangled by the rope. She dies. I am frantically trying to lock the patio door and it won’t lock. We all run away from the situation, and this guy starts to chase us. Then I wake up.

  35. sam

    i had a dream my uncle and sister died out of nowhere and my dad made a spell he can do once every two years to bring them back to life for 1 hour
    no one cared but me

  36. Karina O.

    I dreamt about my mother and my friends’ parents dying in a helicopter crash and something in my dream bothered me…I saw this little Chinese kid, he looked about 6 years old and his parents also died at the same time as the others but it was when they were riding a bicycle. Another weird thing is that when we came to see our parents, we only saw their heads. nothing else. We had to pay in order to see them and when I told my dad and my brother that my mom died, they laughed at me and didn’t believe me until they saw the news. later when i came out of the room, I saw my father and my brother hanging from the ceiling and i started crying because it felt so real. I instantly woke up and since my mother and I share a bed, i immediately felt my left side to see if she was there. And when I found out she wasn’t, i started crying. but then I saw my mom in the kitchen and I felt so relieved. If you took the time to read this, What does this mean?

  37. anonymous

    I have a reoccurring nightmare quiet often, when I’m in a different country, like Afghanistan and I’m in the middle of a war, a gun fight. The guy who is fighting right beside me gets shot in the neck and drops, I began to try and save his life, then the building next to us suddenly explodes and innocent civilians began to fall on the streets, dead. There is so much screaming blood, everything began to become a total haze, and its as if my entire vision goes red, then the scene switches, I’m looking at myself this time, I’m standing in a pale white room, wearing red lipstick, and long red dress, in front of me, there are coffins of each innocent person that had died and i begin to walk forward and lay a single red rose on each one, and the end of my dress is cascaded down into a puddle blood and rose petals, the dream always ends with me laying a rose down on the first casket and the screaming beginning to reoccur.

    1. Grishma

      Last night, I had a strange dream. Abram Lincoln was following me without talking through the way of small river. I was running towards the south direction crossing the little hill. He was still following me and I wake up. I still remembered his face cloths and how he walked.

  38. Annebelle

    i had a dream where my grandma was a psychopath murderer and she was trying to kill me she had slit my wrist and in the end i had no arms or legs also was lying on a pile of dead, burning bodies. And in my nightmare i was crying, screaming hoping it was fake but i have a cut in my wrist also i couldn’t wake up.

  39. Dhiraj kamble

    Today it’s 1 am I woke with bad dream experience I saw in my dream I’m working as corona warrior in reality also I’m a ICU staff nurse and my unit in charge told me and my mom ur expired and I was shocked my mon was with me and and my mom run to my bed in same ICU where I’m working in reality it’s ICU bed no. 23 and I saw my own death body and and I just woke up it’s too scary whole night I’m not sleeping what does it means

  40. Laura

    My daughter has been seeing her deceased father in her sleep for awhile now and he’s told her that he isn’t dead he’s still alive and I’m with him she also said he’s opened a door and she sees very bright light come out of the door. What is she seeing?

  41. rullan

    Seeing a dead father is not a bad sign!
    It’s time to understand what your share tells you.

  42. Joyce

    i do not miss a night dreaming about myself getting ready to die. I tell myself to lay my arms down on each side and straitening my head you are dead.

  43. Dori

    I had a dream with my ex-boyfriend (1st boyfriend I dated). I dreamed that he invited me to his house, he is married (to the woman he left me for)–in which he really did marry. In actuality she’s been dead for 3 years now, but in my dream she is alive, young (like in the old days & so is he). In my dream, I am yelling at her, telling her off, blaming her for the reason he left me. She is speechless, surprised by my reaction, & walks away. An older woman from her family wants to protect her & she points a small gun at me. I leave & run down the street leaving behind my purse & car keys. I go to a restaurant to find a phone to call the police so they can retrieve my purse & car keys. Other things occur in the dream & I wake up before I can go with a cop to get my purse/keys. It’s been over 30 years since he & her got married, 40 yrs since he left me for her. I only know she died b/c of google’ing him every few years & discovered 3 yrs ago she had died. What does this dream mean? Anyone? Thx!

  44. Bosy

    I dreamed of a dead person under my pillow but there was blood and I think his bones showed but no face or body what does that mean?

  45. Aya

    I had dream last night of my dead uncle who passed away 9years ago.its like we were in the mall shopping and when we were leaving he had the key for the car and i asked to drive and he agreed from there i woke up and i remembered that he died.

  46. Swapnashatra

    I dreamed of my beloved Grandmother, from which i was very close. In my dream visitation, we met as we used to do, in a very friendly and happy way at her house. She was in good health, smiling, and said hello to me. The moment we would talk, I woke up. I have never dreamed of my Granny before. She passed away 3 years ago. What does that mean?

  47. Sumita

    I saw a dream where I was there in my school with my friend I m near the door to the classroom where I can sense that something is wrong and it’s terrible and I say to friend that I m not going inside the room and she says ok let me check if anything is wrong and she saw a lady dead there and she molested before she was murdered…now what does that mean?????

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