Dreaming Lens: Did you see a ghost in your dream? Were you the ghost? Were you in fear? Were you in danger? Was it the ghost of someone you knew? If so, was this someone who has passed or is currently living? What form or shape did the ghost take? Did you face it or run away? Did the ghost have a message for you?
Personal Focus: Most people consider ghosts through the context of whether they believe in them or not. The argument around their existence is irrelevant in the world of symbols. A ghost is defined as a remnant of a person’s energy that remains connected to the physical world after he or she has died. Some metaphysicians theorize that a spirit can be stuck here due to unfinished business or an untimely death. There are scientists who explore the possibility of ghosts as bumps in the electromagnetic field of energy that can sometimes be perceived by people who are living. No matter what camp you fall into, a ghost is symbolic of something from your past that continues to have a presence in your consciousness long after the event or person that inspired it has passed. This can include memories, habitual patterns, and even obsessions.
The three things to examine when ghosts appear in a dream is their identity, energetic quality, and their intention, if you know it. Who they are will lead you to the part of your personality that is being highlighted by your unconscious. How they appear reveals the power this experience is having on you. What they want will give you clues about the shift your unconscious mind is guiding you to consider.
If the ghost is someone you know who is not actually dead, use the Character Aspect technique to discover what qualities are traits that you have let go of, but that still arise in your behavior or thought patterns from time to time. Someone who has actually passed away can be considered in the same fashion, but might represent the impact they had on you in life, whether positive or negative.
The influence the ghost in your dream may have can be seen by the form and structure they take. An ethereal and insubstantial energy might point to less of a hold on you than something more grounded and solid. If the dream offers you any clues to the ghost’s intention or desire, add that in a literal fashion to expand your interpretation.
In many indigenous cultures, good fortune comes to a dreamer who faces a ghost and doesn’t flee. This image in a dream could point to a need to face the ghosts of your past in the form of old choices and behaviors that still haunt you with regret. Accepting the mistakes made earlier in life is crucial to emotional growth, and the ghosts of your youth will let you alone when you take on self-forgiveness.
Running from a ghost in fear may represent unwillingness to face certain inevitabilities. The notion that ghosts are souls who cannot transition to the next level of existence connects with resistance. Consider areas in your life where you are not letting go of something that no longer serves you, or where you are holding on to something or someone that truly may no longer exist in your life in a real way.