I can't pin point one particular dream. Lately I have been having dreams of loved ones who have passed away. Recently I dreamed of my first husband who has been dead for 11 years. My neice and i were in my home (remodeled since he died) and it was the way it used to be. I felt as if my neice was trying to protect me from something, or someone, that was in the house. I never saw my husband but I KNEW that he was there. I have also dreamed that my husband's mother was sitting on my porch with my sister-in-law. We were discussing the memorial service for my husband's brother who recently died. I was insisting that my sister, who is a minister, do the service. Although, this was not something that my sister-in-law wanted. I have also been dreaming of my sister that died 16 years ago. Help! I sometimes feel as if I am going crazy and dread going to bed at night!

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 years Small town West Virginia

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Femal

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? no

Robin,

Most likely these dreams are symbolic of emotional stress associated with the reflections in life we experience as we get older. They may be addressing actual conflicts in past experiences with certain relatives, reliving those experiences in an attempt to give meaning to your life. This is common for someone in the last stages of mid-life. You are not going crazy, you are merely trying to make sense of the past.

The dream about your house and your deceased husband may be about reflections of past emotions, possibly from that period of your life, that you wish to be protected from. Because you still live in the same house {the house is you} and even though you remodeled it your ex husband's presence still lingers. Those emotions from that time in your life still remain. The niece may represent herself in some way {are you close to her?} but in the dream may represent related aspects of your own psyche that want to protect you from these emotions {present and past}.

The second part of the dream seems to be addressing actual negative experiences you may have had with ex in-laws. It is probably metaphorical of emotional conditions in your psyche {dreams often address inner conflicts while at the same time addressing actual past waking experiences} but also is addressing those reflections of the past. How you felt toward certain in-laws {ex mother-in-law and sister-in-law} probably have something to do with these dreams.

Having spent the past 15 years analyzing my own life {I am 58} and using Jung's Individuation Process I have learned that dreams in the late stages of mid-life are very often about reflections of the past. Your dreams are helping you to sort through these past experiences in an attempt to reconcile them and make sense and meaning of your life. There are not any mysterious 'ghosts' other than those emotional ones that we all possess within our minds that must be sorted out as we grow older. You may not want to do this consciously but unconsciously we all experience this stage of reconcilation.
The past still resides within you and as with the dream with your ex husband, memories good and bad are brought to new life as time begins to fade in the years we have left remaining on this earth. It may sound a bit eerie but you are not going crazy, just merely experiencing a natural process of life.

gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Thank you! You have been very helpful. After thinking about it, everything that you say makes sense. My first husband died suddenly with no warning, leaving a lot of things unsaid. There was some conflict that was not able to be resolved. I did have a stormy relationship with my sister-in-law and it appeared that my mother-in-law favored me over her. As for my sister, she died at the age of 53. I sometimes think that I have lived longer than she did, and wonder if that might be the reason for the dreams of her. Once again, thank you.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 55 years Small town West Virginia

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Female

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? no