Photo by Илья Мельниченко on Unsplash
Do you ever wonder if you’ve had dream visitations from your loved ones, pets, Spirit Guides, or Guardian Angel from the Afterlife? You wake up and say “was that a dream or was that real?” Have you ever had an extremely vivid and realistic dream that included a loved one in Spirit and you couldn’t stop thinking about it or recalling it? Even years later you can still recall every detail of this dream like it just happened? If so, you quite possibly had a dream visitation. We will discuss dream visitations, examine some examples of my personal experiences with dream visitations from my loved ones and explore what it means when you have one.
Since I was a child I have had the most vivid and colorful dreams. They appear just like a color movie on the screen. The interactions are deeply felt and memorable. I would explain these to my mother and she would say very little about it so I would go on about my day. As I got older I wouldn’t have them as often. At the time I had no idea what it was, what it meant, or that there was even a name for it. It was not until I was much older and further along in my spiritual journey that I came to understand more fully what was happening. A dream visitation is when you have a remarkable lifelike dream that includes a family member(s) or other loved ones in Spirit, pets, Spirit Guides, or Angels where the dream is so realistic you experience the emotions around it, see visions, and receive an important message for yourself or someone close to you. You are lucid and you can control your thoughts, words, and actions. You’ll tend to remember it very well as opposed to other dreams where you normally forget a few minutes after awakening. In my experiences dream visitations are full of love, exude loving concern, and have a beautiful message. The communication is telepathic, verbal, and visual or you will have a “knowing” about what was communicated. There is usually a logical sequence. For me it is more of a communication between my higher consciousness as compared to a usual dream state where it is more of a subconscious activity with symbolism that leaves you having to figure out the meanings. Some dreams seem more stressful and confusing. And sometimes you never understand or figure out what it meant. A dream visitation to me is more of a higher consciousness experience. A dream visitation will happen if you are deeply missing a loved one, under stress or grief and needing support. When we are sleeping and are not in our thinking minds it is much easier for the Spirit World to access our consciousness since we are not bogged down by the thoughts of the world.
My first dream visitation occurred when I was under enormous personal stress. I had laid down this one afternoon to catch up on some much needed sleep. In the dream I was crying and felt emotional. Right then, I saw a huge bright light come flying through the bedroom window and an Angel appeared. The love and compassion from this Angel was so strong it melted away all of my concerns. The Angel held me and expressed to me that everything was going to be just fine and not to worry. It was so comfortable and mesmerizing I didn’t want to leave. I felt as though I wanted to just stay in this place of well-being, comfort, and unconditional love forever. The communication between us was telepathic and very heart centered. I just knew what this Angel was explaining to me. I had a complete understanding of what was happening in my life at the time and I felt a relief. As I felt better and woke from the dream, I stared at my bedroom ceiling. I remember being somewhat disappointed I was in my bedroom again and the experience was just a dream. I wanted to go back to that comfortable loving place. It took me awhile to acclimatize to my surroundings and understand I had just had an encounter with an Angel. Although this experience was about thirteen years ago I remember it and the feelings surrounding it like it happened just yesterday.
After my grandparents transitioned I started to have dreams where I was receiving messages for myself and my family from them. These dreams were for the most part beautiful, colorful, filled with love and heartfelt messages, and felt just lovely. Their light was so bright and their energy was so wonderful it was hardly describable. Once again it felt lucid and I could understand everything that was happening. I would pass along these messages to my family like it was completely a normal thing. They would look at each other and not say much but deep down inside I knew it was “real”. And I still not only remember these dreams but I feel the love and emotion to this day! Visitation encounters in the dream state with my grandparents later led to mediumistic experiences with them in the awakened state.
My stepdaughter transitioned at an early age and I started having several dream visitations from her that progressed to awakened mediumistic experiences. These dreams were very loving, happy, and always had a beautiful message. She was always having fun, laughing, and playing in a park like setting. Once again, these dreams were colorful, alive, and lucid. It feels like your consciousness is in a whole other realm. Which now I know it is! Time is also altered in these states. The dream visitations feel like it lasts all night long or a very long time yet when I wake I would only have been sleeping for a couple of hours.
At the time of my stepfather’s transitioning I had come to know myself as a psychic medium. I was receiving information from him in my awake state but since I knew him so well I wondered if I was making up some of the things he was telling me. Then I had the most beautiful dream experience with him. We were both filled with light, he was smiling, and I could see our hands merge together as if we were holding hands but it was light merging together. The feeling of love is incomprehensible to the mind. It’s explosive. I could also see that his mother and brother were also in the dream. I decided I would tell my mother about the dream thinking it would sooth her grief somewhat. To my surprise she had just recently completed an oil painting of my stepfather fishing where she placed a rabbit and a bird in the painting. She then stated that the rabbit was his mother and the bird was his brother. She had painted him with the same two family members I had the dream visitation with. What a wonderful way Spirit can improve our lives and also let us know they do not depart from us.
Photo Credit: Unknown
So as you may understand now that dream visitations from loved ones in Spirit are just as real as or more real than your waking life. They also transcend time and space and can extend to include others at the same time. As we are all connected, dream visitations do not have any boundaries. For me they are always filled with love and compassion. The messages they impart are of the most loving.
As for the meaning or meanings for having dream visitations, that will vary for each individual. In my situations it was related to stress in some way or another and the fact that it was time for me to start to realize and awaken to my truth. In a way these dreams helped me to increasingly understand the true aspect of life and its purpose. I also believe that if there is a strong connection to the Spirit World or a strong connection to particular loved ones then those are the ones who will visit with you. Sort of like a vibrational frequency similarity. If there is something they can help you with or through then that is who will also visit you in your dream visitation. The purpose is to bring love, comfort, and relief. You can also ask for your Loved Ones, Spirit Guides, and or Angels to meet or visit with you in your dream state.
I hope you enjoyed this article on dream visitations and I hope my experiences with them have inspired you to explore this form of consciousness much further. For more please visit our website at
Alison Woods
Reiki Master Teacher, Energy Healer, Spiritual Medium, Spirit Artist