THE WORLD DREAM BANK: TOPIC: GHOSTS

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GHOSTS

Dreams of ghosts... I don't just mean dreaming of dead people alive again, that's a universal thing. Maybe the spirit of a loved one is visiting you, or maybe a ghostly figure's just a handy symbol for "Listen up, stupid! This is important!" But when you dream of true ghosts, glassy, ectoplasmic strangers drifting lost and bewildered, or haunting you, demanding you leave their house, perhaps even threatening you... are THESE inner symbols? Or are they spooks, literal spirits of the dead floating around, occasionally blundering into our dreams? Or, worse, deliberately invading?

If they're capable of deliberation! I was curious, so I dug up a lot of the copious parapsychological research of the last few generations, moldering unread in the Stanford library. (The things an American public education neglects!) To my surprise, ghost-busters of many traditions and theoretical viewpoints held quite consistent empirical views that whatever ghosts are, they're judgment-impaired--either mere splinters or residues of a soul, left behind like bloodstains at a trauma scene or that persistent smell in a centenarian's home... Or, if they're souls, they're stuck in neurotic cages that barely let them even notice others--cages built of pain and trauma, or a long decay into habit and illness before death.

If you have this sort pestering you, perhaps the best thing you can do is point the way to someplace better--heaven, or a tunnel of light full of friends, or a sofa and a TV and an endless beer supply, if you have one of those skeptical ghosts who doesn't believe in a heaven. Habit may be a powerful ally on their side, but boredom's on yours! In my experience, dream-ghosts without a message are usually scared, angry, and bored. Being stuck in a loop is weirdly addictive, but ultimately, it's a dull way to live. Or die. Whatever. So if you're pestered by persistent dream-ghosts, try coaxing them. Even if they're parts of you, it can't hurt, and if they're not...

RELATED TOPICS: dreams of revenants (visits from dead loved ones) - death and the dead in general - nature and place-spirits - souls - astral planes - you're the ghost: out-of-body experiences - memory - calendrical and anniversarial dreams - See also the full INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

The World Dream Bank has 2100 dreams and dream images plus 500 other pages on dreamwork and shamanism, creativity, genius, art, surrealism and fantasy. Unless otherwise noted, all material copyright Chris Wayan, 2001-2010.

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	THE ADDICTION: by Wayan; 1988/1/26, a thoughtful nightmare I'm addicted to faraway trains. I quit cold turkey, but I shake the house down! Junkie poltergeists... CAUTION: DRUG ADDICTION. SORT OF.
	ANNABEL ROSE: by Emily Joy; 2006/12/14, a ghostbusting dream on... love? sex? what? Edgar Allen Poe confronts his dead girlfriend, who wants to drag him into the grave with her... CAUTION: HUNGRY GHOST, SEX TALK
	ARENNA, FREED: by Wayan; 130K, 1991/11/6, a pastlife/flying/freedom dream. I learn to fly from Arenna the moon-girl and Crest the dragon, in the House of Deep Memory...
	THE ARTERIA: by Wayan; 1994/5/24, a raw, personal tale of three nightmares. Hypnotherapy provokes nightmares of body-part shops, secret libelers, and madmen in space...
	THE ASILOMAR OF DREAMS: by Wayan; 1986/3/5, a dream about dreams. Jungian angels at a conference of dreams test my progress. But I'm all backwards: did the hard stuff first...
	ASTRALNAUT: by Wayan; 1994/7/30, a reverse ghost dream. I have amnesia. Plus, I'm dead. On the other hand, I have this great NASA job! Only there's a saboteur... CAUTION: SNOTTY ABOUT CHRISTIANS AGAIN
	LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI: by John Keats, April 1819, a sexy nightmare poem A knight falls in love with a fey woman, until her previous victims warn him in a nightmare that she is... CAUTION: GOTH TO THE MAX
	BELLE OF THE BALL: by Bonnie; 2006/5/2, a sexy ghost dream I’ll win a house if I can survive a night in the Haunted Pavilion! But it turns out I’ve been here before--before I was born... CAUTION: GHOST ORGY
	BERYL'S KUNDALINI: by Wayan; 1997/8/26, a clarifying dream. My friend Beryl's ghost makes mad love to me--just long enough to swipe my Kundalini energy... CAUTION: SUCCUBISM?
	BLIND ANCESTORS: by Wayan; 2007/8/6, a nightmare poem about all of us While we’re off at work, blind Ancestors come smash our homes--and we all take zombie vandal relatives for granted...
	BLUE SOUP, NO SPARK: by Wayan; 115K, 1985/6/1, a dream epic. A visit to a world where they fear blue soup ends in death and resurrection, so I'm pissed at my boss--God. CAUTION: DEATH, REBIRTH, SACRILEGE, JOB BURNOUT
	BOATS: by SAO (Shawn Allen O'Neal); March 2001, a doubly predictive dream. Were the rowdy face-boats really ghosts haunting this old house, harbingers of my future online... or both?
	BODY-SWITCH: by Wayan; 2000/6/10; a dream of a castaway soul Spies kidnap a girl and move her soul into a madwoman’s body. Can she survive? Recover? Even thrive?
	BREAK FREE: by Emily Joy; 2006/5/11, an encouraging dream on the price of safety. I search for family skeletons, but then a talking plant on TV inspires me to seek the sun and fly free. But certain velociraptors and barbarian swordswomen object... CAUTION: DUELS, FISH ABUSE, THE F-WORD
	BURN HIS TREE: by Emily Joy; 30 K, 2007/2/7; two linked nightmares on art Malevolent artwork terrorizes my baby and me! What's to be done?...
	CREEPINESS: by Scottopic; 2001/11/30. A hypnogogic nightmare. I'm in bed sleepily petting my cat, when I see my cat across the room! What's on my legs? It's big. My cat chases it off... through the wall? My room is sealed. Where did it come from, where did it go?...
	DEAD, NOT STUPID: by Wayan; 2000/1/20, a (psychic?)dreamtale. My little sisters tell the detectives, "Daddy's ghost has a message for you" but they don't listen...
	DON'T TREAD ON ME: by Herdis Bollisdotter; c.1040, a psychic dream of a ghost with an agenda A ghost complains Herdis's grandma has a bothersome aura. Herdis wakes, tells Grandma, and they dig up the floor to find...
	DRACULA'S SANDWICH: by Brenda Ferrimani; 1997/8/22, a death/rebirth nightmare-painting Dinner with Dracula goes well, considering, except for the mayonnaise. But suddenly I'm drowning! People don't see or hear me. Am I a ghost, am I dead or alive? And how would anyone notice?
	THEIR DREAM HOUSE: by Wayan; 1986/1/1, a New Year's nightmare. A house with a fire-ghost infestation. Worse than termites! And the ghosts tell me it's my fault....
	DREAMKU, SEPTEMBER 2006: by Roswila; thirty dream-haiku with various dates from 1960-2006 One dream-poem in haiku style each day for a month! Ghosts, snow, penguins, yoga babies, elves who leave their tree...
	DREAMKU, APRIL 2007: by Roswila; various dates up to April 2007; 30 dream-poems--mostly haiku but some longer Dream haiku laid out like a calendar. Roswila's favorite is the pirate, but mine is the were-salamander...
	A FINAL GOODBYE: by Justin Hall; dreamed summer 2001, drawn 2003; comic of a lucid dream on closure. I found myself in a cafe in Amsterdam--or was it Sevilla?--with Kevin, who I knew was dead... CAUTION: GRIEF
	A FRUGAL GHOST: by Wayan; 2000/3/12, a skewed Trek dream. A Scottish ghost leads us on a treasure hunt, but insists we stop to pick up small change. But it adds up...
	GHOST DOGS: by Wayan; 107K, digital comic of a 1993/4/2 dream of temptation. I meet a wolf who invites me to join Dr Who's pack of sexy Ghost Wolves. There's just one catch... CAUTION: FLIRTATIOUS WOLVES
	THE GHOSTMASTER: by Wayan; 1992/6/16, a dreamtale of the Shadow. I win a starship from the hostile Ghostmaster; in space I gain the confidence to confront him, and find...
	GHOSTS PUSH TOWARD THE SUICIDE DOOR: by Wayan, 1997/8/7, a nightmare that wants a break. I live in a haunted house where ghosts push you to suicide. But they're as tired of it as I am...
	A HAUNTED HOUSE INDEED!: by Anna Kingsford; 1887/4/12, an epic ghost dream I was warned to beware the soul-devouring art in the haunted house, but I didn't expect to find an entire modern art salon... CAUTION: ABSORBING ARTWORK
	HAUNTED BUT HAPPY: by Wayan; 1990/9/13, a labyrinthine dream. Some Christian oneirologists barge into the Haunted Firehouse. But I pose for nude unicorn photos, and... CAUTION: DUMB CHRISTIANS, EXHIBITIONIST UNICORNS, ETC.
	HER OWN WEAPON: by Wayan; 1983/8/31, a poltergeist-therapy dream. A woman says she's being stalked, but it's her own poltergeist! Her therapist makes her reach for it...
	HIS MINE: by Wayan; 1985/12/2, a wild dream epic. I'm a hobbit seeking Henry Fonda's haunted gold mine, who ends up in a showdown in a shaman's bar...
	HYDROGEN INITIATION: by Wayan; 1981/1/6, a shamanic nightmare. I'm an initiate in a Sung Dynasty monastery. But I have no idea how far the hazing can go... CAUTION: DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME
	I AM NOT A MAN: by Wayan; 1996/11/28, a dream of Middle Earth. I can help slay a monster and save my friends--if I deny I'm human. My denial has consequences, but it's true...
	ID FLOWERS: by Wayan; 1989/10/8, a dream of wish and fear The villagers warned me not to walk in the alien graveyard; for at night, the Id flowers wake...
	I'M ALL EARS, DR. ESTES: by Wayan; 1995/6/7, not a dream, a portrait of a radio-trance. Clarisa Pinkola Estes (who runs with the wolves) was on the radio, and this popped out of my mouse...
	INUIT WERE TALKING: by Wayan; ink 1982, digital color 1998; nondream fantasy. Two Inuit talk of sun and moon and birds and little ghosts who sneak up on you...
	LET THERE BE LIGHT by Nancy Price; 1948, a nightmare of helplessness Snakebite! I'm hooked to a health-monitor. If a red light comes on, I'm doomed. But voices start whispering...
	METEOR OR STAR?: by Wayan; 2007/9/17, a dream of uncertainty I'm an anima. We rarely walk the day-world for long. When will I fade? Ignorance isn't bliss, it's paralysis...
	MOM THE MURDERER: by Wayan; 1996/3/7, a possible psychic dream. My mom confesses to a killing, says tearfully she had to do it--but her reasons make no sense. When I wake..
	MYRNA, LOOK AHEAD: by Myrna, drawn by her daughter Joey Epstein; before 1988, a dream of a revenant ghost’s advice After Myrna’s husband gave up diabetes treatments to die at home, one night she felt him behind her in bed, and he whispered...
	NEUTRALITY'S ROOMMATE: by Emily Joy; 2007/4/19, a spooky dream. At our commune's new house, pandemonium breaks out when our matriarch meets a spook. Can we live together in peace?
	A NIGHT ON MOUNT DIABLO: by Wayan, 1984/6/8, an allegorical four-phase dream. I'm attacked by a narcissist firebird, a rabid rattler-manticore, a masochist bear, and a sexless succubus... CAUTION: INEPT DEMONS
	THE OLD YOUNG MAN: by Anna Kingsford; 1880/2/21, a dream of a step-in soul Malaria nearly kills a talented young artist; he must retrain from scratch. Why? Well, he’s not exactly himself...
	PASTLIFE TRAINING TRACKS: by Wayan; 1981/5/5, a bikin' buddha dream. I'm biking around a railroad switch-yard when I realize they're life-paths. People start following me out...
	POLTERGEIST: by Wayan; 1983/11/17, a confusing dreamtale. A living camera edits us all: the dappled hawk-man, the slutty candidate, the blue businessmen who give such bad advice when you pull the thorns from their feet. And my sweet sad hell-hound...
	PURPLE SPOOK CROWD: by Wayan; 1972. Crayon of a vision. One of my earliest drawings, of a quiet crowd of melancholy ghosts...
	RAZOR GHOST: by Wayan; 1974/5/5, a nightmare posing a problem. A man slowly walled in by neighbors till he died, is now a mad, murderous ghost. And he's me! Can I exorcise MYSELF? CAUTION: VIOLENCE
	RUBBERNECKER: by Wayan; dreamed 2000/4/24; a ghost comedy. I dreamed of a woman whose jeep stalls on the Antarctic ice. Along comes the ghost of a Volkswagen...
	SEARCHING FOR THE DEAD: by Acucena Q., 2007/3/4, a puzzling quest dream. I searched rivers and lakes around the world for someone dead. But the living people I met were as strange as ghosts...
	SISTERS OF THE INTERFACE: by Wayan; 1983/12/21, a shamanic dreamtale. My sister's beautiful; I'm plain. When she's murdered, I ride into the Interface Desert, where worlds meet...
	SKYLIGHT: by an Honorable Lady; well before 1894, a crimesolving dream (psychic? subliminal? ghost-visitation?) My dead father said a trusted servant was stealing our goods through an unlocked skylight. This proved true...
	THE STYGIAN SENTINELS: by SAO (Shawn Allen O'Neal); 1970s, a recurring astral dream. The couple guarding the bridge over the River Styx, the Crocodile King and the Geisha Queen, rarely seemed to agree...
	TAROT: MINE CHILD: by Wayan; 31K. Tarot card, 3x5", summer 1978. Deep down in the strata inside you, gems lie waiting in the dark. Waiting for this child to dig them free...
	TED'S DEATH: drawn by Joey Epstein from her aunt's mid-1980s dream; an apparent psychic dream Ted died of CO2 poisoning in Hong Kong. His mom dreamed he came to tell her it was painless. To prove he was real, he told her...
	TEN THOUSAND MAD GHOSTS: by Wayan; 1996/9/3, a psychic nightmare. A toxic site in Silicon Valley isn't a chemical spill, but angry ghosts, killed in a camp and forgotten... CAUTION: THE CAMP TURNS OUT TO BE REAL
	MY TUTELARY UNCLE: by Wayan; 1993/5/28, a shamanic dream. I'm half Anglo, half Kwakiutl. My uncle the shaman died, but he still wants to teach me his medicine...
	UNGHOSTS OF CHINA: by Wayan; 2009/9/2, a mysterious dream-poem; Dreamverse #53 After a day of nonstop art, I'm in rural China. Two women tell me their village declared them dead, killed by demons...