Close Encounters of the Dead Relative Kind: New Study Says Many Interact With Deceased Family Members in Dreams

At first it may sound odd, as if it’s being imagined, but over half of the adults in the United States surveyed in a recent poll said that they’ve had close encounters of the dead kind with deceased relatives.
Some see this interaction as a way of continuing a relationship with a loved one after death, a new survey from the Pew Research Center, which was released last week.
Specifically, some 53% said they’ve been visited by a deceased relative in either a dream or some other form.
Forty-four percent reported having at least one of the following three interactions with a deceased relative in the past 12 months.  To wit:
– 34% told Pew they had “felt the presence” of a dead relative
– 28% said they told a deceased relative about their current life
– 15% have been on the receiving end of communications from a deceased family member
This did not come as news to me, to be honest.   My grandmother, Gama Paula, as my brother Greg and I called her, sang the same German-language children’s songs, which she had sung to me when she was alive, in my dreams after her death, which was shortly before I turned 13.   She also said she was sorry she was going to miss my Bar Mitzvah but added that she’d be there in spirit.   I guess she meant that somewhat literally.
I’ve found that someone doesn’t have to have been a relative to communicate with a living person from beyond the grave.  On the morning of his funeral, Merv Sluizer, the long-time president of my fraternity’s alumni association (I’m a Pi Lambda Phi brother), came to me in a dream and reminded me I had to drive to Spruce Street in Philly to pick up some of the undergraduate brothers who lived at our house there in order to bring them to the funeral.
The communication also doesn’t necessarily have to be from a human being.  My beloved companion, Snickers the Wonderdog, died less than a month ago and he has been checking up on me not only in my sleep but I’ve seen him lurking in corners here.  He wants to make sure I continue to go on walks even without him because they are good for my health, he explained.
If you’re wondering how, since his English-language skills were limited (he understood lots of German and English commands, however), I can’t really tell you but even during his seven years with me, he always managed to get messages across clearly with a combination of looks, eyes, expressions, and pointing, and it wasn’t basic dog things such as “my water bowl is empty” either.
Pew conducted the survey among its American Trends Panel members between March 27 and April 2 of the current year. The center said that the survey included responses from “Americans of all religious backgrounds,” including Buddhists, Jews and Muslims.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)