Recurring dreams about your dead pet symbolic

Recurring dreams about your dead pet symbolic 

Kelly was chasing a ball out of her kennel in the gathering dusk that cast a long shadow on the grass. Her eyes were gleaming with mischief. When Debasmita's dream abruptly ended the bitter reality about Kelly, her Cocker Spaniel's death dawned on her. Not even a year has passed since her pet's death and Debasmita has already dreamt dozens of times about Kelly, sometimes fully aware that she is never to return.

We don't mourn the death of a pet the way we do human beings, and that's probably where we go wrong. All our life we treat them like a family member with whom we share an unspoken bond, an unconditional love, but when they pass away we simply bury them and pretend to move on with our lives. And bring to an abrupt halt the emotions we start considering as superfluous.

For those who have been deeply involved with their pets to the extent of spending sleepless nights tending to them when they were sick, have a cosmic connection with them, one that transcends the boundaries of life and death. And as much as we'd like to convince ourselves, these emotions like energy never leave us and stay bottled up deep within often finding manifestations in our dreams. Little wonder then that some of us too like Debasmita dream of our pet even in death. But when these dreams recur what are we supposed to interpret?

Experts stress on the nature of the dream and our state of mind when we are in the dream. Says holistic healer and dream analyst, Sheesham Bansal Aggarwal, "When you have been affected by an event, in this case the sudden death of a pet, the subconscious tries to clear it off by dreaming. Dreams in which you see yourself happily enjoying with your pet imply you can't come to terms with their death, and in your subconscious mind attempt to complete that thought."

But not all dreams are happy. If you see your pet suffer in it along with yourself, and wake up with a sense of loss, it's most definitely a negative dream that is indicative of a burdened subconscious. Adds Sheesham, "It is important to let go off the emotion; by clinging to it you are only nurturing negativity."

When the emotions are extremely deep-rooted, we may try to seek solace in our dreams and eagerly await one in which we can be together with our pet. But do such unions in dreams have a bearing on our real lives? Elaborates psychologist Dr Kamal Khurana, "Death of a pet is an emotional break off, and it's our mind's way of grasping the events by trying to complete that thought in semi-sleep state. But if such dreams have a disastrous effect on you to the extent of hampering your social life, it's time you corrected it."

Dr Khurana attests a lot of importance to dreams as bearer of signals. He suggests you recall your dream in your conscious time and get a closure to that thought. "Make up your mind on the kind of dream you'd like to have with your pet in it. If your resolve is strong you will dream such a dream, and that may bring some relief to your strained subconscious."

Agrees Sheesham, "Dream can cure dream if you can use it as a therapy. Soon after waking up pen down everything you can remember about the dream, the people in it, your pet's expression including your own state of mind. Repeat this exercise every time the dream recurs. Make notes of the pattern, and you'll be able to evolve a trend. Then think of a happy dream and you will dream it."

Talking out can be another way to deal with it, provided your confidante is at the same psychological level as you. Psychologist Dr Rajendra Barve shares an anecdote, "I had a tough Mumbai cop visit me regularly unable to recover from the death of his dog at his farm house. He so much as stopped going there because he was haunted by the memories. After several sittings I could convince him to go back to the farm house and try talking loudly to his pet, the way he would were the pet alive, and vent out his emotions." Often to fill the void, a new pet is quickly made to replace the old one. So, is it a good idea to bring home a new pet to overcome the lingering sense of loss?

Avers Dr Khurana, "You need to make up your mind to get a new pet instead of brooding over the death of the older one. Channelise you love by giving the new one the same name, and you will be healed." But Sheesham differs on this count from Dr Khurana, as she feels love on the rebound may not be the most ideal way. "Your subconscious will not evolve this way. You need to let go off the emotion however deeply-entrenched it may be," she asserts.

Like we hold prayer meetings on the death of a person, we should too on the death of a pet. Just as certain things remain beyond the grasp of science, it counts to simply meditate or chant a prayer for the peace of the soul
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