Dream of the Death of a Close Friend

**marcianna74** · 07-24-2016 09:14 PM

I dreamt that the phone rang, my son, not his actual age in the dream, he's now 36, in the dream he was about 10 or 12. He was sitting on the sofa, I was standing somewhere in the room facing him, having answered the phone, my son mouthed the words to me without speaking them that "Andre is dead". There was no mention of who made the phone call. I was devastated and began to cry. I remember remembering in the dream that I vaguely knew it was going to happen. I woke up and cried and was under a cloud the whole day. The strange thing is I had the dream the morning of his birthday.

A bit of background: Andre and I met in our mid thirties. We were both single, I was a widow. We started as friends and became more involved and that part of the relationship lasted about 10 years before we broke up but remained close friends. Since then I have moved about a hundred miles away from him and he not able to stay in the same city without me there, (he had moved there because I was there), he moved back to be with his family. We now are in contact by phone on birthdays and holidays or in a crisis. As it stands we basically have followed different paths. He still has a special place in my heart and I think he feels the same way.

Since I had the dream, I've been wondering if it was prophetic, I once had a vision awake of another good friend's death and saw everything as it happened in detail about 6 months before it happened. I've also attempted to interpret the dream in case it wasn't prophetic but would like to see an objective interpretation. In speaking with him a couple of days after his birthday (he was unreachable before), I discovered that he at the age of 62 has taken on heavy physical work at 40 hours/week. He is unused to this degree of physical labor as he was a door to door salesman most of his life , only doing yardwork occasionally as opposed to now full time. When I spoke to him he was exhausted and had been doing the job for a couple of weeks. I wonder if I should tell him the dream and to maybe work less hard. Thanks in advance to those who attempt the interpretation of my dream.

**Athanor** · 07-25-2016 06:01 PM

Hi Marcianna,

It’s of course very upsetting to have this type of dream when it involves someone you’re still close to although not in very regular contact with.

As described in the book “On Dreams of Death” by Carl Jung’s colleague Marie Louise von Franz, dreams related to death are especially hard to interpret correctly, especially as to the “when” factor involved if one suspects that an actual physical death is being predicted.

As you’re probably aware, a person in a dream can symbolize the person themselves or an aspect of the dreamer’s psyche or a combination of both.

Marie Louise von Franz estimated that only about 15% or so of dreams where a person known to the dreamer appears or is spoken about etc. are about the actual person.

Unfortunately though, in this case there are a couple of pointers that could indicate that Marcel himself is the subject of the dream.

The main one is that you once had a vision that accurately depicted the eventual death of a good friend.

It’s also significant that the dream appeared on Marcel’s birthday.

Also, the very physically demanding work that Marcel has had to undertake when he’s over 60 is not a good sign either. He also sounded exhausted when you were speaking with him on the phone after only two weeks on the job.

The poor economy impacts seniors more than others and even if Marcel did get a checkup and speak to a doctor about the wisdom of doing heavy work at his time of life, he might have ignored advice he didn’t want to hear because he had no other choice in earning an income.

So the “unknown caller” in the dream could be a part of your deep intuitive side which “knows” what could happen in the circumstances related to Marcel’s job.

Your son in the dream is shown as being 10 or 12.

In the dreams of a woman, a young boy can often symbolize a certain sense of initiative and enterprise.

This might indicate that, although a delicate and difficult task to undertake, the dream could possibly be hinting that you should take the initiative to tell Marcel about your dream.

In addition, in contrast with your earlier vision which could accurately be termed “prophetic” or “telepathic”, this particular dream might fit more closely with the Jungian term “prospective”.

That is, the dream could conceivably be saying “IF Marcel continues working so hard, THEN he might die prematurely”.

The fact that your young son in the dream only mouths the words “Marcel is dead” instead of actually speaking them out loud might add to the idea of the situation being “prospective” instead of “actual” in the sense of being “prophetic”. That is to say, the words aren’t “real” and “spoken” in the dream.

Similarly, you had the thought in the dream that you vaguely knew his death was going to happen, perhaps again suggesting the idea that the dream is advising you to speak to Marcel about your dream even though he may brush it off. Then at least you would have tried to do what you thought was right in the circumstances.

That way, you could potentially be less burdened by any sense of guilt resulting from the situation of “I should have told him but I didn’t” if Marcel did regrettably die prematurely.

Anyway, I hope these ideas regarding your distressing dream can be helpful in some way.

Please feel free to comment on or to ask any questions about this particular way of looking at your dream.

**marcianna74** · 07-25-2016 07:00 PM

Hi Athanor:
I agree with you. One day after the dream, I was washing the dishes when I had a though come into my mind that I should tell him about the dream. In confering with a friend of mine about whether I should do so or not, she advised against it seeing we didn't know if the dream was actually prophetic or not or even true. But now I have my confirmation, thank you so much for your answer. I'll call him this evening.

**Athanor** · 07-25-2016 09:22 PM

Hi again,

I hope that your call goes well and that Marcel will at least maybe think about seeing a doctor to explain his situation and to perhaps have some basic tests made if he hasn’t done so recently.

**marcianna74** · 07-26-2016 10:38 PM

Hi Athanor:

Thank you for your last email. Yes, the call went well. Before I told him about the dream, I asked about how the new job was going and he told me he had to cut down his hours, so now he is working part time. That was a huge relief, then I told him the dream, which was probably a confirmation to him that he did the right thing. So I guess this also shows me to pay morte immediate attention to my intuition. Thanks again for your help, Marcianna74

**Athanor** · 07-26-2016 11:30 PM

Thanks for letting me know how things went. From your posts, it’s almost as if I know Marcel at least a little and I’m relieved he’s eased up on his job!