When Your Dreams Aren't Just 'Dreams'

Exploring the mystical experiences that can happen while 'dreaming'.

Jun 16, 2025

I’m no stranger to being on the receiving end of a mystical experience.

I spend a lot of time making sense of these metaphysical phenomena and mentally exploring the ways in which they may differ to common psychological phenomena that’s widely known and accepted.

One of the topics that I’ve been thinking a lot about, is the topic of dreams. As with every topic in life, I don’t believe spirituality and science are mutually exclusive at all! They go hand in hand. Psychology, in particular, is a perfect example of the two meeting, since “Psychology” literally means the study (“ology”) of the soul (“psych”). Not to mention that many prominent psychologists, including Carl Jung, acknowledged spirituality and explored it in their work.

I have a dormant passion for psychology and have great reverence for our brains and the scientific research that’s already been done to help us understand this magnificent computer we hold in our skulls. Although I’d like to perhaps fulfil my original ambition of becoming a music therapist (a psychologist that uses music as the form of therapy, as opposed to talking. A fascinating field) and I’ve checked what psychology courses I’ll still need to complete, en route to being accepted into the masters’ program (I’ve completed 2 out of 5, so far) - I’m obviously not a licensed therapist with a professional understanding of psychology. Only my own personal understanding that comes from my personal life experiences and some self-study I had done over the years.

So, my findings and conclusions are obviously more subjective and not based on empirical scientific evidence.

But I’d like to talk on the topic of dreams, inspired by my own humble and personal conclusions.

Because I’ve come to believe that some dreams aren’t just regular ol’ dreams - some are divinely orchestrated, metaphysical experiences with a higher purpose.

So, let’s break dreams into three categories, using the metaphor of movies.

popcorns on clear glass bowl — Photo by Georgia Vagim on Unsplash

#1 The Regular Ol’ Dream

Or in other words, the only type of dream that non-spiritual folk will likely accept.

I liken these types of dreams to watching the trailers at a movie theatre, before the film starts. They’re a series of random pictures, that probably hold a little symbolism and some meaning for the subconscious mind - but they’re so erratic and chaotic, that not much sense can be made from them. They stop and start, transition randomly into other scenarios and you’re just witnessing it. They may hold some fascination for you theoretically or on a subconscious level - but on a soul level, you’re not bothered by them. There’s nothing in the air to signify that you need to pay attention to what you're seeing, on a soul level. They’re a little meaningless. Just your mind trying to work through some stuff for your human self, as it’s designed to do.

When you wake up, maybe you remember a particularly odd scene, or remember how bizarre the transitions were and how little sense they made. They may hold some meaning or give you clues to your state of mind psychologically, but nothing more. At least, nothing mystical. After those first couple of minutes, if you did manage to remember something, you likely let go of it or forget about it completely once your brain’s alert for the day.

An example I had of this kind of dream, where my brain was working through something and it did hold meaning for me, albeit psychologically, was the snake skin dream I had. This dream was a part of a sequence of random scenes, all of which I forgot instantly upon waking, apart from this one. Perhaps because it was the last one, strong emotion was involved and it did end up holding meaning for me. I will note that this dream happened during a time when I was going to therapy regularly, in my early twenties, and my psychologist told me to write down any interesting dreams I had. She liked looking at the meanings of them, and I did too.

My example:

I was walking back home from high school, going down the road before I turned left to mine. I stopped in my tracks, startled and afraid, because I saw a snake in the grass. I’m not usually afraid of snakes, but in the dream I was absolutely terrified. How am I supposed to get home with that snake there? I was panicking. However, upon closer inspection I noticed that it wasn’t actually a snake, but a snake skin. There had been a snake, but it shed its skin and the snake itself wasn’t there anymore. “Huh. Well, that’s not supposed to be there.” I picked up the snake skin, disgusted but unafraid, plopped it in the bin, and continued walking home.

The meaning:

It was pretty obvious to me what this dream was about.

For years, I had regarded someone who was a key figure in my life, as a very dangerous snake. It had taken me years to heal from his narcissistic abuse and at the time of this dream, I was fighting and protecting my right to never have a relationship with him again. In fact, I had already been no contact with him for a couple of years, by that point. The dream was about how I may still have had fear that the snake would harm me, but the snake isn’t there anymore. He can’t harm me. And I can pick up the residues they left and throw them away, to make my life cleaner.

I don’t believe my spirit team was involved in this dream. My experience was that my brain was simply processing something through one of my dreams, and it did a good job of it. (Thank you, brain!) I didn’t feel a strong internal desire or need to write down this dream, out of fear I would forget. It was enough for me that I remembered it. (Although I did write it down, because my psychologist had asked me to, and I was a good patient :D.)

worm's eyeview photo of dream catcher — Photo by Jaime Handley on Unsplash

#2 Messages as ‘Dreams’

This is where we start to talk about how your spirit team uses your dream time to communicate with you. It’s not just your mind trying to work things out for itself - your spirit team is heavily and purposefully involved in the dream.

In the metaphor of dreams as movies, I liken these types of dreams to the movie you actually came to see. It’s a movie that your spirit guides are having you watch, because they’re trying to give you a crucial message or a boatload of information that’s important for you to receive. Information or a message that can only be delivered in its correct context and that carries a lot of weight for you.

The dream plays like a full-length feature film - a story, with a beginning, middle and end, that is rife with symbolism, meaning and depth. Every piece of information is given in its correct order and there’s a purpose behind everything you’re seeing. They can also play like a short vignette, but one that’s whole on its own and is still full of symbolism, with a clear story.

The atmosphere in this metaphorical movie theatre is also different, than from the regular ol’ dreams - just like when the lights go down after the trailers, and the audience is notified via the light change that the movie is about to start. That’s a marked difference between the Regular Ol’ Dreams and The Dreams as A Message - you absolutely must pay attention and your spirit guides\higher self are letting you know via the energetic difference, to do so. Only, in my experience, it feels less like the light is being dimmed and more like the light is being turned on. The messages or the story itself could be anything, but it will grab your attention and resonate with you deeply.

Upon waking, you remember every detail of the dream and recognise its potency for where you are on your journey. You often might even feel a deep and important impulse to write the dream down, so that you don’t forget it in your waking life. Although, in truth, with the dream having such a huge resonance with your soul, how could you forget it? You wake up profoundly different from having had the dream.

My example (a snippet):

I was in the hospital, knowing that I was about to die. A countdown on my arm, showed that I had two minutes left to say goodbye to my family before I would die. I hugged everyone, shared some words of wisdom to the younger members of my family, and eventually my countdown reached zero. “Wait, that’s it? But I feel fine. Nothing happened. Guys, nothing happened!”, I share excitedly with my family. But they can’t hear me. They start crying, overcome with grief. “Guys, I’m fine! I’m still here!”. They can’t hear me, nor see me. They have no idea I’m still around. I desperately try to get their attention, but it’s no use. Eventually I come to the conclusion that I am, in fact, dead. I feel no different, though. I’m as good as I was alive. But, because they can’t perceive me anymore, I know I’m dead. I’ve become invisible, although I still exist. I solemnly accept the situation and allow myself to be taken to my new residence, in the afterworld. I experience peace and love, albeit also some sadness for my family who don’t know that I’m completely fine.

The meaning:

There were HUGE chapters to this dream, before and after the events I shared in my example, that I didn’t recount here, in order to keep things succinct for you.

But this dream held two very important messages for me. 1) The people we love, who leave us in death, don’t ever actually leave us. They’re okay and they want us to know that. Seeing how my beloved grandpa was going to pass on two years later, and had begun his decline around this time, I believe my spirit team was reminding me of this knowledge via this dream. And 2) I needed to use this dream.

Upon waking, I felt like I watched a full length feature film that had impacted me greatly. I urgently wrote down every scene from this dream, because I could tell that I was given important material here, though the instructions weren’t yet clear as for what to do with it. I wrote it all down, looked at it and could sense that I needed to create something from this dream. My spirit team was giving me a message, but also inspiration. What do I create, though? This looked like a movie in my dream - so, maybe a screenplay? But I’m not a screenwriter, at all. I couldn’t tell what to do with this dream.

This dream happened when I was 19 years old. Even though I had lost where I wrote this dream, I had never forgotten about it. I can even still see the afterlife residence I lived in, clear in my mind. It was only when I working on the later drafts of The Source of The Wind (my debut novel), around age 28-29, that I realised that this dream wasn’t going to be a screenplay, it was meant to be a novel! And once I had realised that, the characters, plot points, scenes and dialogues started pouring out. I’m still not done plotting this novel - the process is a very slow burn. But I’m hoping to work on this novel soon.

landscape photography of grass field — Photo by D O M I N I K J P W on Unsplash

#3 Experiences as ‘Dreams’

This is where things get a little trippy. In the best way, of course ;)

If the first category of dreams are the trailers before the movie starts, and the second category is when they’re trying to get your attention and share an important message via the movie - this category is where we’re not watching the movie, we are the movie.

Let me explain.

Astral travel is when our soul has exited our body whilst its safe asleep in bed, and we have an out of body experience as a soul, often in another dimension or galaxy.

We’re not observing a story happening in front of us, we are a part of the story happening. The experience is as real as a lived experience in our waking life, with our five physical senses fully engaged and stimulated. We can clearly hear the sounds, smell the scents, touch the textures etc.

Another important indicator of this category of dream, just like the Messages as ‘Dreams’, is that each moment leads to the next, in a sequence that makes sense. Like in a story, or more importantly, like in life. There’s no random scene-hopping or transitions that don’t make sense. Every moment is in its correct context.

Waking up after this kind of ‘dream’ offers one of the most trippiest feelings I’ve ever experienced. You wake up, lying in your bed, and the shock and confusion of where you are, is exceptionally strong. “Wait, how am I in bed, right now? I was just on that planet\spacecraft\in heaven\(insert any example)?”. Logically, you understand that you were asleep and must have been dreaming. Duh. But the term ‘dreaming’ severely undermines the realness of the experience you just had, and it doesn’t make sense how you managed to get back into your bed so quickly. It feels like you teleported back.

It’s common to stay in bed for a while, just laying or sitting there dumbfounded, whilst you come to terms with the experience, as well as the fact that you’re somehow back in bed and that ‘it was all a dream’. The experience you had, can stay with you for life as real memories.

As opposed to the previous category, where your spirit team has a message or information for you on your journey, that you need to receive - in this category, you have something you need to do. Something that can only happen at night, when your body is safe asleep, so that you, as a soul, can step out temporarily and do whatever it is you need to do, in a dimension or location that’s not possible for the human body to get to.

I have a critical experience of this type of experience, that I’ll never forget. (By the way, you don’t have to agree with me in believing that this was real - I mean, it did happen while I was asleep, after all. And I agree, it is very out there. But humour me ;) )

My example (a snippet):

I found myself in a field on a bright, sunny day. There was a gentle breeze, which I could feel against the hairs of my skin. The grass had a lovely fresh scent that I found very pleasing. I’m just chilling, sitting on the grass, feeling the blades tickle against my legs, when I see a very small spaceship coming to land, just a few meters from me. It landed very gracefully, with no noise or air pollution, like a ballerina having glided through the air and landing gently on her feet. I immediately stand up. The door opens, some stairs roll down, and an alien walks down it, looking straight at me.

I start freaking… the fuck… out! “Oh my god, oh my god! An actual alien! They’re real! And one’s here in front of me! Am I being abducted? Why is she here? What does she want from me?”. I could tell that she had arrived to collect me, as she was looking very intently at me. After a few moments, while I’m freaking out, she gently shape-shifts into a human being. She didn’t say anything, she just looked at me and smiled, with a clear, gentle hope. “Oh, she’s trying to put me at ease. She doesn’t want to harm me.” After I successfully calm down, she gently shifts back into her original form.

We stare at each other, and I could tell that she feels strangely familiar to me. Looking at her almost feels like I’m looking at myself, although she still felt like a separate being from me. Not like some sort of ‘soul twin’ or mirror, but more like we’re separate souls cut from the same cloth. With her energy, I could tell she’s inviting me to come with her. I’m still a little freaked out, but I somehow trust her. She’s not forcing me, but she would love for me to join her. I tell her, “Okay, I’ll come, but I’m going to bring my phone with me.” She grins, raising her eyebrow at me, psychically saying, “Ella, you know that’s not going to work where we’re going, right?”. “I know, I know! I’d just feel safer with it on me,” I say to her out loud. She chuckles. I walk with her to her little spaceship and she takes me to where she wants us to go.

The meaning:

I’ll stop here, but this experience continues and there’s much more that happened.

However, when I abruptly woke up, I saw that I was in my bed and I was utterly confused. “Wait, that was just a DrEeAaM? But I was with my alien friend, having a blast, at her place of work, in a different galaxy - how on earth am I in my bed, right now?”. This dream was as real of an experience to me, engaging my physical senses, as the next one of being in my bed.

Do you want to read about what happened next? I’m thinking of telling the full story, like a piece of short fiction. Comment if you want me to share the rest!

Bonus: Meetings as ‘Dreams’

I’m adding this as a category, because it’s worth mentioning as another type of dream that’s actually a mystical experience. But it doesn’t quite follow the movie metaphor, so I’m retiring it for this category.

This one is simple - it’s when you meet someone in a dream, usually someone who’s in spirit form, but sometimes someone who’s incarnated, for an important reason or because they have an important message or request. It can be a deceased loved one, a spirit guide, your future soul mate, your spirit child, etc.

I’m very conscious of how long this post already is, so I won’t delve into it too much, or share an example. But just like the Messages as ‘Dreams’ and Experiences as ‘Dreams’ categories, these dreams hold significance for you, stay with you after waking up and are often orchestrated by your higher self and spirit team.

In general, the rule of thumb to discerning whether a dream isn’t ‘just a dream’ is, if the dream feels meaningful, then it was. If you were positively changed by it, then it was intentional.

Of course, I would argue that even in regular ol’ dreams, if they hold psychological or emotional meaning for you, then that inherently makes those dreams meaningful too and can be very beneficial too. As stated in my example.

But I wanted to lay out my amateur, yet very curious observations about the different types of dreams that may hold spiritual meaning.

What do you think about the spiritual nature of dreams? Have you had any that you would like to share below? How did they impact you?

When Your Dreams Aren't Just 'Dreams'

Exploring the mystical experiences that can happen while 'dreaming'.

#1 The Regular Ol’ Dream

My example:

The meaning:

#2 Messages as ‘Dreams’

My example (a snippet):

The meaning:

#3 Experiences as ‘Dreams’

My example (a snippet):

The meaning:

Bonus: Meetings as ‘Dreams’

Discussion about this post