Dreaming Beyond Death: A Guide to Pre-Death Dreams and Visions (Hardcover)

~ Rev. Patricia Bulkley (Author), (Author) "Bill, a retired merchant marine ship's captain in his mid-eighties, was diagnosed with bone cancer..." (more)
Key Phrases: visitation dreams, anticipatory function, dreaming imagination, Wang Chiu-lien, Gate of Life, John Sanford (more...)

Editorial Reviews

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The authors offer a unique how-to on interpreting dreams one has during the period just before death. With a nod to various scientific and religious factions whose opinions of dreams range from considering them to be of no value to believing they are works of Satan, the authors contend that "one of the functions of dreaming is precisely to create the meanings that will help us face the end with courage and understanding." If the very thing that defines humans is the ability to find meaning, they say, then allowing oneself to experience, remember, and find meaning in dreams can only serve to enrich one's last days. To support that supposition, they present anecdotes gleaned mainly from hospice spiritual-services provider Bulkley's professional experience. They make a case in favor of dreams as endowing the journey to death with opportunities for mending fences, making peace with a troubled conscience, and looking beyond temporary pain to a rich reward or, at least, a welcome serenity. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

Documented throughout time and across cultures, dreams experienced by those on the verge of death can offer profound insight into the process of dying and provide deep spiritual solace for the individual passing away. In Dreaming Beyond Death, Kelly Bulkeley and Patricia Bulkley bring together their diverse areas of expertise to create a guide to pre-death dreams that offers practical advice and provides a broader understanding of this phenomenon.

Drawing from a rich understanding of dreaming in culture, history, psychology, and through modern dream study, this book explicitly addresses three common aspects of pre-death dreams and offers interpretations that will aid both the dying person and the caregiver. Rev. Patricia Bulkley’s experience with the transformative possibilities of pre-death dreams as a hospice spiritual counselor lend this book a deeply personal and human touch, while Kelly Bulkeley’s insightful analysis and intellectual framework make it easy to understand the deeper meanings behind this type of dreaming. A final chapter provides resources and concrete methods for a caregiver to respectfully guide a dying person through the dreaming process and, ultimately, to a sense of peace.

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Product Details Hardcover: 152 pages Publisher: Beacon Press (July 15, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 0807077208 ISBN-13: 978-0807077207 Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #425,893 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in this category: (What's this?) #45 in  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > By Topic > Dreams

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First Sentence:
Bill, a retired merchant marine ship's captain in his mid-eighties, was diagnosed with bone cancer. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
visitation dreams, anticipatory function, dreaming imagination, waking awareness, dying person

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Wang Chiu-lien, Gate of Life, John Sanford, Tibetan Buddhists

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 25 books:

• Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff on page 36, and Back Matter
• The Functions of Dreaming (Suny Series in Dream Studies) by Alan Moffit in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
• The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James on page 78, and Back Matter
• The Implied Spider by Wendy Doniger on page 6, and Back Matter
• The Unconscious Christian: Images of God in Dreams (Jung and Spirituality) by James A. Hall in Back Matter

See all 25 books this book cites

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	97% buy the item featured on this page: Dreaming Beyond Death: A Guide to Pre-Death Dreams and Visions 4.7 out of 5 stars (3)
	3% buy Dreaming in the World's Religions: A Comparative History $20.70

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews 5 star:  (2) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Help for the dying and their caregivers, February 1, 2006 By  K. Sullivan (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This excellent title helps people to understand the types of dreams that people have prior to dying- and how to honor and use the messages that come with these dreams. It will be particularly useful for family and friend caregivers who may not understand the importance of dreams in preparing a person for death and how dreams can bring meaning and peace to the process. It provides also a very short, yet incredibly useful, introduction on how to interpret dreams in general. This title is highly recommended. 5.0 out of 5 stars Mortal Wisdom, October 30, 2008 By  M. E. Tappan (Lakewood, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Dreaming Beyond Death: A Guide to Pre-Death Dreams and Visions (Paperback) Patricia Bulkely is a spiritual counselor in Hospice. And Kelly Bulkeley has wide experience as a dream researcher and author. Together they have written a poignant book of the dying and their dreams. By exploring the meaning of the dreams and visions of the dying, the authors hope to help people recover not only a meaningful sense of death, but what it means to be alive. The lessons of pre-death dreams constellate around three themes. And the authors report that the understanding of these themes can help the dreamer expand and deepen the awareness of their life. The first theme noted from the dreams of the dying is that death in dreams is most often represented by the idea of a journey, rather than the cessation of life. For example, one dying man began to have dreams of a ship on the ocean. And in the dream, he was the captain of that ship. The second type of dream often experienced by the dying is the "visitation" dream, an emotionally intense and often "hyperrealistic" dream in which the dreamer is visited by someone deceased who returns to provide guidance, reassurance or warning. These types of dreams, the authors report, do not so much deny death but transcend death, "providing experiential evidence of human connections that extend beyond mortal life." The third type of dream often experienced by the dying is dream in which the obstacles in life are made known. If death is viewed as a journey, write the authors, then these pre-death dreams serve as a source of insight of the obstacles along that path. This type of dream seems to tell us that impending death will not wash away our regrets, our mistaken beliefs or what we view as our transgressions. We will in life, have to come to terms with the obstacles that have hindered us while living. The authors note as example, a dying woman whose traditional religious beliefs offered neither solace nor guidance as she neared death. Her dreams though helped her envision a reality where God did not punish, and where death was seen as a passage into another realm of life that included joy and reunion with those she loved. "What the dying person experiences in waking life as an agonizing onslaught of painful memory becomes, in dreaming," the authors point out, "the raw material for new growth, broader connections, and a deeper sense of self-integrity." The self that lives in denial of dark secrets, inevitably crumbles in dreams. The authors disagree with claims "that all religious and mystical traditions lead to the same realization of pure consciousness, peak experience, absolute unitary being, or any other monolithic, one-size-fits-all state of mind. At least in the realm of dreaming," the authors report, "the revelatory experience is so deeply rooted in the individual's personal life history and cultural context that it makes no sense to try and extract a `universal core' from it." This book also includes a chapter on "Care for the Dying," "A Summary of Methods," and "Resources for Caregiving for the Terminally Ill." 4 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Dreaming?, October 17, 2005 By  David K. Tragle (Mt. Juliet, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    While, I have heard the contention that dreams serve a purpose of helping a person deal with events in their life, I cannot recall any that have accomplished that in my life. The book mentions that category and I wish some time had been spent on that subject. As far as the book went, I found the various experiences of case histories fascinating. Especially the one of Socrates, in which the dream was actually prophetic.		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 152 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (July 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807077208
• ISBN-13: 978-0807077207
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #425,893 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #45 in

  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > By Topic > Dreams

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help for the dying and their caregivers, February 1, 2006

By	K. Sullivan (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This excellent title helps people to understand the types of dreams that people have prior to dying- and how to honor and use the messages that come with these dreams. It will be particularly useful for family and friend caregivers who may not understand the importance of dreams in preparing a person for death and how dreams can bring meaning and peace to the process. It provides also a very short, yet incredibly useful, introduction on how to interpret dreams in general. This title is highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Mortal Wisdom, October 30, 2008

By	M. E. Tappan (Lakewood, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dreaming Beyond Death: A Guide to Pre-Death Dreams and Visions (Paperback)

Patricia Bulkely is a spiritual counselor in Hospice. And Kelly Bulkeley has wide experience as a dream researcher and author. Together they have written a poignant book of the dying and their dreams. By exploring the meaning of the dreams and visions of the dying, the authors hope to help people recover not only a meaningful sense of death, but what it means to be alive.

The lessons of pre-death dreams constellate around three themes. And the authors report that the understanding of these themes can help the dreamer expand and deepen the awareness of their life. The first theme noted from the dreams of the dying is that death in dreams is most often represented by the idea of a journey, rather than the cessation of life. For example, one dying man began to have dreams of a ship on the ocean. And in the dream, he was the captain of that ship.

The second type of dream often experienced by the dying is the "visitation" dream, an emotionally intense and often "hyperrealistic" dream in which the dreamer is visited by someone deceased who returns to provide guidance, reassurance or warning. These types of dreams, the authors report, do not so much deny death but transcend death, "providing experiential evidence of human connections that extend beyond mortal life."

The third type of dream often experienced by the dying is dream in which the obstacles in life are made known. If death is viewed as a journey, write the authors, then these pre-death dreams serve as a source of insight of the obstacles along that path. This type of dream seems to tell us that impending death will not wash away our regrets, our mistaken beliefs or what we view as our transgressions. We will in life, have to come to terms with the obstacles that have hindered us while living. The authors note as example, a dying woman whose traditional religious beliefs offered neither solace nor guidance as she neared death. Her dreams though helped her envision a reality where God did not punish, and where death was seen as a passage into another realm of life that included joy and reunion with those she loved.

"What the dying person experiences in waking life as an agonizing onslaught of painful memory becomes, in dreaming," the authors point out, "the raw material for new growth, broader connections, and a deeper sense of self-integrity." The self that lives in denial of dark secrets, inevitably crumbles in dreams.

The authors disagree with claims "that all religious and mystical traditions lead to the same realization of pure consciousness, peak experience, absolute unitary being, or any other monolithic, one-size-fits-all state of mind. At least in the realm of dreaming," the authors report, "the revelatory experience is so deeply rooted in the individual's personal life history and cultural context that it makes no sense to try and extract a `universal core' from it."

This book also includes a chapter on "Care for the Dying," "A Summary of Methods," and "Resources for Caregiving for the Terminally Ill."

4 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dreaming?, October 17, 2005

By	David K. Tragle (Mt. Juliet, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While, I have heard the contention that dreams serve a purpose of helping a person deal with events in their life, I cannot recall any that have accomplished that in my life. The book mentions that category and I wish some time had been spent on that subject. As far as the book went, I found the various experiences of case histories fascinating. Especially the one of Socrates, in which the dream was actually prophetic.