Dreaming about possession: what the dream may point to

Dreaming about possession: what the dream usually shows

Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.

Dreaming about possession is not proof of a spiritual attack, nor a sign that you are possessed. The dream usually appears in phases of losing control: high stress, someone making decisions about your life for you, bursts of anger that leave the feeling of "that was not me", or after a horror movie. Seeing another person possessed tends to come with the fear that someone you love is changing.

There is also a very frequent physical explanation: sleep paralysis. The person wakes up while the body is still in the relaxed state of REM sleep, the phase in which dreams are most vivid. For a few seconds or minutes, they cannot move or speak, and may sense a presence in the room, feel weight on the chest or see shadowy figures. It is frightening, but it passes on its own.

Read also: Dreaming about sleep paralysis and Dreaming about a demon.

Why possession shows up in the dream

The continuity hypothesis, tested by Michael Schredl and Friedrich Hofmann in 2003, holds that dreams reuse what filled waking life. Possession arrives by many paths: an exorcism movie, a deliverance service on television, a family story, a visit to a terreiro, an Afro-Brazilian house of worship.

When mapping the typical dreams of Canadian university students in 2003, Tore Nielsen and colleagues listed, among the reported themes, being chased and being half awake and paralyzed in bed. The second scene is the doorway to many possession dreams: the body does not respond and the mind uses the explanation that culture offers.

Sources: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003; Nielsen and colleagues, Dreaming, 2003.

Freud, Jung and beliefs about possession

In Freud's psychoanalysis. The Interpretation of Dreams opens by recalling that ancient peoples saw dreams as revelations from gods and demons, and proposes looking for the meaning inside the dreamer. The book gives an example of how the outside world enters the scene: a composer dreamed that a student was shouting "like one possessed" and woke up to real shouting coming from the street.

In Jung's psychology. Jung described complexes as parts of the psyche that act as if they had a will of their own, and used the word possession in a psychological sense, for when an emotion takes over the whole person. The possession dream can be read this way: a feeling too big, asking to be acknowledged.

In symbols and faith. Chevalier and Gheerbrant, in A Dictionary of Symbols, recall that the daimon of the Greeks was an intermediate being, not always evil, before the word took on the meaning of demon. In the Gospels, Jesus frees the man of Gerasa (Mark 5) and a tormented boy (Mark 9). The Catholic Church keeps the rite of exorcism, and evangelical churches speak of deliverance. In umbanda and candomblé, Afro-Brazilian religions, incorporation is part of the rite, happens in its own context and is not seen as an attack. Spiritism uses the word obsession for the persistent influence of a spirit, and The Spirits' Book describes sleep as a moment when the soul is partly free.

Bringing both readings together. Sleep science explains the paralysis and the fright; faith, in each tradition, offers protection and meaning.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols; Kardec, The Spirits' Book.

The most frequent possession scenes

If the figure in the dream looked like a dead person or a soul, read dreaming about a ghost or spirit. If the scene was in a terreiro, see dreaming about macumba or umbanda. And if the person screams and thrashes without waking up, it may be night terrors, which is something else.

See also: Dreaming about heaven and hell and Dreaming about angels.

When to seek help after this dream

It is worth seeing a doctor when sleep paralysis is frequent, when fear makes you avoid sleeping or when your sleep is very poor, because lack of sleep and chaotic schedules increase these episodes. Repeated nightmares can be treated too; see how to have fewer nightmares.

If, while awake, you hear voices or live in constant fear, reach out to a mental health professional, without having to give up your faith. If the suffering feels overwhelming: in the US, you can call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), free and available 24 hours a day.

Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.

Possession in dream books

O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book by L. P. Baçan, has no entry for possession. The closest entries are spirit, which, in life, speaks of difficulties and, in love, of sadness, and devil, with difficulties in life and suffering in love.

Jung insisted, in Man and His Symbols, that dream symbols cannot be cataloged, because each image is born from the life of the dreamer.

Sources: L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols.

Popular beliefs about dreaming of possession

In Brazilian popular belief, dreaming that you are possessed is a sign of someone influencing your decisions, and seeing another person possessed, a call to be careful with quarrels nearby. Freeing someone would mean victory over a problem. These are beliefs of the tradition, which change from family to family, not predictions. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.