Dead friend lucid dream

[Neil Templar]

couple of nights ago i found myself looking at the back of a shirtless man. his back was covered in tattoos,which were made to look like scars,almost like the scars that'd be left if someone was whipped.
he was standing in front of me,then he turned around.
to my shock, and utter delight,i see a familiar face beaming a huge grin at me!! a childhood friend,who sadly died a number of years ago in a car accident.
i was sooo happy to see him,and he me.
then at that point i realised that he was dead,so this must be a dream.
i started to say excitedly to him "gary,this must be a dream. is this a dream? it must be."

he didn't say anything,just grinned at me with that cheeky old grin he was well known and loved for.

i was so excited,about seeing him,and about being lucid and fully aware,that i woke up.

now if i think about it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,and my eyes water.

i've been wanting to tell his sister about it - i talk to her on facebook, but i'm not sure if it'd only upset her.
and i wonder what the tattoos are about. i just got two new ones myself tho, so it's probably that..

[aprilla]

maybe the scars where from the accident

[Neil Templar]

yeah, dunno why i didn't think of that.

you know what else i remember now, he died years ago but he looked older in the dream. as he would now if he was here..

wow,this one's really brought back a few memories.
happy childhood memories. we climbed alot of trees together!!

[RyanParis]

I don't think it was your dead friend visiting you.

You said he showed you scars. Now, obviously, a spirit would probably not do something like that. All negative emotions are human and earthly.

I'd even go a bit extreme and say it could even be a demon visiting you as your body is unconscious. That spirits can get inside our heads and give us visions and images is the magic of the spirit world. It's as hard to rationalize as it is to explain a sunset.

Back to your friend. If I were you, I'd pray to God and tell him to bless your friend and take care of them.

As for the dream, unless it's a good dream and seems like a real visit, I'd ignore it.

[aprilla]

well one way to find out who it was is to remember how you felt during the interaction.

[CFTraveler]

You said he showed you scars. Now, obviously, a spirit would probably not do something like that. All negative emotions are human and earthly.

This comment makes no sense to me:
First of all, scars are not emotions, they are evocative of emotions. He was smiling so the purpose of the scars was not to provoke negative emotions. If the intent was to bring pain, he would have been grimacing. Second, a spirit is someone who used to be human. So if a spirit is 'stuck' for some reasons, the reasons are negative emotions. Most mediums can attest to this. Not all spirits cross over right away. That's why some of us do retrievals. Anyone who has seen a medium at work knows that spirits use symbols to convey what they mean. The poster correctly indicated that the dead friend had died in an accident. What seems obvious to me is that his friend was reminding him of who he was by showing him how he died. This is common when contact is made, especially after many years and memories have dimmed somewhat.
Demons are classified as 'never been human', so you're saying it has to be a demon because he's evoking painful memories? This is contradictory to what you said.

[Neil Templar]

Ryanparis,he didn't show me the scars,i noticed them on his back before he turned around,and when i looked closely at them,they weren't ACTUAL scars,but tattoos made to look like scars..i've gotten a couple of new tattoos in the past few months,so i guess that explains the tattoo part.but yeah,as CF pointed out - he did die in a car crash,and i find it interesting that i saw the scars BEFORE i knew it was him.

aprilla,the whole interaction was very happy.exactly the way it would be if we ever were to meet again.he had a very genuine smile on his face,and i was delighted to see him.
and when i tried to communicate,he only grinned wider,with a look that said "you know i can't tell you anything"..

[ButterflyWoman]

First of all, scars are not emotions, they are evocative of emotions.

Agreed. I think of scars as a kind of "memory". If it's a physical scar, it's your body's "memory" of some trauma. You can also have emotional and mental scars (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, just as one example). These things are just memories, echoes, of some trauma that was significant enough to leave a lasting and permanent reminder.

In this dream, the scars weren't even actual scars, only tattoos, which are, unless you're blisteringly drunk when you get them, intentional. In other words, a tattoo is something you wear by choice.

Also, and this may have no bearing because I don't know the belief system of anyone involved in the dream, but Jesus Christ is famously said to heal people "by his stripes", that is, on account of the whip marks from the beating he endured prior to his execution. I only mention this because the idea that scars and/or wounds MUST be associated with evil or darkness is not correct. There are other myths and archetypes that have miraculously healing wounds, or who endure wounds for the sake of others, etc.

[Neil Templar]

First of all, scars are not emotions, they are evocative of emotions.

Agreed. I think of scars as a kind of "memory". If it's a physical scar, it's your body's "memory" of some trauma. You can also have emotional and mental scars (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, just as one example). These things are just memories, echoes, of some trauma that was significant enough to leave a lasting and permanent reminder.

In this dream, the scars weren't even actual scars, only tattoos, which are, unless you're blisteringly drunk when you get them, intentional. In other words, a tattoo is something you wear by choice.

Also, and this may have no bearing because I don't know the belief system of anyone involved in the dream, but Jesus Christ is famously said to heal people "by his stripes", that is, on account of the whip marks from the beating he endured prior to his execution. I only mention this because the idea that scars and/or wounds MUST be associated with evil or darkness is not correct. There are other myths and archetypes that have miraculously healing wounds, or who endure wounds for the sake of others, etc.

woah!!
the last part about enduring wounds for the sake of others..
i might be looking into it too much now, but about the time of me writing this post, i had just gone thru quite an ordeal in my personal life.
i won't go into detail but, i was the catalyst in a situation, the result of which being 2 friends of mine learning some truths about their lives, and moving on in a positive way, while i was punished for my part in it. even tho i wasn't actually guilty of any crimes... it just kinda worked out that way..

[veranadine]

• It seems to me that the dream is what I would call a "visitation" dream. He has deliberately come to you, to remind you of something or make you aware of something.
  
  Your friend may or may not have crossed over but his energy signature at least, still remains in a place accessible to our physical realm.
  
  He has probably chosen to remain around for this long to benefit and watch over others, most likely his loved ones.
  
  The aging of his face is to show you that he has continued to learn and grow in his post-physical existence.
  
  The tattoos are indicative of the coalescence of experience and of permanent transformation. As he is already in spirit form, it is likely that he is saying goodbye, that he will soon cross completely over or be reborn into a new body. Both are positive transitions and should not be mourned over.
  
  In general, dreaming about death and dead loved ones can often indicate the birth of a child in the family.
  
  I hope that this helps.
  
  Blessings,