Recurring Strangers in Dreams

Have you ever heard the allegedly scientific fact that we can only dream faces we have seen before? At first glance this seems hard to argue with since we encounter so many different faces on daily basis weather on the streets or maybe on the TV. However, I believe this research might not be as correct or as scientific as it may seem. Firstly, the brain is probably one of the least understood parts of the body and especially dreams which seem to be incredibly hard to study. Also, doesn't it seem a bit strange that a human mind wouldn't have the capacity to invent faces? Can we imagine different faces while awake? Yes, we can. So, why wouldn't we be able to do the same while unconscious.

Source: pixabay.com

We encounter unfamiliar faces quite a lot in our dreams. According to psychologytoday.com, about 50% of characters we encounter in dreams are not familiar to us. In some dreams up to 80% of characters could be strangers. However, we might recognize them only if they have one of main roles in a dream, somehow manage to stand up or if they appear in our dreams often. That's what I'd like to talk about; often dreaming about the people we've never met before.

DREAM MEANING

Dream meanings are quite subjective therefore making it pretty hard to specify what certain aspects of dreams could mean. Some associate red with love while others might associate that same color with aggression. This means that we are our own best dream dictionary. However, common meaning of encountering strangers in dreams might represent that there are aspects of us which we may have recognized yet or we are denying and repressing them. Also, strangers might mean that we perceive someone acting strange towards us or that something in our life is strange to us.

IMAGINATION

The truth is, people are very creative and some of us just have a really vivid imagination therefore making it possible for us to create different faces in dreams. I've talked about imaginary friends before and this might seem as it could be connected. If we visualize our imaginary friends enough, they might appear in our dreams as real people which is pretty awesome. Imagination is extremely powerful and if you are an imaginative creative person, you'll probably create people in your dreams because that's who you are; imaginative creator!

Source: https://pixabay.com

PRECOGNITION OR VISITS

There are numerous reports of people dreaming strangers only to meet them later. Therefore, these dreams sometimes might be precognitive. Usually, the stranger encountered in dream turns out to be of great significance in the dreamers life; stranger in a dream might turn out to be future wife or a husband of the dreamer. Aside from precognition, unknown people in dreams could be visits from spiritual guides, angels or, as some believe, even extraterrestrials and other beings. People are known to be more open to experience during sleep making it easier for us to connect to paranormal.

Thanks for a read!

SOURCES:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dream-catcher/201109/strangers-in-dreams

https://www.dreamscloud.com/dream-dictionary/p/people