Dreams and death: Do dreams show us what it’ll be like to be dead? Our guest this week is Jenna Farr Ludwig. Jenna starts by describing two death dreams from childhood in one of which she dreamed of her mom falling off a cliff shortly before her mom died in a waking-life car wreck. We talk about pre-diagnosis dreams, dreams before death, visitation dreams, and about how to distinguish death dreams that are related to physical death vs death dreams that signal transformation and growth. We also talk about what dreams may have to say about what it will be like to be dead.
After the break we hear from four listeners. First Lenore from Oakland gives examples of some dreams that have made her less frightened of dying. Then David Jenkins (episode link is below) from Berkeley talks about sequences of visitation dreams and about how they can evolve. Rick Kleffel, DJ radio engineer and music creator, comments that dreams may be a foretaste of death in that they are experiences we have in which the physical body plays little or no role. Third, Dylan calls from Florida to share some of his profound reincarnation dreams. Finally, Ray from Santa Cruz calls to ask about how to talk to loved ones who have passed away.
Authors we talked about included Christopher Kerr, Robert Monroe, Edward Cayce, Carl Jung (Memories, Dreams, and Reflections), and Marie Louise von Franz.
BIO: Jenna Farr Ludwig is a certified dream guide and spiritual mentor with a Master’s of Arts in Transpersonal Studies and over 40 years of experience. Jenna has published poetry and articles in numerous periodicals and is in the process of writing a book about dreams and synchronicities.
Find our guest at: jennafarrludwig.com and jennalludwig.substack.com
This show, episode number 303, was recorded during a live broadcast on March 22, 2025 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.
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Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Tony Russomano for the answering the phones.
The Santa Cruz Festival of Dreams is coming October 10-12, 2025! Mark your calendars now. Check our landing page at FestivalofDream.net and FB group page HERE or follow #keepSantaCruzDreaming on FB and IG.
SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at katherine@ksqd.org. Follow on FB, IG, LI, & YT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com.
The Dream Journal aims to:
Increase awareness of and appreciation for nightly dreams.
Inspire dream sharing and other kinds of dream exploration as a way of adding depth and meaningfulness to lives and relationships.
Improve society by the increased empathy, emotional balance, and sense of wonder which dream exploration invites.
A dream can be meaningful even if you don’t know what it means.
The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM. Catch it streaming LIVE at KSQD.org 10-11am Pacific Time on Saturdays. Call or text with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or email at onair@ksqd.org. Podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms the Monday following the live show. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page can be found at ksqd.org/the-dream-journal/.
Closed captioning is available on the YouTube version of this podcast and an automatically generated transcript is available at Apple Podcasts.
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