One type of dream that often starts in childhood and may or may not continue into adulthood are dreams that deal with a past life. Children may not recognize that what they are dreaming is from a past life, but they may notice that in their dream, they and their family members appear in different roles.

A past-life dream is set during a different time period. The dream may be repetitious and have a theme that was imprinted in the soul of the past life. It's not unusual for the past-life dream to be traumatic — many of these dreams are nightmares. For example, a past-life dream may be an event that led up to a death scene, with the dream ending before the actual event. Upon waking, the feeling of terror lingers.

Look for Clues

Here is how you can figure out whether a particular dream is giving you clues or revealing episodes concerning your past life. Often, these dreams have visual images that you recognize. Does the dream's location seem familiar and yet as though it doesn't belong to your lifetime?

Sometimes that distinction is easy to make, and sometimes it is not. A child may not recognize the difference of a few years, whereas an adult would. Also, if the turnaround time between incarnations is short, the child may blend his or her current life with the one that he or she experiences just previously.

If there are people in the dream, how are they dressed? Are they wearing modern clothes? Can you see yourself in the dream, or are you only experiencing it? If you cannot see yourself, hypnosis may help you get more information about who the characters in your dream may have been.

Is there anything else that may give you a clue about the possibility of a past-life dream? You may awake from a past-life dream with an emotion that connects to another lifetime. What other clues would you collect from a dream to imply that it may have been about your past lives?

Dreams of Flight

A subset of past-life dreams are flying dreams. Have you ever dreamed that you are able to soar in the sky, as free as a bird? Some people believe that dreams of flying date back to the earliest reincarnations of your soul because they go back to a time when you had no physical form. At that time you were able to travel using the pure energy of thought as your power. Dreams give your soul a chance to fly again without the constraints of your physical, human body.

Do you fly in any of your dreams? If so, where do you go? Do you travel to other worlds or to heavenly realms? Do you fly backward or forward in time? Where else do you fly? Do you fly alone or with others? Can you choose a destination before you go to sleep and fly there during a dream? Do you ever dream about falling or floating? Is there a pattern to these dreams?