Dream of the dead

Dear Roi

n my dream, I was with my dad, who died four years ago. It was a normal, relaxed situation, and we were talking about art (I’m an artist). When I woke up, I felt really peaceful for a minute, until I remembered he wasn’t alive any more and felt sad. What does it mean?

Ornette Richards, 51, London

Dear Ornette

Dreams like this can occur when we miss our deceased relatives more than usual, especially parents. At other times, though, they can happen when there’s something going on in our own lives which we associate with our dead parent. Some people think that the dead can directly communicate with us through our dreams, and when such dreams occur, they feel so real that we’re often utterly convinced this is what’s happened! I guess we’ll never really know the truth.