My experience occurred specifically in a dream. The day before, I had been preoccupied with thoughts of someone who was an old school friend and who had died, I believe by suicide, eighteen years ago. This person was female and I had last seen her six years before she passed over when we dated each other briefly. I would say I had 'feelings' for her as well as happy memories from being in high school together. During the day, I decided to talk out loud and also mentally, directly to this person. I asked them to come to me in a dream that night. I was skeptical about anything happening but before I went to sleep I again directed this question in my mind toward this person. Whilst sleeping I had several periods of dreaming and once I awoke, thinking that this person had not appeared to me in my dreams. Then I slept again and had a further dream in which this person became a presence. This was brief and surreal but I recalled clearly feeling their presence in one part of my dream. It was not visually vivid and I did not recognize the person visually in the dream but it felt uniquely like that person and how I remember her in terms of ambience and personality. In the dream the being, though shadowy, embraced me and 'told' me telepathically, they had also thought of me (perhaps this explains my unusual preoccupation with thoughts of her the previous day). When I awoke, I had a clear memory of this dream and a strong, intuitive feeling that communication with a spirit presence I could clearly identify with this person had taken place. Interestingly, I never think of this person as being dead and gone i.e. though they are deceased their existence is still somehow vivid to me.

Was this experience difficult to express in words?          No

Did you ONLY sense an awareness of presence of the deceased without actually seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling them?            Yes

Did you hear the deceased or hear something associated with the deceased?          No

Did you feel a touch or experience any physical contact from the deceased?            Yes

An embrace.

            Was the touch familiar or unfamiliar?   Familiar. As I remember from past experience.

            Was anything communicated by the touch?  It was a feeling of caring/love.

            Is there any possibility what you felt was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?  No

Did you see the deceased?         Yes

In this dream I saw a shadowy figure; not clearly defined in terms of their physical features but clearly communicated to me in terms of their presence and persona.

            How clearly did the deceased appear?            Not visually clearly.

            How much of the deceased did you see?       A bodily outline.

            Did the deceased appear or not appear to be the age at which they died?       Their apparition was different from their physical appearance when alive. In other words, there were not clearly defined physical features. Their characteristics were communicated in an ambient way.

            How healthy did the deceased appear to be?            Physically, I cannot comment. Otherwise they appeared not entirely happy whilst not decidedly unhappy, as though they were in a state of transience, perhaps or emotional limbo.

            Is there any possibility what you saw was from any other source present in the surroundings at the time of your experience?           No

Did you smell a distinct smell, scent, fragrance or odor associated with the deceased?      No

How long did the experience last?        Difficult to say but it was brief.

Was the beginning and end of the experience gradual or more sudden?         In the context of the dream, it was surreal.

Could you sense the emotions or mood of the deceased?           Yes

See 7 above. I felt a sense of emotional unease from their presence.

Did the deceased give you information you did not previously know?  No

How do you currently view the reality of your experience?           Experience was probably real

            Please explain why you view the reality of your experience as real or not real:           I am inclined to think it was real because I have powerful intuitive feelings about it.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   Yes

It took place within a dream.        

Describe in detail your feelings/emotions during the experience:           It felt strange though familiar.

Was there any emotional healing in any way following the experience?           Yes

I felt that the spirit of the person knew I cared about them.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      The best was feeling it was a spirit of someone I knew in life. The worst was being uncertain that they were happy.

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Uncertain     

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Uncertain     

Did the experience give you any spiritual understandings such as life, death, afterlife, God, etc.?  Yes     It helps to affirm aspects of my own searching and questioning about afterlife.

Death Compacts are when two or more living people promise among themselves that whoever dies first will try to contact the other(s).  Have you ever made such a compact?        No

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later?          No

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            I felt it had touched me on a deep level.

Was the experience witnessed or experienced by others?           No

Did you have any sense of altered space or time?   No

Did you have a sense of knowing, special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose?    No

Did you become aware of future events?       No

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?         No

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     No

Did you meet or see any other beings other than the deceased?            No

Did you see a light?           No

The context and surroundings were decidedly dim/dark.

Did any part of your experience seem to occur in a place other than the location described above?            No

Have you shared this experience with others?        

No       Have you shared this experience formally or informally with any other researcher or web site?   No

 Is there anything else you would like to add regarding your experience?       No

Were there any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?            No

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No 

Did you ever in your life have a near-death experience, out of body experience or other spiritual event?           Yes 

I have in the past experienced levitation of part of my body from the bed and of the bed itself whilst in bed at night. I consider these to be paranormal occurrences connected with psychic disturbance/turbulence.

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?               Yes

Please offer any suggestions you may have to improve this questionnaire.    It seems quite thorough.