Dreaming Lens: Were you at a funeral in your dream? Whose was it? Did you know the deceased? What was the mood and atmosphere like? Was it your own funeral? Where was it located? Was there a religious element to the funeral?
Personal Focus: While a funeral centers on someone who has died, the event is designed for the living. A powerful ritual, funerals help people process the death of someone close to them in a collective procedure that acknowledges the loss and marks the beginning of a new chapter in their lives without the deceased.
Funerals are often very somber occasions where people feel they have to behave in an appropriately solemn manner. This restraint can limit the level of authenticity at such events. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are many cultures in which gregarious expressions of joy are employed to deal with the feelings of grief.
If your dream involves either one of these extremes, consider how a recent life change may be impacting the authenticity of your expression. If your behavior at the funeral in the dream was inappropriately or contrary to the expectations of those in attendance, you might want to investigate areas of your life where the expectations of others are causing you difficulty.
In a dream where you are at a funeral, the identity of the deceased will play an important role in your interpretation. By examining them as a Character Aspect, you can consider what part of your psyche no longer serves you and has been sacrificed. In this case, only half the transformation is complete because funerals mark the death and not the rebirth that inevitably follows.
A common dream with this symbol involves the dreamer discovering that the funeral they are attending is their own. If this is the case, then the transformation that is taking place is more generalized and may connect to a developmental stage in life or a change of large enough magnitude as to imply a death of Self. Another potential interpretation of this dream connects to feeling a lack of passion or life force in your current circumstances. (See also Grave).