Dreaming of dying in Santería: meaning
In Santería Oyá stands at the gate of the cemetery, and the egun, the ancestors, are honoured before the orishas. Death is called Ikú in the stories. A dream about dying is therefore read in Santería readings in the light of passage and the bond with the ancestors.
Within this tradition
In Santería the egun come first, then the orisha. In many homes the ancestors are honoured at a bóveda espiritual, a table with a white cloth, glasses of water, photos and flowers. The dead are not gone: they guide and protect their descendants, and are remembered before one turns to the orishas.
Oyá, the orisha of wind and change, is seen as the keeper of the cemetery gate. She accompanies the passage between life and death. Ikú, death itself, appears in the patakí as a figure who comes to fetch people, but who is sometimes outwitted, for example by Orula, the orisha of wisdom and divination. So the stories teach that death has its time, and that this time is not decided by the dreamer.
Along those lines a dream about your own death is rarely seen as a prediction in Santería readings. More often it is about a passage: something ending, so that something new can begin. A dream about a cemetery can recall Oyá, and a dream about the dead the egun, who want to be seen. Many practitioners take such a dream as an occasion to remember the ancestors, for example at the bóveda.
Whoever finds a dream about death weighs heavily discusses it with a padrino or madrina, who can look at it through divination. Dreamkin does not predict death.
Common variations
Dreaming of your own death
A passage: something ends so something new can begin. Not a prediction.
A cemetery or gate
Recalls Oyá, keeper of the gate.
The dead in the dream
The egun, who want to be seen and remembered.
Escaping death
As in the patakí of Ikú: death has its time.
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Write your dream in the appFrequently asked questions
What are the egun?
The ancestors and the dead in Santería, honoured before one turns to the orishas.
What is a bóveda espiritual?
A table for the ancestors with a white cloth, glasses of water, photos and flowers.
Does such a dream mean this orisha belongs to me?
No. Which orisha belongs to someone is established within the tradition through divination and initiation, never derived from a dream. Discuss a vivid dream with your padrino or madrina.