Your Daily Pull
A Tarot Reading For Tuesday, April 15
I keep dreaming about my ex. Does that mean anything?
Every day, Bustle’s tarot writer Carolyn Steber turns to her deck to answer readers’ questions.
Q: I keep dreaming about my ex. Does it mean anything?
A: After a relationship ends, you might fall asleep thinking you’re about to get a nice, nine-hour break from obsessing over your ex. But nope! There they are, popping up in your dreams. (Thanks a lot, brain.)
A dream about an ex can take many forms. Sometimes, your REM cycle will replay a random moment from five years ago, like that annoying argument at your birthday dinner. Other times, your ex might be a random character lingering in the background for seemingly no reason. Then, of course, there are the vivid sex dreams.
If you still miss your ex, you’ll likely wake up feeling sadder than ever. If you dislike them with a fiery passion, you’ll sit up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat. And if you haven’t thought about your ex in years, you’ll be extra confused about why they’re suddenly paying you a mental visit, especially if this type of dream happens night after night.
Here’s what it all might mean.
Why am I dreaming about my ex?
The Seven of Swords represents lies, manipulation, and sneaky strategy, which suggests your relationship ended for all the same reasons — or that something was left unsaid. Even if you don’t think about your ex regularly, there might be lingering anger or hurt feelings that occasionally crop up, especially when you’re stressed.
The appearance of this card suggests you’re still secretly annoyed that you didn’t get to say what was on your mind. Dreaming about them is similar to thinking up a witty comeback to an insult a few hours too late. Your dream might be a way for your brain to process what you would have done or said during the relationship if you hadn’t been so stressed.
To help process what you went through, grab a journal and start keeping track of your dreams and their themes, and see if you can draw any parallels between them and what happened in real life. This practice could be just what you need to officially move on.
Does it mean I want them back?
Seeing an ex in a dream doesn’t mean you want them back, but what really drives the point home is the appearance of the Nine of Pentacles, a beautiful card that represents comfort, self-sufficiency, and independence. It’s just about the boldest sign you can get from the deck that you’re a-OK — and likely thriving more than ever before.
Sure, you might miss what you had, crave that level of closeness, or wonder what could have been, but when you really stop and think — particularly after seeing them in a dream — it’ll be easy to see that your ex is an ex for a reason. Let that message sink in, and hopefully, they’ll stop interrupting your sleep.
For more, check out your horoscope.
