Cut in two down the middle

United States · before 1911

repeatedly dreamed that he had been cut in two down the middle line, and could only move on one side

Original text — The World of Dreams, Havelock Ellis

Source: The World of Dreams — Havelock Ellis, 1911. Case report
Rights: Public domain (US)
Record type: Research case
Place: United States · American
Date: before 1911
Uncertainty: Moderate — Reported by the physician Hammond; the man later had a stroke affecting one side.
Imagery: The dead · A stranger
Feelings: Fear · Horror

How traditions have read this kind of dream

Psychological

Dreams of the dead returning are widely reported after bereavement. Ellis noted how such dreams often move, over years, from disbelief to quiet acceptance; many people describe them as comforting rather than frightening.

Ellis (1911), ch. VIII

Mythological

In Homer, dreams pass through gates of horn and ivory; across many cultures the dead were believed to visit the living in sleep, and dreams were a place where the two could meet.

Odyssey XIX

Chinese traditions

Chinese poets wrote dreams of the departed as acts of remembrance: Su Shi’s “Ten years, living and dead” and Du Fu’s “My old friend entered my dream” are read to this day as elegies.

Su Shi (1075); Du Fu (759)

These are cultural lenses, not a diagnosis.

Dreams that share its images

Fallen from the bed, eaten by worms Jinyang (Taiyuan), China · 617 (as told)
A masked man asked for his bone back Huangkeng, China · c. 795
The guillotine fell France · c. 1850
Hector’s ghost before my sight Troy (setting) · 19 BCE (poem)
My dead brother with bleeding fingers England · before 1911
The pale student of unhallowed arts Near Geneva, Switzerland · June 1816