Dream Dictionary

Dreaming of being abandoned or left behind shows your attempt to let go of outworn behavior or characteristics. In a sense you are abandoning your old identity in preparation for a transformation. If the dream focuses more on being left behind, there is a sense of exploring where you are in relation to other's expectations or life stages.

Since emotion is associated with 'gut feelings,' dreams of the abdomen can represent feelings that you are not acknowledging. The condition of the abdomen and whether or not it is yours, suggests how you are owning or acting on your gut feelings. As a symbol of digestion, it can represent unprocessed issues. See Anatomy and Body Parts.

The threat of being abducted by Aliens and UFOs is a common dream theme arising from peer pressure or doing things that go against your sense of identity. Being threatened by a sinister character can portray the Shadow (see Shadow under Archetypes and Universal Characters.) The Shadow symbolizes the unacknowledged but powerful part of your nature that you are not allowing forward. Being kidnaped by anything portrays the internal conflict created when one side of you is evolving, yet is blocked by your more ingrained and critical nature. You may dream of abduction any time you feel developmental pressure of this type.
 

The more natural, ‘uncivilized’ side of you that seeks expression aside from social restraints.

Seeing an abyss captures the idea of how you approach the unknown depths within you. An event may have triggered the idea that there is more going on inside than you realized. See Valley and Canyon.

As you grow, you can feel insecure about where you are going. In fact, you go through many changes because situations force you to change. The accident is a way of exploring your fears about how you are moving forward. The details surrounding the accident will reflect whether or not you feel in control of moving forward.

It is important to note that the accident dream is not necessarily a warning of being on the wrong path. The mishap merely reflects an internal sense of 'collision.' This is where ambition comes up against fear, or where the need to make changes is thwarted by a sense of feeling stuck.

Since a boat relies on the current, wind and outside elements to go forward, accidents involving water suggest the way emotions can drive you. Boat accidents can portray fears about the circumstances that are leading you forward. They reveal the ways you attempt to go with the flow and learn to master your way forward.

Accidents involving motorized vehicles represent insecurities about your drive to go forward, or your ambition. If the accident involves a car, it portrays insecurities about the choices you are making. If the accident involves a plane, you may feel insecure about aspirations as you embark in an upward direction. An accident by train can show the disappointment you feel in light of other's expectations of you. Tracks have been laid down for you, although you have a sense of not being able to follow them.

If you are driving or hold responsibility for the accident, you may be questioning your choices, but you still feel autonomous and empowered. If someone else is driving or has caused you to be in an accident, this other 'character' should be considered in light of their influence on you. This dream shows the power you give away and the key to an obstacle that may hold you back.

Example: a mate driving you in a dream reveals the power you have given this person to make decisions for you. A parent driving you, shows the power they hold over you because you allow it. Whomever drives you in a dream holds the key to what drives you in life. The accident usually occurs when you are attempting to become more empowered, self-actualized and self-directed.

If the accident involves natural events or is the result of a natural disaster, it can be a way of dissolving your current foundation or belief structure to allow for more ‘natural’ changes within you. If the house is involved, it suggests certain areas of your life that are undergoing transformation. See Houses and Buildings, Natural Disasters under Landscape and Scenery, Accident under Vehicles and Places of Transportation.

As a chemical or solvent that destroys or burns, how the acid is portrayed will describe the way that natural elements or something in the environment are moving to dissolve something. Suggesting a type of alchemical transformation, acid does not make something disappear, it only ‘reduces’ it to its base or organic element. Acid demonstrates how painful feelings may be festering on the surface. Through the transformation, you will discover the basics or what is really important. See Burning.

This is a character on the threshold of puberty and responsibility. interacting with a person of this age can portray the ideas and feelings adopted at that point in your life. The type of interaction will show your current relationship to sex and social responsibility, from the standpoint of exploring authenticity. See People and Family.

Prior to integrating information, it will sometimes appear ‘out there for public view’ as a way of looking at it objectively. Seeing something in the news or in an advertisement is usually the first step in integrating difficult issues, such as the traits you may have adopted from your parents, but cannot ‘own.’ See Newspaper. 

Since dreams allow for the free exploration of feelings, it is common to dream of sharing affection, sex or intimacy with people other than your mate. As you ‘role play’ by experiencing the different aspects of yourself, it can be portrayed by various characters, where you sometimes behave in a masculine way (mounting/dominating) another masculine character (your aggressive and assertive nature.) You are merely exploring your desire to be more aggressive.

You may dream of being unusually sensitive or affectionate with another woman, or in a feminine way, as a way of ‘embracing’ or exploring the idea of increased sensitivity within  you. The side of you this person represents and how you approach them in the dream, will feel ‘clandestine,’ only in proportion to how you are currently not ‘embracing’ or integrating this side of yourself in waking life. See Anima/Animus under Archetypes and Universal Characters.
 

When air is a subject in a dream, something may be floating or suspended in a way that is portraying your current state of suspense. The object that is suspended can offer clues about how to move forward.

The air can be clear or dirty as a reflection of whether you may need to ‘air something out’ or to ‘clear the atmosphere. The temperature of the air can describe feelings of coolness or feeling ‘hot.’ Filling something with air will often make it bigger, representing growth or expansion. Being unable to breathe is the same as feeling like you are not living in a healthy way. See Sky.

See Cover and Airplane under Vehicles and Places of Transportation.

Airports and train stations are places of transition, and while the train depicts how you are breaking away from the tracks that were laid down for you as expectations, the airport represents ambition and is a place where you can 'fly' through expanded awareness and insight. Danger and the idea of crashing can reveal your insecurities about your ambitions and does not necessarily mean that you will crash land. The dream is just allowing you to explore the possibilities, so that you might strengthen your commitment to what you are trying to achieve. See Vehicles and Places of Transportation.

If you dream of drinking alcohol, you may be exploring the idea of alcohol dependency. Being drunk can suggest ‘intoxication’ or feelings of exhilaration that you are not expressing during daily life. Alcohol is a mood altering substance, which allows you to express your unbridled nature.

Dreaming of being threatened by aliens portrays how you are exploring aspects of yourself, which you find difficult to 'identify with.' Your sense of being different from the group (and how you feel about it) will be portrayed by how ‘foreign’ the characters appear in your dreams.

Unlike family (genetic or inherited self-dynamics,) friends, people (acquaintances that change you,) and even aborigines (the more organic side of you,) aliens would be considered natural creatures, they are just ‘not from around here.’ Being abducted by aliens is actually suggesting how you are being ‘kidnapped' and not being authentic. Fitting in with the group often comes at the price of your real nature. See Flying Saucer.

This vehicle appears during times of crisis and represents needing nurturing or guidance in making directional choices. Like dreams of calling Nine One One, or seeing something written in red ink, the ambulance can bring a high level of critical focus or ‘state of emergency’ to your lack of control or autonomy in your life.

If the ambulance is unusual, a required change is not necessarily something you have tried before.The aspects surrounding the ambulance need to be considered to gain added  insight into your situation. If the ambulance crashes into your vehicle, it suggests how fear and insecurity may be keeping you from moving forward. See Vehicles and Places of Transportation.

Rich with mythological significance, being given an amulet, stone or necklace can represent insight that can shed light upon your unique talents or abilities. At the same time, your heart can be blocked by the idea or value you place on such a public display of what you hold to be precious.

This is a place where children overcome a sense of fear in exchange for excitement and autonomy. By returning to a childlike state of innocence, you are exploring taking risks in an effort to find happiness and exhilaration in social situations. The funhouse, mirrors and rickety rides offer a playground for self-reflection as you move forward. See Jalopy under Vehicles and Transportation and Rickety Structures under Houses and Buildings.

The parts of the body appear commonly in dreams because we are so ‘body conscious’ in daily life. Some parts grow and fall out, like teeth, fingernails and hair. They represent growth and where you stand in relationship to your sense of time and the need to let go of outworn ideas.

You lose your teeth during monumental times of life and in the same way, losing teeth will depict a threshold, or turning point. Teeth falling out can also be a message about credibility, or saying something that does not express the truth of what you feel. Fingernails and hair grow and need to be trimmed, suggesting both wisdom and how it must be pruned at times, to promote healthy growth. Hair can represent vanity and self-reflection, regardless of where it appears on the body. Eyebrows frame your way of viewing things and ‘move’ as a way of suggesting how you express yourself or respond. Obviously plucking, grooming and brushing hair reflects changes in how you view your ‘beauty’ or self-image.

The head is the seat of your personality and way of thinking. If the head is not yours, or separate from the body, it suggests a disconnection between what you are saying and doing. The mouth portrays both, communication skills, and how you may need to ‘chew’ things over to digest them. The jaw has more of an emphasis on what you say, but can also represent holding firm. You can ‘nose’ your way into something that perhaps, ‘doesn’t smell right.’ You can ‘face’ something or give ‘ear’ to the truth in dreams where the ears offer an objective way of seeing how you fail to listen.

Beauty is in the ‘eye’ of the beholder in terms of self esteem. You may experience a real ‘eye opening' message when seeing an eye is the same as disowning the sense of ‘I’ and so, the message gives you an objective view of an eyeball. In this way, sensory symbols are usually a message about being more observant or responsive in daily life.

The chest and abdomen house your feelings and suggest issues related to emotions. The arms signify empowerment and your ability to provide, give and take, while the legs take you forward in life and represent movement and direction. Hands and fingers are an extension of the arms, signify trying to ‘grasp’ something or to take what you feel you need. As an extension of the legs, feet provide balance and may symbolize getting ‘cold feet’ or putting the ‘foot in the mouth.’

Skin represents the most obvious aspect of who you are, and can symbolize the self from a sense of surface awareness, as in 'only skin deep.' The back often portrays responsibilities, while bones and blood portray basic traits that are at the core of who you are, or what lies below the surface: bones being solid and structure oriented, and blood being your essence or life force. Seeing blood on any object is an objective way of exploring feelings that remain below the surface. See Blood.

Genitals have associations that transcend the simple idea of sexual feelings. Breasts often relate to how you explore self-nurturing ideas, while female genitalia for a woman will signify her essence or connection to life. To a man, female body parts suggest sensitivity, while he explores his ‘underdeveloped’ traits associated with femininity, like sensitivity or intuition. Male genitalia observed by a woman often has associations with becoming more assertive or aggressive. For a man, his genitals represent his life force and sexuality. See Anima and Animus under Archetypes and Universal Characters.
 

When a symbol appears to you as being ‘ancient,’ it can have two meanings. First, being ‘old’ or ‘antique’ can suggest ‘the part of you associated with the symbol’ that is ‘outworn,’ or no longer true in terms of the person you are becoming. On the other hand, when you ‘discover something ancient and profound’ as a treasure, it suggests your deeper connection to experience. Even while you change, fundamental aspects remain unchanged by time. Life peels away the layers that reveal your ancient or unchanging nature. This ‘ancient’ symbol can represent the core of who you are that is timeless and ever valuable, offering clues to your real identity and destiny.

As the opposite of how alcohol allows your emotions to be expressed freely, an anesthetic ‘dulls’ the senses. Without being able to feel, you are hiding pain in a way that might keep you from understanding or processing your feelings. 

Like birds, angels can represent the higher aspects of the mind breaking through to offer inspiration or direction. No matter what transpires in life, you have a sense of this higher self within you that can carry you through all difficulty. If the angel offered a message, it should be given careful consideration. Angel dreams often occur with messages about the future. See Prophetic Dreams under Types of Dreams. 

A person who can process anger easily will feel anxiety in a dream, but not anger. If you are clearly angry in your dream, then look for how you might be repressing anger in daily life. This is an emotion, which we learn early to repress, and each of us processes anger in different ways. Therefore, you may dream about other characters acting with anger against you. This is the only way the person ‘who is never angry’ will have of processing and integrating this ‘unpleasant’ emotion. A ferocious animal attacking you is a clear example of how anger is portrayed in a dream. Since you cannot own the emotion during the day, you experience it as something ‘wild and uncontrollable’ attacking you in the dream.

The mammalian side of the brain developed when we evolved from our nocturnal existence to become social creatures. This was a time when emotions and facial expressions developed, which are associated with parenting and social exchanges. Similarly, in dreams, animals often symbolize emotions, expression and responses of your more wild, uncivilized, yet natural self sometimes at odds with the inner critic that coaxes you toward conformity.

Since we view animals as acting spontaneously toward their urges without social restrictions, animals often represent normal urges that are breaking through conscious controls. If you dream of being threatened or attacked by an animal, some part of your emotions or behavior (usually anger, although sometimes sexual) may have erupted or surfaced in way that felt like it ‘came out of the woods' or felt foreign to you.

Wild animals portray the need to express your authentic feelings in an unbridled way, while domesticated animals portray how you have been conditioned to guard them. 

When characters respond or answer you, it is the same as offering up a question about what you are doing. The anxiety that is often associated with dreaming occurs because you dream of what you are not facing. It has meaning specifically in the emotion that it ‘brings to the surface.’ In this way, a puzzling answer or statement is made, which leaves you feeling something. The words are irrelevant when you find yourself waking up from a bizarre dream with only a feeling of being ‘disturbed.’ The waters of consciousness are now stirred, to allow for a more objective way of approaching your circumstance. Answer dreams usually coincide with times when you are on the wrong path or being encouraged to follow another.

An ant can appear in a dream when you are not dealing with a situation that is bugging you. See Insects.

Suggesting your heritage or family dynamics that you protect, antique furniture can portray where you place your beliefs (valuables.) They can be ‘out on the table’ or in a ‘box.’ You ‘relax’ (chair) in various modes of thought, as in a bed (sex) or dining or living room furniture (social interaction.) See Ancient.

Human beings are 'self-organizing' systems forced to interact with an environment that is always changing. The natural movement toward entropy is unfolding all around us, even while we try to achieve stasis and a sense of the familiar. In higher organisms (like humans) this pursuit of stasis is achieved through the nervous system. Dreaming offers a sensory vehicle to process anxiety in a safe environment. Anxiety is a common theme in dream specifically because it is one of the most important reasons for dreaming. See Answer, and Attack or Being Chased.

This animal is most like a human, yet we use the word 'ape' to describe how we mimic others. It might be a clue that you are following the crowd and at the expense of your real nature. See Animals.

Like many of our ancient myths, battles take place between the various worlds or levels of existence, which end in an apocalypse or end of the world scenario. These types of dreams occur when the ‘old way’ of doing something must come to pass so that a ‘new world’ can be created in its place. See Natural Disasters under Landscape and Scenery.

The apple can be associated with the idea of desire and something that is forbidden. Since we are told to 'eat an apple a day' for health, the apple can be a symbol of necessary healing. See Food.

The many characters that appear in dreams represent an aspect of you as you change and grow. Police stop you in dreams when you are doing something ‘illegal’ or when an evolving aspect is transcending the critical or disciplinarian tapes of conscience. Babies will represent the birthing of your new identity, while the death of someone suggests elements, which must ‘pass on.’ You might know that you are somehow responsible for this ‘death’ by feeling victimized or pursued. You can be ‘suddenly saddled’ with the responsibility of caring for an ‘Unknown Child ,’ which suggests how you are not quite sure what to do with this ‘new identity.’ 

Intruders appear when you believe you are being invaded, or when you have revealed your intimate self with someone and felt uncomfortable. Abducters who try to kidnap you reveal a part of you that you are having difficulty integrating. (see Aliens) These types of encounters reveal Archetypes, such as the Animus, dark one, monster, devil or Shadow, which will always represent that part of your power, which appears frightening or unknown to you.

Women being ‘kissed’ by a monster in dreams will often coincide with the onset of menstruation and menopause, or those times in life when her body demonstrates a power that is beyond her control. Meeting this character always coincides with monumental stages of her development. Think about the character that  attempted to kidnap you or break into "your house"...If a woman dreams of an attractive but frightening male in this way, he represents her ability to move fearlessly through the world. Accessing the power that this character holds over you often represents a power that remains dormant, which can lead to integration and wholeness.

The Wise Woman or Wise Man are often reflective of intuition and how it guides you. These types of characters appear commonly when you are going through a difficult period of transformation. They reveal a profound sense of guidance, but also how you are accessing and becoming more seasoned. 

Jung explored common symbols in dreams that possessed universal meaning. While symbols can represent personal issues, our mythologies portray the universal themes that appear commonly in dreams. Jung called these elements Archetypes: 

1. The Persona is the mask you wear into the world, and in dreams, your evolving nature and potential takes form as your Persona depicted by the many characters you meet.  

2. The Shadow is your rejected and repressed aspects. At some point, you may decide that some part of you is unacceptable because it suggested weakness, fear of fitting in with the group, or unresolved anger. In actuality, these aspects become the power of untapped potential on the pathway to discovering your te or authentic nature. The Shadow is often represented by the Intruder, Pursuer, or Monster. See Shadow above.

Freud described repression as how “a shadow falls over the ego,” paralyzing its ability to perceive in the present. Through projection, one fails to observe objectively in the moment, but witnesses an overlay where the past is infused over the present. Since you cannot ‘own’ these qualities, you discover these aspects in others, as the ‘enemy.’ 

As a type of defense mechanism, he believed repression worked to keep the truth inaccessible. He also explored fixation and fetishes as being organized by ideas that evoked a sense of attraction and repulsion at the same time. An urge that initially sought pleasure brought instead, displeasure as the pathway from urge to satisfaction was distorted. 

This convergence of feeling is at the root of the intense emotional response or charge that is created when you encounter your Shadow in another. Understanding the Shadow is central to your empowerment and wellness. When you can understand and transcend the initial displeasure arising in this type of encounter, you are able to access the truth of what you fail to acknowledge within.

While Freud hinted at it, Jung pioneered the study of the Shadow and referred to it as the repressed and undeveloped aspects of the personality. Their diverging ideas created a schism between them, demonstrating the enormous power that the Shadow holds over us in our relationships. Although they both explored the unconscious to understand repression, their personal experiences led them to describe its contents differently. Where Freud projected his sexual frustration into his interpretations, Jung came to project his strong need for spiritual freedom. In their encounter, Freud may have been threatened by Jung’s sense of freedom and wholeness, while Jung bristled at the idea of such a limited system of interpretation.

Jung described projection as changing “the world into the replica of one’s unknown face. The more projections are thrust between the subject and the environment, the harder it is for the ego to see through its illusions.” He described the Shadow as those dark, unwanted, and unrecognized qualities of the ego that were deemed negative and ultimately repressed. Understanding the creation, repression and ultimate resurrection of the Shadow, provides a basic understanding of why we dream. While you sleep, those sides of you that remain dormant are given expression. When the dream conjures fear, you can be certain that its symbolism offers clues to your empowerment by integrating the elements associated with the Shadow. 

3. The Anima / Animus represent the female and male aspects of the opposite sexes. Men and women possess feminine and masculine traits and in dreams, the anima may appear to a male as a highly feminized figure. The animus is the male ‘protector’ or associate who appears to the female. Men will dream of doing feminine things, like wearing a dress, while a woman may do things that would be considered masculine like dominating or mounting another woman. These type of dreams are coaching the male toward sensitivity, while the woman may be exploring empowerment through a dream of domination. These qualities emerge as a reminder of how the female must develop her assertive or masculine potential, while the male must be sensitive or introspective in expressing and blending his feminine side into his masculinity. Both the female and male qualities are necessary in authentic empowerment and balance. 

4. The Unknown Child symbolizes your innocence and potential. Like the soul, it represents vulnerability and helplessness, but also aspirations and insight into integrating potential. As you evolve, you sometimes dream of accompanying a baby or young child suggesting this ‘new’ and emerging side of your Persona. The fact that you may not know where the child came from, or what you should do with it, suggests the way that who you are becoming today is constantly growing or experiencing rebirth as you grow to meet the future. 

5. The Wise Man acts as a guide or helper in dreams. You may meet a religious icon, an old man as a teacher, father or some other unknown authority figure. Often, they will say special words of wisdom and offer guidance. This figure represents the higher self and your ability to transcend difficulty. It is important to record the message or symbols that are associated with this character as a way of understanding your way through the transformative landscape. Representing masculine or productive elements, they often present the keys to your social success.  

6. The Great Mother can appear as a real mother or grandmother, suggesting your adopted nurturing qualities. Offering reassurance or direction, Jung also thought that the Old Woman represented the ‘unattractive’ aspects of the feminine, appearing as a Witch or old Bag Lady. In this case, she can be associated with guilt, seduction, dominance and death. This duality suggests that although the mother is the giver of life, she can also be jealous of how you become self-sufficient. Representing your critical tapes turned inward, meeting the Old Woman as a negative character can help you move beyond repression and dis-ease. Meeting the positive figure usually coincides with the male moving actively toward intimacy, or the female moving toward increased self-esteem. 

7. The Trickster is the cosmic jester of the dreamscape and portrays the unconscious active in consciousness. He straddles the same psychic trading post where inspiration is packaged and sold as spirituality. Manifesting in many forms, he stands at the psychic crossroad, pointing like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. His antics reveal the ridiculous way that you believe you must make choices. There are many roads and the right road is sometimes just the pathway exposing the contradiction inherent in absolutes. In the middle road between good and evil is your willingness jump into the unknown.  

The Trickster offers a puzzle and asks you to dance awhile with ambiguity, so life’s deeper mysteries can be revealed. Portrayed in a Freudian slip, it is Trickster who plants the whoopee cushion in the psyche, triggering laughter when you know that the time is not appropriate. Humor often arises when you perceive an incongruity. Cloaked as the Fool or Vagabond, he points to the middle way between absolutes or the conflicting ideas that have stunted your evolution.  

The Raven, Crow or Coyote appear in myths asking the hero to sacrifice the body in return for metamorphosis. Often presenting you with a wild card of possibilities, the Trickster of the psyche is not afraid to send you out with mismatched shoes during an important presentation when you are in the ‘wrong place.’ Teaching a lesson of humility, you find this Jester of the inner landscape, making you laugh at yourself in all of your serious attempts to be certain.  

Trickster represents the power of humor that allows you to see your inner contradictions. Instead of finding your ‘home in the absolute,’ you are forced out like a hobo in search of a train. Humiliated and riding in a boxcar, you encounter everything you believed you’d never see. You have no choice but to shake your head and laugh when the rug is pulled out from beneath your interior house of cards. “Oh my, is this what life feels like down here in the gutter? I can’t tell you why, but I suddenly feel alive again.” 

Trickster inspires the late night comedian who says what nobody else would dare say. He makes you blurt out the comical truth when in all gravity, you have found yourself trapped in your illogical ideas. Trickster inspires dreams of going to school in your underwear, when what you most want is to abide by the golden rule. It is Trickster who removes the bathroom walls, in dreams where you have no choice but to ‘relieve yourself’ in public. “Let go…be intimate…find your human side and live.” He is the breath of fresh air found at the top of the mountain or sometimes, face down in a puddle, in your migratory journey across the psychic landscape. 

In myths, what Trickster does is always the opposite of what is considered sacred. Like the process of dreaming, Trickster leads you through stages in mysterious steps to ‘trick’ you into growth. We see this in American Indian stories that are humorously interwoven with bits and pieces of truth and insight. In the same way, dreams offer a non-rational way of perceiving experience, beyond the defense mechanisms created by rote and reason. Trickster keeps you from taking yourself too seriously. As a powerful and transformative aspect of the psyche, when a character appears that makes you feel uncomfortable or silly, you meet the great shapeshifter as the potent and transformative power of Trickster. See People and Attack or Being Chased. 

The arm is associated with what you are holding or a sense of responsibility. It is also a symbol or actively doing something to have your needs met. See Anatomy and Body Parts.

The defensive posture you take to protect your feelings. Being given armor denotes how this behavior was bequeathed to you. See Weapons and Utensils.

Dreaming of being in an army denotes how you are operating with a new sense of discipline or restriction. Being invaded by soldiers portrays insecurities about conformity and authority. Rather than confronting police or the patrol of your disciplinarian tapes that come up against the changes that you make, seeing or being a part of an army reflects your movement toward conformity.

To have the sense that you ‘arrive’ in your dream can portray your journey toward achievement. You may arrive on time or Late, in relation to how you view your journey in life. Awaiting the arrival of someone else will describe an emerging part of you that will soon be ‘coming’ onto the scene to be transformed or integrated. Leaving or having a dream that focuses on someone else leaving is a way of exploring the idea of closure and transformation. See Vehicles and Places of Transformation.

Taking ‘steps’ toward an expanded way of viewing experience such as a spiritual awakening. See Placement and Perspective and Houses and Buildings.

Seeing ashes from a fire is a sense that something important is being reduced to its base elements. This is an organic symbol of allowing the past to be transformed so that you can grow to meet the future. Ashes in the air signify an inability to let go of the past or to see your way clearly into the future. See Fire.

Beasts of burden suggest being saddled to responsibility, while the 'animal-ness' of these creatures suggest that it is not natural. The donkey is stubborn and can portray how you fail to see how you are yoked to responsibility that is not really yours. See Animals.

See Air.

Any explosion signifies the release of repressed anger or emotion. The use of this ‘man-made’ device becomes a threat, only when all other opportunities for agreement or integration have been exhausted. In a dream, seeing the explosion of an atomic bomb and its threat of ‘radio-activity,’ can warn of physical illness or the ‘fall out’ associated with the inability to recognize and process anger.

Praying or seeking forgiveness for something often reflects your inability to apply forgiveness toward others and especially yourself. When you forgive, you give nothing away that you really need anyway. When you learn to let the past go, you can release the burden that you carry with you. Receiving a blessing or religious symbol is the stirring of spiritual feelings or finding meaning in adversity.

As frightening as it seems, the chase dream is a common dream theme for the 20 something crowd entering the work force.  When you are young, you are uncertain about the ‘code of conduct’ or the behaviors that are required of you. The fast pace at which you may be forced to adopt new identities in the work place, brings a past way of being in opposition with a new way of being. Being chased reflects the non-integrated aspects of your evolving identity currently in conflict.

Being pursued or attacked is the ‘internal drama’ of one side of you questioning your behavior as you enter new situations. Like the voice of the parents, who taught you about what you should or shouldn’t do, these tapes continue to play as dream characters that emerge each time a new situation calls you to transform.

During daily life, the Shadow or non-integrated qualities within you, can be masked and take form as drama ‘out there’ when what is really going on is drama 'in here.' Just as these encounters encourage you to grow, dreams challenge you in the same way. The most frightening dreams are simply a call to acknowledge, integrate new characteristcs and discard old ones as you evolve. As you grow to meet new situations at various stages of your life, these pursuit dreams become quite common and fade away as your sense of self has become more clearly defined. Similarly, conflict has a way of dissipating in your life once you have ‘composed the inner terrain’ enough to have developed self-esteem and self-knowledge. 

Ferocious animals will attack in dreams, when your emotions have erupted ‘beyond your control,' feeling wild and foreign to you during the day. See Blood and Animals.

Finally, there are times when you are the pursuer or attacker in a dream. Commonly, you will have a dream of attacking someone else or witnessing someone being killed and do nothing about it, even though you would never do that in real life. In the same way that someone dying represents the passing of an old or outworn way of being, not doing anything when someone is ‘eliminated’ speaks to how you let go of the outworn.

If you see the situation more like an assassination, you might condsider whether you are allowing something to continue (such as an affair) that your psyche may see as an assassination of character.  How you felt about being the attacker will determine whether 1) there is ‘remorse’ in the sense that subconsciously, you know you are killing off an important part of you that shouldn't be discarded or 2) ‘neutral’ because you know that what has passed is no longer necessary. 

See Houses and Buildings.

See People.

Performing in front of others is a common dream because it is a way of working through self-judgment and insecurity. In most cases, there is embarrassment as you meet the severity of your inner critic. When performing in front of others brings joy, this is a measure of your self worth and often coincides with an intense period of transformation, which has culminated in your success. Being unable to perform because you have lost something, suggests that you are on the wrong pathway. Whatever is lost will offer an important clue in understanding your authentic nature and overcoming insecurity. See Purses, Wallets, Luggage, Jewels and Keys.  

See Police.

The automobile is a classic symbol of motivation, and reflects whether or not you are feeling autonomous as you move forward in life. If you are driving and the vehicle is out of control, you may be questioning the choices you are making. If you are riding as a passenger, you may not recognize how you are not taking the reins of responsiblity for where you are going. You have given power over to the person driving the vehicle and may be needlessly blaming them for failing. If it is a parent driving you, there may be unconscious attitudes or criticisms you have adopted that are holding you back or diminishing your self-esteem. 

These types of dreams suggest the condition in which you are currently moving forward. The type of vehicle, and whether or not you are driving, in control or being driven, will portray your present sense of autonomy. See Vehicles and Places of Transportation.

This is a time of year when all things on the earth turn back for regeneration. Stripped of foliage, all living things return to their roots to be renewed. Autumn in a dream portrays the idea that a period of outward building to achieve success is becoming introspective. Sensing that the season has changed to autumn can coincide with having children moving out of the house or going into retirement. Although the earth moves toward incubation, an enormous amount of energy is building for a springtime to come.

Generally snow and ice, the avalanche occurs when a mountain or your solid belief structure gives way. When it is snow, it suggests that hiding beneath a cold exterior will no longer serve you. When it is the dirt of a landslide, it portrays the mountain of a hardened perspective giving way so that a new perspective will rise in its place. See Natural Disasters under Landscape and Scenery.

To dream that you are awake when you are actually dreaming offers a double dose of the extent to which you may be repressing something. The message is that you need to wake up and face something. When you suddenly ‘wake up’ to realize that anything is possible and that you can fly, it is an aspect of the psyche exploring potential and self-imposed limitations. To ‘wake up’ and do something of a daily routine, portrays the need for a wake up call in what you are habitually doing. See Flying.

See Weapons and Utensils.