Your dreams may be something you don’t think about much after the fact, let alone remember. But if you start putting the pieces together, and keep in mind that it’s all coming from your mind, dreams can be an insightful look into your subconscious; into what makes you tick. But dreams are never set in our conscious reality, it’s the mind’s eye your staring into, and it’s full of symbols, metaphors, and puns. And to know a bit more about my own dreams, and help you decipher your own, I scoured the great dream guide resource Dream Moods, and put together an interesting list of descriptions for some common dreams and themes:
One thing to keep in mind, besides dream puns, is that no interpretation of a dream can be a complete fact. Subconscious to subconscious, everyone is wired differently. But using literary symbols, primal instincts, and cultural images; these analysis can get you started in the right direction towards understanding your dreams. Check out Dream Moods for more specific interpretations of dreams.
Flying Dreams
The classic reoccurring dream, the flying dream generally represents control. You are in control as you soar above your scene with no impedance in sight. But, like all dreams, the devil is in the details. One must consider what direction, speed, control, and specific scene your flying over when interpreting the flying dream. Flying could represent a higher spiritual connection, or an escape from stressors, or perhaps expresses the need for a broader, higher, perspective. If you have a flying dream, analyze not only the dream, but what’s coinciding in your life.
Being Cheated On in Your Dreams
Often, a dream where you are being cheated on in a relationship can leave you upset enough to be mad at your significant other in awake hours. And although a cheating dream can represent some level of mistrust, or gut intuition about your partners possible infidelity; it may be saying something about your personal emotions as well. Being cheated on could represent a fear of abandonment, or reflect a low self-esteem about certain issues. Whatever it means for you, don’t go breaking up with your partner over it just yet.
Animals in Your Dreams
Animals are very symbolic in dreams. No matter the animal, there is a possible meaning behind it. Here are examples of some of the different symbols within the animal kingdom:
- Badger: represents persistence and victory; or someone that is annoying you
- Camel: telling to be more conservative; or you’re carrying too much burden on your back
- Dinosaur: could be symbolic of old, outdate attitude or thinking
Interaction with Animals
Another important factor in an animal dream is what you’re doing with the animal. Here are some examples:
- Fighting the animal: you’re repressing a certain feeling
- Talking to: the animal represents some form of superior knowledge
- Saving the animal’s life: a fulfillment or acceptance of an emotion
Falling Dreams
Opposite of a flying dream, the falling dream generally represents a lack of control. While falling, you may be missing some form of essential stability or security, and perhaps a lack of confidence in your ability to maintain speed. A falling dream, for that reason, may be representative of recent reckless behavior. Freud would later say that falling represents one’s inevitability or nearness to giving into certain desires.
Being Chased
Being chased in your dream generally represents your avoidance or running away from something specific in your life. Suppressed feelings, yourself, and stressful issues; if you are running, chances are you are running from one of these. And once again, look at the details. Who, or what, exactly is chasing you? How close or far are they? And where are you as you’re being chased? Consider it all before jumping to conclusions.
Body Parts
If any specific part of your body is oddly out of place in your dream, or missing completely, there are a number of things that your mind is trying to convey to you. One simply could be a health issue that your mind is able to react to faster than your body. Or, your dreams could be trying to convey a more complex message, some examples are as follows:
- Abdomen: your core section could represent a few different things. Repressed emotions could be symbolic in a queasy stomach, or it could just be indigestion. If your abs are swollen in dreams, it could mean you’re about to start a new project.
- Ankle: the ankle could represent the need for support or direction. And if your ankle is sprained, than that is symbolic of you experiencing difficulties.
- Bones: skeleton showings could represent discovery of personal, family, or cultural secrets. Bones represent your fundamental self, so seeing one in a dream could be a look into your strengths or weaknesses, and if your bone is broken, than that could be a realization of a weakness in your thinking.
Apocalypse Dreams
Although dreaming about the apocalypse is scary, it’s not the end of the world. That type of dream could simply represent an emotional or dramatic change taken place within yourself. A lot of newlyweds experience dreams of the apocalypse due to the dramatic change of lifestyle. And if your dreams take place post-apocalypse, it may imply that you are beginning to overcome current difficulties you are facing.
Alphabet Letters in Your Dreams
It’s interesting to think what certain letters mean to our subconscious. What words they start, what objects they appear to be, and what connotation different letters have; if you see a neon sign of a letter in your dream, consider some of these explanations:
- G: generally represents money
- M: may suggest you are keeping something silent, also the roman numeral for 1,000
- S: suggests that there is something that needs your attention
- T: tends to represent stubbornness or refusal to change attitudes. Or a fork in the road
Dying in Your Dreams
Dying in your dream doesn’t necessarily have to be a morbid occasion. Dying in your dream can often represent a new beginning within yourself; a change in beliefs, lifestyles, or ideology. Death in your dreams could also be a wake up call for your current situation, say a potential negative health risk or lifestyle choice. If you are dying in your dreams, understand what’s going in your reality.
Food in Your Dreams
Food in your dreams often represents more than edible arrangements, but instead, typically are symbolic of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that your mind is trying to feed to you. Every food item represents something, and some foods are more obvious symbols than others, and here for you is just a sampler-tray:
- Almonds: can represent wealth, success, and happiness
- Bologna: indicates financial insecurities; or something that is phony
- Jellybean: can be symbolic of light-heartedness, positive energy, and is related to joy
- Oatmeal: eating oatmeal can represent increase in finances, and cooking or serving oatmeal can represent control of certain destinies.
And there you have it, a short list of a long book of dreams and their meanings. Once again, everyone has different histories, and certain objects mean different things to different people. But one thing is for sure, your dreams are never as simple as they seem. It’s the brain’s way of throwing paint onto the canvas, processing the back-logged information, and perhaps telling you something that you can’t hear when your awake. Check out Dream Moods for your own personal dream reference source.
