Dream Interpretation - Common Symbols And Their Meanings

Dream Interpretation - Common Symbols And Their Meanings

Do you have a recurring dream that keeps coming back over and over again despite an attempt to understand its meaning? If so, you may be experiencing a nightmare. For the rest of us, though, dreams can sometimes be really hard to interpret. What does the symbol for "Medusa's head" actually mean? How does an area of destruction or ruin in your dream make sense? Dream interpretation can seem like a great mystery. With this article, though, I'll try to break down a few common symbols that are easy enough for anyone to pick up on and understand their meaning so that you at least have some idea how they might apply to your life.

Dream Symbolism - Overview

There are a few things to know about dream symbolism before we get started. First, use the information I've provided for an in-depth interpretation of your dream, not just an overview. Second, don't just stop here! A simple interpretation is never enough; there's much more to learn about how symbols work and what they mean than I can give you here. Third, consider this article a quick overview of basic symbols and their meanings. For full-on dream interpretation, carefully read other articles on Dream Interpretation . Reading this article will give you more background and context for your dreams than will any single article by itself.

The Meaning of a Symbol

The meaning of a symbol is the message that it conveys. For example, the dream symbol Medusa's head (in my dreams anyway) means that I am afraid to be myself and more concerned with how others perceive me than with what I perceive.

In addition to our own interpretation, many 'readers' have their own meanings for the symbols in our dreams. For example, it seems many people see Medusa's head as an image of their own mother and fathers. Many people have mothers and fathers who are critical, judgmental, or otherwise make them feel bad about themselves. It's not so much that my mother is a Medusa as it is that I see her head in my dreams and connect it to these feelings.

When interpreting any symbol, we must be careful to pay attention not just to our own interpretations of the symbols, but also examine other interpretations of the symbols. It is these others' interpretations of the symbols we're looking for, not what we think! This is because our own self-identity can create very narrow meanings for things or even block information from coming in if we are "tuned out" from our intuition. In the case of Medusa, some people might find this article useful for interpreting their own Medusa dream. I also recommend checking out the dictionary definition of Medusa to see what comes up for you.

In short, always consider alternative explanations before committing to any single interpretation or explanation.

Dreaming as a Language

If we think about dream symbolism as a language, it makes a lot of sense to look at how we all speak the same language and yet each of us expresses ourselves differently. For example, you might say that you love red roses and I might say that I love red licorice (not a favorite in my family, but what can I say? I'm an odd duck!). The dream is telling you that I am expressing myself differently from you. As I imagine we all express ourselves differently, we must also consider how different cultures throughout history have expressed themselves in their own unique languages, some of which are still practiced today.

Dream Symbolism - A Brief Overview

Dreams come in symbols. There are some symbols that get used more often than others (like snakes), but all symbols have meaning. Most commonly, dreams are made up of the following symbols:

People - We can see people in our dreams as a symbol for our inner self (which is really us) and the relationship between us and other people (or how we interact with other people). Our dreams may also show us the relationship we have with other people. We can also see our friends or family in our dreams. There are usually many symbols for people, but only one for animals.

Places - Places can be a symbol for a location or space you are in, how your experience of the world is, and how you act when you are there. For example, the desert is often a lonely place (especially if you have no water or food), while the tropical rainforest is lush and wonderful (but possibly deadly).

Animals - Animals can be used as symbols to show us how we feel physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. For example, animals being scared to death would show us how we feel when we think of the possibility of dying and the way we expect ourselves to act in a given situation. Alien abduction by aliens could be seen as proof that aliens exist or maybe one's own imagination. A flying horse might show how you feel about your physical body.

Natural Phenomena - Lightning, storms, fire, earthquakes, volcanoes and volcanism are all natural phenomena that can appear in our dreams as symbols for something going on within us. The examples of lightning being a symbol for energy or worry is fairly common. This symbol is also used to represent passion or sexual arousal (though this is less common).

Fantasy - Fantasy, or fairy tales, are symbols for our deepest desires.

The Void - The void can be a symbol of something missing in life, such as a relationship, our purpose, or even ourselves. This can also be interpreted to mean that we feel empty inside and that we have no self-esteem.

The way you are acting in your dream is shown by the way other people act toward you. This isn't necessarily what they say to you or how they treat you. It's more like their facial expressions, body language and tone of voice that gives clues about their reaction to what you're saying or doing in your dream.

Your inner self may show up as a character in your dream or as a symbol. If you are the symbolic character, it shows that you feel trapped inside. This can also be an inner voice (the voice of your conscience), especially if it is negative or critical of you.

Everyone has symbols for themselves and others, but if people are the symbol, this means we are feeling emotions about something we don't want to feel. The way I react to my mother is a bad example of how a person can be a symbol, since I sometimes do things that I am ashamed of and sometimes may have feelings of anger toward her. If my mother shows up as a symbol in my dreams and I feel bad about how I treat her, then it means that I don't want to feel this way, but I do anyway.

Dreams can use paradox and contradiction to show us things about ourselves, including what we are doing that is a problem. For example, if someone you like comes into the room and you feel happy about it but you also shake your head in disgust at yourself for liking this person and not being 'strong enough' to move on with your life, then that shows us that you like someone and you know it's wrong or bad for you. You also know deep down inside that something is wrong with this person who attracts you so much.

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you to better understand how dreams work and how to interpret them. If you have any questions about using this article, please ask me in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

One thing I feel is important to mention is that your dream symbols can change depending on where you are, who you're with or what you're doing at the time of a dream. For example, it's true that snakes are often a symbol for something bad in dreams, but if I'm hiking through the forest and I see one snake on the trail and not actually near me (like above), then this might still be terrifying, but now it's not a symbol of something bad inside of me.