Treated by many as a way to get in touch with the subconscious, dreams have become famous messengers of purported hidden messages and meanings in between the lines. Austrian neurologist and famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed that dream analysis was a road to the unconscious, helping to uncover hidden fears and desires that lead to neurosis.
In this article, we take a look at 25 of the most common dream occurrences and find out how they can affect our waking lives.
1. Falling
Dreams in which you are falling are symbolic of a repressed fear in real life. It may also symbolize a certain aspect of your life that isn’t going all too well. This type of dream suggests a rethinking of the choices you’ve made in your life or letting yourself go and enjoying your life more.
2. On the Run
In general, being pursued in a dream means that you are trying to avoid something or someone in real life. Depending on the identity of your pursuer, this type of dream can be interpreted in three different ways: being chased by an animal may mean you are you are hiding or trying to escape your emotions, being chased by someone of the opposite sex may mean you are being haunted by a past relationship or apprehensive of relationships in general, and being chased by an unknown figure may mean you are being haunted by traumatic experience during your childhood.
3. Losing Teeth
Dreaming about losing your teeth may have a more literal meaning — it may signify a concern for your appearance or how you appear to other people. According to Penny Peirce, author of Dream Dictionary for Dummies, this type of dream may suggest a loss of “personal power and your ability to be assertive, decisive, and self-protective”.
4. Unfamiliar Territory
Being lost in a dream may possess a meaning not too far from real life. According to Cathleen O’Connor, Ph.D., author of The Everything Law of Attraction Dream Dictionary, this type of dream usually denotes anxiety or feelings of confusion. It usually occurs when you move to a new neighborhood or take up a new job and are worried that you might not fit in.
5. Water
Dreaming of water may carry a variety of meanings, depending on the type of water in your dream and how you interact with it. Generally, dreams about water are related to your current emotions in your waking life.
6. Spiders
Dreaming of these creepy crawlies is a sign of financial improvement or any form of good fortune. If the spider is spinning a web, it means you will have to work hard for your reward. On the other hand, killing a spider in your dream is a warning that you may soon be facing some bad luck.
7. Public Exposure
Being caught naked in public can be one of the most humiliating experiences in your life. Dreaming about it, however, is not all that uncommon. This type of dream usually signifies a fear of showing your imperfections or shortcomings.
8. Bundle of Joy
Dreaming about a pregnancy can mean anything from creativity to fear. Some suggest that it is a warning of difficult times to come, but others believe that it’s a sign of development in an area of potential or a deepening of a relationship.
9. Death
One of the most disconcerting of dreams, dreaming of dying or a death of a loved one usually represents feelings of anxiety related to change or a fear of the unknown. It can also be a mourning for the ‘death’ of the past.
10. Running Late
Dreaming about being late may signify a fear of change in your professional life. It can also mean that you feel out of control with regard to your career, which may eventually lead to feelings of inadequacy and disdain toward your job.
11. Sexual Dreams
Contrary to what some people believe, dreaming about sex is not related to lust. Instead of physical intimacy, it expresses a psychological union for which you yearn. It’s important to take note of who your partner is in a sexual dream because this person possesses qualities that you want to incorporate into your own personality.
12. Flying High
Often liberating but sometimes frightening, dreams where you’re flying can represent two very different things. It can be a representation of freedom or independence, but it can also represent the lack thereof or a desire to flee or escape reality.
13. Paralysis
Being paralyzed in your dream may signify a paralysis you feel in your waking life caused by the problems you are currently facing. It may also represent a feeling of being stuck on the way to achieving an important goal.
14. Running
Dreaming of running alone signifies a determination in reaching one’s goals, but it may also be a warning to hurry up on making a big decision. Running with someone else represents a cooperative effort in the pursuit of a goal.
15. Being Put to the Test
A fear of failure might lead you to dream of an examination, wherein you are forced to face your shortcomings. Failing an exam in a dream represents feelings of incompetence or being unprepared for life’s challenges.
16. Infidelity
If you’ve ever dreamed that your spouse or partner is cheating on you, Trish and Rob MacGregor, authors of Complete Dream Dictionary: A Bedside Guide to Knowing What Your Dreams Mean, suggest that you shouldn’t take it literally. Dreams about infidelity are common to those who have trust issues and communication problems in their relationship.
17. Vehicles
As modes of transportation, vehicles in dreams represent an event in your waking life that will take you from point A to point B. Take note of the vehicle’s driver because this person might be the one to take you where you need to be.
18. Friendly Dreams
Friends or people from your past can either signify characteristics similar to your own or highlight aspects about your life you may like or dislike. Dreaming about childhood friends represents a longing for much better times when everything was simpler or the thought that you could’ve done things differently.
19. Baby Dreams
You don’t need to be a parent to have baby dreams; almost everyone can have one. Although babies in dreams can be a sign of something good, representing innocence and purity, they can also be a sign of fear, anxiety, and emotional regression.
20. Food
Generally, dreams about food symbolize the ways in which you nurture yourself, and may represent a desire for such nourishment. Being deprived of food denotes a lack of the things that sustain you in your waking life.
21. House
A house in your dream is a representation of the self, with each room signifying a facet of your personality. This dream occurs during major events in your life, such as big changes or new beginnings.
22. Driving
Driving a car in your dream represents the control you have over your life’s direction. If you’re driving alone, it signifies a lack of support, but a passenger may signify you exerting control over this person.
23. Being Unable to Talk or Scream
Although it can be quite frightening, being unable to talk or scream in a dream merely represents a part of yourself that you’ve kept silent, and is now looking for a way to express itself.
24. Snakes
Contrary to what many people believe, snakes in a dream represent the beginning of physical or emotional healing. Famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, on the other hand, sees snakes as phallic symbols that can relate to a male figure or how you experience your sexuality.
25. Walking
Walking in a dream represents motion, but difficulties in waling may signify a fear or hesitation to move forward. It may also mean that you are trying to distance yourself from certain life experiences.
Have you had any similar dreams? If some of these interpretations seem inaccurate, don’t worry. Dreams are very personal and can have a multitude of interpretations, depending on the person and his or her circumstances. Although dreams can mean different things to different people, they are reflections of your waking life — a representation of your hopes, desires, anxieties, fears, and aspirations. To learn more about Fun Facts about Dreams, you may check out our blog post!
If you need help in determining dream meaning, try out our Email Dream Interpretation, which can either be brief or in-depth. If it’s your first time, you can get a glimpse with our free Email Dream Interpretation. For a better understanding of dream terminology and definitions, take a look at our Dream Dictionary.
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