Theresa Cheung - The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams - The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams

Very similar to ‘bull’, with the possible exception that oxenare often castrated, so dreams in which they feature could suggest frustration. Can you recognize the strength of the ox within yourself? Are you engaged in a task that demands great commitment?

Pigsare symbolic of a life governed by untamed physical needs and passions; they can also suggest impossible ventures, or inappropriate behavior and neglect of the spiritual side of life. By contrast, amongst the peoples of the East, a dream about a pig is interpreted as a good dream that attests to prosperity.

Idioms: pig in a poke; happy as a pig in shit; make a pig of oneself; pig in the middle; pigs might fly; pig headed; piggy bank (is your dream linked to savings?).

The rabbitbreeds easily, so in dreams it is often linked to sexuality. It is also associated with the soft, vulnerable part of ourselves that can be easily hurt or hounded. If the dreamer is hunting wild rabbits, this could suggest that they are being criticized, attacked, ‘hunted down’ or hounded. See also PETS .

Representing masculine sexual energy, the ramcan also indicate a refusal to conform or be part of a group, together with an unconscious desire to lead rather than follow.

Idioms: battering ram; ramming one’s point home; like a ram among sheep.

The ratis a symbol of fears and anxieties, or is the diseased or devious part of a dreamer or his or her situation. It can also represent something which is repulsive in some way. The dreamer may be experiencing disloyalty from a friend or colleague. Other associations are of dirt and squalor, or of time gnawing away at our life and the unacceptable parts of oneself. By contrast, dreaming about a pet ratsuggests the opposite: vulnerability and the responsibility for caring.

Idioms: rat on someone; rat race; smell a rat; feeling ratty; cornered rat; rats leave a sinking ship.

Dreaming of a sealsuggests the dreamer is at one with the life they have chosen to lead. If the seal is wounded, injured or hunted, the opposite might be suggested.

Sheepin dreams represent the aspects of oneself that conforms to social pressures, such as feeling part of a crowd or being herded by others. Dreaming of sheepcan also suggest aspects of ourselves that are the same as other human beings or working hard to accomplish a goal. If the dreamer is caring for sheep, this may indicate a desire to grow spiritually.

Idioms: make sheep’s eye at someone; follow like a sheep; being sheepish.

See REPTILES, FISH AND AMPHIBIANS.

The squirrelrepresents the hoarding aspect of the personality.

To dream of a toadsuggests that the dreamer needs to become aware, and come to terms with, what is ugly in life, or in his or her behavior. However, the ugliness does have within it the power of transformation and growth into something beautiful.

A symbol of purity and a return to innocence; can also suggest the control of the ego, and selfishness. See also SURREALISM AND FANTASY

Dreams involving any sort of verminsuggest that you need to contemplate, or take into consideration, something that is unwanted or that has invaded your space.

The weaselhighlights the devious and more dubious side of our personalities.

The whaleis a mammal that lives beneath the waters and it suggests the power of rebirth, our ability to reinvent our approach to life, or circumstances in life which are holding us back. See also REPTILES, FISH AND AMPHIBIANS.

Dreaming of a wolfsuggests that the dreamer may be feeling threatened by other people, or may be vulnerable in some situation. The wolf, as suggested by fairy stories like Red Riding Hood, also represents the female fear of powerful male sexuality, and yet might also figure in female sexual fantasies. Wolves are also symbols of repressed sexuality and anger.

Idioms: wolf at the door; wolf in sheep’s clothing; cry wolf; throw to the wolves; a wolf (a man who lusts after women and pursues them like a predator).

In dreams, the zebrahas much the same significance as the ‘horse’, but with the additional meaning of balancing the black and white aspects of the personality into a powerful whole.

‘Collective unconscious’ is the term Carl Jung used to describe the part of the unconscious that everyone has access to, a sort of psychic storehouse for all humankind.

The contents of this storehouse are called ‘archetypes’: patterns and symbols that can be found within the unconscious of everyone. These archetypes represent the broad human memory within each of us. They appear as mythical images that occur in every culture throughout recorded history—the images appearing in the dreams of our ancestors are those that speak to us today.

According to Jung, dreams are attempts to guide the waking self. He thought that the purpose of life—and for him, dreams play an important role in it—is to understand and integrate all parts of ourselves; dreams are simply one aspect of the self trying to communicate with the conscious part. Dreams don’t disguise the unconscious, they reveal it, through archetypes.

Sigmund Freud disagreed with Jung, as he believed that dreams were disguised attempts to hide, not reveal, true feelings from the waking mind. Freud did, however, recognize a concept of ‘archaic remnants’, inherited—rather than learned—beliefs, through which basic emotions and responses are represented. For example, the mother figure is a universal symbol of nurturing and protection.

Today, most dream researchers believe that we are more likely to see archetypal figures in our dreams at transition points in our lives than at other, more stable times. Change generally brings about anxiety and self-reflection. Going from education to the workforce, singlehood to marriage, or childless to parent are some typical archetypal transitions. Many of these archetypes are very familiar to us already, because they can be found in myths, legends, fairy tales, books and movies: the wicked stepmother, the authoritative father and the vulnerable maiden. We are as familiar with the superhero in films like Spiderman or Batman , as we are with the character of the dastardly joker or villain. All these characters are archetypes, and enduring representations of basic human qualities, instincts and experiences.

The first step in analysing an archetype, as with any symbol, is through personal reference. For example, a dream about monsters may refer to our inner fears, but it