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

According to Jung, negative actions in dreams symbolize the shadow or dark side of your nature. The shadow is everything that you are repressing or denying, the hidden side of yourself that you refuse to recognize. By conjuring up such images in your dream, your unconscious is urging you to bring these hidden feelings into the light of day so that they have less hold over you, otherwise you are in danger of projecting this ‘other self’ onto other people.

Dreams about violence, crime and other actions may not only reveal your inner feelings about yourself, they may also reveal your feelings about the situation around you or in some cases, your feelings about other people in your life. The type of negative action highlighted in the dream will be worthy of your attention if you are to fully understand yourself and your situation. Although disturbing, and unfortunately more common than positive actions in dreams, dreams in which the action focuses on bad or negative feelings, words and actions are seldom predictive, so you don’t need to worry that the horrifying events will be repeated in your waking life. Recurring dreams of committing rape are a different concern, suggesting violent urges that are in danger of spilling over into your waking life. If this is the case, professional therapy and counseling is strongly recommended. See also ACCIDENTS, ACTION AND ADVENTURES; NEGATIVE EMOTIONS; NIGHTMARES.

If you find yourself lying or cheatingin your dream, or overhear someone else doing so, this indicates that you are feeling guilty about not being honest in waking life or that someone is cheating or being dishonest with you. If you have recurring dreams in which cheating or lyingfeature, your dreaming mind is suggesting that you are living a lie in waking life and that you need to be true to yourself. Dreams of stealing, cheating, forgery, fraud and blackmailsend the same message. If you are an accessory or witness to a crimein your dream but didn’t commit it, this suggest your feelings of guilt about colluding with something or ignoring something you knew to be wrong. If, however, a crime or deception was committed against youin your dream, ask yourself whether someone is committing a wrong against you.

You may have had a dream in which you committed a crime and found yourself being punished for your actions. You may have woken from such a dream feeling extremely relieved that you have not committed a crime or been punished, but lingering feelings of anxiety may stay with you. Try to identify your feelings about such a dream as they will help with the interpretation. Did you feel guilty or angry that an injustice had been done to you? If you can discover how you feel about the punishment, this may hold the key to the interpretation. If you felt guilty, perhaps there is something in your waking life that you feel is wrong or is destroying your peace of mind. If you are actually caught in the act in your dream and find yourself awaiting or being sentenced to punishment of some kind, this is a clear message of disapproval from your dreaming mind and a warning that if you don’t change your ways, you will be in danger of being found out in waking life. Try to identify who punished you in your dream. If it was someone you know, you may be feeling remorseful towards them in waking life, but if it was someone you do not know, you may be feeling guilty about breaking a law or rule in waking life or showing disrespect for authority.

If a lynch mob attacked you, have you committed a crime against society in general by not paying your taxes or dropping litter? If you dreamed of being accused of a crime you did not commit and nobody believed your protestations of innocence, do you feel you are being treated unfairly in your waking life? When the punishment was pronouncedin your dream, did you feel that is was out of proportion to the wrongdoing. If you felt the punishment was far too severe, this suggests that you are feeling extremely guilty about someone thing you have done in waking life. If you were whippedin your dream, do you feel as if life has dealt you some harsh blows?

If you were arrestedin your dream, this suggests the need for some kind of restraint in your waking life, or a fear of authority in general. If a crime scene or forensic teamappears in your dream, your dreaming mind is encouraging you to understand your motives. If you were chained, imprisoned or sentenced to deathin your dream, see NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. If your dream features the ultimate crime of murder, see NIGHTMARES.

Dreams of stealing, pickpocketing, burglary, robbery, theft, petty crime or taking what is not yoursgenerally suggest that you feel envious of another person in some way and want to have what they have. The key to the dream’s interpretation is to identify who you are thieving FROM and what you are trying to take. If you are blackmailing someonein your dream or they are trying to blackmail you, this indicates emotional blackmail that you may be using to try and force someone to do as you want, or emotional blackmail used on you by someone else to get from you what they want.

Dreams of accidents and catastrophesare examples of violent, negative actions with destructive consequences that warn you of the need to take urgent remedial action in an area of your life that is about to collapse into chaos. See also ACCIDENTS, ACTIVITIES AND ADVENTURES.

Dreams in which you ambush or abduct someonereflect your desperation in waking life to ward off potential humiliation. If the person you are ambushing is someone you know, you also need to consider if you are secretly envious of this person in waking life. If this is the case, your unconscious may have been expressing your desire to capture or kidnap the qualities you admire and make them your own. Alternatively, you may have a hidden desire to control that person. If, however, you were ambushed, abducted or kidnappedin your dream, this suggests that someone or something in your waking life is trying to take control of you. Your dream expresses your surprise and uncertainty about losing control.

Dreams in which your anger turns into violence and you start attacking someoneusually suggest hidden hostility towards someone or something in your waking life. If you do find yourself punching, kicking or fighting with someonein your dream, try to think about what triggered the violent attack. It is possible that your dreaming mind conjured up the image of an attack as a safety valve through which you can release your frustration. Another interpretation suggests that dreams in which you inflict violence on someone or something may be prompted by a sense of helplessness or resentment in waking life. Perhaps there is someone whose authority you find powerless to resist? If this is the case, your dream may be compensatory by allowing you to exact revenge against the person or object of your resentment. It is also possible that your unconscious was encouraging you to stand up for yourself.

Alternatively, dreams which feature violence can symbolize your hidden desire for power and control in waking life. When interpreting this dream, try to identify whether the target of the violence represented an aspect of yourself, particularly if the victim was a stranger. Or could your unconscious have conjured an archetypal image of the stranger to bear the brunt of your anger?