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

According to Freud, almost every weapon is a phallic symbol and many dream researchers still subscribe to this view. If a man dreams he is attacking a woman with a weapon or hunting a woman, it may reveal an equivocal attitude towards women. A woman who dreams of being attackedmay be expressing sexual insecurity or a fear of men. Weapons or firearms that malfunctionin dreams or fail to work may indicate a sense of powerlessness to handle challenges in daily life. They may also suggest anxiety about sexual performance or an inability to express ideas confidently to other people. If a work tool or other object is used as an offensive weapon, this suggests a skill or authority that has turned against you, as might happen if a teacher was taking advantage of a pupil. The atmosphere of the dream will provide the best clue for analysis, but ancient dream oracles suggest that this dream generally means you have enemies who pretend to be friends. In other words, ‘watch your back’.

Dreams about clothes are very common and they usually tell you something about your self-image.

In waking life, clothes protect, conceal and reveal and so in dreams they depict the façade, or persona, you create for other people; by so doing, they tell you where you may be vulnerable or exposed in waking life. The colors and condition of your dream clothes are especially important as they may symbolize how you are feeling about yourself, or how others perceive you. For example, if you were dressed in brightly colored designer clothes and were basking in the admiration of others, this may indicate good self-esteem, whereas if you were dressed in dark, shabby-looking garments in dreamland, and you felt miserable and self-conscious, it may be that this is how you are feeling in the real world.

Dreams about clothes can often focus on whether you are wearing the right outfit for the right occasion. For example, you may turn up at a party dressed totally inappropriately, you may have problems getting dressed, or you may find yourself walking naked down a busy street. Such dreams are rarely about sex and more about feelings of vulnerability, although they are sometimes about freedom from inhibitions. See also COLORS .

Clothesare the protective layer that keeps you warm, but they are also a way to express your personality or hide imperfections. In dreams, what you wear is often a symbol of your self-image or inner self, and if you dress in clothes that obviously belong to other people, this is a clear sign that you have problems accepting yourself as you truly are. It can, on the other hand, suggest admiration for the person whose clothes you are wearing.

For Jungians, wearing clothes of the opposite sexmay signal the dreamer’s need to express the anima (female aspects of the male nature) or the animus (male aspects of the female nature). For Freudians, a child dressing up in adult clothes, particularly if the clothes are those of the opposite sex, may suggest childhood rivalry with one parent for the affections of the opposite sex parent. If you are simply changing outfitin your dream, this may suggest altering your mode of behavior, role or mood. If you astonish yourself by shopping for, buying and wearing unusual clothesin your dream that you would never normally wear in waking life, then your unconscious may have been suggesting that you have become too set in your ways and outlook, and that it is time to open your mind up to new opinions. Is it time for you to break out of your rut and for other people to sit up and notice you?

On the other hand if you dress casually in waking life and dream of wearing a business suit, your unconscious may be urging you to adopt a more business-like approach. If you were surprised by the color of the clothes in your dream—either your own or those belonging to someone else—then see if that color has significance for you ( see COLORS). If you find yourself dressed in expensive designer clothesyou couldn’t normally afford, this may also be simple wish-fulfillment, especially if you are fashion conscious.

If you expose yourselfin your dream, either deliberately or by accident, you need to ask yourself why this happened. In your waking life, are you too open, too naïve, too trusting, or not open or trusting enough? If you feel embarrassed in the dream, then the chances are you feel that you are already exposed or in danger of being exposed in some way in waking life. If, on the other hand, you are enjoying your freedom from social constraint, then your unconscious may be urging you to be more open or free from convention in waking life. Exposing yourself in a dream may also have something to do with truthfulness; perhaps you need to be more honest and direct in waking life.

One of the most common and often embarrassing dreams is to find yourself naked in a public place, wearing only your underwear or clothes that are see-through. Nakedness may represent a longing to return to childhood innocence, as the dream represents the real you, stripped of pretence and social conditioning. Do you have a desire to be seen for who you are or to reveal your essential personality without having to create a façade? Another interpretation is that nakedness expresses a latent exhibitionism or simply a desire for sex. Freud once stated that his favorite dream was of being naked in a crowd of strangers.

From a Freudian perspective, a naked femaleis usually an expression of sexual desire for dreamers—men or women—who are sexually attracted to women. Freudians see the naked malein much the same light as the naked female, as an expression of sexual desire for men. In Jungian terms, nakedness suggests aspirations for love and rebirth, or a desire to attain spiritual awareness and to renounce the material world. According to this interpretation, nakedness is also an expression of beauty, creativity and divinity. Ancient gods such as Venus, goddess of beauty, and Diana, the goddess of the hunt, are often depicted naked.

A naked childis particularly associated with the Jungian archetype of the divine child, and more generally with innocence and lack of inhibition. If you are covering up a child’s nakednessin the dream, this indicates a general discomfort with emotional expression. Many psychologists favor the interpretation that dreams of nakedness highlight feelings of vulnerability. Such dreams may be interpreted as a fear of sexual relationships, but they are more likely to signify fears and anxieties about yourself, and the way you appear to others. Perhaps you feel failure or rejection if you reveal your true self. In your waking life, you therefore need to overcome feelings of vulnerability and learn to be more self-confident.

Being partly dressedin a dream may suggest that you are not prepared for what lies ahead. It might be wise to re-examine your plans and your future. If the people in the dream seem unaware that you are underdressed or naked, this suggests that you shouldn’t worry about showing your real self to others. It may also signify that you are not worried about what others think of you, or that you long to show sides of your true personality to others. To dream of being ashamed or frightened may indicate a fear of showing your real feelings. If, on the other hand, you are disgusted by your own, or another person’s, nakedness, or other people are disgusted with your own nakedness, this suggests anxiety about discovering the naked truth about yourself, another person or a situation.