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

Burning

To set something on fire by accidentsuggests intense emotions and/or passionate sexual feelings. Alternatively, it may suggest that you need to take time off for yourself and relax, or that your unconscious is alerting you to the need for a smoke alarm.

Cut

To dream that you have a cutsuggests that you are being let down or being undervalued. If the cuts are on your legs, then it symbolizes an imbalance and an inability to stand up for yourself. To dream that you are cutting or harming yourselfin some way, either accidentally or on purpose, indicates that you are experiencing some overwhelming turmoil or problems in your waking life. You are trying to disconnect yourself from the discomfort or pain you are experiencing.

Farting or burping in public

To dream that you accidentally fart or burp in public, suggests that you are being passive-aggressive. You need to express your feelings in a more direct manner.

Slipping, tripping and stumbling

To dream that you slipor that you make a slip of the tonguesuggests that you are doing things you do not really want to do, or saying things you do not really mean. If you stumble but do not fall, it may suggest that you will meet obstacles but will be able to surmount them. If you fall, obstacles may lie in your path in waking life and you need to find a way to work round them. Trying in vain to climb a slippery slopesuggests you may have taken on more than you can cope with, and are in danger of backsliding under the pressure. It could also be a warning against being a control freak; you cannot control everything and everyone, and need to show more regard for the views of others. To dream that you trip upor stumbleindicates that something is out of control in your waking life and you need to deal with it. Things are not going as smoothly as you want, as you are faced with minor obstacles. It could also indicate social awkwardness; perhaps you are worried you might get off on the wrong foot. Does your self esteem need a boost, or are you simply not looking where you are going?

The way we respond to anxiety and pressure in real life is typically manifested as a chase dream. Often in these dream scenarios, you are being pursued by some attackerwho wants to hurt or possibly kill you. You may be running away, hiding, or trying to outwit your pursuer. Chase dreams may represent your way of coping with fears, stress or various situations in your waking life. Instead of confronting the situation, you are running away and avoiding it. Ask yourself, who is the one chasing you, and you may gain some understanding and insight on the source of your fears. The dream could also indicate that you are refusing to acknowledge a certain viewpoint or idea. On the other hand, the pursuer or attacker who is chasing you in your dream may represent a part of yourself. Your own feelings of anger, jealousy, fear, and possibly love, can assume the appearance of a threatening figure. You may be projecting these feelings onto the unknown chaser and your dream is calling your attention to your own self-destructive actions. A more direct analysis of chase dreams is that they reflect the simple fear of being attacked. Media hype and overexposure play on this fear and magnify our level of risk.

If you wake up before being caught, eaten or beaten, you need to ask yourself what you need to wake up to. What are you missing or avoiding in waking life? Things won’t get better until you face up to them? Dreams about breaking free from jail, cages, ropes or shacklesmay point to a desire for release from a situation, such as a job that is causing stress. The elation surrounding dreams of leaving jail may suggest feelings about a new opportunity in our life. However, if no joy accompanies the liberation, this could suggest anxiety about the challenges that lie ahead. Breaking out of jail on the other hand testifies to a determination to create your own chances and give free reign to talents that have too long been repressed. Alternatively, if you have been depressed recently, break-out dreams could suggest the need to seek serious help, as the dream may signify a yearning for the ultimate release—death. If, on the other hand, you are rescuedin your dreams, or help rescue someone, this can express the need to liberate creative energies or some aspect of yourself that isn’t being developed in waking life.

Falling, and the accompanying sense of vertigo, is, along with flying, one of the most often reported dream topics. Falling dreams typically occur during the first stage of sleep. Dreams in this stage are often accompanied by muscle spasms of the arms, legs, and the whole body. Sometimes when we have these falling dreams, we feel our whole body jerk or twitch, which provokes us to awaken.

Typically, the act of falling in dreams suggests loss of control and anxiety in the sleeper’s waking life. The anxiety could be related to work, or it could be related to sexual inhibition or low self-esteem. Such may be the fear of the fall that you could awake with a jolt. If this occurs, it is important to remember the circumstances of the fall in your dream, as this will help you understand its hidden message. According to Freudian theory, dreams of falling indicate that you are contemplating giving into a sexual urge or impulse. You may be lacking indiscretion. According to biblical interpretations, dreams about falling have a negative overtone and suggest that man is acting and walking according to his own way of thinking, and not that of the Lord.

Dreams of flyingare very common and vary from dreamer to dream. Most typically dreamers don’t go on long, high flights; instead they hover about a hundred or so yards from the ground. The most simple explanation of these kind of dreams was put forward by English physician Havelock Ellis in his book The World of Dreams , in which he suggests that it is our breathing whilst asleep that suggests the idea of flying (and falling) to the unconscious mind. Freud suggested that dreams of flying were nothing else but the desire for sexual freedom, and the idea that dreams of flying are associated with sex is shared by some other dream researchers. However, as with all dreams, there can be many interpretations.

Flying dreams and the ability to control your flight can be representative of your own personal sense of power. If you are flying with ease, and enjoying the scene and landscape below, then it suggests that you are on top of a situation. You have risen above something. It may also mean that you have gained a different perspective on things. Having difficulties staying in flightindicates a lack of power in controlling your own circumstances. You may be struggling to stay aloft, and stay on course. Things like birds, trees or telephone poles may further obstruct your flight. These obstructions represent a particular obstacle or person standing in your way in your waking life. You need to identify who, or what, is preventing you from moving forward. If you are feeling fear when you are flyingor feel that you are flying too high, then it suggests that you are afraid of challenges and of success. Are you trying to

Varieties of flying dream

Another way of interpreting flying dreamsis that they symbolize your strong mind and will. You feel invincible and nobody can tell you what you cannot do and accomplish. Undoubtedly these dreams leave you with a great sense of freedom.