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

This dream is common to the middle childhood and preteen years. In the dream there is a repetitive task that needs to be performed usually at the command of monsters. The task is usually something gruesome or sinister, like digging graves or sorting body parts. The dreamer is horrified by the task but numbed by the repletion and tedium, and in the dream more likely to be upset about the workload than the actual nature of the task. This dream often reflects the stress of young children who feel they must achieve and meet standards imposed upon them. The unconscious is reminding them that the casualties of a task-orientated approach to life may be other desires, interests and feelings. Although many dreams during this stage of life reflect the joy of achievement and the desire for recognition, this dream represents the tension associated with high achievement.

SINISTER TOYS

Another very common childhood dream is of a toy or other harmless object, such as a book or pencil, that suddenly becomes menacing. Again such dreams can reflect tensions about situations the child find threatening or disturbing. If your child has such dreams, you may want to consider if a normal aspect of your life, for example, a camping trip or relatives visiting, is making a child feel uncertain.

SOMETHING IN THE BEDROOM

One of the most common dreams of early childhood is that there is something scary in the bedroom: a monster in the wardrobe or aliens in the corner of the room. A child may feel as if something or someone is coming to get them. These kinds of dreams tend to reoccur and it is easy to assume that something is upsetting the child in waking life; it is worth noting, however, that these dreams are amongst the most common in childhood, as a child reaches out to discover the world with all its excitement—and sometimes dangerous possibilities. If there is tension in the home or a lot of uncertainty and inconsistency, this can trigger stressful dreams for a child. Scary monsters tend to represent people, whereas bugs or slimy things may represent situations. You may have to be patient and gentle, and create a feeling of stability as your child learns to adjust to changes in the world around them.

WILD ANIMAL ATTACK

When children begin school they often dream of wild animals attacking, such as lions, bulls, alligators and bears. Wild animals tend to reflect a person or situation that is upsetting the child. For example, a child may be worried about parents who are constantly fighting, and this fear can be symbolized as a bear fight. Or a child may be frightened by a strict head teacher, who subsequently appears in their dreams as a mean lion.

Childhood Revisited Scenarios

It is during childhood that we learn many of the fundamental rules and responsibilities of life. It is also the time when we develop our personalities and become increasingly socialized. It makes sense, therefore, that dreams of revisiting a place or a scenario from your own childhood often focus on lessons that you learned, or failed to learn, and these lessons may be relevant to your current situation. If you dreamed of a particularly happy childhood memory—for example, you are seven years old and your dad brings home your first bike, or you are five years old sitting happily on your mum’s lap sucking your thumb—the dream could either be pointing to your nostalgia for a time when life was full of fun, or it could be more concerned with your present feelings of insecurity. The dream is reminding you of a time when life was simple, and in so doing, it compensates you for your current feelings of confusion. If you are facing a difficult decision, it could also have been highlighting your need to put yourself forward and take a risk by focusing on your new bike—something you wanted but also feared, as you weren’t wholly confident riding it yet.

Consider, too, whether your unconscious has cast archetypal figures in the role of your mother and father. Relation-figures in dreams of childhood can often represent archetypes rather than actual family members. Alternatively, if your unhappy childhood returns to haunt you in dreams (which may reoccur), your unconscious may be forcing you to relive those miserable times in an attempt to make you confront the source of your distress and deal with it, now that you have an adult understanding of the situation. Your unconscious is trying to help you come to terms with what happened to you, so you can put it behind you.

ACTIVITIES AND ENVIRONMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDHOOD

Dreams about activities and environments associated with childhood can be either motivating or discouraging, depending on the details of your dream and how you felt. For example, if you had a happy time playing with your dolls or a toy train set, your dream may simply be reminding you of the simple pleasure of letting your guard down from time to time to do nothing useful but play and relax. These kinds of dreams are particularly common if you have been extremely busy recently and haven’t had time to have fun. If, however, you were bored by the toy or activity in your dream, your unconscious may be urging you to put away childish things that don’t really give you stimulation and satisfaction, and to spend your time more productively.

Toys in dreams not only reflect your desire for more play, or urge you to grow up in some way, they can also suggest nostalgia for childhood that has been lost. Dolls are especially important because they so resemble the human form, and because children endow them with emotions and characters. Your dreaming mind may therefore use a doll to symbolize something or someone in your life. For example, if you stick needles or pins in the doll, or mistreat it in any way, this can represent negative feelings towards a particular person. Many doll dreams use the doll as a target for violence and, if this is the case, it could also refer to how the dreamer felt as a child when smacked emotionally or physically—like a helpless child. Dolls can also represent emotions that the dreamer would like to discharge on someone else, or the feeling of wanting to be a precious doll to someone. It may also express some undeveloped part of the dreamer’s personality and the need to relearn some childhood lessons we may have forgotten.

If you dreamed that you were in a playground surrounded by other children, were you enjoying yourself or did you feel left out? If you felt exhilarated, your unconscious may once again be signaling your need to have more fun in waking life, but if you felt aloof or alone from the other children, it could suggest that you prefer to play no part in the immature behaviour currently displayed by a group of people in your waking life. See also references to toys and games in LEISURE.

BODY

Typically, dreams about the body, or parts of the body, occur for four reasons.

The first is that in waking life, your body and/or body image has taken center stage. For example, if you had a manicure yesterday or cut yourself shaving, your unconscious may simply be recalling that. The second reason is that dreams about your body, or body parts, can signal ailments before you consciously recognize what is wrong with you; sometimes even before there are any physical signs. This isn’t to say every nightmare suggests serious illness, but if you do have a dream about any part of the body that is injured or painful, especially if it is a reoccurring one, it might be worth booking an appointment for a check-up.

The third reason is that some dreams about the human body are simple reflections of the dreamer’s feeling about their own body or appearance. These dreams can be significant markers of the dreamer’s self-esteem regarding their physical appearance. If in the dream the body appears beautiful and healthy, then the dreamer may be feeling good about themselves. However, an unattractive or unhealthy body could point to signs of insecurity, or body image problems.

The fourth reason is that in dreams, the body often represents the ego, the self or the lifestyle of the dreamer. That is why broken bones or injuries can symbolize emotional pain, or losing parts of yourself. When you lose or give up parts of yourself in order to fit in with or please others, psychologists call this ‘fragmentation’. We all do this to a certain extent in our lives, but when we do it too much or for the wrong reasons, the unconscious may send out warning signals. The dreaming mind may then express its concern in body image dreams, not only about your health and happiness, but about your ability to cope when your true nature is profoundly censored.

For instance, if you dream of missing a hand or foot, or having an organ or other body part removed, this can be a sign that a portion of your potential is being lost as a result of a path you have chosen in waking life. A common dream is one where you lose teeth; this is a great example of your dreaming mind issuing you with a warning. It is asking you just how far you are willing to compromise, and reminding you that what you are losing may be irreplaceable.

If body images appear in your dreams, it can help to think of body-related expressions you may use to describe feelings; for example, ‘I lost my head,’ ‘feels like I’m losing my right arm,’ ‘I don’t have a leg to stand on,’ or ‘can you stomach it?’ When we say these things, we are not being literal. We haven’t lost a leg or an arm, we are expressing an emotional response and our unconscious uses images to express the emotions these phrases convey; typically, a sense of loss of direction, helplessness or confusion. Such dreams often begin to make sense when you view the body images as parts of yourself, and connect their meanings to your emotional responses. See also SICKNESS AND HEALTH.

Body Images Scenarios

ANESTHETIZED, COLD OR DEAD BODY

The image of an anesthetized body can represent a deadening of feeling, or a loss of passion and creativity in waking life. The same meaning applies to coldness of the body, with the implication of emotional coldness, lack of enthusiasm or distancing oneself from others. If the coldness is in the lower part of the body, this suggests sexual coldness and again, lack of passion. Coldness in the chest (heart) suggests lack of feelings or feeling cold towards someone. Cold feet indicate a fear of doing something or indecision. The image of a dead body in a dream depicts feelings and potential to which we have not given expression in daily life.

APPEARANCE

How your body appears in a dream can offer vital clues when it comes to interpretation. In many cases, the interpretation is fairly obvious: if you are smiling you feel confident, if you are frowning you feel annoyed. Are you confident and tidy in your dream, or are you tired and unhappy? All these factors represent the state of your mind, and perhaps your health, at the time of the dream. If your body disappears in a dream and you become invisible or you aren’t aware of your body, this clearly suggests that you are feeling ignored, isolated and perhaps lonely. If you leave your body in a dream, this indicates a need to get away from cares and responsibilities. If you grow tall in your dream, your unconscious may be mirroring waking feelings of satisfaction with yourself; but if you were horrified to shrink small, it may be that you feel insignificant and looked down upon, or that you long to shrink away from a problematic situation. To dream that you are becoming fat is to recognize that you need to widen the scope of your activities in some way. It can also indicate fear of taking on too much responsibility.

DISEASED, DISMEMBERED, INJURED AND DEFORMED BODY

If the body is diseased in a dream, this suggests a sickness of attitude or it could simply indicate extreme emotional and physical fatigue. A dismembered body indicates emotional and mental distress; perhaps you are tearing yourself apart over something or someone, or your life is falling apart. Half a body dream images suggest a lack of balance in your life between your outer and inner life. If the top half of your body is missing, this indicates lack of reasoning and emotional intelligence. If the bottom half is missing, this relates to loss, or denial of instincts and sexuality. If the body is injured or you see injuries, this suggests emotional scars or hurts, or repressed anger. If the body is cut open, this indicates a vital change within yourself or the release of emotional tension. In times past, such dreams were interpreted as the release of ‘evil spirits’, hence the association of a sometimes painful release of tension.

Loss of limbs in a body usually indicates a sense of inadequacy, sometimes connected with the limb that is lost. For example, loss of legs could suggest an inability to stand up for yourself or someone dependent on you. Loss of an arm could indicate an inability to influence other people, or to give and receive. If your body is burnt in the dream, this suggests an emotional scar, and if the burn is painful, this suggests that you are relating to this hurt in an unhelpful, self-destructive way. If, however, the burning isn’t painful, it has a more positive interpretation: feelings of potential and new beginnings.

Marks on the body in a dream suggest things you carry with you in life, or experiences that have marked you. If your body is crawling with maggots, this indicates the need to cleanse your body of toxins, infection or resentment. A murdered body in a dream represents aspects of your life that you find hard to deal with, such as anger towards a family member. Sometimes such anger may be a way of avoiding the real issues involved and, if this is the case, the dream murder may show how you feel about being ‘murdered’ by lack of love or trust. If you are pulling things out of your body in your dream, this suggests growing self-knowledge; you are becoming aware of thoughts and emotions of which you were previously unaware. See also SICKNESS AND HEALTH.

Ugliness

Dreaming that you are ugly may indicate anxiety about what others think of you. The central question when it comes to interpretation is whether you believe yourself to be ugly, or whether others are imposing this view on you. Perhaps your feeling of physical inadequacy is due to a change in your waking life, such as being pregnant.

Other changes that may influence your body image include a shift in physical or moral behavior, such as smoking, drinking, using drugs, becoming sexually active, or participating in sexual experiences you once considered taboo. This dream is worth serious consideration as how we feel about our bodies is often a significant part of how we feel about ourselves overall as a person. If you are having recurring dreams of personal ugliness, then counseling for self-esteem or eating disorders may be worth considering.

Toilet and elimination themes

Elimination in dreams can symbolize release and self-expression. When we urinate or eliminate, we are ridding ourselves of bodily waste and when these actions occur in dreams your unconscious is referring to the removal of emotional waste, such as unhappy memories. So, if you dream of rushing to the bathroom, what are you trying to flush out of your system in the real world? Or do you wish you could purge yourself of destructive, negative emotions such as jealousy or envy? Is there something you need to let go of in your waking life? Did you find it hard to let go in your dream or did everything go smoothly. The answer will help you see how emotionally blocked or constipated you are.

Perhaps you were searching frantically for a toilet in your dream, but couldn’t find one. If this is the case, you need to find the catalyst for emotional release. Dreams about being clogged-up, or about a lack of toilets, are not so much about emotional baggage as about a lack of proper outlets for your own creativity and self-expression. They can also suggest that you are the kind of person who takes on the problems of other people, leaving no room for your own. Dreams about frustrating attempts to find a toilet could also suggest that you have over-committed yourself in waking life, and that there is no opportunity for you to express your own feelings and talents. On the other hand, you may also feel that you have been taken advantage of or dumped on by someone in waking life? Finally, such dreams may also be due simply to a physical need to pee in the night.

Other elimination dreams include using a toilet in a strange place, in front of people or in the middle of a conversation. In such dreams, the elimination represents the expression of an opinion or insight unsuitable for public consumption, or not appropriate to the situation. It could also reveal concern that you might have been too impulsive in the way you have expressed yourself, and your dreaming mind is urging you to bear in mind the possible impact of your words. If you can’t find a private toilet in your dream, perhaps you are living or working in a crowded environment and your dreaming mind is compensating for a lack of privacy and personal space in your waking life. If you dream of a bathroom and a toilet, this may suggest your need to clean up your sexual attitudes or attitude to others and yourself.

If you put anything down a toilet in your dream, take careful note of what it is, as it will symbolize what your dreaming mind considers to be the least important or unpleasant aspect of yourself or your experience. Urine suggests letting go of strained feelings or the release of sexual feelings. Feces indicate letting go of parts of yourself that you need to let go of. It can also indicate new beginnings, as excrement makes great fertilizer. Evacuation of the bowel usually highlights a need to be free of responsibility, or sometimes the need to be uninhibited. If you are eliminating over someone in your dream, this can indicate a repressed desire to belittle that person or feel superior.

Playing with excrement can represent money, so playing with it in a dream may suggest anxiety about money and fear of responsibility. If the excrement is transformed into an animal, this suggests that the dreamer is coming to terms with the fact that he or she is responsible for managing their own instincts. If you are vomiting in your dream, this indicates a discharging of unpleasant feelings, or experiencing something unpleasant. Finally, if you realize you are sweating in a dream, you are alerted to the amount of energy you may be expending handling your own emotions and fears in waking life.

LEFT AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE BODY

Typically, the left side of the body represents feelings, intuition and the irrational, whilst the right side suggests the rational and logical. The left side is also associated with maternal influence, and the right with paternal.

External Body Parts A to Z

In dreams, body parts can be interpreted in the following way1:

ABDOMEN/STOMACH/BELLY

When dreams focus on your abdomen, belly or stomach, they are referring to repressed feeling and emotions. The stomach is often seen as the center of emotions. This symbol may also have purely physiological origins if you have been experiencing constipation or indigestion. From a psychological point of view, seeing your abdomen in your dream may imply something in your real life that you ‘cannot stomach’ or have difficulties accepting, something you want to get out of your system. If your abdomen is exposed, this signifies trust and vulnerability, and in women it may indicate a desire for motherhood. If you are injured or shot in the stomach, this is about emotional hurt. Traditional folklore says that dreaming of your abdomen can foretell infidelity. A shriveled abdomen warns of lies, a swollen abdomen promises success. To see your navel in your dream represents your being and self. The dream may suggest that you need to find your center and middle ground.

ANUS

This suggests repressed emotion or an aspect of childish behavior, as the child’s first experience of control is when they gain control over bodily functions. Consider also if you or someone in your life is anal retentive and perhaps need to loosen up a bit. To see buttocks in your dream represents your instincts and urges. It can also indicate feelings of insecurity, especially if the buttocks are misshaped. If you see your pelvis in a dream, you may be dealing with issues of creativity and self-expression.

Idioms: pain in the ass; talking out of your ass; an asshole; head up the ass; all tits and asshole (i.e. unable to reason)

ARM/ARMPIT/ELBOW

To see your arms in your dream highlights your ability to reach out to others. Alternatively, it may represent the struggles and challenges in your life, loss of confidence and not being able to reach out or create. Consider also the pun, ‘arm yourself’, which implies that you need to protect yourself, or be more aggressive and take a firmer stance on things. So if arms appear in your dream, are you defending yourself, fighting or being held, or showing passionate commitment?

To dream that your arm has been injured or your arms are tied up signifies your inability to care for yourself, or your helplessness in reaching out to others. The right arm signifies your outgoing nature and is associated with masculine energy, while your left arm signifies your supportive or nurturing nature, and is associated with feminine qualities. Losing either arm may suggest that you are failing to recognize its respective characteristics. To dream that you rip someone else’s arms out, indicates that you are extremely upset with something that this person has done or represents, but you have not been able to fully express your anger.

If you see, notice or smell someone’s armpit in your dream, this represents the characteristics and personality that you choose to display to the public. To smell your armpit in your dream indicates that you are hoping for some kind of acceptance in waking life. If you see your elbow in your dream, perhaps you need more personal space in waking life?

Idioms: give one’s right arm; arm twisting; at arm’s length; with open arms; one hand tied behind the back; babe in arms; strong-armed tactics.