Selenarium · Dreams
Dream Dictionary: what it means to dream about…
A dream dictionary is a glossary of dream images: what each one has meant in folk tradition and what it says about your state today. A dream does not prophesy tomorrow, it shows you today, the part of it you never got around to seeing. That is how I read it for you.
How I read dreams
There are dozens of folk dream books and they all argue with each other. Here a snake is an enemy, there it is money. That argument is exactly where you can see that telling fortunes by dreams is superstition. A dream cannot show the future.
It can do something else though: reflect. What gnaws at you, what you fear, what you want and will not admit. For every dream I give two readings, the one the old dream book gives and the one the dream actually means. You will see the difference yourself.
How to make sense of your dream
A dream reads through four supports: the feeling, the details, the context of your day and how often it repeats. First recall the feeling you woke up with - fear, shame, joy, relief. The plot matters less, and the feeling sits closest to the meaning.
Then gather the details and tie them to your recent days. A snake almost always points to a person or a situation you avoid while awake, water is the flow of your emotions and teeth touch the fear of losing control. When a dream keeps returning, the reading is simple: the theme is still open and asks for your attention, and it carries no mark of fate.
Common dreams
Snake
dreaming about snakes
Teeth
dreaming about teeth
Water
dreaming about water
Cat
dreaming about a cat
Dog
dreaming about a dog
Spider
dreaming about a spider
Dead Person
dreaming about a dead person
Money
dreaming about money
Blood
dreaming about blood
Pregnancy
dreaming about pregnancy
House
dreaming about a house
Fire
dreaming about fire
Fish
dreaming about fish
Child
dreaming about a child
Sea
dreaming about the sea
Hair
dreaming about hair
Cemetery
dreaming about a cemetery
Mice
dreaming about mice
Wedding
dreaming about a wedding
Flying
dreaming about flying
Being Chased
dreaming about being chased
Ex
dreaming about your ex
Cheating
dreaming about cheating
Lice
dreaming about lice
Nudity
dreaming about being naked
Exam
dreaming about an exam
Being Late
dreaming about being late
Wolf
dreaming about a wolf
Horse
dreaming about a horse
Birds
dreaming about birds
Cow
dreaming about a cow
Frog
dreaming about a frog
Cockroaches
dreaming about cockroaches
Ring
dreaming about a ring
Flowers
dreaming about flowers
Snow
dreaming about snow
Rain
dreaming about rain
Storm
dreaming about a storm
Forest
dreaming about a forest
Road
dreaming about a road
Kiss
dreaming about a kiss
Fight
dreaming about a fight
Knife
dreaming about knife
Giving Birth
dreaming about giving birth
Nails
dreaming about fingernails
Bear
dreaming about bear
Car
dreaming about car
Car Accident
dreaming about car accident
Airplane
dreaming about airplane
Train
dreaming about train
Drowning
dreaming about drowning
Poop
dreaming about poop
Toilet
dreaming about toilet
Gold
dreaming about gold
Church
dreaming about church
Coffin
dreaming about coffin
Mirror
dreaming about mirror
Bees
dreaming about bees
Milk
dreaming about milk
Bread
dreaming about bread
Key
dreaming about keys
Mud
dreaming about mud
Shoes
dreaming about shoes
Rat
dreaming about rats
Cobweb
dreaming about cobwebs
Tiger
dreaming about tigers
Lion
dreaming about lions
Wasp
dreaming about wasps
Ants
dreaming about ants
Dove
dreaming about doves
Hare
dreaming about hares
Falling
dreaming about falling
Stairs
dreaming about stairs
Elevator
dreaming about elevators
River
dreaming about rivers
Swimming
dreaming about swimming
Bridge
dreaming about bridges
Prison
dreaming about prison
War
dreaming about war
Mushrooms
dreaming about mushrooms
Apples
dreaming about apples
Tree
dreaming about a tree
Thief
dreaming about a thief
Gun
dreaming about a gun
Tears
dreaming about tears
Illness
dreaming about illness
Phone
dreaming about a phone
What people dream most and why
Most people cycle through a handful of images, and each one has a psychological underside. A snake arrives with a hidden threat or with someone you do not trust. Teeth falling out speak to the fear of losing control or face. Water mirrors your emotions: clear water reads as calm and murky, rising water as the worry that floods you.
Flying is usually freedom and the wish to break away, and a fall inside the same dream is the loss of footing. Money points to your sense of self-worth, and a dead person rarely foretells misfortune. It more often speaks of an unfinished goodbye or of something from that person you still miss.
Honestly about dream books
A dream dictionary does not predict the future. Folk tradition spent centuries fixing a ready meaning to each image, yet the same dream contradicts itself from one dream book to the next, and that disagreement gives the superstition away. I will not frighten you with the idea that a dream brings disaster: a dream is the night work of the psyche and never a letter from fate. It helps most where it lets you notice what you already feel.
Interpreting dreams is a form of self-reflection and part of folk culture, not medicine and not a diagnosis. If an anxious dream keeps returning and robs you of sleep, it is wiser to see a professional than to hunt for the answer in a dream book.
FAQ
Can you trust dream dictionaries?
As prediction, no, and I will not pretend otherwise: a dream does not show what is going to happen. As a mirror, yes. A dream reflects honestly what you carry inside and what you walked past during the day. Read it that way rather than as a forecast.
Why does the same dream mean different things in different dream books?
Because there are dozens of folk dream books and each one contradicts its neighbour. Here money brings profit, there it brings tears. That disagreement is exactly what gives the superstition away. I give you what tradition says and what the dream actually means, so you can see the difference.
Why do we have nightmares?
A nightmare is a feeling you pushed down during the day and that let go at night. Fear, dread, something left uncried. It does not foretell a disaster. It shows you that you are having a hard time right now, and asks you to look at it.
Do prophetic dreams come true?
Sometimes a dream lines up with real life, though almost always because you already sensed something and the dream gave it a name, and in the morning you recognised your own hunch. That is attention to what you already knew.
A dream reflects you at night. The arcana speak from the start, and more calmly.
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