Selenarium · Dreams
What it means to dream about being chased
Being chased in a dream is the image of something you are running from awake and do not want to face. If it catches you it is already close and asking to be met, and if you escape you are only putting it off. A dream doesn't forecast tomorrow, it shows you today - and the question it leaves on the table is this one: what are you refusing to turn around and look at?
First layer · what tradition says
What the traditional dream book says
A chase in the dream books means trouble catching up with you, misfortune you cannot outrun however fast you go. Being caught was read as worry waiting ahead. Getting away clean was read as luck holding on your side.
Second layer · the honest read
What the dream really reflects
Being chased means that awake you are running from something and do not want to meet it face on. If it catches you, it is already close and it is time to turn around. If you get away, you are putting it off and it is going nowhere. Ask yourself what you are running from.
What changes the reading
The reading lives in the detail: “someone is chasing you” says one thing and “you are the one chasing” says another.
- Someone is chasing you
- You are running from something and will not look at it straight. Whatever it is, the dream says it is right behind you now.
- They catch up with you
- The thing you were escaping has finally reached you. There is nothing left to do now except turn around and face it properly.
- You are the one chasing
- You are after a goal or a person who keeps slipping away. Ask whether the chase is still worth what it is costing you to keep up.
FAQ
Is dreaming about being chased a good sign or a bad one, and does it change anything if the one behind you catches up?
Neither a promise nor a threat: being caught says the thing has already reached you and it is time to face it, and getting away says you have put it off and it is going nowhere. Here is a mirror, not a verdict.
Folk tradition treats dreaming about being chased as trouble catching up and misfortune you cannot outrun, and can you trust that?
The old lists recorded this picture once and for everybody as trouble catching up and misfortune you cannot outrun, and no living person fits inside an entry like that. I keep to the mirror: the same picture lands differently for each person because the subject here is your life, and what it asks you is this: what are you refusing to turn around and look at?
The dream reflected you for one night. The chart of the sky holds your whole reflection.
✦ See the Tarot