30 Meanings Behind Your Dream Symbols
Are dreams messages delivered to us from our subconscious? Or are they just last night’s pizza gone wrong?
Out of the average human night of sleep, we dream for 90 minutes to two hours or more each night. Sometimes, we might wake up amused, scared or confused about our dream time. Interestingly enough, there are several common dream themes that crop up in every culture and background, regardless of age, gender, or country.
Suzanne Bergmann, a licensed social worker and professional dream worker for more than 16 years, notes, “Dreams are a universal language, creating often elaborate images out of emotional concepts.”
Of course, not every single element of your dream has an unconscious meaning. Sometimes, it is just the pizza. To start noting important dreams, however, you should start keeping a dream journal with dates to compare your dreams to your situations. You can start understanding your subconscious in a fascinating way. Write in the present tense as if you’re re-living the dream, and underline any unusual or poignant aspects which are central to the story, or which instinctively attract your attention.
Then, take a look at these 30 symbols. Treat them as a simple starting point to jump off of and discover what they could mean for you.
1. Animals
They often represent the part of your psyche that feels connected to nature and survival. Being chased by a predator suggests you’re holding back repressed emotions like fear or aggression.
2. Babies
Little infants or toddlers can symbolize a literal desire to produce offspring, or your own vulnerability or need to feel loved. They can also signify a new start.
3. Being chased
This is one of the most common dream symbols in all cultures. It means you are feeling threatened, so reflect on who is chasing you (they may also be symbolic) and why they are a possible threat in real life.
4. Clothes
They make a statement about how we want other people to perceive us. If you dream symbol is shabby clothing, you may feel unattractive or worn out. Changing what you wear may reflect a lifestyle change.
5. Crosses
They are interpreted subjectively depending on your religious beliefs. Some see it as symbolizing balance, death, or an end to a particular phase of life. The specific circumstances will help define these dream symbols.
6. Exams
This can signify self-evaluation, with the content of the exam reflecting the part of your personality or life under inspection.
7. Death of a friend or loved one
While disturbing and dark, having a dream with this theme simply represents change (endings and new beginnings). It should not necessarily be treated as a paranormal prediction of any kind. However, if you are recently bereaved, it may be an attempt to come to terms with the event.
8. Falling
A common dream symbol that relates to our anxieties about letting go, losing control, or somehow failing after a success.
9. Faulty machinery: car broken down?
In dreams, this is often caused by your language centers being shut down while asleep, making it difficult to dial a phone, read the time, or search the internet. This dream can also represent performance anxiety in life.
10. Food
This is thought to symbolize knowledge, because it nourishes the body just as information nourishes the brain.
11. Demons
Sneaky evil entities which signify repressed emotions. You may secretly feel the need to change your own behaviors for the better.
12. Hair
Freud thinks hair in dreams has significant ties with sexuality (surprise, surprise!). Abundant hair may symbolize virility, while cutting hair off in a dream shows a loss of libido. Hair loss may also express a literal fear of going bald or becoming unattractive.
13. Hands
They are almost always present in dreams, but when they are tied up it may represent feelings of futility. Washing your hands may express guilt. Looking closely at your hands in a dream is a good way to start a lucid dreaming journey.
14. Houses
This can host many common dream symbols, but the building as a whole represents your inner psyche. Each room or floor can symbolize different emotions, memories and interpretations of meaningful events.
15. Killing
Don’t worry, you aren’t a sociopath (probably). Instead, it usually represents your desire to “kill” part of your own personality. It can also symbolize hostility towards a particular person and the desire to see them suffer. You’d better start mending fences, for your own good!
16. Marriage
This may be a literal desire to wed, or a merging of the feminine and masculine parts of your psyche.
17. Missing your ride
This includes a flight or any other kind of transport. This is another popular dream, showing your frustration over possibly missing out on important opportunities in life. It’s most common when you’re struggling to make a big decision.
18. Money
It symbolizes self worth. If you dream of exchanging money, it may show that you’re anticipating some changes in your life.
19. Mountains
These are usually obstacles, so to dream of successfully climbing a mountain can reveal a true feeling of achievement. Viewing a landscape from atop a mountain can symbolize a life under review without conscious prejudice.
20. Nudity
It is one of the most common dream symbols, revealing your true self to others. You may feel vulnerable and exposed to others. Showing off your nudity may suggest sexual urges or a desire for recognition.
21. People
Inception had it right! Having other dream characters than yourself is a reflection of your own psyche, and may demonstrate specific aspects of your own personality.
22. Radios and TVs
When you see these, you’re in luck! They can symbolize communication channels between the conscious and subconscious minds. If you manage to get lucid, try asking them a question! You just might find fascinating results.
23. Roads
Aside from being literal manifestations, roads convey your direction in life. This may be time to question your current life path.
24. Schools
If you’re a child or teenager, it’s probable that your school will make a cameo. But if you’re an adult, it may display a need to know and understand yourself, fueled by life’s own lessons.
25. Sex dreams
Another common dream to have, they can symbolize intimacy and a literal desire for sex. Or they may demonstrate the unification of unconscious emotions with conscious recognition, showing a new awareness and personal growth.
26. Teachers
They may follow the Inception rule, but aside from being literal manifestations of people, they can represent authority figures with the power to enlighten you.
27. Teeth
Another common dream symbol. Dreaming of losing your teeth may show a hidden fear of getting old and being unattractive to the opposite sex.
28. Being trapped (physically)
This is a nightmare theme many people have. It reflects your real life inability to escape or make the right choice.
29. Vehicles
They may reflect how much control you feel you have over your life. For instance, is the car out of control, or is someone else driving you?
30. Water
What form is the water in? It is a strong indicator of the state of your subconscious mind. Calm pools of water reflect inner peace while a choppy ocean can suggest unease.
About the Author
What Are Precognitive Dreams and How to Identify Them
Premonitory dreams, also known as precognitive dreams, are experiences in which information is accessed about events that have not yet occurred. Throughout history, many people have reported detailed dreams that later manifested with surprising accuracy in real life. In this article, we explore what these dreams are, their main characteristics, and how to recognize them when they appear.
Table of Contents
- What Are Precognitive Dreams?
- How to Know If You Had a Precognitive Dreams
- Well-Known Examples of Precognitive Dreams
- Why Do Precognitive Dreams Occur?
- Dreaming as a Spiritual Tool
- What to Do If You Feel a Dream Is a Premonition
- Is It Possible to Develop the Ability to Have Precognitive Dreams?
What Are Precognitive Dreams?
Premonitory dreams are dream experiences in which the dreamer accesses real information about future events. They are not symbolic interpretations of the unconscious but direct perceptions of situations that have not yet happened in the physical plane but are later confirmed.
These dreams can appear spontaneously or during key moments in the dreamer’s life. Although it is not always easy to distinguish them from other types of dreams, they possess specific characteristics that make them recognizable.
Below are the most common traits of precognitive dreams:
- Connection with the future: They reveal events that have not yet happened. The person receives this information while sleeping, without any prior signs in daily life.
- Precise details: They can include names, places, colors, objects, or dates. These details appear clearly and are verified later.
- Emotional intensity: They are experienced with a higher emotional charge than other dreams. Upon waking, it is common to feel impact, unease, or urgency.
- High recall: They are not easily forgotten. They remain vivid in memory for days, months, or even years.
- Subsequent confirmation: The events dreamed of come true with accuracy or with strong symbolic correlation, reinforcing the dream’s credibility.
How to Know If You Had a Precognitive Dreams
One of the clearest indicators of a premonitory dream is its persistence over time. While most dreams are quickly forgotten upon waking, precognitive dreams remain imprinted with remarkable clarity. Memory retains not only images but also dialogue, sounds, and sensations, with a vividness that stands out.
It is also common that these dreams are experienced with a particular emotional intensity. The dreamer often wakes up with a sense of unease, wonder, or urgency, as if the content carries a meaning that cannot be ignored. This emotional charge is not always tied to the content itself but to the feeling that the dream conveys a real and direct message.
Another feature that helps recognize a premonitory dream is the sensation of lucidity during the dream. Although the person may not be aware of dreaming, they perceive what happens with unusual clarity: colors are more vivid, sounds sharper, and scenes more coherent than in ordinary dreams. This intense sensory quality is often accompanied by the feeling of witnessing something real—as if the dream were a direct experience rather than a mental construction.
Well-Known Examples of Precognitive Dreams
Throughout history, there have been numerous documented cases of dreams that clearly anticipated important events. These accounts come not only from anonymous individuals but also from public figures whose experiences have been widely recorded. Below are five significant examples that illustrate how dreams can accurately foresee reality:
- The assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln himself reported having dreamed of his death days before he was killed. In the dream, he saw a funeral at the White House and a soldier saying that the president had died.
- The Titanic tragedy: Several people dreamed of the sinking before boarding and decided not to travel. Their testimonies were collected after the disaster, strengthening the idea of a dreamlike warning.
- The September 11 attacks: Some individuals reported dreaming of airplanes crashing into buildings in the days leading up to the attack. These accounts were later investigated by psychologists and parapsychologists.
- Mark Twain’s dream about his brother: Twain dreamed that his brother Henry lay in a metal coffin with a bouquet of white flowers on his chest. Days later, Henry died in an accident and was buried exactly as in the dream; Twain himself recounted this in detail in his autobiography.
- The Aberfan disaster: A ten-year-old girl dreamed of a mudslide covering her school in Wales. The next day, the disaster occurred, killing more than 100 children, including her.
Why Do Precognitive Dreams Occur?
Premonitory dreams occur because consciousness is not limited to the linear time we experience in the waking state. While we sleep, the brain enters a state in which it can access information beyond the rational or immediate. In that realm, time functions differently, allowing some future events to manifest symbolically or literally during the dream.
From a spiritual perspective, these dreams are a form of communication between different levels of consciousness. The higher self, intuition, or even external sources of guidance can send important messages during sleep. This information is not always clear at first but becomes understandable over time or once it comes to pass.
It is also believed that premonitory dreams are activated during moments of high psychic or emotional sensitivity. When a person goes through a stage of spiritual openness or a critical life situation, their perception tends to expand. In that state, the mind becomes receptive to impressions of the future that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Dreaming as a Spiritual Tool
From a spiritual perspective, dreaming is not just a passive mental activity but a way to access deeper levels of consciousness. During sleep, the rational mind quiets, creating a space where insights, revelations, and messages can emerge—ones that don’t appear in the waking state. This dream realm functions as a bridge between the physical world and subtler dimensions of being.
Lucid dreams, in particular, allow conscious interaction with that inner space. This practice can be used to connect with inner wisdom, explore unresolved issues, or receive guidance from higher planes. By learning to navigate these dreams actively, it’s possible to transform the dream into an experience of growth, healing, and self-discovery.
In the series Mystery Teachings, available on Gaia, Theresa Bullard delves into how dreams can become a powerful spiritual practice. In its third season, she teaches concrete methods to increase dream lucidity, establish contact with the higher self, and use dreaming as a space for inner transformation.
What to Do If You Feel a Dream Is a Premonition
When a dream feels too vivid, intense, or significant to be a coincidence, it’s important to pay attention to it. The first recommended action is to write it down in detail as soon as you wake up. Recording names, emotions, colors, places, and any symbols can help you interpret it more clearly and recognize patterns if you experience something similar again.
After writing it down, taking a moment to reflect on the content is also key. Ask yourself if the dream carries a message for you or if it relates to something you might need to know. In many cases, the simple act of observing it with intention already opens the possibility of understanding it beyond the rational mind.
Additionally, it can be helpful to share the dream with someone you trust or with experience in the dream world. Speaking it aloud may help clarify sensations or ideas you hadn’t noticed before. Taking your dreams seriously is a way to sharpen your sensitivity and strengthen your connection with the intuitive realm.
Is It Possible to Develop the Ability to Have Precognitive Dreams?
Yes, it is. Just as dream recall or lucid dreaming can be trained through practice, the sensitivity to perceive future information in dreams can also be developed. To do this, it’s essential to cultivate a receptive attitude, keep a consistent dream journal, and strengthen the connection with your intuition.
Keeping a dream diary helps not only to remember what we dream but also to detect recurring signs or symbols that hold personal meaning. This daily practice reinforces the bond with the dream world and can make certain premonitory dreams stand out due to their clarity or emotional charge.
It’s also useful to incorporate practices such as meditation, introspection, and working with intention before sleeping. By setting a clear purpose—such as receiving guidance or relevant information—you create a mental framework that facilitates the emergence of these types of dreams. With time and consistency, this ability can develop and become an active part of a conscious spiritual life.
