Common Dreams and Their Meanings
A few of the most commonly experienced dreams and some suggestions to help you interpret their meaning within the context of your own life.
While no one can say for certain exactly where dreams come from or how they operate, there is good reason to believe that these mysterious clusters of sound and image are vitally important to our physical and emotional well-being.
Sigmund Freud believed that dreams connect us to the unconscious mind. Carl Jung, taking this theory a step further, insisted that dreams are more than a path to the individual unconscious; rather, the universal symbolism in dreams reflects archetypal images.
Since we all have personal experience with certain symbols, we must incorporate our own learned significance when attempting to interpret dream images. I include here ten of the most common dreams and the generally accepted meanings for dream images, but each dreamer must go beyond the standard interpretation and discover how these symbols relate to his or her situation.
The subconscious is aware of signals that may be ignored or repressed by the conscious mind. In order to bypass the denial system, you may want to try one or more of the following tricks:
- Title your dream. This is helpful in establishing objectivity and identifying the theme of the dream.
- Determine what one image or situation in your dream is out of place. For example, if you dream of traveling to visit a distance relative (who really exists) and you make the trip on the back of a turtle, your mode of travel would be out of place (unless, of course, you really do travel on turtles). In this case, you will want to consider the significance of the turtle.
- Determine the emotional tone of the dream. Is it pleasant, frightening, frustrating, exciting? More often than not, the emotion surrounding the dream events is a significant clue to its meaning.
Despite the varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds and experiences of individuals, we all tend to have the same sort of dreams.
- Being chased. This type of dream often results from a feeling of overwhelming stress in some area of our lives. If you dream of being chased by someone you know, you must consider that this person is somehow contributing to your anxiety. If you dream of being chased by a stranger, it’s possible that the stranger represents some aspect of yourself. Ask yourself: What life issue is threatening to overwhelm me? What fear looms over me at this point in time? Am I feeling guilty about something?
- Falling. Dreams of falling often come from the fear of losing control. Ask yourself: What part of my life is out of control? What relationship is so threatening that I would take desperate measures to end it? Who fails to provide the emotional support I need to feel secure?
- Out of control vehicle. Generally, a car, plane, train, or other vehicle is the symbol for our life’s path. Ask yourself: Has my life (vehicle) taken an unexpected direction? What part of my life (vehicle) is moving too fast? Who is driving me?
- Forgotten test. Long assumed to mean that the dreamer feels unprepared for the task at hand, this dream may also signal a sense that one is being tricked, that we are being “set up.” Ask yourself: How am I being tested? In what way am I unprepared? Am I under pressure to perform?
- Naked in public. As with all the dreams, the emotional tone of this one is important to the meaning. Does your nudity cause you to feel embarrassed? Or are you proudly showing off your wares? Ask yourself: Am I afraid that my secret/s will be revealed? Have I misrepresented myself in some way? Am I feeling insecure, vulnerable, exposed?
- Being trapped. This type of dream will usually carry an element of fear or of frustration. Ask yourself: What is holding me? What obstacle stands between me and success? What habits do I need to break free from in order to move forward?
- Flying. Most people who dream of flying find it pleasant, but this may also be a frightening dream for some because it may represent a loss of inhibition. Ask yourself: Do I feel that my emotional restraint is weakening? How is my spiritual nature taking flight? What tethers in my life have been cut?
- House damage. A house often symbolizes our personal universe, with each room representing a different body part. Ask yourself: What threatens the stability (foundation) of my life? Who or what has damaged or disturbed my life plan? What health issues have I ignored?
- Missing the plane / train / boat? Travel images often signify an emotional journey of discovery. Ask yourself: What opportunity for growth have I missed? Is procrastination making me late for my destiny? What spiritual progress am I overlooking?
- Natural disaster. Disasters come in many forms, but in general they all represent unexpected and uncontrollable change. Ask yourself: What upheaval has threatened my foundation? What change has struck from the blue, bringing chaos with it? In what way am I feeling inundated?
Please see my article Dream Symbols and Their Meanings at here.
for more information about what your dreams are trying to tell you.
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User Comments
VIVIAN
On January 17, 2008 at 10:13 am
I DREAMT OF FETCHING WATER FROM THE TAP. what is the meaning?
silvia
On February 3, 2008 at 8:52 am
i had a dream of beas infesting my bedroom and trapick me in it. Then when I though I could get out I got bitten by a few in my ams. When I pulled the beas off my arms my skin will come out as well. What does all this mean??????
anna
On February 4, 2008 at 5:28 pm
When I dream, I usually have a reoccuring nightmare of the dinosaur from Jurassic Park 1 when the T-rex looks into the jeep with a single eye but except the jeep, the T-rex is looking into my house and all I have is my coffee table to hide underneth from.
Also, sometimes I have a dream of something but in the end of my dream, i somehow lose a tooth or multiple teeth. My mother says that in Korea, if you lose a tooth(s) in your dreams, it means that someone or something close to you will die very soon. Is this necessarily true?
Rita
On March 9, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I dreamed the same dream over and over…nothing changes…what does this mean?
#5 Lisa Mar10 2008
On March 11, 2008 at 8:20 pm
For Anna, My grandmother always had a very very old dream book. She would tell me that loosing teeth or any thing about teeth would be in referance to financeal gain
Chatter Box Cale
On March 22, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I Keep Dreaming I Am Layed In Bed With My Ex With My Head On His Chest
kadia
On March 31, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I have dreams of zombies. What does it mean?
jayd
On April 1, 2008 at 7:33 am
i had a dream my father went missing, weeks later my step mum told me that he probably wasnt comming back, then his ghoast comes to see me. iv had this dream on and off for a few months wa does it mean???
marce
On April 8, 2008 at 12:00 am
i dreamt that i was off to a beach night party. just when i parked and got out of my car, i saw the ex-mistress of my husband at the entrance to the party. she was literally dancing her heart out and she saw me coming in and all the more she danced her heart out. to piss me off. i just walked by their table and saw that one of her companion was an acquaintance of mine, i just told that friend “i didnt know that you were friends with cristine…” as continued to climb up the stairs to stay at the second floor.
what does this mean….
lol
On April 12, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I had a dream a person i knew moved in next to me. She had a party. And then I went bowling and saw someone get killed by a bowling ball in a bowling alley. I know it’s all very random and doesn’t make much sense but I’ve wanted to know what something like that means. Yes, I know it probably means nothing but it’s still fun to try to figure out.
me
On April 13, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I have reacuring dreams of giving away body parts or organs.
Does that mean anything?
Diana
On April 22, 2008 at 3:58 pm
i have been with my boyfirned for one year and 6 months and i keep having dreams that he leaves me. why is that?
eve
On April 29, 2008 at 2:21 am
someone have a dream for me wearing a bueatiful dress and looking beautiful so what does that mean?
Dee
On May 4, 2008 at 9:11 am
I Keep having this dream that im being chased by a dog.. at first its always a group of dogs… but one of them always wants to run me down.. in many cases the dog is black. I would really like to know wat that means… i read about being chased at the top of the page. by people. But i wanna know what being chased by a dog is about?
starr
On May 8, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I keep having dreams about a particular house, what’s this mean?
Ayanda
On May 12, 2008 at 1:03 am
Please help me out. I had a dream, that everyone around me was drunk like it going out of fashion, wherever I got people are drunk, even people that I have’nt seen for sometime where also drunk, and when Im asking what is happening no one answered. Im worried.
claudia
On May 16, 2008 at 4:48 am
i dream about mouse and cats and dogs the mouse is small every time the eat the mice it begins to get bigger and we tried everything to clean the mouse but we can not get rit of it some mouse turn so big as big as a rat .later on i went to a camp and i dream about me wearing yellow and black what does it mean
jeremiah
On May 28, 2008 at 11:14 am
i keep on having dreams about my ex, not the same one, they always differ but she’s the center of the dreams
hi
On May 28, 2008 at 4:47 pm
if you are haveing dreams about your ex you still have feelings about her talk to her about it
hey 66
On May 31, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I have dreams in color and when i do that dream i have comes true the next day or a few days later. it is for the most part clear so i can see the persons face and every thing that is going on. most of the time the dream comes with sound so it is like I’m living it and not dreaming it. a good nights sleep is something i haven’t had in years.
omini
On June 14, 2008 at 4:52 am
What does killing somebody and sharng his/her body parts mean?
hey
On June 30, 2008 at 9:51 pm
my boyfriend had a dream that me and him were at a bar when another girl tried to hit on him…she made it imposible for me and him to be alone..later we went back to our room(bc we were out of town) and i went to get drinks..when i came back she was in the room and she was feeling all over him..he said she kept doing it as if i wasnt there so i beat her ass…should i be worried he was dreamin bout another girl..he said she was pretty hot
Caramel07
On July 10, 2008 at 2:12 pm
My ex-boyfriend had a dream that we had a fight and I met this other boy that wanted to comfort me. Later on that night me, my ex, my best friend and her brother were at dinner and I kept texting the man that wanted to comfort me and my ex said that he wanted to know who I was texting so he walked behind me and saw what I wrote him and it said I’LL BE OUTSIDE IN A MINUTE. So a few minutes later I got up and said I had to run to the car to get something, but i was lying I was going to see that man, but my best friend’s brother jumped in front of me and said no I’ll go with you and I said the cars right outside and I’ll be right back. He said no again and I said I promise I’m coming back. So i went outside. Thirty minutes later I still wasn’t back. So my best friend went looking for me outside. Minutes later she came running back inside screaming and crying help. Then my ex and my best friend’s brother ran outside and six dudes were crowded around my body. The dudes ran away when they got outside.My ex said my skirt was lifted way up and my shirt was ripped and my panties were gone. He said that there was lots and lots of blood everywhere. He said my face was beaten up very badly and covered in blood. I was rushed to the hospital but I didn’t die. I wasn’t raped either. My best friends brother had to be on watch because he was trying to commit suicide because he thought it was his fault for not stopping me or try to go with me. Then he woke up.
Abiba
On July 18, 2008 at 7:04 am
Went to the American Embassy for a visa. The lady handed me with a piece of cloth. As I opened it, I realised that it was a fabric flags of all nations under the sun . I tried to study the various flag, wondering why she gave that to me instead of a visa.
Note: I did not go to bed thinking of how to enter the USA or any other country, or even travelling.
ashley
On July 28, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Re-ccuring dreams about an ex. may still be in love but not sure yet. what i remember is him being with me at a hockey arena, my friend and her boyfriend and myself and my ex are at the arena. all of a sudden theres some sort of contest between my ex and my friends boyfriend of whos the better hockey player.. they start fighting and me and my friend break it up because we bolth know that my ex could beat up her boyfriend. in the dream we kiss alot and for some reason the word miles kept cmming up.. Like 300 miles or somthing i didnt understand the meaning of it so i ignored it. then we ended up in a swimming pool for awhile and then a little while later he had to go back to new jersey and when we were at the air port i Kissed him and whispered in his ear “i love you” and we kissed and i woke up because it was morning but for some reason in the dream i remember saying after we kissed for a long time very passionatly kissed i said ” Wow, i am so happy this isn’t just a dream.. it feels so real.”
ffion
On August 10, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I keep having dreams that whatever the story is its in places I know but then for exsample if i am walking out of my house ( supposed to be to the garden ) I am suddenly in a shop or something random) and I always have dreams of me and my friends in a park.
ASK
On August 20, 2008 at 1:22 pm
i dream of losing my chappels/shoes..what does it mean?
agatha
On September 18, 2008 at 9:48 pm
My boyfriend told me that he had a dream that he met some really cute girl at a bar he couldnt really remember how she looked besides the fact that she had brown curly hair,and iv always had been having dreams that hes leaving me for one of my girlfriends who has brown curly hair before he told me he had the dream,what do you think this means?
D.
On September 25, 2008 at 1:57 pm
i had a dream where i watched a girl commit suicide by jumping in front of a train, but the weird thing was she was smilling and laughing as she was running towards the train amd i was telling her to stop but she kept going and smiled at me with an evil look, i was also lost in the dream and couldnt find my way to my car and i ended up at a house where some guys tried to sexual assult me but i was able to get free. Once i was free i was trying to find my car and i passed a boy and girl and they asked me if i have seen their sister which once they described her was the girl who jumped.
what does this mean?
dd
On November 11, 2008 at 12:44 am
I had a nightmare about a stranger chasing me around the world. He finally caught me at a bridge where i fell, the axe he was carrying he finally stabbed it in my chest and then i woke up. the weirdest part of this dream is when i woke up i had a cut in my chest right where the axe was hit, and it was visible to everyone in my house and the mark faded away like a bruise after serval weeks. What happened anyone explain
Devora Sage
On November 21, 2008 at 10:14 am
Some of these dream images are addressed in another article I wrote, Dream Symbols and Their Meanings, found at http://www.socyberty.com/Psychology/Dream-Symbols-and-Their-Meanings.121596
thora
On December 16, 2008 at 8:34 pm
i dreamt that people told me i didn’t have much time to live that i was going to die soon. what does that mean?
Hanna
On January 9, 2009 at 5:15 pm
i had a dream last night that i got shot in the back twice and later on in the day i was going to get shot 3 times, and i was told i was going to die. but i woke up before they started shooting me for the second time… and im worried
Bob
On January 10, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I had a dream abot this guy going around shooting people in the head.
like every one I liked died my family and friends but the strangest thing that happend I Died but I didn’t Really Die like I got shot in the head but in the dream I was still alive.
iobknat
On January 11, 2009 at 11:14 pm
i dreamt that i was with 2 celebrties and we was in london and we was walking and then we got attcked by indians so we seek revenge with shovels and then we was waiting for them in a dark carpark and then this person who i thougth was an indian turnt out to be a women then she shouts something then a big spotlight comes on and thats when i woke up what does this mean plz help em it worries me coz i dont know what it means and i keep on having this dream
Gigi
On January 22, 2009 at 6:11 pm
I had this dream that i was sorrounded with different colors. it was so bright and beautiful, like each color was reflecting glistening. and i was holding some kind of thick plate that was gold and circle. In the dream an angel told me not to ever drop it. and i was walking to someone there was a circle around it and apparently it was jesus but all i saw was a strong white sparkly light shooting up neverending. as i was walking i dropped it and it broke into peices. When i woke up i was crying and the next day i had a dimple. I never ever had a dimple in my life. and i heard that if you dream of an angel somehow when they touch you you get dimples. It may sound stupid but my dimple became obvious to everyone ever since i had that dream. & till now i have it.
Note: I never had a dimple and i checkd every picture i had when i was little. No dimples.
Stephanie
On January 22, 2009 at 9:27 pm
I keep dreaming about my ex boyfriend that i havent seen in three years.
Stacey T Pollock
On February 24, 2009 at 10:23 am
Very interesting article. I have dreams relating to houses alot, usually it has alot to do with helping other people to clean their house, and also dreams to do with working or organizing things. I agree that seeing houses in dreams relates to the person and their inner and outer worlds. I have had flying dreams also. I have even had dreams where I have been the opposite sex. haha. I have mostly dreams that I am other poeple, and dreams that I am watching things, moving from one person to the next. I like to feel what they all feel inside in different circumstances.
(mary) raf_leyva@yahoo.com
On February 28, 2009 at 3:34 pm
what do the meaning of dreaming about turtles mean?
vinita_kh@yahoo.com
On April 13, 2009 at 11:04 am
i dream about about sailing in sea and see all water aroung ,i don’t feeel scared but feel sense of happiness.What is the interpretation of this dream
Sathish
On April 23, 2009 at 9:20 am
i dreamed about a temple being shaked by earthquake are some sort of shake , the temple main building collapses and after some time i go inside the temple near the basement of temple and fine some materials like coin or some symbols , wt does it mean really
tamika johnson
On May 17, 2009 at 2:24 pm
i had a dream about cats and dogs attacking me.
stacy
On June 1, 2009 at 1:26 am
i keep dreaming about accidents and people dying and it really scares me. wat do these dreams mean? im really scared now to think about how one day im gogin to die and it really scares me that i even cry and think that i dont want to die. i cant really talk to anyone cuz no one understands my situatuion. please help me undertand this.
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