Dream Symbol Dictionary

Alphabetical Index

Browse all symbols alphabetically

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Animal Symbols

Animals in dreams often represent instincts, emotions, and aspects of your personality

Snake

Snakes in dreams often symbolize transformation, renewal, and healing as they shed their skin. They can also represent hidden fears, treachery, or wisdom depending on the context.

Common Interpretations:

  • Being bitten by a snake: Feeling threatened or betrayed in waking life
  • Friendly snake: Self-healing, transformation, or gaining wisdom
  • Multiple snakes: Overwhelming anxiety or feeling surrounded by threats
  • Colorful snake: Creative potential and powerful energy

The meaning can vary based on your personal associations with snakes and the specific context of the dream.

Dog

Dogs in dreams typically symbolize loyalty, friendship, and protection. They often represent qualities like unconditional love, devotion, and intuition.

Common Interpretations:

  • Friendly dog: Loyalty, protection, and faithful friendships
  • Aggressive dog: Feeling threatened or conflict with someone close to you
  • Lost dog: Neglecting your own loyal qualities or a relationship
  • Dead dog: Loss of friendship or end of a loyal relationship

Your personal relationship with dogs strongly influences the dream's meaning.

Nature Symbols

Natural elements in dreams reflect your emotional landscape and connection to the world around you

Water

Water is one of the most common dream symbols and represents your emotional state and unconscious mind. The condition of the water often reflects how you're feeling emotionally.

Common Interpretations:

  • Clear, calm water: Emotional clarity, peace, and tranquility
  • Turbulent, stormy water: Emotional turmoil, overwhelming feelings
  • Drowning in water: Feeling overwhelmed by emotions or circumstances
  • Walking on water: Mastery over emotions, spiritual advancement
  • Dirty water: Emotional pollution, negative influences

The temperature, depth, and your interaction with the water all provide additional insight into the dream's meaning.

Fire

Fire in dreams can symbolize transformation, passion, desire, illumination, or destruction. Its meaning largely depends on how you interact with it and the context of the dream.

Common Interpretations:

  • Controlled fire (campfire, fireplace): Comfort, warmth, creativity
  • Destructive fire: Anger, rage, or significant transformation
  • Being burned: Intense emotions, passion, or being "burned" by someone
  • Walking through fire: Purification, overcoming challenges

Fire can represent both creative and destructive forces in your life. Consider which aspect is most prominent in your dream.

Action Symbols

Actions in dreams reveal your responses to life situations and provide insight into your psychological state

Flying

Flying dreams are among the most exhilarating and often represent feelings of freedom, possibility, and escape from limitations. They can reflect ambition, gaining a new perspective, or transcending difficult situations.

Common Interpretations:

  • Effortless flying: Freedom, confidence, rising above challenges
  • Struggling to fly: Feeling held back, encountering obstacles to your goals
  • Flying too high: Unrealistic ambitions, fear of success
  • Low flying: Staying grounded while pursuing goals

Flying dreams often occur during periods of personal growth or when you're seeking liberation from restrictive circumstances.

Falling

Falling dreams are among the most common dreams and typically reflect feelings of insecurity, anxiety, or loss of control. They often occur during times of stress or major life transitions.

Common Interpretations:

  • Falling but never landing: Ongoing anxiety, fear of failure
  • Falling and landing safely: Overcoming obstacles, resilience
  • Falling from a great height: Fear of failure in something important
  • Falling into water: Being overwhelmed by emotions

Pay attention to what happens at the end of the fall and your emotions during the dream for additional insight.