Is your subconscious trying to tell you something?
Dreams can be very powerful sources of insight into yourself – once you learn their meanings. Many times we look at our dream as a whole when trying to decipher its message — but it’s also important to consider the meaning of anything you remember from the dream, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.
While there are no concrete, universal translations for dreams and their meanings, taking a look at some of the common symbols seen in dreams and how you can interpret them, may help you find the useful message your subconscious is trying to help you with.
Dreams are empowering no matter how they show up. If you’re able to decode them, you can unlock a lot of your own potential and release a lot of negative thoughts that are holding you back from being a much happier person that can attract good things to you based on the law of attraction.
5 Most Common Dream Symbols
These are 5 of the most common symbols in dreams. Have you dreamed about any of these?
1. Dreams About/With Animals or Bugs
Seeing animals or bugs in a dream represents survival instinct and a connection to nature. If you’re dreaming of being chased by a predator, you may be holding onto repressed feelings like aggression or fear. Alternatively, you may be feeling “chased” by trouble of some kind… including negative thoughts or people in your environment whom you can’t seem to “escape.”
In order to unlock your power, look to see how the quality of the animal or bug either represents a fear you have or a strength that you could use more.
Snakes
If fear is running your life, you will fear afraid of a snake in your dream. The feeling you get will reflect the way you feel about something in your life.
The symbol is there to help you see you don’t have to be stuck in fear. Snakes help you transform and shed your old skin to become a better version of yourself.
Spiders
A dream about spiders will leave you with a creepy feeling but it is to let you know that you’re letting anxiety play out in your subconscious mind and it’s lowering your energy and scope of view of what is possible. If you find ways to relax, your horizons will expand and your creative insights will elevate.
The spider web reminds us we are all connected to life force energy and that our thoughts create our reality which is an empowering message.
Horses
Your strength is not being used to its full capacity if a horse shows up in your dreams. It reminds you that you are far more powerful than some people would let you believe.
Notice how other people are shaping your view of yourself if you see a horse in your dream, even if it someone from your past. This empowering symbol helps you find the ultimate freedom to run wild and free when you stop repressing your power.
2. Dreams About Your Body
Your body is often represented in your dreams through structures and vehicles.
Houses, boats, cars, RVs, buses, and planes (to name just a few) represent your body and what is housed within your consciousness.
You’ll notice that often you aren’t in your own dream because ultimately the whole dream is playing out parts of yourself. Notice where you are if you’re in a house and the condition it’s in and it can help you see where you need to pay attention to your health or how your emotions are linked to your health in certain parts of the body.
Teeth
Dreams about teeth falling out are about fear of time passing and fear of not being able to fix problems of the past (since teeth don’t grow back).
Once you recognize that this could be that you need to deepen your spiritual life to connect to your soul and overcome the fear of death, the past or time won’t seem haunting and you’ll feel free to focus on creating a loving positive future. This empowering symbol often shows up when we are seeing life through the lens of the ego and prioritizing based on individualistic goals instead of spiritual ones.
Hair
The nature of hair is that it grows. Our own soul growth and spiritual growth often first comes to our mind on a subconscious level to alert us that we are living based on the identity that someone else has formed for us.
When we are finding an energetic separation from how others think we should live and who we want to be, hair dreams will help remind us we can be the person in our hearts regardless of opinions. That is a helpful loving message to dream about.
Ears
The function of ears is to listen. You may not be seeing how someone’s intention is really affecting your energy. You would be wise to really pay attention to who someone is based on their words and energy. You also could benefit from listening to wise words of advice or not talking arrogantly in conversations.
This symbol is a message from the subconscious and intuition that you need to be more observant and study your surroundings to heal and grow.
3. Dreams Involving Movement
Whether you are traveling, moving houses, falling, flying, or something else, if you remember movement, it is significant.
Notice how the movement makes you feel. Often moving or traveling has to do with feeling unsettled and still needing to recognize who you are and your soul purpose which will lead to ultimate happiness. Perhaps the other people represent thoughts you can let go of or behaviors you can release in order to finally feel stable.
Being Chased
This is usually about your own thoughts that are critical of yourself in a judgmental or comparative way.
Perhaps you don’t realize how seeing things through a negative perspective is attracting more negativity which makes you feel unlucky. It’s showing you that you’re chasing yourself and making yourself feel afraid but you don’t have to. Whoever taught you to live in fear doesn’t have to run your mind. Consider which perspectives really feel heavy and decide not to hold them anymore.
Falling
If you’re falling, you may be sabotaging your life by thinking negatively and you can start being more positive.
Change is often scary because of the unknown, but falling can actually be a part of an important transformation in our lives. We may need to surrender and stop trying to control everything so that something can manifest in our lives. Free falling is a message to surrender and raise your vibes by trusting the Universe. You may be afraid you will fail if you have this dream which is an empowering reminder that your control is just keeping your vibe up and trusting you’re always right where you need to be.
Flying
This means you’re stepping into your power by thinking positively and thus creating positive momentum in your life. It also can show up as a reminder that you have this ability which can get you to soar above your problems to see more than what is in front of you.
When this shows up it indicates to keep building that excitement that you get when you think of biggest dreams. That bliss feeling is what will help your ideas take flight because it has a high vibration and will attract the right thoughts and resources to you. This is a very positive and helpful dream symbol.
Read this next: Dream On – Why Do Reoccuring Dreams Happen?
4. Nightmares or Feeling Fear
Many of our dreams are laced with a healthy dose of fear and just because you’ve done a lot of inner-work doesn’t mean you won’t have fear in your dreams. It helps you recognize that there are deeper layers in your mind that you can recognize which are holding you back. Perhaps your fear is keeping your guarded, keeping you from taking risks, or keeping you from dreaming your biggest dreams and really living the life you want.
When it shows up in your dream it’s helping you see that you don’t have to live with it. It’s a gentle reminder leading you to freedom.
Test-taking
A test is something that gives you a grade and is often about comparing yourself to others unnecessarily in your mind. Stop putting yourself down and for that matter stop building your self-worth around being better than someone else.
You also can interpret this as a reminder that when you use your time wisely and prepare, that anxiety won’t be necessary. It can be a helpful reminder not to procrastinate and not to let yourself value yourself based on accomplishments but on kindness.
Death
This is a good thing to have in a dream as it represents letting go of a part of yourself you no longer need.
This can be a big part of yourself like a goal you’ve held for a long time or a belief that has dominated your consciousness for a long time. It is a reminder that you’re constantly able to recreate yourself and evolve.
Being naked in public
If you’re shameful of past experiences or of your body, the dream will show up to help you release that low vibe subconscious thought. Not loving our body or feeling guilty about our feelings can impede our creativity.
When you’re naked in public, it’s a reminder that you don’t have to worry about what other people think because it only poisons their mind if they think negatively and you can choose how you think of yourself.
5. Dreams About Love
Dreams about romance and intimate connections are common and they don’t mean you have feelings for the person in your dream believe it or not (although they can). They mean you have desires waiting to be explored that are trying to come to the surface.
Why not live the life you truly want right? In order to do that, we have to take a moment to listen to our deepest desires.
Weddings
Dreaming of weddings, even if they are someone else’s doesn’t always mean you want to get married. It certainly can. What you need to pay attention to is if the wedding is going well or not.
Your subconscious may be telling you that you are more the domestic partnership person or need to recognize you need to make time for love and stop avoiding giving yourself what you want.
Cheating
If you have a dream that you were with someone who you shouldn’t be, it’s not something to feel bad about. It may indicate that you don’t really feel good about the person you’re with. It may also indicate you need to be more honest with yourself about what you want in some area of life.
Don’t think that sex dreams are always about sex, often they are helping us allow ourselves to speak our truth and honor our personal needs whether that is how we are treated or how we spend our time. This can be about taking better care of yourself too which is again, an empowering nudge from the subconscious.
Pregnancy
You may be dreaming a baby is on the way if you actually have to desire to procreate, but it could also mean you’ve been feeling vulnerable and want to be loved.
Sometimes babies in dreams also represent a fresh start or the desire to “birth” some new, creative project.
Pay Attention to Your Dreams!
Analyzing your dreams and their meanings is a fascinating way to examine your self from your subconscious mind’s perspective. If you have trouble remembering your dreams, keep a notepad on your nightstand and write down what you remember as soon as you wake up. Note any small details you can think of because it could mean something important!
Have you noticed any of these symbols in your dreams? What about anything else you think could be symbolic? Please share it with us in the comments! Check out our dream dictionary and our dream interpretation page for more ways to unlock your power through your dreams.
Related Article: Dream Interpretation: Enhance Recall & Decipher Key Themes
