Dream Symbols and their Meanings.

In our dreams, sometimes an image occurs which demands understanding. I think of them as messages from either my personal unconscious or, even more importantly, the collective unconscious.

In attempting to capture these symbols in my dreams, I've taken the simplest of them and painted an image which comes as close to what I saw as I can produce.

The following are three samples;




The face, with it's mouth and nose covered by a mechanical looking flap, suggests to me a warning that breath is at risk. The color red means life, and the lack of eyes within the sockets could mean many other things. I consider this a message from my personal unconscious but, as yet, have no idea as to what it is trying to tell me (but some ideas are expressed below).




This ring is re-produced exactly as I remember it. In my estimation, it is representative of the classical Ouroboros (sic) or 'snake eating it's tail' and indicates the cycle of life, death and re-birth. This is, imo, a symbol from the collective unconscious and has great meaning for us all. The upright object in the middle is something I don't understand yet.




An animal made of different species is called a 'therianthrope'. In this case, I saw what appears to be both a bear and a jaguar at the same time. Knowing that shaman change shape in the spirit world, it occurs to me that I was visited by a shaman in my dream.

There is a tendency among people to dismiss such symbols within dreams, but I consider that to be a grave mistake. We should instead take careful note and apply whatever such images may mean to us in our daily life.

The face suggests that perhaps I need to be careful in the air I breathe. Living in an area which has the worst air pollution in Ontario, it has a special meaning to me.

The ring shows me that all things are cyclic. Jung would call the symbol an 'archetype' in that it occurs within the dreams of everyone all through human history. I see in this symbol the same hope as religions hold out to their adherents.

The therianthrope tells me that I need to be aware that someone is interested in contacting me. It was a 'visit'.

These interpretations are my own and could be totally off the mark, but they are what I feel is right.

Do you have symbols showing up in your dreams? If you do, please share a description of them.

If you have a different interpretation of the ones pictured here, I'm also VERY interested in hearing about it.