Dreaming of Rabbits

 

It's my birthday. I take a cake out of a box. It blows up into a huge, pink bunny. 

I was in my childhood house. My cat changed into a small, white rabbit with red eyes. I had learned a spell to change her back but couldn't remember the right magic word.  So, my cat was this sad, white rabbit hopping around my parents' backyard. I didn't want to lose her.

Dreaming of Animals in General 

Animal symbols in our dreams can symbolize many things. Sometimes, an animal can represent a totem animal or spirit guide. (See Dreaming of A Bear), Animals in dreams can also exhibit qualities about ourselves or others that we might want to investigate further. Recurring animals dreams (See Dreaming of Rats) could happen in order to get our attention and can relate to phobias. 

Psychological Meaning

Freud, of course, saw animal dreams connecting to your sexual nature. Humans have tended to think of animals representing our most base, primitive selves. Carl Jung noted that animals in dreams symbolize our instincts. 

 Symbolism of Animals in Dreams

If you dream about an animal, you should then look at the symbolism of the particular animal. This includes universal symbolic meaning as well as what that animal personally means to you (i.e. Did you have a rabbit as a beloved pet? Or were you bitten by a wild rabbit as a child? ). How you feel about your dream symbol contributes greatly to your dream meaning.

Rabbit Symbol Meanings

A Rabbit has a few different symbolic meanings. The first ones are related to the general characteristics of a rabbit.

• fertility and sexual activity
• warmth 
• shyness or timidity
• hopping (as in hopping from one thing to the next - not staying put)
• loyalty

There are also universal symbols associated with the rabbit.

• good luck omen (the lucky rabbit's foot)
• magical power (the magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat)
• success is coming
• a good omen for love

Why is the Rabbit Considered Lucky?

There is no definitive answer to how the tradition of carrying a rabbit's foot came about or saying "rabbit rabbit" to bring you luck. One thought is related to the old tradition of carrying a dead criminal's  hand as a powerful charm or amulet, "The Hand of Glory" (obviously rabbits' feet would be easier to get than dead criminals' hands!) Additionally, the rabbit's foot might correspond to the good event connected to the place it was taken from (i.e. the location of a battle won). 

Does Colour Matter?

Colour does matter in dreams, as different colours have different meanings. In my case, I think the fact that the rabbit was white was significant. For one thing, it reminds me of the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland who served as a guide for Alice on her adventures. White also represents purity. Red in dreams signifies passion or war but a white rabbit with red eyes is actually an albino rabbit so I don't think the colour of the eyes in this case in significant. It was just a common rabbit type.

Phrases Related to Rabbits

Sometime there are sayings or phrases that literally relate to your dreams. Some common ones that relate to rabbits are:

• Going down the rabbit hole  - being led somewhere or deep diving into the unknown
• Pulling a rabbit out of a hat - you were lucky
• As mad as a March hare - crazy
• Going at it like rabbits - self explanatory:)

Interpretation of My Dreams

These dreams happened on different days. In the first dream, I take the fact that the dream was about my birthday to interpret the rabbit as a good sign for luck in the next year. Big luck! (related to the big size of the rabbit).

In the second dream, there are many factors contributing the to interpretation. First, where the dream takes place: my childhood home. A childhood home can represent your past (See Dreaming of a House).  Secondly, my cat. I see my cat representing a spiritual guide (See Dreaming of Cats). I was uncomfortable about her transforming into a rabbit and the magic involved in that. It did not seem she was happy with being a rabbit and I was afraid to lose her. So, while the image of the white rabbit represents luck coming, maybe I feel like it will not be within my control or that I have to control it somehow? Lots to think about. I should try going back into the dream and seeing where the white rabbit might take me. 

"Depend on the Rabbit's Foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit!" - R. E. Shay

Dreaming of a Dark Cloud

In my dream, I am part of a Chinese family. There is a mom, dad, two younger kids and a grandma. We have come out of our apartment in the city and we are running down the street. The streets are crowded with others doing the same thing. I can see there is a dark, ominous cloud moving towards the city and threatening to blanket it. The dad can sense our worry. He looks up at the cloud, shrugs and says, "So what if the cloud separates us. You will make new friends wherever you go." I felt reassured then.
Photo by Lynn Grayling


Cloud Symbols in Dreams

 Cloud symbols in dreams usually represent feelings. For example, a fluffy white cloud can symbolize happiness while an ominous, dark cloud can represent feelings of oppression.

Dark Clouds As Images of Bad Luck

Traditionally, dark clouds and rainy days were seen as bad omens. For instance, getting married on anything but a sunny day would foretell of bad luck for the marriage. In real life, you might be feeling, literally, that you are living "under a dark cloud" of bad luck.

Dark Clouds Representing Feelings of Oppression

Sometimes in cartoon strips, a depressed character is seen with a dark, scribbly cloud over them in a bubble. Dark clouds can represent feelings of depression, oppression and apprehension that the dreamer has in waking life. The predominate image in this dream for me was the dark cloud. In my dream I felt like it meant that something bad was coming.

The Sun Breaking Through

If you dream of dark clouds but then in the dream the sunshine breaks through, this would be considered a good omen. It could represent that you will be able to break through whatever you are dealing with in real life. It connotes feelings of hope about a situation.

Although the sun didn't break through in my dream, the reassuring words of the father figure did. I took it to mean that while there might be trouble coming, I would be okay no matter what happened.

An interesting side note is that lately I have been reading about the Tao Te Ching so that's probably why the Chinese family and father figure sage with his wise Tao-like advice made an appearance:)

Dreaming of a Hotel

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I'm in an expensive city hotel. In my room there are girls I went to high school with. Some of them are in the jacuzzi that is in the middle of the room. I feel insecure and judged.


While dreaming of a house suggests exploration of your inner psyche, dreaming of a hotel can represent occupation with your external more public self. It could mean you desire an escape from yourself or that you are in, or wish to be in, a more unsettled, temporary situation.

The condition of the hotel you dream about could shed some more light on the meaning of your dream. If your hotel is chic and expensive you could be desirous of these things in your life. Whereas, a hotel in an old, or dilapidated condition could represent unhappiness with your material possessions.

Hotels are public places and in your dreams will usually be populated with people in your life, ranging from family members to acquaintances, to strangers you may have seen. In my dream above, being in a hotel room with classmates from high school gives me an opportunity to sort out feelings of insecurity I might have in my daily life.

Dreaming of a Cat

Last night both my daughters had dreams about our cat. Here is one:
"In my dream our black cat got out of our house and was on the road. I was afraid my mom was going to run over her. The cat lay down like she was dead but she wasn't. She leaped up and did a star jump and then jumped into a tree. Then a little white cat with one blue and one green eye was helping us find her."

Cats, like other animals that appear in dreams, often take the form of a helper or guide. (See Dreaming of a Bear). The qualities that cats show, like stealth, independence, curiousity, and the will to survive, can suggest qualities that we need to cultivate in ourselves.


Jung saw cats as a symbol of our secretive or hidden nature. Cats most often appear to women in dreams and suggest womanly or goddess like aspects. (For example, Bast the Egyptian Cat Goddess that has two sides - one devious and one helpful).

In my daughter's dream, the cat represented a pet. Pets symbolize unconditional love while a dead pet represents a loss of innocence or the end of childhood. For a child to dream of a pet suggests feelings of dependency or desiring love from a parent.

I think that in my preteen daughter's dream, the black cat represents her ambivalent feelings of dependency on me (her mother). She might feel like she is struggling with these feelings but the transformation of the cat (the star jump and jump into the tree where she can't be found or touched) suggest feelings of independence. The little white cat seems to represent a helper animal (and coincidentally resembles a pet I had in childhood) that could help her to feel comforted and safe.

Has anyone else had a Cat Dream they would like to share? Or dreams about pets?