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?

Dreaming of Hats

I took a crumpled straw hat I owned into the milliner to get fixed. When it was finished I put it on my head and I looked like a Gibson girl, complete with ringlets around my face. I thought I looked very jaunty and nice. image by antiquephotoparlour.com

I think this is the first dream I have ever had of dreaming of a hat but it seems like it would be an important dream symbol.

Dreaming of clothes in general usually have to do with your self image and how you perceive you appear to others. Jung saw hats as a symbol of thought and new ideas while Freud, as usual, saw the hat as a sexual symbol.

Styles of hats can suggest a profession that the dreamer could benefit from learning from (i.e. a nurse's cap could suggest healing while a policeman's hat represents authority). Hats from a different era could suggest to the dreamer that she has, or could develop, qualities that the era is associated with.

In my dream I first thought the hat was in the 1920's style (a period that I have always admired) but when I really looked at it I saw the Gibson Girl. The Gibson Girl was the epitomy of the American feminine ideal of beauty in the late 1800's to early twentieth century. She was upper class and ladylike but also athletic, independent yet tradional. In fact, she would have been the type of woman that the 1920's flapper would have rebelled against with her long, piled up hair and corsetted wasp-waist.

Dreaming of clothing makes sense to me right now as I am feeling judged by my peers. By putting on the Gibson Girl hat symbolizes the qualities that I wish people would see in me (ladylike, traditional) although by nature I identify much more with the twenties girls.

I would be interested to hear other dreams people have had about hats. Please share in the comments below.

Dreaming of Birds

(image by let-it-die)

I am back at my old elementary school, standing on the asphalt and playing a kind of tennis game. In this game someone hits live birds to me and I catch them with my hand. I can feel the soft, warm, fluffiness in my hand and when I move my fingers to look, I see that the bird is a black-headed, white-bodied chickadee. I release each one after I catch them. I feel good.

I am on my backyard deck. One by one three different birds come to land on the railing in a row. There is a pelican, an eagle and a crane. They are all large birds. I wake up feeling like this is a significant symbol.

Since ancient times, birds have been a symbol of transformation and wholeness. The Greeks saw birds as messengers of the Gods and Jung also saw birds as messengers of the unconscious. Freud believed that birds represented the penis (but didn't he see almost everything as representing that part of the anatomy???). To the superstitious, birds can be good omens or bad ones depending on the bird.

Since different types of birds represent different things, in this post I'm going to focus on the birds represented in my own dreams.

In my first dream it is interesting that the colours black and white are representative of ones shadow and expressive side (yin and yang). Chickadees and other small birds can represent children or small miracles. I'm also reminded of the saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." I feel like this dream was speaking to me about the blessings that may be coming my way and I only have to reach out and grab them (and then be willing to gently let them go).

The large birds in my second dream are a powerful unconscious symbol. Eagles can symbolize power and intellect. Cranes represent maternal love and kindness while pelicans symbolize devotion and sacrifice. The fact that these birds came to me in a trinity of three (see my post about "Dreaming of Numbers") is also a powerful symbol of unity and wholeness. Unfortunately, since this is a dream I had many years ago, I can't remember what was going on in my life at the time but I think it might have been a message more about the universe and universal truths than it was about me.

Please share your own dreams about birds in the comments below.

Do People Speak the Truth in Dreams?

I dreamt I woke up and was in bed next to someone I had a relationship with. The bedsheets were white and sun was pouring into the room. My hair was in a ponytail and he was playfully pulling on my hair. Thinking he was feeling loving towards me, I snuggled up to him but then he pulled my ponytail tightly and said in a menacing voice, "One day I'm going to strangle you in this bed."

In my dream I woke up, realized it was a dream, and ran down the hall to tell someone (I was in a dormitory). I knocked on the door of a man and when he opened the door I started to tell him my dream because I needed his help. He was busy and didn't want to be disturbed and said "What the fuck?" That's when I stopped and realized that the man I was going to tell the dream to was actually the same man I was in bed with. I felt disturbed when I realized that obviously I couldn't get help from him (against himself).

This was a disturbing dream to me on many levels. It seemed so real. So the man said he was going to "strangle me in my bed". What does this mean? I could take it literally which is very horrifying and a clear warning that he will physically harm me (or even kill me).

Maybe it has a more figurative meaning like, strangle - prevent me from talking or expressing myself. Seems to fit in with the second part of the dream where I realized that I couldn't tell him what was bothering me.

What about the two men that were the same man? Two different sides? Maybe one light? (bathed in sunlight pretending to be loving) and one dark (the man that says "What the fuck?")What he appears to be and what he actually is?

I'm ending a relationship with this man right now so either this is the truth (about him and the situation - I feel like he's trying to manipulate me) or it is what I think he is/wants to do.

So if someone tells you something in a dream is it true? In dreams people sometimes say things that sound like Alice in Wonderland jibberish, but look how often those crazy words of the Cheshire cat actually meant something meaningful and deep! Or am I putting words in someone else's mouth and he's saying what I just want or expect to hear?

I'm not sure, but I do think that because I remembered this dream and it had such an impact on me, there is probably truth in what he was saying. I think I need to trust what my subconscious is trying to tell me. Anyone else have any other ideas?

Dreams About Aliens (and Guns)

image by Really Japan.com

In my dream I am in a basement bedroom that looks like it belongs to a teenage boy. I am with some other people. In front of me there are three small aliens (the grey men kind). I know they are threatening so I pull out a large, black gun. I point it at them and try to shoot but nothing happens. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right so I try again and again. Still nothing. Maybe the gun isn't loaded? Nothing works. A girl beside me then points out that the stuff I was doing with the gun actually vapourized the aliens and they are now gone. I'm relieved.

I have to preface the dream intepretation by saying that I do think this dream was composed of a few different images that I had recently seen in real life. The aliens resembled the ones in the movie "Escape to Planet Earth" which I saw on the weekend and the part about the gun seemed like it was taken from "Stand By Me" that I just watched yesterday. Some people think that is all dreams are - just a series of random images from your daily life that float around in your unconscious at night.Personally, I think that our minds are always trying to create a meaningful story so that's why I still think this dream has something to say to me.

Aliens have become kind of a modern archetypal image. Freud himself might have coined the concept as he discussed the idea of "alien" as whatever is unfamiliar, foreign or uncanny. Jung had a huge interest in the whole alien/UFO phenomena, putting forth the idea that the symbol of aliens is a modern archetype that has superseded the archetypes of angels or demons of the previous Christian Era. In a sense, aliens are our new gods and we project our feelings of insecurity, fears and wanting to be saved on to them.

Dreaming of aliens might mean you actually feel "alienated" or disconnected from people in your life. If you find the aliens threatening, you could be afraid of losing your home or feel like you are being "invaded" on a personal level.It usually has to do with getting in touch with the part of yourself that doesn't feel like it belongs.

The number three is an important symbol in dreams that I have discussed previously. It means a unity of body, mind and spirit.

Freud famously had alot to say about guns being a phallic symbol that could represent power or impotence depending on whether or not it goes off. Generally, a gun represents feelings of aggression/passive agression or authority/dependence. You feel like you need to defend yourself or act agressively towards someone or a situation.


My dream suggests that I felt like I had to confront some "alien" aspect of myself which was hard to do. Even though I was trying to conquer this thing, I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere. But it turns out that what I was doing actually worked or else that the threat went away by itself. I like dreams where I have to confront something and I'm successful.

Have you had any alien dreams? Feel free to share them below.

Dreaming of a Bear

I am in a forest. There is a wolf like creature stalking me. But then I am on the back of a large, shaggy, brown bear. It runs with me out of the forest and into a suburban cul-de-sac. I am safe.

Many people subscribe to the belief of totem animals. Some North American First Nations groups believe that dreaming of particular animals represent the unconscious side of ourselves. Since I've dreamed of bears a few times, I think the bear is one of my totem animals. (According to a psychic, butterflies are another of mine...).

In dreams bears can symbolize a protective mother figure (as portrayed in the Disney movie "Brave"). It can also represent independence or strength. The emotional qualities we tend to associate with the bear are grouchiness and a fierce temper. You do not want to confront an angry bear!

Freud saw dreaming of wild animals as the expression of our basest nature, the beast within. Jung,on the other hand, saw animals as a source of guidance when they appear in dreams.

Helpful animals represent the unconscious part of ourselves that we need to access, perhaps to solve a waking life situation. Talking animals can impart wisdom that we need to hear.

In my dream, there was also the wolf image that I felt threatened by and coincidently, a wolf does represent a threatening aspect (people or situations). So I think the dream was telling me that I do have the inner stregth and bravery to confront the things that threaten me.

Have you ever had a dream about a bear? What do you think about the idea of Totem Animals? Let me know and comment below.

Dreaming of A Snake

image by Leo Reynolds

A huge, thick snake is wrapped around my throat. It is choking me. I can't breathe.

Recently, a relative shared this dream with me at a family gathering and loudly asked me what the snake symbolized. As the room grew quiet, I nervously hemmed and hawwed because the only interpretation I could think of about snakes is the one that they are a phallic symbol. I thought this would be awkward to share in a multi-generational situation!

However, upon further research, I see that the snake symbol can be representative of many things in dreams. To start with the obvious, yes the snake can be a phallic symbol (thank you Freud!) where you dream of a snake overtaking your body in someway. It could mean wish fulfillment (i.e. you want sex) or you could be repulsed by it. This could show your true feelings about the relationship you are in at the moment.

Snakes in dreams can have positive or negative correlations. The snake can be a symbol of modern medicine (healing) and is also the alchemical symbol Ouroboros which means transformation and spiritual growth. "Shedding one's skin" is something snakes do which also refers to change and transformation.

Snakes can also represent negative feelings of fear. Many people are afraid of snakes. They have been represented as Satan or a figure of evil. We refer to people who betray us a "snakes". Dreaming of a snake could mean you are feeling anxious or fearful about something (usually relationship related) or someone.

So, my relative's dream might mean she feels suffocated by a relationship she has. As it was, at the time, I murmured vaguely about the snake symbol having many meanings and it depends on the point of view of the dreamer. But next time I see her, I'll refer her to this post!

Note: In my post Dreaming of Frogs you can see in the comments that lots of people have dreamt about the frog and snake symbol together. As the frog is also a symbol of transformation, that would suggest that the snake would be also. Kind of a double-whammy of symbolism to make you really pay attention!