What are animal dreams about?
Animals are a part of life, they can symbolize life outside of the human experience. There are domestic animals that we call our pets and consider family. There are animals that live in the wild. This symbol is identified by words like snake, snakelike, lion, etc.
Animals in dreams is a frequent dream symbol, occuring in about 21% of dreams. That's about 1 out of every 5 dreams.
What are the major highlights of animal dreams?
Animals is an interconnected dream symbol. Having animals in a dream changes the dream more than most other dream symbols.
Animal dreams are very social
Dreams of animals contain more characters than most other dream symbols. While dreams are often about other people and social relationships, dreams of animals are especially related to having lots of characters. Other symbols that are like this include ducks, deer, my children, employees, romantic partners, family, things, evil, strangers, and presidents.
What symbols more present in dreams of animals?
What symbols less present in dreams of animals?
Animal dreams are notable because they have substantially less boyfriends, seeing a dead grandmother, former partners, crushes, teeth falling out, relationship events, seeing a dead friend, kissing, infidelity, precognitive dreams, social media, romantic partners, menstruation, break ups, falling in love, schools, Donald Trump, pregnancy tests, sex, being shot, burglary, calluses, El Salvador, Estonia, Morocco, Kuwait, Algeria, ovations, seeing a dead mother, recurring dreams, flirting, jealousy, characters, animals, seeing a dead father, suicide, dating, seeing a dead grandfather, fiances, long times, pastors, girlfriends, weddings, instagram, waking life, classmates, sexuals acts, overdoses, car crashes, friends, nose bleeds, raping, lucid dreams, and abortions than 95% of other dream symbols.
What are the symbols that help define animals?
The symbol of animals in dreams is highly related to alligators, antelopes, apes, baboons, bears, birds, boars, bobcats, buffaloes, bulls, camels, cats, chicken, cows, creatures, crocodiles, crows, deer, dinosaurs, dogs, dolphins, donkeys, ducks, eagles, eels, elephants, fish, foxes, frogs, geese, general animals, giraffes, goats, gorillas, hamsters, hawks, hippos, horses, hummingbirds, hyenas, jackals, kittens, leopards, lions, lizards, mice, monkeys, octopus, owls, panthers, pheasants, pigs, ponies, puppies, pythons, rabbits, raccoons, rats, ravens, reptile, rodents, roosters, scorpions, seals, sharks, sheep, skunks, snakes, sparrows, squids, squirrels, stags, tigers, turkeys, turtles, vultures, weasels, whales, wolves, and zebras.
How does the dream symbol of animals affect the different aspects of a dream?
Explore different elements related to dreams of animals
Who is in animals dreams?
Overall, dreams with animals are much more related to characters in dreams. Specifically, dreams of animals are more related to insects, much more related to fantastic beings, and more related to close people than dreams in general. They are less related to animals, less related to different roles, and less related to distant people.
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What are the emotions in animals dreams?
Overall, dreams with animals are less related to emotions in dreams. Specifically, dreams of animals are less related to happiness, less related to sadness, and less related to grief and sorrow.
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Who is in animals dreams?
Overall, dreams with animals are less related to places in dreams. Specifically, dreams of animals are less related to work, less related to human places, and less related to transportation.
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What happens in animals dreams?
Overall, dreams with animals are less related to events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of animals are less related to friendly interactions and less related to sex.
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How do animals in dreams related to other dream phenomenon?
Overall, dreams with animals are less related to dream events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of animals are less related to lucid dreams and less related to waking life.
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How can you make sense of animals in dreams?
Animal dreams are frequent. Among other things animal dreams are positively interconnected and very social.
Do you think this is true for your dream of animals? How might your dream of animals be different?
All dreams have meaning
You can gain insight from thinking about any dream, no matter how strange. Only you, as the dreamer, have final say on what your dream may or may not mean. Each dream is unique.
Look for the differences
The DreamWell dictionary provides information on how each dream symbol appears in dreams in general. Finding how experience animals in dreams can be a key to understanding its meaning.
Return to the feelings
Our emotions in dreams can help us understand its meaning. Pay attention to how you felt in the dream. Pay attention to how you feel about animals in dreams. See how you feel about animals now, in your waking life.
What are possible meanings for dreams of animals?
Language is full of sayings such as “proud as a lion,” “slippery as a fish,” and “free as a bird”—rich with symbolism for dreams to use. Dreams bring to life these sayings and use animals to tell stories about you and your life.
For example, a dream about fish dying in a fishbowl symbolically warns of an oncoming urinary-tract infection. The fishbowl symbolizes this person’s bladder, and fish live in water, so the dying fish indicate something wrong with that part of her body. See: Fish
In a dream about finding a white horse in a snowstorm, the horse symbolizes personal strength to move forward under treacherous personal conditions. White animals are commonly messengers of the unconscious mind, and a horse symbolizes strength.
In a dream about three kittens drowned in a pool—but one still alive—kitten-like qualities in the young dreamer are symbolically “killed off,” but the one kitten left alive shows that he is trying to preserve part of himself from extinction—the playful, kitten-like side of himself succumbing to teenage peer pressure to toughen up.
Other associations can be made with fish, horses, and kittens, though. For instance, if your only experience with a horse is when one kicked you, then you aren’t as likely to dream about it in a good context. What an animal in your dream means to you matters more than pat definitions like the kind found in typical dream dictionaries!
Consider the characteristics and qualities of animals that appear in your dreams. A dog to one person is a loyal companion; to another it’s a noisy nuisance. Both are common perceptions—which one fits your dream?
To find out what an animal in your dream means, associate the animal with your experiences, perceptions and feelings. Also consider figures of speech that might apply, and caricatures from books, movies, cartoons, and TV shows that imbue everything from ants to birds to elephants with human qualities and voices. Your experience with, and impressions of, the creatures that appear in your dreams help determine what they symbolize.
Generally, the wilder the creature, the more instinctive or primitive your related emotions or behaviors. We all have instincts reminiscent of certain animals or creatures. For example, rabbits and bulls are notorious for the instinct to mate. Gazelles and deer are known for the instinct to run. Lions and dogs are known for the instinct to protect territory. People have those instincts too.
People are compared to animals and creatures in figures of speech like “stealthy as a cat,” “friendly as a dog,” and “treacherous as a snake.” One image can sum up a person’s behavior or personality. Comparisons to animals can be highly accurate ways of describing what we observe in people—and in ourselves.
Pay attention to the age of the animal. A puppy, cub, or other young animal can represent something new or young in you, or something that needs to mature. An old dog might be a play on the phrase “you old dog,” meaning crafty or clever. It could symbolize an elder figure in your life, or something nearing its end.
Parents of young children are known to dream about baby animals, because comparisons between young children and young animals are easy to make—and in fact are made frequently in media and everyday conversation. For example, a mother might call her child “my little tiger,” then dream about a baby tiger and not realize the relationship between it and her child.
Recurring dreams about abuse of young animals such as puppies and kittens is known as a sign of early childhood abuse.
White animals are an auspicious dream sign when they represent harmony among the conscious mind, the unconscious, and your instincts. Black animals, on the other hand, can be a sign of lacking harmony, or an adversarial relationship with your instincts. However, some animals are naturally white or black—the symbolism applies in situations when the color sticks out as deliberate.
Because the possibilities are so numerous, throughout this dream dictionary are listed specific creatures and what they can symbolize.
And keep in mind, the symbolism of animals in your dreams is given in the context of the dream-story. In other words, the white rabbit you chase down a hole might relate to something rabbit-like about you, like the desire to hide or protect yourself. Or it might be a prop in a story about finding out how deep the rabbit hole really goes.
To explore the symbolism of groups of animals, see: Group.
See also: Alligators, Ambushing, Baboons, Birds, Bulls, Cats, Camels, Caves, Chasing, Chicken, Cows, Creatures, Crowds, Deer, Dogs, Eagles, Eating, Fish, Flying, Foxes, Frogs, Goats, Giraffes, Geese, Gorillas, Groups, Guiding, Kittens, Leopards, Lions, Octopus, Owls, Pets, Pigs, Puppies, Rabbits, Raccoons, Rats, Roosters, Sharks, Stags, Tigers, Turtles, Vultures, Weasels, Whales, Wolves, Youth, Zebras
This interpretation is from ""The Dream Interpretation Dictionary: Symbols, Signs, and Meanings" and is provided by J.M. DeBord aka "RadOwl". He is the author of several acclaimed books about dreaming, the host of The Dreams That Shape Us podcast, and is a moderator of r/Dreams, one of the largest dream sharing communities on the internet.
Examples of dreams of animals
Read some real dream reports of animal dreams.. These real life dream reports come from the moderated dream sharing communities of Reddit including r/Dreams, r/Nightmares, r/DreamInterpretation, or r/thisdreamihad. Please note that some of these may contain graphic, sexual, or violent images and text. Use the source link for each dream to view and join the discussion of each one.
Real weird dream a couple nights ago.
So, it was Christmas night and all through the house, I was sleeping and that’s all I care about. Anyway, I had three dream cycles that nights involving me waking up several times, but right before my second cycle ended the weird ass part of my mind cranked its motor.
It starts out with me walking out to some random patio, an open garden with a frame around it is in the center. While I’m walking down a few steps I start to hear a narration. “Mathematicians have this weird thing, where we scream at each other and then start kissing,” I keep walking and I see iguana size geckos coming out of the garden, and IRL I’m terrified of reptiles, so I try to avoid them. But they all start screaming like people, and the narration continues. “We keep screaming at each other and keep getting louder until one of us is the loudest. We call them the *forgot*,” then when I turn around something behind me licks my ear, makes a smooch noise, and screams like a “REEEEEEEEEEEEE” without the R.
So, it was Christmas night and all through the house, I was sleeping and that’s all I care about. Anyway, I had three dream cycles that nights involving me...
Source | Show dream
I think I may die soon.
I will not tell the entirety of the dream. because most of it had no correlation, I know that.
It was just tests and reality checks, telling me to get my shit together since I'm a grown ass man who can control his ownself.
Now, I will mention an irl fact, I have a problem. I am parasitic. Whether you believe it or don't believe it, it matters little to me.
I can feel pains in my heart, things entering and moving around in my heart. It feels as if things are there, tugging and just moving. A stinging, sometimes.
Thats just to provide context.
Now onto the part of the dream I haven't been able to clearly decipher.
A book opened, and there was a kind of children's fairytale theme to it. There was a picture of a flat 2D grassfield, with the Sun in the sky and grass on the ground. On the ground laid a heart, my heart, I knew that right away. Perfect looking, rhythmically beating soundly.
Then, the Sun fell and the Moon rose. The once perfect heart that laid there was now black and battered. There were holes in it, and a green acidic looking ooze flooding from out of it. It's rhythm was all off, beating faster than its supposed to.
And then, The Sun rose again, and all was normal.
Until it fell again, then the black heart appeared once again.
There were 5 days of light, and 4 nights. The fifth day, a black bird flew in and grabbed my heart by it's beak and descended into the earth, dropping my heart into a lake of fire.
I woke up shortly after, and my heart was beating faster than usual. The Sun hadn't rose yet, but it was still morning.
One detail I forgot to mention, was that the word AVACADO was on The Sun on the fifth day before the bird grabbed my heart. I dont eat, or talk about Avacadoes.
Even writing this now, at night, I can feel my heart aching, beating irrhythmically, feeling ill.
A day passed and at night I prayed and asked what that dream was meant to show me.
I went through a test of some sort, overcoming something I would usually succumb to, and everything went pitch black.
In white letters, the message appeared.
"Learn to read, Troubled One.
Learn to read, quickly.
Learn to read."
Another day has passed, and it is now night.
I don't know what I wanted coming here. Maybe I just wanted to tell someone, get over my loneliness or ask for help. I'm scared but I feel like I shouldn't be.
Oh, something to note, I talk to the Sun for comfort. I call it Mr.Sun, and ask it to carry my prayers and messages to the Lord and Jesus. It's just something I do. I dont know if that carries any meaning, but yeah.
I will not tell the entirety of the dream. because most of it had no correlation, I know that.
It was just tests and reality checks, telling me to get my shit...
Source | Show dream
I dreamt about the real world
It was as if I had seen the real world, not the one that we are in but, a dystopian place where people who consciously dream are locked away for fear of finding the real world. I escaped from the prison to eat my favourite food, chicken schnitzel, due to the fact that in the prison you barely got to eat and a lady (That I knew was guarding the real world trying to catch dreamers) spoke to me and asked me if I was ok, I stared blankly at her, she replied with "Oh good I almost thought you were conscious" with a sinister smile. I heard speak of someone once I had left the restaurant talk about words that would unlock the gates to the prison and let the conscious dreamers be free, I found other dreamers, fell in love and walked amongst the rooftops of cities and through streets for what felt like days. I found myself reaching a pinnacle of a grand tower, that stood above the city and the code words that would set the dreamers free, I returned to the prison, near the restaurant that I had broken into, the same lady spoke to me she was angry with what I had done, that I would let people know of the real world and with the words of power, I let out all the people into the real world and woke up.
It was as if I had seen the real world, not the one that we are in but, a dystopian place where people who consciously dream are locked away for fear of finding...
Source | Show dream
Had a dream when I was 10 with a girl I didn’t know in it. We’re dating now.
I’ll try to keep this as short as possible, I have ADHD and my stories turn into ramblings most of the time.
Anyways.
When I was about 10 or so, I had this dream where me and this random girl were playing and just having fun doing kid stuff. Suddenly I got the urge to tell her “this is a dream, and I can leave whenever I want to. Isn’t that cool?”
She replied with something like “I know.”
So I said “watch this” and in the dream, I closed my eyes and opened them and I was awake (in real life).
Didn’t think much of it.
Come this past June, I was in a town about 4 hours from the one I live in, getting my drivers license photo and all that done since COVID restrictions took them out of my town.
I walked out of the DMV there, and a girl is walking her dog. The dog peed on my moms car door, and she apologized.
We talked for a bit and she asked me for my Snapchat so we could talk some more, which was a first for me since I’m a solid 3/10.
Flash forward a few days later, we’ve been talking, we like each other, decide to hang out in person. She makes the drive up to my town to spend the night.
We spent most of the night just talking about random childhood stories, and I went a grabbed my 3rd grade school picture. Then she told me she had a dream when she was younger about how she was hanging out with a boy, then he said “this is a dream” and left.
She pointed out how younger me looked almost like the kid she had a dream about those years ago.
Well I told her my story of the similar incident, and we concluded we were destined to meet.
I think we both are in agreement that it’s just a scary coincidence, but we both also feel very twilight-zone-y about it now and we aren’t sure if it is a coincidence or some weird fate stuff.
Life is weird, kiddos.
I’ll try to keep this as short as possible, I have ADHD and my stories turn into ramblings most of the time.
Anyways.
When I was about 10 or so, I had this...
Source | Show dream
Today I had a dream where i was fingering a polar bear. And im kinda confused.
So i dont remember the whole dream. I just remember the part where a life-size polar bear enters my grandmas bedroom(for some reason me and a friend where there) and its kinda pissed off, about to eat me. I start panicking and upsetting the bear even more. Then my friend calmly tells me to ,, just finger it". The the bear lied down assuming the position of the missionarie bottom. So i just started fingering the bear, and it god damn tight, like i can hardly put my finger in. after a few minutes i start backing away and and the bear starts getting aggressive. The fear makes me start the action again. Then i just woke up.
So i dont remember the whole dream. I just remember the part where a life-size polar bear enters my grandmas bedroom(for some reason me and a friend where...
Source | Show dream
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