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What are fear dreams about?

Fear is an emotional response to danger or perceived danger. FeIt quickens our heart rate and can sharpen focus. However, it has been said that 'fear is the mind killer'. Fear is often involuntary. This symbol is identified by words like afraid, scared, fearful, etc.

Fear in dreams is a frequent dream symbol, occuring in about 22% of dreams. That's about 1 out of every 5 dreams.

What are the major highlights of fear dreams?

Fear is a very interconnected dream symbol. Having fear in a dream substantially changes the nature of the dream.

Dreams of fear are emotional

Fear have substantially more emotions than other dream symbols. It is particularly surprising. Other symbols that are like this include jury members, anger, Croatia, senses, places, speaking, feelings, happiness, relief, and general thinking.

Dreams of fear are aggressive

Fear dreams have more aggressive interactions than a lot of other dream symbols. This doesn't mean that all fear have aggressive interactions or only aggressive interactions. It simply means that having fear in a dream increases the probability this dream contains aggression. Other symbols that are like this include hunting, cars, testicles, avalanches, bankers, Bolivia, squids, war, creatures, and fear.

Dreams with fear might be a nightmare

Dreams of fear are frequently associated with nightmares. Of course dreams that contain fear might not be a nightmare. Plenty of dreams with fear are not nightmares. But, dreams of fear are more related to nightmares than 80% of all other dream symbols. Other symbols that are like this include trying to scream, family homes, mosquitoes, rooms, sleep paralysis, unconscious minds, skeletons, guest rooms, bedrooms, and molesting.

How does the dream symbol of fear affect the different aspects of a dream?

Explore different elements related to dreams of fear

Who is in fear dreams?

Overall, dreams with fear are less related to characters in dreams. Specifically, dreams of fear are more related to fantastic beings than dreams in general. They are less related to different roles, less related to distant people, and less related to close people.

Animals

the same as usual

Insects

the same as usual

Different roles

less than usual

Fantastic beings

more than usual

Distant people

less than usual

Close people

less than usual

Family

the same as usual

Romantic partners

the same as usual
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What are the emotions in fear dreams?

Overall, dreams with fear are much more related to emotions in dreams. Specifically, dreams of fear are more related to confusion and more related to pain than dreams in general. They are less related to sadness, less related to embarrassment, and less related to fear.

Happiness

the same as usual

Sadness

less than usual

Grief and sorrow

the same as usual

Embarrassment

less than usual

Confusion

more than usual

Fear

much more than usual

Pain

more than usual

Hatred

the same as usual

Fun

less than usual

Love

less than usual
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Who is in fear dreams?

Overall, dreams with fear are aren't really related to places in dreams. Specifically, dreams of fear are more related to home and more related to magical places than dreams in general. They are less related to work, less related to human places, and less related to transportation.

Home

more than usual

Work

less than usual

Human places

less than usual

Transportation

less than usual

Natural places

the same as usual

Magical places

more than usual
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What happens in fear dreams?

Overall, dreams with fear are more related to events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of fear are more related to aggressive interactions than dreams in general. They are less related to sex.

Aggressive interactions

more than usual

Friendly interactions

the same as usual

Sex

less than usual

Disasters

the same as usual
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How do fear in dreams related to other dream phenomenon?

Overall, dreams with fear are much more related to dream events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of fear are more related to lucid dreams, much more related to nightmares, and more related to recurring dreams than dreams in general.

Lucid dreams

more than usual

Nightmares

much more than usual

Recurring dreams

more than usual

Recurring nightmares

much more than usual

Sleep paralysis

much more than usual

Sleeping

much more than usual

Waking life

the same as usual
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How do fear in dreams related the senses?

Overall, dreams with fear are more related to senses in dreams. Specifically, dreams of fear are more related to hearing and more related to vision than dreams in general. They are less related to taste.

Hearing

more than usual

Smelling

the same as usual

Taste

less than usual

Vision

more than usual

Touch

the same as usual
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How can you make sense of fear in dreams?

Fear dreams are frequent. Among other things fear dreams are very postively interconnected, very emotional, aggressive, and nightmare.

Do you think this is true for your dream of fear? How might your dream of fear 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 fear 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 fear in dreams. See how you feel about fear now, in your waking life.

What are possible meanings for dreams of fear?

Dreams make connections between similar ideas, situations, and emotions, so fearing something in a dream can connect with something else you fear. For example, fearing a boa constrictor in a dream can symbolize fear that a new job will constrict your lifestyle. Looking with fear over the edge of a tall building can symbolize fear of risk. It’s a physical representation.

Fear in a dream can connect with facing a situation that brings up feelings of fear, such as a health scare, the death of someone close to you, observing something disturbing, or trying something new. It is common for fear to be sparked by anything that gets you out of your comfort zone, situations you have never dealt with previously. One reason children stop having frequent nightmares around age thirteen is that by then their comfort zone is bigger.

Fear in dreams can connect with phobias and fears such as of heights or failure. A dream will create a scenario that sparks fear and help you work through it. For example, a man dreams that a co-worker traps a big hairy spider in a glass jar. The co-worker holds up the jar and wants him to look at it, and he says, “No way!” The spider looks huge inside the jar, as if magnified by the glass. It’s a way of symbolizing that the dreamer’s fear of spiders is overblown. And the co-worker is used to create contrast with the dreamer because she’s a fearless type and the dreamer admires that about her.

Feelings of fear in dreams can reflect something you fear about yourself. Perhaps something frightening comes out of you during certain situations, such as during confrontations or when you are really fatigued. See: Monster

Or you fear something about yourself of which you’re only vaguely aware. It’s quite common for repressed, neglected, or unwanted parts of oneself to take form in dreams as scary characters, and for scary dream situations to reflect fear of finding out that you are more—or less—than what you think you are. The ego protects its turf and will hold onto beliefs about itself despite evidence to the contrary. It can be quite scary to confront your illusions and cherished beliefs.

It can also be scary to find out you are capable of more than you thought, because along with it comes an expectation that you’ll leave your comfort zone and live up to your potential.

See also: Coworkers, Egos, Emotions, Enemies, Evil, Heroes, Monster, Opponents, Panic, Screaming

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 fear

Read some real dream reports of fear 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.

dreamt of Lucifer being a god & God being the devil

i had a dream where i was driving to my grandmother’s house & looked up at the sky to see Lucifer was in the sky and God was basically in hell. Lucifer’s horns were the shape of clouds but he was still in heaven and then God was on fire, so he was in hell (in my dream— i’m trying to be more specific about how it was). we all know it’s the other way around in real life and yet in my dream it was the opposite. and then as i was driving, God begins to chase our car and then he turns back around— he “turns his back on me” as i thought in the dream. i woke up from this dream at exactly 4:44AM. what could this possibly mean? i do believe in God. i pray to him all the time and he blesses me so i am quite confused, although as of lately i have been questioning Him but who doesn’t ??? but i also believe in the Universe— i practice spirituality, all the while believing in the Christian God because that is how things work for me. i have never had a dream of such entities until tonight and i am a bit afraid to go back to sleep because i don’t want to dream it again... if anyone could maybe give me insight on what this could POSSIBLY mean, please please let me know.

i had a dream where i was driving to my grandmother’s house & looked up at the sky to see Lucifer was in the sky and God was basically in hell. Lucifer’s...

Source | Show dream

Vivid Trump nightmare last night woke me up this morning, and now the news that just broke is terrifying me.

I woke up before 4 a.m. this morning because I had an ultra vivid dream in which I had the birds eye view to bombs being dropped under President Trump’s directive.

He said he would make the earth a new moon, meaning he would make new craters on the earth’s surface to make the planet resemble the moon. He was retaliating against something... I couldn’t do anything but watch the bombs fall as if I were sitting in the plane staring out from its underbelly.

In the later half of the dream, I was running with a hoard of others, many injured, a lot of amputees, a lot of burn victims, many crawling all of us together running from some blast zone. The women next to me kept shaking her hands while she crawled because the burns on them made it hard for her to pull herself along.

Many we passed were lying in pieces. Everybody was shuffling together at once. It was so horrific I woke up and didn’t go back to sleep for hours.

Hoping to sleep tight tonight, but not at all optimistic.

I woke up before 4 a.m. this morning because I had an ultra vivid dream in which I had the birds eye view to bombs being dropped under President Trump’s...

Source | Show dream

I saw the creator of the universe

I had a dream that seemed more like a vision.

I was in the most colorful galaxy with a rainbow of colors lighting up the stars and faraway planets. Then in the middle was what I somehow knew to be the creator and center of it all. I suppose you could say a god but that term didn't come to me during my dream.

The creator was a black shadowy figure seated in lotus pose. It just looked like a dark black shadow with no defining features against the brilliant rainbow Galaxy.

Then they spoke to me, the creator in what sounded like many people simultaneously talking said "you need to.."

So I kept asking, "I need to what?", " What do I need to do?" And the creator just kept saying "you need to" and nothing more

During my dream I remember being at peace and happy, but when I woke up I was scared bc I had never experienced such a realistic and unusual dream before.

I'm not sure what to make of this and what "I need to" do?

I had a dream that seemed more like a vision.

I was in the most colorful galaxy with a rainbow of colors lighting up the stars and faraway planets. Then in...

Source | Show dream

What's everybody's earliest dream that you can remember?

Scary or thrilling is preferred, but anything is fine as long as it's significant to you.... Mine was about a knock off Ronald McDonald that wore brown yellow and white instead of the usual red yellow and white. He had nasty teeth and made a weird noise that I can't spell. Kind of like a laughing gurgling sound. I would be chased around the outside of a skyscraper on a ledge only about 2 feet wide. When I would get to a corner I would have to slow down to round the corner and that's where he would always almost get me.

Scary or thrilling is preferred, but anything is fine as long as it's significant to you.... Mine was about a knock off Ronald McDonald that wore brown yellow...

Source | Show dream

A dream about Lucifer

I'd like to start off by saying I'm not a religious person. I would never deny anyone their own beliefs but I myself find I don't need religion to help get through day to day life. I believe in the golden rule and the possibility of a higher power both good or evil but I don't have a specific religion I'd stake my faith in. That being said I had a dream last night that has me a bit curious.
In my dream was at my grandmother's house and lots of my family were there. Although I can't remember exactly who. They are all Christian though which is part of why this dream seemed so odd to me. Anyway, I was sitting on a couch talking to someone next to me, and somehow we end up talking about the Value of Death. I said something along the lines of "This thing (with which I don't recall) is worth the death of many people." And just after having said that I felt an intense static in my legs and then was totally paralyzed. I panicked a bit and told the people around me amd everyone got silent and just stared at me. Then I felt a very suddenly intense pain radiating from my neck throughout the rest of my body which just kept pulsating and never dulled. It caused me to scream but still everyone was silent. Then I felt something, as I'd there were someone leaning into my ear to whisper, but no one was there. And what I heard was quite frightening but I lack the proper words to describe it. Something far worse than impish nonsense but that's the best description I could give. And then nothing. I was telling everyone what was happening and one of my aunts, I'm not certain which one, said we should give Him a call. Then proceeded to take a phone to another room. When she came back a very handsome man, in dark clothing was behind her. He glanced down at me very briefly and then began to survey the room around him as I'd it were a bloody crime scene. For a moment I even saw it from his perspective and it was quite a mess. Then he told me his name was Lucifer and gave me a kind smile. Next he said "A devil of greed had bitten me." Staring at the wall by the TV as if he were looking through it he began to explain that my mention of the Value of Death, the devil was nearby and listening. However when it realized there was nothing a "value" around me it threw a tantrum much like a child, which is why it had bitten me. But apparently it took off in a hurry. Lucifer then leaned down and placed a kiss on top of my head and the pain and paralysis disappeared instantaneously. He smiled kindly at me once more and told me that I would be alright and needn't worry. Then he was gone. As if he had never been there at all, everyone around me began moving and talking again. But all I could think about was how my aunt was able to get ahold of Lucifer himself via phone. Why she would have contact with him as she's very Christian and would never associate with The Devil so casually as if she needed his help? Then I began to wonder if something like this happened again how would I get ahold of him myself to help me. And when I woke up I was in a state of shock. Anyone have an ideas why I would dream of such a thing so randomly?

I'd like to start off by saying I'm not a religious person. I would never deny anyone their own beliefs but I myself find I don't need religion to help get...

Source | Show dream
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