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What are smelling dreams about?

Smelling is a sense we use to experience the world. Smells can be very immediate and strong. They can be distant and weak. This symbol is identified by words like aroma, stink, odor, etc.

Smelling in dreams is a relatively uncommon dream symbol, occuring in about 1.2% of dreams. That's about 1 out of every 85 dreams.

What are the major highlights of smelling dreams?

Smelling is a normal dream symbol. Having smelling in a dream changes the dream in the same way as most other dream symbols.

Smelling dreams are friendly

Dreams of smelling have greater increase of friendly interactions within the dream than most other dream symbols. While not all dreams of smelling will be friendly and they can also contain aggressive interactions, dreams of smelling are more likely to have friendly interactions than most other dream symbols. Other symbols that are like this include parts of buildings, accepting, opponents, horrors, weakness, bartenders, asking, erupting, welcoming, and pushing.

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

Explore different elements related to dreams of smelling

Who is in smelling dreams?

Overall, dreams with smelling are less related to characters in dreams. Specifically, dreams of smelling are more related to animals and more related to insects than dreams in general.

Animals

more than usual

Insects

more than usual

Different roles

the same as usual

Fantastic beings

the same as usual

Distant people

the same as usual

Close people

the same as usual

Family

the same as usual

Romantic partners

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

Overall, dreams with smelling are more related to emotions in dreams. Specifically, dreams of smelling are more related to happiness, more related to sadness, and more related to embarrassment than dreams in general. They are less related to fun.

Happiness

more than usual

Sadness

more than usual

Grief and sorrow

the same as usual

Embarrassment

more than usual

Confusion

more than usual

Fear

more than usual

Pain

more than usual

Hatred

the same as usual

Fun

less than usual

Love

more than usual
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Who is in smelling dreams?

Overall, dreams with smelling are aren't really related to places in dreams. Specifically, dreams of smelling are more related to home, more related to work, and more related to magical places than dreams in general.

Home

more than usual

Work

more than usual

Human places

the same as usual

Transportation

the same as usual

Natural places

the same as usual

Magical places

more than usual
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What happens in smelling dreams?

Overall, dreams with smelling are aren't really related to events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of smelling are more related to friendly interactions and more related to disasters than dreams in general.

Aggressive interactions

the same as usual

Friendly interactions

more than usual

Sex

the same as usual

Disasters

more than usual
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How do smelling in dreams related to other dream phenomenon?

Overall, dreams with smelling are more related to dream events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of smelling are more related to lucid dreams, more related to nightmares, and more related to sleeping than dreams in general.

Lucid dreams

more than usual

Nightmares

more than usual

Recurring dreams

the same as usual

Recurring nightmares

the same as usual

Sleep paralysis

the same as usual

Sleeping

more than usual

Waking life

more than usual
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How do smelling in dreams related the senses?

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

Hearing

much more than usual

Smelling

much more than usual

Taste

much more than usual

Vision

more than usual

Touch

much more than usual
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How can you make sense of smelling in dreams?

Smelling dreams are relatively uncommon. Among other things smelling dreams are normally interconnect and friendly.

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

Examples of dreams of smelling

Read some real dream reports of smelling 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.

Prada, Perfume, Flirting, Beatnik, Rapey deja vu and Car won't start

I had this dream a while back, I still think of it, so I was wondering if anyone would care to offer an interpretation?

It's a bit long, so if you need tldr...
- too large for gorgeous dresses
- perfume that transforms my shoulders and arms to paper scales
- flirt with British beatnik in an alley who turns me down cold
- get deja vu of being raped
- car won't start, see bad man behind me.

Still interested? Details below. :-)

I'm in a clothing store browsing for clothes with my friends. There is a new Prada dress that has been released and a steady stream of thin gorgeous girls are literally grabbing the dresses off the rack. I have spiteful fun telling a girl she is a size 10 and watching her get upset she's not a size 8. The dress only comes in a size 8, so I am obviously too large for it. This continues for a while.

There is a glorious shining perfume wall with many beautiful perfumes and I delight in trying them. Then the store is closing and the lights dim. But there's time for just one last perfume.

I quickly find one with little bits of glitter in the bottle, and swiftly sprinkle it over my shoulders and arms. It doesn't really smell much; it's a bit disappointing.

As I exit the shop, I notice that my arms and shoulders are completely covered with a scale-like covering of little squares of silver paper. I laugh to myself.

I see a somewhat scruffy beatnik looking man smoking a cigarette watching me. I grin and ask him, 'Do YOU fancy being covered in glitter?'
He replies with a British accent, 'No... Why would I want that?'
'Oh, you never know,' I reply, flirting.

I walk around a secluded corner, casually picking and rolling off bits of glitter and pieces flutter to the ground.

I'm suddenly on high alert and aware I am dreaming. I remember that in a previous dream, I was viciously raped here. I have forgotten the dream but know it in my body. I don't remember by whom or exactly where, it is a bit like de ja vu- this has all happened before.

I think if I can get to my car, I can drive away fast. There doesn't seem to be anyone close by, so I hop into the car and press the central locking button. But as I look in the rearview mirror, I see that a different man had already hopped into the backseat. The car won't start. I am filled with dread. I try to get out of the car and wake up.

I had this dream a while back, I still think of it, so I was wondering if anyone would care to offer an interpretation?

It's a bit long, so if you need...

Source | Show dream

Horrifying dream

On mobile, so sorry if the formatting is weird.

All night I had a terrifying nightmare that felt so real. I’d wake up from it, hazy and scared shitless, and go back to sleep hoping for a different dream, only to return to that nightmare.

So it started off with me in my bed in my room where I was sleeping. I got up and was walking around my room, and as I walked up to my dresser I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Up from the ceiling a dark figure with glowing white eyes and no other facial features phased into existence, almost like it passed through the ceiling from another world. Frightened, I fell back and reached for my phone. I snapped a couple pictures of it and it disappeared. I went back to sit on my bed and look at the pictures in shock. As I opened my photo gallery, the first photo was a person I don’t recognize, the second was that entity, but it was different. It was *smiling* in the picture. But this horrifyingly creepy ass glowing white smile that made me drop my phone.

At this point I woke up and looked around my room, sweaty and drooling. Seeing nothing, I wiped my mouth and went back to sleep. I awoke in my dream in the same spot I fell asleep again, and stared at the same corner with concern. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t move. I started to panic, and the entity phased through the ceiling again, this time I felt like it was taunting me. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t get any words out. I remember thinking to myself “I need to get up. I need to sage the house, I need sage, I need something to get rid of this evil.” (Which is strange for me, because I’ve never saged my house or done anything of the sort.)

I snapped awake again, this time freezing cold. I got up to use the restroom and thought about the dream a bit. Then curled up under my blankets trying to push my mind in a different direction for a nicer, less uncomfortable dream.

Nope. This time I woke up in my dream I wasn’t in my house. I was circling a random drive thru restaurant, and as soon as I questioned where I was and why I was there I teleported back to my room. The entity came out of the wall more this time around, it had a long body and had long black stringy hair. It’s hair seemed to drip off of it like an oily slime almost. It got closer and closer to me and I couldn’t move at all. When it approached the bed, I smelled something absolutely horrid and snapped awake. I didn’t go back to sleep after that.

I’m honestly terrified to sleep tonight.

On mobile, so sorry if the formatting is weird.

All night I had a terrifying nightmare that felt so real. I’d wake up from it, hazy and scared shitless, and...

Source | Show dream

Dated an ugly red haired man and cheated on him with my current boyfriend

There is a TL;DR at the end so if you don’t want to read, and

I was sitting in a school courtyard, hugging and kissing my current boyfriend, Sandy. From my side, there is a guy whining that I never hug him. The guy has red hair and freckles and honestly he looks ugly but I assume me and my current boyfriend broke up in dream but we still were attracted to each other even though I was dating someone new. In the dream I wanted to break up with the red head man, who I have never met before in my life, but I felt guilty about potentially using him so I didn’t want to break it off yet. I did not like him more than pity him though. I will call the red head, Steve.
The bell rings and the boys leave, while two of my girl friends walk me to my class. I care deeply for both, there is none of the red head “I only pity you” stuff going on with my friends. However, I rarely talk to one because she might be depressed and doesn’t answer the phone, we will call her, Sofia, while the other is my best friend, Usagi (She loves Sailor Moon). As we walk to class, the sky goes dark with clouds and as the rain falls, lightning nearly strikes us. We run to the furthest building possible, me carrying Sofia at one point while she says she’s going to vomit. The lightning nearly strikes four times before we make it to a building with cover. I keep carrying Sofia and she throws up on my back. I’m annoyed but I understand. Usagi promises to care for her on their way to class and both leave.
When I go to class, I ask for a spare sweater or jacket since my shirt is nasty. It smells awful for obvious reasons. My friend, Aaron, offers up his sweatshirt and I take it going to the bathroom. It’s a girls bathroom but it appears both men and women are inside studying French. I studied French in high school and I am afraid I can’t speak well so naturally they speak it better than me. I then lose my phone somehow while changing out of my shirt. I try to find it when an old man begins cleaning the faucet and when I smile commending him for his work, he smiles back.
I then just end up in a car in a parking lot with Sandy, my real boyfriend. I don’t remember what happened except I ended up being chased by a bull and had to find my way back inside even though I don’t remember why I got out in the first place. I can’t remember anything else so I think it ended there.

TL;DR
• Two boyfriends, one I am dating in real life, one that is ugly and doesn’t exist but apparently I’m cheating on him with my real boyfriend
• Two friends, one needs to be carried and throws up when I carry her
• Lightning storm
• I get chased by a bull
• Lose my phone while changing shirts

There is a TL;DR at the end so if you don’t want to read, and

I was sitting in a school courtyard, hugging and kissing my current boyfriend, Sandy. From my...

Source | Show dream

Blood Rice

I dreamed I was lost in some foreign country and the locals were trying to help me. I was starving and they made this rice dish for me.

One of the seasonings was something they called "blood powder". It was blood red and smelled like garlic and something sweet, cloves maybe. It didn't mix with the rice, or the oil, or the vegetables when they tried to stir it in, it just sat in the bottom of the bowl.

1 cup rice, boiled
2 Boiled chicken legs, the meat cut into slivers.
1 carrot, julienne cut and sauteed
Half an onion, cut into rings and sauteed
Half a celery stalk, cut small and sauteed
A few kidney beans? boiled
Black pepper
Red pepper flakes
Olive oil and salt
A lot of "Blood powder"

I ate some, thanked my hosts, gave them some money to pay for the meal, and woke up.

I dreamed I was lost in some foreign country and the locals were trying to help me. I was starving and they made this rice dish for me.

One of the seasonings...

Source | Show dream

Vivid sexual dream with colleague (NSFW)

Before I begin I want to say that this colleague is 14 years older than me, and I never saw her in a sexual way. I sort of playfully flirt since we’re the only single people at work.

So I had this dream I’m at a tropical resort. I’m relaxing in a secluded spot in a stone bath. The water is nearly full to the brim, there’s fern trees, bamboo shoots around the area making it more secluded. The bath seems to be rather milky coloured with white and pink hibiscus flowers floating in it. And a rock statue of an owl watching over the secluded bath.

And then my colleague turns up and disrobes beside the bathtub. She gives me a brief smile as she drops the bathrobe. I see her full curvy figure, a nice thick bush, and a large chest with some sagging . She joins me in the bath, there is like a large banana leaf as like a towel mat... and I’m absolutely aroused by the sight of her.

As she gets in I feel her pubic mound brush briefly against my erect penis. She stares at me with a smirk as she bathes and massages her chest, and says: “you are safe now.”

She’s plays and massages my penis which feels like it’s growing and I noticed as she has gotten into the milky bath her breast look more firm and bigger. There is a strong aroma of honey and coconut in the air too.

My colleague then gives me the most amazing blowjob to which I cum in her mouth and on her face.

So this dream happened a few weeks ago. But I’m embarrassed about it, and it’s only the last week or so she is now flirting with me too! And when she does I can’t get that dream out of my minds eye.

Is there more to this? Work has been a bit of a roller coaster lately but I’m just worked up over how vivid it was and the fact she is now flirting a bit with me.

Before I begin I want to say that this colleague is 14 years older than me, and I never saw her in a sexual way. I sort of playfully flirt since we’re the only...

Source | Show dream
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