The Dream Dictionary from A to Z [Revised edition]: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams

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Use the explanations offered in the pages that follow for the interpretation of your dream symbols and combine them with your own circumstances to work out an understanding of the likely significance of your dreams. In this way, your innermost feelings, hopes, and fears can be highlighted, hopefully resolving issues in your waking life and enriching it by revealing your hidden strengths and creativity.

Dreams offer you an incredible opportunity to connect to your inner world to illuminate your waking life. They help reveal who you really are, and understanding their true meaning is the beginning of understanding yourself. In the words of Aristotle, ‘knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom’. So, take the time to enjoy the excitement, mystery, wonder, creativity, and pure magic each and every dream brings. Keep your eyes wide open by day and wide shut by night. Dare yourself to discover and believe in yourself and the beauty of your dreams – wherever they may lead you…

A–Z BEDSIDE READER (#ulink_efbb76d8-a898-5bd9-b894-c5be4931f2c2)

(#ulink_e060d2f1-dcbd-5698-9f12-2fd550801615)

ABANDONED PLACES According to Jung, places in dreams where people work or live together, such as villages, towns, and cities, symbolize how you perceive yourself within your community, how well you are fitting in. So if places are abandoned in your dream, like a ghost town or a deserted village, this could mirror feelings of isolation or rejection in your waking life.

See also PLACES.

ABANDONMENT Dream images connected to feelings of abandonment, fear, and loss of control all have some form of conflict as their theme. For example, dreams about missing a bus, train, or plane all point to some kind of tension in the dreamer about failing to achieve a goal. Dreams about being abandoned or left alone by a group of loved ones suggest feelings of anxiety about being left out, or being different from the crowd. Anxiously searching for the right road or path could point to fears about losing your identity. If you are happily wandering alone in your dream, this may suggest a feeling that the source of your problems lies outside yourself. Dreams about anchors and lifeboats also tell of the fight for survival in daily life. If you dream of being lost in dense vegetation, towering trees, or tall reeds, you may feel that your progress is being thwarted by obstacles. As in the tale of Hansel and Gretel, this dream may evoke longing for the comfort and warmth of home.

See also CHILD (abandoned by parents dream) and SEPARATION.

ABDOMEN

See BODY (#ulink_9f2f12e2-5295-5e49-8f1c-8f5fce75fbc2).

ABDUCTION

See KIDNAP (#litres_trial_promo).

ABORIGINAL In dreams, an aboriginal is a symbol of that within you which is unsophisticated and natural. It is the basic, life-affirming energy or intuition within you which may have been repressed by experience; you need to get in touch with this simplicity again to understand yourself or a situation in your waking life better. In short, this dream is urging you to reconnect with your intuition and work with it in your daily life.

ABORTION Dreams about abortion, miscarriages, and stillbirth are likely to leave you feeling traumatized on waking, whether you are pregnant or not. And if you are expecting a baby, such a dream is likely to be a nightmare. If this is the case, your dream was simply playing out your natural feelings of anxiety. However, most dreams about abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth aren’t to be interpreted literally, as they refer to a concept you may have been mulling over, or an idea that is not realizing its potential or is not supported by your confidence or desire. There may be a need to reject a feeling, emotion, belief, or concept that could be problematic in waking life. Decisions need to be taken which will help you get rid of what is no longer wanted in waking life.

How did you feel about the abortion in your dream? If you were distressed, perhaps someone or something is trying to prevent you from succeeding. If you were relieved, your unconscious may be urging you to change direction or change your mind. Perhaps the concept is too demanding or the idea is flawed in some way. On the other hand, the dream may also have referred to something or someone about which you feel guilty. Dreams that focus on miscarriage may have the same interpretation but they may also refer to a miscarriage of justice, especially if you felt anger in your dream. Is someone in your waking life taking the credit you deserve? Stillbirth dreams are in some ways more devastating and sad than dreams about miscarriage, as the baby has been brought to full term with the only element missing being the spark of life. In dreams, a still born baby may represent a talent you have allowed to die, or a relationship that has died due to neglect.

ABOVE

See POSITION (#litres_trial_promo).

ABROAD If you are going abroad or are abroad in your dream, your unconscious is thinking about your own personal freedom or your ability to move freely around your inner and outer worlds. Your dream is giving you an understanding of your feelings toward the widening of your horizons or the making of changes in your life. Pay attention to how you feel in the dream, as this will help you interpret it. The dream could also be about a need to escape from, or leave, a situation, as suggested by the phrase for having a vacation abroad – ‘getting away from it all’. If someone or something arrives from abroad, this represents a change or something new happening in your life. Someone of the opposite sex arriving from abroad indicates hopes for a new relationship or the need for new life to be injected into a current relationship. The dream may also be slang – ‘a broad’ – expressing desire for a particular female.

ABYSS If the deep, precipitous sides of a chasm or large hole threaten to engulf and swallow you up in a dream, or if an abyss suddenly opens up in front of you, transforming a previously pleasant scene into a terrifying one, could your unconscious have been warning you that your position in waking life is not as stable as you might think and that you could be facing unexpected mishaps or pitfalls? Chasms and holes in dreams always suggest an element of the unknown or something in some way risky, and they urge the dreamer to make a decision one way or another in waking life. Perhaps you dreamed of teetering on the brink of a ravine, petrified that you would lose your footing? Such a dream may be warning you that you are in danger of falling into an emotional black hole, out of which you feel powerless to emerge. Also, because the earth is a symbol of the archetypal mother, devouring chasms may represent a devouring maternal figure in your life, intent on dominating you or dragging you under.

ACCIDENTS The traditional interpretation of dreams involving accidents is that we are receiving some kind of warning to be on our guard against possible danger or hidden aggression, either our own or others’. From a psychologist’s point of view, such dreams may highlight anxieties to do with safety or fear of taking responsibility. Spiritual interpretations of such dreams suggest the need for some kind of intervention from an authoritative source.

According to Freud, accidents in dreams, like slips of the tongue in waking life, are not accidents but dream events with a meaning that can help us to unravel the often incomprehensible maneuvers of our unconscious mind. For Jung, accident dreams, as well as offering insights into our unconscious thought processes, can provide a reaction to a traumatic experience or the fear of it. For example, if you were in a car accident or are anxious about having one, you may dream of being involved in one. People who suffered great trauma, such as rape victims or war veterans, may have nightmares that are exactly like, or very similar to, actual life events.

The most commonly accepted theory is that accident dreams show how your unconscious has noticed things that you may not have noticed in waking life. They are both a reminder and a possible warning. You may, for example, dream of a teenager being hit by a car on a busy street outside a gas station, only to read a few weeks later that a teenager has been seriously injured in just this way. The most likely explanation is that you have unconsciously noticed how dangerous the street was, having read somewhere about the growing number of teenagers killed due to drivers’ use of cell phones and, without realizing it, you have observed that an accident was highly likely. These kinds of subtle clues and subliminal suggestions are around us every day.

Accident to the Dreamer

If you dream that you have an accident yourself, you should take note of the details, especially if it was caused by something you use every day, such as a bicycle, a car, or a lawn mower, and check that it is in good working order before you use it again. On the other hand, an accident dream could also be warning you of potential danger or loss of control if you continue a particular course of action. For example, you may dream that you are hit by a car as you run across the street to talk to a married colleague you’ve been thinking of having an affair with. An obvious interpretation of this dream is that the accident signifies pent-up guilt for something you have thought, said, or done, and that you are subconsciously punishing yourself over it. You could also be harboring deep anxiety over being found out. Dreams of car accidents might be urging you to slow down before you hit disaster, or telling you that you are ‘driving’ yourself too hard. You need to rethink, or re-plan, your course of action and set yourself on a better path. Your accident dream may also represent your straightforward fears of being involved in an actual, physical accident. You may just be nervous about getting behind the wheel, or going on a train, boat, or plane trip.

Whatever happened in your dream, notice how you emerge. Did you manage to rescue something or someone? If you did, this could suggest someone who needs your help or protection. It could also suggest an aspect of yourself that is worth saving. Were you hurt, or did you come out of it unscathed? If you weren’t injured, this could suggest that you have the strength to overcome what fate throws at you, but if you were wounded, you need to take better care of yourself and ‘toughen up’.

Accident in the Home

Dreaming of accidents in the home means tension may be building up in your home life, although it occasionally means you have unconsciously noticed something that might cause a domestic accident. Therefore check whatever it is that caused the accident: if you dream of falling down stairs, is the stair carpet loose? A dream that focuses on your home may also be saying something about your personality and approach to life. It may be that in order to progress with your life you need to make changes, and these changes may involve destroying what you have built up for some time.

Accidents from Above

To see something hanging above you about to fall implies possible danger. If it falls and misses you, perhaps you have had a narrow escape from some misfortune, or your unconscious is warning you to be alert to potential danger.

Accident to Loved Ones

To dream that a loved one dies in an accident indicates that something in your own self is no longer functional, and is ‘dead’. It is also symbolic of your own relationship with that person. Perhaps you need to let go of this relationship, or let go of a particular phase in that relationship and move toward the next. For example, the first throes of passion may have ebbed away, but you can replace them with love, stability, and commitment.

Accident at Sea

To dream of an accident at sea suggests potential problems with those who are close to you, or some kind of disappointment in love. If water overwhelms you, you are likely to feel overwhelmed by emotions. If this is the case, you need to assess how best to manage your feelings and put them into context. If you are trying to save other people in a shipwreck, you need to think about what these people represent to you. For instance, if you are trying to save a baby, perhaps that represents an element in your waking life, such as unconditional love, or wonder and excitement, which you need to develop in your waking life to help you cope with your emotional response.

Accident to Someone Else

This could be hidden aggression toward that particular person or an aspect of yourself that person represents that you recognize in yourself. It could also suggest anxiety about the welfare of the person in your dream.

See also CAR CRASH, TRAIN CRASH, PLANE CRASH.

ACHE Dream abscesses may indicate a site of physical illness that is not yet obvious when awake, but it is more likely that they represent swollen and painful emotions that are repressed and may be causing psychological infection. Aches in dreams indicate places where there may be blocked energy relevant to that part of the body. For example, we tend to refer to nagging problems in waking life as headaches and, since the head represents an authority figure, a dream headache may suggest an unresolved issue with an authority figure in your life. Throat aches may suggest an inability to express yourself verbally, while dreams of injury or strangulation to the throat almost always relate to current pressures in your life. Such dreams do not always urge you to speak your mind but they do remind you to be aware of those dynamics around you that are affecting you, as well as urging you to be honest with yourself about how you feel about what is going on. Chest aches indicate withheld emotions, and backaches blocked anger.

The sensation of pain in a dream may be a warning against taking unnecessary risks or an attempt by your dreaming mind to urge you to take a more positive approach to life. Dreams in which you are fatigued or racked with aches and pains may signify that in waking life you are worrying needlessly over problems that really aren’t that important. Take a more relaxed approach. Sometimes, however, your dreaming mind will inflict a pain dream almost as an act of revenge over some supposed fault or misbehavior in waking life. For example, if you are on a diet and have slipped recently, your unconscious may punish you in dreams that have the sensation of pain. Perhaps one of the most horrifying pain scenarios in a dream is to be impaled. Whether this is caused by a slip from a high spot onto railings or a vampire stake through the heart, such a dream refers to the pain of unwanted intrusion or enemies in real life.

ACID

See NEGATIVE SYMBOLS (#litres_trial_promo).

ACORN

See POSITIVE SYMBOLS (#litres_trial_promo).

ACROBAT

See CIRCUS (#litres_trial_promo).

ACTING/ACTOR/ACTRESS This can suggest a desire for public attention, but it can also suggest not expressing your real self – playing a part. If you dreamed that you were acting on stage, how did the audience react to your performance? We all role-play during our waking lives, projecting a persona that may not be entirely who we are in order to make ourselves more appealing to others; it is possible that your unconscious is commenting on how your performance was perceived. The part you were playing and the scene you were acting could be particularly relevant to situations in your waking life. Were you a tremendous success on stage? Did you receive a standing ovation? If you did, your unconscious may be telling you that the image you are presenting is convincing to others. If, however, your act was not well received, this might suggest that the image you are projecting is unconvincing to others and unhelpful to you.

If you dreamed that you were unwilling to step into the spotlight, this could suggest that your unconscious is mirroring your reluctance to be someone you are not in waking life, or it could simply suggest that you dislike being the center of attention. If you forgot your lines or needed the assistance of a prompter, you could be suffering from a lack of confidence in waking life, perhaps because you feel unprepared in some way. You may also be relying on someone else in waking life to guide you toward success. If an actor dies or is dead in your dream, this could suggest that a particular role you have been playing in life has outlived its usefulness and relevance. On the other hand, dreams about acting may simply be reminding you that life is not a dress rehearsal and that you only have one chance to make a success of it.

See WORK (#litres_trial_promo).

ACTIVITIES/ACTION Activities or actions within dreams are often concerned with hidden motivations and agendas, and – interpreted within the context of your mood and emotions within the dream – are particularly important. The psychological meaning is that action needs to transfer from dreams to waking life in order for progress to be made. Symbolically the action can give an indication of the dreamer’s spiritual progress.

Typically, activities in dreams are associated with moving forward or making progress in waking life. They reflect how well you are doing in your quest to achieve your ambitions. Do you need to move on? Take another route? Speed up or slow down? That’s why it is particularly helpful to take note of the details in your dream. What was the goal you were running, walking, climbing, or swimming toward? Did you feel exhausted or were you in peak form? Were you competing against anyone? Did you reach your destination or achieve your goal? Did you feel satisfied or disappointed? The answers to these questions will help you assess your progress and identify any obstacles or attitudes that may be holding you back.

ADAM AND EVE

See APPLES, MUD.

ADDER

See NEGATIVE SYMBOLS (#litres_trial_promo).

ADDRESS In dreams, your address represents your present lifestyle or status, while another person’s address suggests some kind of contact with that person. Past addresses indicate the person you once were. If you forget or lose your address in your dream, this suggests a loss of connection or understanding. Your dream is reflecting your real-life confusion about who you are, where you are going, and how you connect and communicate with others. If you had a dream in which you were going through your address book and deleting or checking names, your unconscious was probably sorting the people in your life into those with whom you wish to remain in contact and those whom you want to leave behind. Were there any surprise messages from your unconscious about any particular people if you had this dream?

ADMIRAL

See WORK (#litres_trial_promo).

ADOLESCENCE/ADOLESCENT Technically the teenage years or adolescence extends from about the age of 12 to 18, or 21 at the latest. As you grow older, you may find that your dreams look back to your teenage years with feelings of wistfulness. You may not want to go through the torments of adolescence again, but you may like to unite your maturity and experience with your youthful energy and enthusiasm. Whereas dreams of childhood tend to be nostalgic, dreams that feature teenagers tend to be about wish-fulfillment. If you are no longer a teenager, a dream in which you become a teenager again and hang out with your friends at a disco suggests that you are coping with life at present and not taking it too seriously. On the other hand, your dreaming mind may be urging you to chill out more. If you revisit your teenage years in your dream, or dream of teenagers, your dreaming mind may be urging you to recover some of your creativity, energy, and sense of freedom. If the young man or woman in the dream was acting in an immature way, as adolescents are prone to do, could your dream be warning you that your present behavior is stupid, immature, and unproductive? If your dream featured images of school, examinations, or college, the implication may be that you need to broaden your mind or take up new challenges. Alternatively, if school was a place of unhappy memories for you, it could be urging you to have a more positive, upbeat approach to life.

Although the following dreams can be experienced at any life stage, they are believed to be among the most common for teenage dreamers. If you dream of burying a dead body, you may be aware that you have killed someone, although you may not remember why or how. Your concern in the dream is to bury the body before someone makes a terrifying discovery and exposes you. Despite the horror of what you have done, the main issue in your dream is not the fact that you have killed someone but your desire to cover your tracks and avoid discovery. This dream is all about your need for acceptance and to rid yourself of things that are undesirable in your life. The person you have murdered represents what you would like to get rid of; that is why there is no remorse in the dream. The panic in the dream indicates your fear that people will recognize your anxiety. The teenage years are all about deciding what is or is not acceptable or desirable in your life so, not surprisingly, this dream is most common at that particular time. The things you want to bury can include parental expectation, childish hobbies, or activities, and so on.

During your teenage years you are very likely to dream of meeting a celebrity and becoming their close friend. This kind of dream focuses on the importance of feeling accepted and admired within your peer group. It is not uncommon for a teenager to dream about the death or funeral of one or both parents. Such dreams are not predictive, being simple reflections of the death of the past and the beginning of a new parent–child relationship.

See also STAGES OF LIFE.

ADOPTED If you dream of being an orphaned, adopted, or fostered child, this usually suggests that your relationships with members of your family in waking life have created some sense of loss and rejection in you. Dreaming of having lost your parents or being rejected by your parents so you become an orphan, adopted, or fostered child may denote that you feel you didn’t get their unconditional love and attention, and that you have to find your own way in the world without their support. Alternatively you may feel as if you are an outsider in the relationship to your family. Perhaps you have been excluded or perhaps you have little in common with them. Do you consider yourself rejected or at odds with the rest of your family? Whatever the reason, your dream may be suggesting to you that you need to create a surrogate family to get the support you need (this may be with your friends or your partner), and they will be able to help you feel loved, secure, and accepted for who you are.

Another explanation of such dreams is that it is time for you to be more independent and self-reliant by moving away from your parents. When life forces you into permanently or temporarily losing your parents, either by death or by other circumstances such as foreign travel, you may experience dreams of being orphaned. The dream might not refer to your relationship with your family at all, but might be telling you that you are feeling abandoned, unloved, rejected, and misunderstood by your partner, friends, or colleagues in waking life. If this is the case, the dream connects to feelings of belonging or not belonging in waking life. If you are looking after an orphan in your dream, you are attempting to heal that part of you that feels unloved.

ADVENTURE Adventure dreams can be a reflection of your waking life, which may have become more adventurous recently, but it could also suggest the need to experiment, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Jungian archetype of the hero, starting out on his adventure and battling adversity in order to learn, mature, and grow, dominates the interpretation of adventure-themed dreams. Adventure dreams urge the dreamer to take on new challenges or seek out aspects of themselves or talents that remain hidden in waking life. They point the way toward a new understanding, and the discovery of inner strength and creativity that can empower the dreamer.

ADVERTISEMENT You cannot escape ads in daily life and you may well find that they pop up in your dreams, too. If an ad does feature in your dream, its purpose will be to highlight your aspirations – so pay particular attention to the content of the ad. What or who was it trying to sell? If your dreaming mind lingered over the ad for shoes, a fast car, vacation, or any other object of your desire, your unconscious may simply be reflecting your waking obsession with it. If the dream highlighted cosmetics or clothes, your dreaming mind may be encouraging you to change your image in some way in waking life.

ADVOCATE

See ARCHETYPES (#ulink_7580fb76-882e-54af-a4e8-889195229f1a).

AFTERNOON

See TIME (#litres_trial_promo).

AGE/AGING You may have a dream in which you or someone close to you appears to age rapidly, sometimes becoming an elderly person or even a skeleton. Such dreams can be frightening, reflecting your anxieties and fears about aging, but some people find such dreams comforting as they can indicate that the aging process is not necessarily a negative experience.

See also STAGES OF LIFE.

AIR You can’t see air but it is crucial for your survival and well-being. The element of air is associated with the Zodiac signs Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. For Jungian analysts, air seeks to establish itself in the realm of the intellect; it is through the process of thinking that we develop ideas and communicate. Air contributes inventiveness, originality, creativity, and versatility to the personality. It gives that feeling of freedom and objectivity, and the ability to appreciate the differences between people. In dreams, air encourages you to let your thoughts soar, helping you to realize your full potential.

When air’s influence is exaggerated in a person, we see them as living in a dream world full of unrealistic goals and flights of fancy. Air should seek to maintain practicality and develop consistency in dealing with the real world. You cannot live without air, so when it appears in your dreams, consider its quality. Is it foggy, misty, clear, or polluted? The answer will give you an idea of the atmosphere that surrounds you in waking life. If you are outdoors in your dream and conscious of the clarity and coolness of the air, your dreaming mind may be urging you to give freedom to your thoughts. Or perhaps you feel released from a recent problem or situation. Air may also refer to the way in which you behave. Are you putting on airs and graces, or behaving in a superior way that demeans other people?

AIR-CONDITIONER This image suggests a need to calm or slow down. If the air is cold this may indicate emotional coldness.

AIRCRAFT/AIRPLANE/AIRPORTS In dreams, aircraft represent a desire for new experiences and excitement. According to Freudians, aircraft are phallic symbols associated with new sexual experiences. Because air symbolizes spiritual aspiration, if your dream featured an aircraft or a plane ride, could your unconscious have been encouraging you to explore your spirituality or rise above the limitations of daily life? Do you feel you are on a fast track to success, or do you just really need a vacation?

In dreams, as in life, airports can be busy, noisy, and crowded places, and they can suggest a phase in your life you are trying to leave behind or a transitional phase. If you are looking in vain for a familiar face at an airport in your dream, this suggests there may be aspects of your old way of life or thinking that you are unwilling to leave behind. If you dreamed of being in the middle of a flight, your unconscious may have been commenting on your current progress in life. Are you flying high or being buffeted by turbulence? Or is everything up in the air or beset by uncertainty? Dreams of being hijacked or attacked in a plane can suggest anxieties about flying, but they can also represent a fear of rape in women. A dream of a plane crash can suggest you have set your sights too high; perhaps you are expecting too much and have doubts about your ability to reach your goals?

See also PLANE CRASH.

ALARM Ringing bells, timers, alarms in a dream may be prompting you to move forward with an idea in your waking life. Loud alarms – such as sirens – warn of impending danger or crisis.

ALARM CLOCK The appearance of an alarm clock in a dream indicates the need to get up and do something; it may also be a reminder of someone or something you have neglected.

ALCOHOL Dreams that feature alcohol can be interpreted in two ways. They could be a warning that you need to take it easy or they could be a suggestion that your life needs more stimulation and excitement. If, however, a drunk appeared in your dream or you got drunk and had a hangover, this may suggest that you have been overdoing it recently. It can also refer to the way you deal with difficult feelings by drowning them in drink. On the other hand, do you feel drunk with success and, if you do, is your unconscious warning you to rein in your exuberance as it is unsettling to those around you? Don’t forget the Latin phrase in vino veritas (wine reveals the truth) and pay attention to what you and other people say in your dream over a glass of wine or beer.

To see whisky in bottles symbolizes your alertness, carefulness and protective nature. If you are drinking alone, this signifies a selfishness that is driving friends away. To dream of drinking wine refers to festivity, celebration, and companionship. To dream that you are breaking wine bottles signifies over-indulgence and lack of control.

ALIEN If an alien appears in your dream, this suggests feelings of being an outsider in a group or society. It may also represent something new and not previously experienced. Aliens in dreams can also suggest that something unknown or frightening in waking life needs to be faced. Dreaming of aliens may also indicate dealing with something unfamiliar in yourself. Are you behaving in ways that are alien to you, for example? Aliens are something humans have never encountered, so the dream is urging you to prepare for the unexpected. Sometimes in dreams, aliens suggest evil forces, but more often than not they suggest that you feel different or set apart in some way from others. Perhaps you have started a new job and feel like the odd one out.

See also STRANGER.

ALLEY If you appear in an alley within a dream you may find yourself facing a dilemma in the near future. The image suggests that you feel you have little choice regarding a certain situation.

ALLIGATOR

See REPTILES (#litres_trial_promo).

ALPHABET The alphabet in dreams may refer to childhood or to basic lessons in life. To see letters of the alphabet in your dream symbolizes any object, animal, place, or person associated with or resembling that particular letter. For example, the letter ‘T’ may refer to a type of intersection in a road or a person you know called Tom. Or, you may still be trying to understand some concept or emotion that is still in the primitive stages.

See also LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET.

ALUMINUM

See METAL (#litres_trial_promo).

AMBITION According to Adler, dreams are an expression of our ambitious desire for power and success, a way of overcompensating for shortcomings in our waking life. For example, if a person is unable to stand up to their boss, they may safely lash out in anger at them in a dream. Thus dreams offer some sort of satisfaction that is socially acceptable.

Although some dreams can be interpreted as wish-fulfillment, most modern dream researchers believe that dreams have another purpose, to periodically present us with reports on our progress to date. Sometimes these updates are purely expressions of wish-fulfillment, and therefore easy to interpret: for example, those fantastic dreams in which you win the lottery, or audition successfully for the lead role in a Hollywood blockbuster. Sometimes, though, dreams are harder to interpret because the dreaming mind speaks in the confusing language of symbols. Understanding such dreams is, however, important because they often contain pertinent observations and warnings – not yet registered by the conscious mind – that can help us achieve our goals in waking life.

AMBULANCE The appearance of an ambulance in a dream typically suggests feelings of panic and emergency about a specific situation or person.

AMBUSH Dreams in which you ambush or abduct someone reflect your desperation in waking life to ward off potential humiliation. If the person you are ambushing is someone you know, you also need to consider if you are secretly envious of this person in waking life. If this is the case, your unconscious may have been expressing your desire to capture or kidnap the qualities you admire and make them your own. Alternatively, you may have a hidden desire to control that person. If, however, you were ambushed, abducted, or kidnapped in your dream, this suggests that someone or something in your waking life is trying to take control of you. Your dream expresses your surprise and uncertainty about losing control.

AMETHYST

See GEMSTONES (#litres_trial_promo).

AMMUNITION Bullets or ammunition can suggest verbal attacks in the context of dream conflicts. If the ammunition belongs to someone else, this represents things that you feel other people can use against you, such as lies, anger, and so on. If you have the ammunition, it can represent assets you have that can build your confidence, things you could say or do to wound others if you had to. If you run out or don’t have any ammunition, you may be feeling hopeless about a situation and unable to defend your position.

AMNESIA Typically a sign of avoidance or repression of something or someone in your waking life, but can also suggest unfulfilled potential.

AMUSEMENT PARK Dreams in which you are visiting an amusement park may be a sign that you may need to incorporate more enjoyment within your life. They can also be symbolic of things that can easily distract you from your tasks. If the amusement park is empty or seems shut down, it signifies the need to stop taking yourself so seriously. Consider also how everything in the park is an expression of some aspect of yourself.

See also FAIRGROUND.