Face

How your face appears in a dream points to how you see yourself, your self image, the fears or feelings, even anxieties you have about how you appear to others and yourself. It can also show the expression of or hiding of inner feelings and attitudes. If it can be defined in two words – ‘identity’ and ‘communication’. This is because not only do most of us believe we are how we look, but also through our face we communicate to others what we feel and think.

The face, especially if you are looking at yourself in a mirror, can also mean that you are facing yourself – facing up to yourself, or need to, ‘face yourself’. This dream often occurs when you are ready to really look at who you are and what facets of yourself you might be ignoring or even hiding.

Someone else’s face: How you see them and how you relate to them. What you feel and think suggest what your opinion of them is, and how you relate to them inwardly. The face could also point to what feelings and memories of them you carry within you.

Blushing: Unconscious response to things. Feelings that you usually keep hidden, or are not usually aware of yourself.

Something wrong with face: Sense of not being adequate; fear of how others see you. If it is someone else’s face it probably depicts how you feel about them, or your intuitions about them.

Changing ones face or head: Changing ones attitudes or decision about something; being uncertain or ‘two faced’. Having different aspects of your personality or seeing another side of yourself. Change the wording to fit seeing someone else with changing face – your to their.

Hiding ones face: Being ashamed of something; low confidence or uncertainty; being afraid of how others see you; hiding motives or feelings.

No face: This is probably what is called a shadow figure if you see it on another person – parts of your nature or behaviour that you usually keep hidden or do not admit to. If you are faceless then it could suggest either that you realise your real self is pure potential without particular characteristics, or you feel a fear of about loss of identity or uncertainty about who you are.

Example: Was looking in a mirror. Suddenly a shadow appeared on it. At first the shadow seemed threatening or frightening. Then I saw it was only a directive, a face,  figure with its arm and hand extended as if pointing. Looking behind me I saw that the shadow was cast by a featureless cat or animal. That is, its head was completely smooth, without eyes or ears. At first I thought it could not see or hear, but then realised it must be able to, as it was pointing to a man out in the rough sea. The man had a lifejacket on, so was in no immediate danger. But the sea was very rough. I went out and brought him in, dried him off, put him in my house to recover, then phoned the police in case they needed to know.

Here the dreamer was looking at himself in the mirror, and was directed to realise that although her wasn’t in any immediate danger, he was fighting against heavy emotional forces. The dream tends to not directly tell us about ourselves, but uses another person of event to point things out to us. See Characters and People in Dreams and Talking As.

Idioms: Blue in the face; egg on my face; face down; face the facts; face the music; face up to; face value; fill your face; flat on one’s face; face lift; fly in the face of; get out of my face; in your face; keep a straight face; long face; poker face; pull a face; save face; shut your face; two faced; wipe that smile off your face; written all over your face. See: head.

Useful Questions and Hints:

What is being expressed or felt here?

If there is change what is the change moving toward or expressing?

What character, qualities, or lack of them does the face depict?

See Being the Person or Thing and Easy Dream Interpretation