Hand

Most frequently dreamt of part of body. It depicts how you express yourself in action or relationships; your grasp of life, of ideas, of opportunities. It shows the way you hold on to – or let go of – people, your children, situations – this is why people are handcuffed to take away their power. The hand is an extension of your power – to give, take, wound, heal, support or do. Sometimes it is hands we reach out to protect ourselves or others. With our hands we touch other people and the world around us.

The hands express the full range of human emotions and desires. Everything from violence to the tender caress, or skilful surgery or creativity, are manifest through the hands. Here are some examples: He clutched at my hand – I put my hand over the receiver – She had her hand on my butt and pinched hard – He caught my hand and begged me silently to listen to him – The woman tries to hand me a purple composition book – they are second-hand  – Staff in hand I smash it down – I reached the cot and put my hand out to smooth the sobbing a little – The woman next to me keeps trying to hold my hand — My dog took my right hand firmly in his mouth and led me.

Fingers: More than anything else it is through the fingers you feel and explore the things around you . Although your eyes allow you to see the world, it is with your fingers you take hold of it, work with it, create or destroy.

Fingers can be expressive of your feelings. It can be the finger of scorn; accusing finger; finger of suspicion; beckoning finger, or to put your finger on something and therefore know something about it.

Fingers represent your grasp on things, your method of materialising yourself, or leaving your mark upon matter. Therefore your personal skills.

The finger can represent the penis, as is common use in sex-play: or your means of sensing. or fingering things.

Fingers can, as the wedding ring finger, suggest something like marriage. The finger print also denotes your uniqueness.

Claw-like hands: Clawing, wounding ability.

Cut off hand or loss of hand: It is the loss of your psychological hand not your physical hand. This applies even if it is someone else’s hand. We ten to use other people when things frighten us.  So you are diminishing your ability represented by you hand. See Techniques for Exploring your Dreams

Dirty hands: Dirty work; unclean activity; something you have been doing that has left ‘dirt on your hands’ – suggesting perhaps that you want to get rid of the influence it has left in your life.

Fingernails: These sometimes depict your ability to effect or change something, to grasp small things. They could also reflect your way of life such as rough physical work or otherwise, suggesting whether life has been hard or kind. Perhaps also your state of health. They might be weapons, or reflect your personal condition – i.e. dirty or cared for, whether you are ready to really use your hands.

Fist: Anger; restrained anger; threat; graspingness, selfishness, arrogance, aggressiveness, tension.

Handshake: Contacting an aspect of self; friendship; testing a relationship or gaining an impression of someone.

Palm of hand: It is the most used form of contact with the world, with matter and work or creative action. The other side of the hand is the opposite of that, and suggests a none physical action or purpose. It is about the mental faculty of decision making of non physical activity. It can also been seen as a notepad on which you write memos.

Rough hands: Marks left by difficult or demanding experience; roughness in handling others.

Idioms: a bird in the hand; a free hand; an old hand; at the hands of; bite the hand that feeds; can’t put my hands on it; caught red-handed; change hands; don’t hand me that; eat out of the palm of your hand; firm hand; first hand; give me a hand; hand in; hand out; hands are tied; hands down; hands full; hands up; hand me down; hands off; hand over fist; hand to hand; hand to mouth; hard hand; have it in hand; helping hand; in good hands; hold your hand; in the hands of; lay my hands on; laying on of hands; lend a hand; like the back of your hand; open-handed; out of hand; out of our hands; raise a hand; second hand; upper hand; wash your hands of; burnt fingers; at one’s fingertips; snap one’s fingers; soil one’s hands; try your hand at; green fingers; have a finger in; itchy fingers; sticky fingers; fingers crossed; lay a finger on; point the finger at; get one’s finger out; fingers to bone. See also: Example in sweets.

Useful questions:

What is it I am doing with my hands or fingers – is it creative, destructive, giving taking, etc?

What feeling, thoughts or attitude am I expressing with my hands, and how does that relate to my life?

What descriptive words are linked with my dream hand(s) – strong, big, hurt, small – and what does that say about what I am doing?

Try using Active Imagination - Arm Circling Meditation – Talking As