Mirror

This has a great many levels of meaning. Basically it is a looking at yourself, a self examination; and the face in the mirror may not match your own. It may be better or worse. That is, in self examination you may come across, or see, parts of our nature that are the worst side or the best side of yourself. These re the things you do not usually see about yourself. You may, for instance, see innate possibilities as they would be in full bloom. But the mirror might only reflect your negative worries about yourself, or how you think you appear to others. Worries about ageing might be one of these. Nevertheless, the dream process usually tries to lead through worry to growth.

This can show concern over ones ‘image’ or how others feel about you, self examination, self love, negative only if the love is not shared with others. In some dreams it reflects anxiety about changing or ageing. There is the possibility of self assessment, so how you are judging yourself a the moment. But also being absorbed in yourself.

The mirror particularly depicts self awareness in the sense of insight into your behaviour or character traits.

The mirror appears in many religious symbols and in much folklore. Water was probably the first mirror, and as such represents human consciousness, soul, or self awareness. This looking at oneself can therefore be a way of depicting self awareness, your ‘I’, as a distinct individual.

Alice goes through the mirror to enter Wonderland, which is again symbolical of looking within self, and exploring unconscious contents.

Indian and Buddhist philosophy use it in a slightly different way, as also Yoga teachings. It is explained that when we look at a mirror we do not see its actual surface. We do not see the actual mirror, only the images reflected on its surface, which appear as reality. Likewise, mind or consciousness is like a mirror. In it we see the images of physical existence and life experience, which we take to be the only reality. But the Yogi asks himself, what is this that is conscious of all these images? What is this mirror we call consciousness? Who am I outside of the images?

 The mirror is also similar to water and can depict looking into the unconscious to see who you are. But like a crystal ball, sometimes you see things that your intuition is telling you. The following example illustrates this. 

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 figure with its arm and hand extended as if pointing. Looking behind me I saw the shadow was cast by a featureless cat or animal. 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.

Here the cat is the dreamer’s intuition telling him that inwardly he is experiencing some stormy weather, and needs to take care of that part of him. It also points out that his intuition does not depend upon having physical eyes.

Changed face in the mirror or multiple selves: Becoming aware of aspects of ones character which are usually unknown or not accepted.

 Example: ‘Getting ready for a wedding in an upstairs room, feeling a bit unsure of what to wear. I look in a mirror and see I have on stockings and suspender belt with a very short frilly petticoat. It looks very sexy. I am aware the door is open and have an urge to close it, but then feel okay about looking sexy and people seeing me.’ Nora LBC.

Nora is looking at how she may appear to others if she allows her natural feelings to show.

Cracked or broken mirror:  Distorted self image. A poor understanding of yourself, or perhaps a warning that your sense of self is cracking up.

 

Useful Questions and Hints:

Is what I see in the mirror pleasnt or unpleasant?

Can I accept it may be a side of myself?

What can I do to meet the image I see?

See The HarvesterResistancesArchetype of the ParadigmTechniques for Exploring your Dreams

Comments

-Cindy 2015-06-06 12:59:44

Hi Tony,
I had a very upsetting dream last night. I can’t shake it hours later. I was in the apartment of the daughter of my partner of 30 years. She and her friend were on the computer. I walked through the room and noticed a mirror that had a fish (trout) glued to it. The fish was clearly alive, but was dying. I was so upset about it to the point of feeling nauseous. My step-daughter had done this as a “novelty” and thought it was funny. I was horrified. I just wanted to kill the poor fish to put it out of it’s misery, but couldn’t do it myself. I went running for help — to find someone who could kill the fish for me. I was panicked that I couldn’t find someone to end this fish’s suffering.

-Zinna 2015-05-25 18:27:18

I had a dream where my maternal grandfather came to me. (He represents business skill that I want to have.) He gave me a mirror that was in the shape of a heart. It was very beautiful and he was pleased for me to have it. In my dream (and upon waking) I was puzzled as to what the meaning of that gift was. Any ideas?

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-05-26 4:36:29

    Dear Zinna – Grandfathers are, in our dreams, often expressions of one’s whole inherited past from all ancestors. In some dreams this can be an open door to realising much about the inheritance one received from the past. It is worth exploring. The grandparent can represent what you have come to know, what you have built into you of the divine spark of life, the radiant potential that is at your core. So you might say that the grandparent is the divine or infinite you know because of what you have drawn out of the infinite possibilities of everyday life.
    With this in mind I believe that your grandfather asks you to “look at the heart of the matter”, to have a look at your own core and what radiates from there, which is certainly much more than “only” business skills.
    The most important part of anything; a person, a machine, and organisation, a fruit, is the core of it.
    As human beings we have investigated and probed the core process to the point where we understand some of the ways in which it works, and some of the ways in which we can co-operate with it or interfere with it.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/the-core-experience-part-1/
    I have found an exercise which is called “The Reflected Best Self” which can help you shed a light on your (business) skills;
    http://my2.ewb.ca/site_media/static/library/files/447/bringing-my-reflected-best-self-to-life.pdf
    As far as your (dream) grandfather is concerned; try being him or talking as him to explore for yourself what the meaning was of his gift.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson
    and
    http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/practical-techniques-for-understanding-your-dreams/#TalkingAs
    Good Luck!
    Anna 🙂

-Frankie 2015-05-22 6:22:30

I very rarely remember my dreams, but the last one was so vivid, I woke up with my hand still poised as it was in the dream. I was hoping you could help me understand it.
In the dream, I was in a featureless darkness, with a spotlight on me. Either I ran or something threw me across the space, and I ended up crashing into a mirror. I didn’t see a reflection in it, I just realized I was crouched on the floor, with broken pieces all around me, and a few stuck in my face. It didn’t really bother me, I just pulled them out. The two across the bridge of my nose were wedged in pretty deep, but there wasn’t that much blood when I removed them. Then, I thought I couldn’t leave unless I picked up all that broken glass. I had no shoes on and I was worried I’d cut my feet. So I went down and started collecting the pieces in one hand. And then I woke up, hand still clutching the pieces.
Any idea?

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-05-26 6:38:41

    Dear Frankie – A spotlight on you is a symbol of focussing on yourself and your dream suggests that it shattered your self-view; your self-image broke into pieces.
    Please also read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/identity-and-dreams/
    and
    http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/identification-and-identity/
    “Crashing into yourself” also shows that there are conflicts involved; a somewhat painful confrontation with yourself probably in regard to decisions, directions or opinions.

    After the crash you were crouched on the floor which suggests a change of attitude and at that point you are willing to take full responsibility for the situation you find yourself in.
    You start with removing/undoing the (emotional and/or mental) conflict with yourself.
    Inner conflicts can make settling on whom we really are – and so on finding a sense of identity and our place in the world – into a difficult process.
    So to become aware of these conflicts and undo them – “It didn’t really bother me, I just pulled them out” – is a wonderful step.
    See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/conflicts/
    “Then, I thought I couldn’t leave unless I picked up all that broken glass” points in the same direction for it is a decision to pick up the pieces; to try to repair emotional, financial or other damage done to your life.
    To walk bare footed suggests that you are in contact with reality and with your real life situation and this time you will take care not to hurt yourself anymore.
    “And then I woke up, hand still clutching the pieces”. So I suggest you continue picking up the pieces and look at/observe what each piece means to you.
    Through this simple self-observation you will gradually arrive at a form of insight which leads to a transcending of oneself as you stood prior to the insights. One may even arrive at a massive altered state of awareness – an insight into the impermanence of your present personality, and the experience of liberation arising from it.
    Observing your own ebb and flow of thoughts and feelings, your own habits and responses to things, is one of the most powerful of tools to use in transforming your life. This also leads to a fuller connection with your intuitive connection with your core.
    Much of our behaviour is largely or wholly unconscious. Your dream also expressed that becoming aware of something can by itself produce a change.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/self-observation/
    Good Luck!
    Anna 🙂

-nadine 2015-05-17 12:46:09

i see a mirror but i didn’t look at it and lot of chaird and it was in abig rooom

-simone 2015-04-30 11:00:08

I’m having trouble with my dream.
I had a dream I was standing in my bedroom mirror but I was in my children’s room. I started to spray something in a gold can all around, suddenly a girl appeared, she looked like she could be 17-18. This girl had long black hair and wore all black, her skin was on the pale side. I sprayed what ever was in the gold can a second time and she reappeared again. I turned around to see if she was behind me and she was standing directly in my face. She said nothing and had her facial expression was blank. I know the symbols are there but I can figure it out.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-04-30 15:48:30

    Dear Simone – Every image and person in your dreams is an expression of your own life process. As such it is alive and intelligent and is something sent to help you. A dream is like a projection from a movie projector, except that you are the projector.
    Everything you see as outside you is coming from you, your emotions, your fears, your beliefs, your joys and explorations and are all you, clothed in the dream images and drama.
    So what do you associate with “I started to spray something in a gold can all around”? Do you feel under pressure, do you feel tension? I wonder if you can relate to this in any way:
    The fight-or-flight-or-freeze response, hyper arousal, or the acute stress response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack or threat to survival.
    “She said nothing and had her facial expression was blank” does sound like a “freeze response”.
    I feel that the “all black” clothes this part of you is wearing symbolise all those things you repress or avoid feeling (her facial expression was blank) or being aware of in yourself.
    I feel the can is golden, because meeting this denied, repressed part of your self – possibly triggered by something in your waking life – can be transformed into a golden opportunity
    to uncover this part of your past – you were in your children’s room – so that you can digest it and release or integrate it.
    Growth is an innate urge in us and if it is blocked in some way it becomes a feeling of unease or tension or pain.
    And so the next step after “I was standing IN my bedroom mirror” could perhaps be goingTHROUGH the mirror to enter Wonderland, which is again symbolical of looking within self, and exploring unconscious contents?

    Please also read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/integration-meeting-oneself/
    and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/individuation/
    Anna 🙂

-Anaiza Guerrero 2015-04-08 21:58:09

In my dreams, I looked into the mirror as I was crying and I took a closer look. Behind me In the mirror, I got closer because there was someone standing behind me in the mirror. It was a little girl with black long hair, with a gray dress and bloody eyes. And when I look closer into the mirror to see her, she yells at me and everything gets hot and slower as I tell her to leave me alone. This is the second time I have ever seen this girl in my dreams and it happens when I come back from California to be with my husband. What is it telling me?

    -Anna 2015-04-09 12:55:50

    Anaiza – Often an event like leaving someone we love, can trigger a memory of our inner child and so a memory from our past; in other words that what is “behind us” in linear time.
    In your unconscious mind it is however still “present”, because you have not digested and released the memory yet.
    Releasing and facing your own sadness in the mirror does bring back the memory of your inner child and you become aware that you are still in conflict with this part of yourself.
    My experience with my inner child is that at first when I met her, I tend to blame her for my painful memories and so I was not willing either to help her.
    I see the same reaction in your dream; the moment “everything gets hot and slower”, you tell her to leave.
    Everything getting hot is about pain and time slowing down is about moving to the pain in your unconscious mind – which is beyond time and space – that is part of your past.
    To face the real pains of childhood takes more than talking over ones feelings with another person. It takes the willingness and ability to let what lies behind the pain and distortions of our present experience to surface, so it can be digested and released or integrated.
    Please also read http://dreamhawk.com/health-and-healing/inner-baby-and-child/
    Perhaps you can use http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/peer-dream-group/#carryforward and/or http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/ to practice a different outcome in your dream, next time you come back from visiting your husband?
    Anna 🙂

-ness 2015-03-05 12:00:21

Hi tony
I had a dream there was a close up of my face in the mirror and i was watching my eye brows and eye lashes turn to white like snow white from originally being dark. Than I look again and they had fallen off I had no eyelashes or brows ..completely bare. I was mostly focused on my eyelashes. Weird hey what do you think that means? Thankyou

-Nancy Tulsa 2015-02-23 10:20:31

My daughter had a dream that she was taking off her necklaces while standing in front of the mirror. When she looked up her reflection was still looking down. She waited for her reflection to look up and when it did, the eyes were rolled back. This scared her, she screamed her reflection opened mouth to scream but no sound came out. She almost expected the reflection to scream back. She ducked down and left the room so her reflection couldn’t follow. She woke up facing the mirror in her room.

-annon 2015-02-15 13:52:19

In my dream I was the mirror image and the other me was smiling at me. We both walked towards a mirror creating 4 of us and we all were just smiling then I woke up.

-Brandy 2015-01-25 6:00:45

PLEASE HELP! I had a dream I was walking and and I would catch a glimpse of myself . At one point it was like I was watching myself. My face was tatooed with a purple ink it was the outline of my facial bones and skull. I finally went to a mirror and looked I was looking at it when a wheel appeared like the wheel of fortune card. It started to move and then in the center a bright light started to shine.

-Indi 2015-01-16 13:46:54

I dreamt I was at a hospital supposedly visiting someone else but then I wandered around the hospital to a deserted wing I saw a piece of white furniture outside the window with a mirror attached. I was frightened but I don’t know why. I could see that the mirror looked cloudy perhaps had frost on it maybe some cracks and there were three stars drawn on it. I didn’t want to get close enough to see anything else.

-Susan 2014-01-02 16:31:11

Hi Tony 🙂
We have a very large wall mirror hanging in our foyer. (about 5 feet high with a gold frame). In my dream last night, this same mirror was about to fall. I remember yelling to someone below to watch out so they don’t get hit if it falls. Then I was trying to refasten the mirror to the wall but it was too heavy. It finally fell and I remember how happy I was that it did not break! I don’t recall ever really looking into the mirror as the main focus was to keep it from falling and not to break. I also wanted to hang the mirror back up but it wouldn’t stay bolted and would dangle. On the wall where the mirror once was, there were beautiful tiles.
Do you know what this dream could mean?
Thank you and Happy New Year Tony!

-Saira 2012-11-15 1:16:48

Hello Mr. Tony Crisp!
I hope all is well for you. I had a dream that I looked into a mirror and saw my reflection. This time, I saw that I was pregnant and I saw that my belly looked completely weird. Having pregnancy dreams before, it did not look real because my belly seemed to be at much lower place and not in an upright position. So in the dream I was wondering if I was wearing a pregnancy pad, so when I tried to lift up my dress to actually feel my stomach – looking into the mirror again, I was not sure in the dream my belly was not real or not.
Please, can you explain this?
Thank you Truly,
Saira

-Austin 2012-04-26 14:15:50

Thank you so much! I’m turning 13 on May 7th, so as a teenager, I have a lot of confused feelings about myself and others. I don’t know what to think of myself, how I should look, what I should act like, etc.

I had a dream of a magic mirror. It was steamed up, like the mirrors in the bathroom after you take a shower. I wiped away the steam with my hand, but all I saw was the wall. Somehow, in my dream, I knew that it was magic. I asked it to show me what I will look like when I am 14, and it showed me. I asked it to show me as an adult, and I saw. I could ask it to show me any age, under any circumstance.

What does it mean? I know for sure the mirror must represent my inner self, but I have no idea what the “magic” part meant. And did the steam on the surface of the mirror have any meaning? What about how there was no reflection until I told it to show me?

-Ellie 2010-11-02 9:57:11

Dear Mr. Crisp,

I was impressed by your dream dictionary and interpretations. Every meaning description were
precised and true to myself. Your website is the
best. Thank you for creating this wonderful site.

Ellie

    -Tony Crisp 2010-11-11 13:17:30

    Thank you Ellie for your encouragement. And of course for recognising what has been put into the site.

    Tony

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