Tiger Tigress
Power, anger, sexual power, inner anxiety or terrifying urges. Fear of another person’s anger or forcefulness. Sometimes the power of a mother’s protectiveness. A woman’s anger or sexual craving.
Although similar in many ways to the lion, the tiger has a more feminine quality. It can therefore represent an angry woman; ones mother/a woman as a protector or destroyer; anger; spitefulness; the power and authority of ones animal strength; anxiety or fear, flight or fight. Often children have recurring dreams of being chased by a tiger (or lion), and this is about anger that they have been told is bad to express. So this is why they are running from it when they should have made it their friend. This is probably also why most people are still running or hiding from tigers in their dreams. Instead they should have been taught to direct their anger – a natural part of our defense system – effectively.
Do not to be afraid of the animals you meet in your dreams. They are only symbols of your own inner nature, your animal self. See Your Mammal Brain
The tiger represents your own power, the power that can protect your family and any children. Feel the power of that by imaging yourself as the tiger. Yes, actually imagine yourself in its body.
Also big cats, like domestic cats and dogs are very ‘mouthey’ – in other words they do everything with their mouth. They love with their mouth and love to hold you with their mouth. It is their way of giving a hug and wanting to be near. But of course tigers can bite for real too, but your dream tiger is a part of you. Even if it did bite you in your dream it is only like holographic image and can do you no harm. To be frightened of your dream tiger is to run away, avoid or deny your own wonderful natural strength and self protection. See Mouthey Animals
Example: Just last night I dreamt I was walking and a tiger came at me. I was scared, but I thought I would try to be strong and not show my fear. It did not work and the tiger ran at me. I climbed a tree and onto a roof of a tin shed. The tiger followed me up and I ran across a series of tin sheds. I finally realized I could not escape and I turned and faced the tiger. I screamed at the tiger and ran straight at it. The tiger got scared and turned and ran away, and then I woke up. These dreams have been on my mind, and I would love some insight into them. Thank you so much.
From that you can see that an image – in a dream – cannot hurt you, though it can cause you to feel fear. So chasing it was a way of changing your feeling, and that of course changes your dream. So, there is nothing in any dream that can hurt you, unless you run away from something. Running away is leaving yourself open to being a victim of whatever frightens you.
When we call someone a tiger we either mean they are fierce, capable of defending themselves, or very successful at what they do. But we also say a woman can protect her children or loved partner like a tiger. So it is also about strength and passion to protect and care. This aspect of the tiger depicts the primeval and passionate power of motherhood and the love and care of nature itself emanating from the unconscious. Tigers are individual creatures and are not, like lions, part of a group less it is a mother with her cubs.
Like any other animal, the tiger can also represent aspects of sexuality, depending upon how it is presented in the dream. As a symbol of sex it would most likely include elements of uncertainty – will I be attacked or overwhelmed – power and instinctive responses. It has to be remembered also that the tiger is a top of the food chain predator, and so can represent the predatory facets of human nature. See animal for an explanation of the role dream animals play in our life:
But it has to be remembered that every image in our dreams is an aspect of ourselves, and being an animal the tiger represents the wonderful strength we have as our heritage – if we claim it. Many people are frightened of their own strength and so run from their dream tiger, but as the following dream shows it can be your strength.
Example: An adult tiger was at my bed with one of my old high school buddy holding him on a leash. When I saw him I was furious what the fuck is such dangerous animal doing on my bed. Went to load my AK (the imaginary one, don’t actually own one), but when I pointed the gun at him he ignored me with calm and assertive look. I dropped the gun and in my admiration for him just felt his strong and firm energy. Since then I started to really think of Tigers as the ultimate alpha animal!!
Example: I was in a hallway behind a door, pulling it against me to shield myself against a tiger. The tiger was large with bloodstained paws. Some people stopped outside the door to look at the tiger. I told them to move along, as it had a very uncertain temper, and could easily attack. In fact it began to grow restless and growl. They went. I saw the deep colours of the tiger, and the blood. I was terrified that at any moment it would pull the door away from me. At that moment the tiger attacked me when I came from behind the door, and swallowed me. Now instead of feeling separate I was the tiger, and delighted in his movements and anger.
If you are born in the year of the Tiger in Chinese astrology, dreaming of a tiger might be a comment on your strength and weaknesses. It could be wise to consider your basic characteristics in the light of the dream. See Chinese Zodiac Tiger
The tiger can represent many things however, and below is another important aspect of a tiger.
Example: While in a basement a person approached me holding quite a large animal. As they handed it to me I saw it was a tiger cub, large and very well built, with a thick neck. I was surprised, but even more surprised and disturbed when a huge tigress came through a doorway above us at ground level and came down the stairs to us. I thought she was going to attack us, but she took the baby cub and placed it down. She then came with something in her mouth, probably money, and placed it near me. She gave off a powerful feeling of not wanting the cub, and with the money handing it over to me or us for our care. There was an atmosphere of irritability about her. Peter G.
In this example the tiger has an obvious connection with the mother. The dreamer had often been threatened by his mother that she was going to give him away, or put him in a home. So the dream probably dealt with his need to confront these feelings of abandonment which, like the tiger, were threatening. Interestingly, almost exactly five years later, in the same month, Peter dreamt the following.
I am in a house. There is a feeling I am sharing it with a number of people, as if there is a connection with a friend Mike. Suddenly I notice there is a tiger cub running around the room. It is a large room and empty except for myself and the cub. I realise this must mean there is a mother tiger about and worry that it will be angry or aggressive because of its cub. I go to walk through a doorway, but the mother tiger walks through. I stand still, not daring to move. But she brushes against me in a friendly way and strolls over to look at her cub. Peter G.
Interestingly the dreamer sees himself as a young tiger in his dreams.
Example: There is alarm that a wild tiger is about. I am concerned to find a place out of sight, behind a desk, in case the tiger sees me. It comes in, and, although there are many other people, it comes directly to me. As it comes towards me, I see it is small, and young, and un-coordinated in its random, flailing movements (rather like Tigger in Winnie-the-Pooh). Its body is like a pipe-cleaner twisted into a tiger shape. As it comes to me, I see it is full of energy but also shaking uncontrollably with fear, drenched in sweat. It is furiously wagging its tail, which may have a white bow tied to it (or is it the shape of the tail? – the latter I think), as if it is desperate to please. So from within my fear I say to it “Good tiger, there’s a good tiger,” to calm it down. I think, or say: “This tiger is terrified, because it is quite out of its element, in a classroom with humans.” I look up and see there is no one else in the room – just me and the tiger. JH.
JH says of his dream: “This seems to me to be a very revelatory dream. Clearly I am the tiger, and so I am frightened of my own fear in trying to hide from it. But the clarity of the dream is in the basic fear of existence the tiger exhibits.” Here the tiger is clearly about the fight and flight instinct in us all, and the struggle JH has in dealing with this in his life as a teacher.
Idioms: Fight like a tiger; paper tiger.
Useful questions:
Am I dealing with anxiety or anger in this dream?
What relationship do I have with the tiger, and what does this say about the way I deal with the ‘tiger’ aspects of my life such as fear, anger, aggression and dominant strength?
Does my dream tiger show any signs of motherhood in this dream, and if so how does that reflect on my mother or motherhood?
Comments
Ever since I met this man that I’m in love with, I’ve been dreaming anout crocodiles and earlier, I dreamt of a tiger. He has a wife and she confronted me last night. My dream was we were in a room and this tiger was lurking outside trying to get in. We locked ourselves in. When I had the chance that the tiger was nowhere to be seen, I went out to the other part of the room which was the kitchen. My boyfriend was left inside and the tiger successfully went in. I was screaming but he said it didn’t do anything to him and went out safely. I’m not sure how that part really ended. Thank you Tony!
My dream took place in an unknown dark basement where there was in front of me a large cage, and inside a man grasping a tiger. He had him under control, but was holding him there for me to watch. The tiger looked wild, fierce and angry – ready to attack. We made eye contact and my heart seemed to connect with his. I wanted to reach out to him, but the fear of knowing he will probably kill me deterred me from doing so. Any suggestions?
Hey Tony. I’m going through a very confused stage in my life. And today afternoon during my nap i saw this dream which left me all perplexed. I saw my husband and i are in a very nice n luxurious house, which i think we own in my dream and then i saw a tiger, which i guess my husband bought for me to be raised by us as a pet. Day 1 my husband feeds him with some steaks and the animal behaves well sitting beside our bed. But soon we are scared of him since its an adult tiger and not a cub. We try various tricks to keep him away from our room and even try to drive him from our house. And that’s when i woke up. I’m not able to take this dream off my mind. I’m getting a sense that may its a sign of some warning from someone or something. Please help. I’m too scared and confused.
Neeta – It’s is a warning, but not the sort you are worried by.
It is a warning not to be afraid of the animals you meet in your dreams. They are only symbols of your own inner nature, your animal self. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/brain-levels-and-dreams/#mammalbrain
The tiger represents your own power as a woman, the power that protects her family and any children. Feel the power of that by imaging yourself as the tiger. Yes, actually imagine yourself in its body. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson
Tony
I dreamed about helping a tiger, taking it so someone could not kill it. I was wondering what it means.
Rhonda – Anything we dream about, a plant, a tree or an animal – even humans – are living parts of our own being.
I think the following dream will explain it to you – but the tiger is a wonderful thing and is the power, mothering wildness of your nature. So you were wise to help it. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/practical-techniques-for-understanding-your-dreams/
I am in a landscape and notice that everything is brown; the whole world is brown and lifeless. There is also a feeling of solemnity or dullness. I have enough lucidity to wonder why the world of my dream is so brown and dull. As I ask this I become more aware of what feeling the brownness expresses. It is seriousness – with no room for humour or fun. The feeling deepens, real enough and clear enough to look at and understand. I see it is my father’s attitude to life that I have unconsciously inherited. I realise how anxious he always felt about life, and how I took this in. That is how I became a ‘brown’ person. I see too that I do not need to be either brown or serious anymore.
Then the landscape changes. There are trees, plants and animals in brilliant colour. I wonder what this means, and the landscape begins to spin until the colours blend and shimmer. Suddenly my body seems to open to them, as if they are spinning inside of me, and with a most glorious feeling, a sensation of vibrating energy pours up my trunk to my head. With this comes realisation. I see how stupid I have been in my brown, anxious existence, how much life I have held back. The animals and plants are the different forces in my being that blend into energy and awareness. I feel I am capable of doing almost anything, like loving, writing a song, painting, telepathy, or speaking with the dead. This sparkling vibrating energy is life itself and can, if I learn to work with it, grow into any ability or direction I choose. I wake with a wonderful sense of my possibilities.
Tony
Hey Tony. Its always very informative going though ur site nd dis is the frst time i am asking u a question. From past more than 6 months i see tiger/lion in my dreams for at least once in a month, Watever the stage is, i find one thing common in my dreams that frst i spot them somewhere nd m not feared of them at all but aftr that suddenly they follow me, chase me (by running fast) and then at the moment they gonna attack me I wake up.. and dis is done by a single tiger or a lioness… I m dreaming this frm past 6 or more than 6 months nd its getting serious.. Plz help..
Take care.
Monarch – Fear changes the whole dream, because nothing can hurt you in your dreams; you cannot even die in a dream. Of course you can experience feelings of dying, but then you are fine.
The tiger is a part of you and your fear turns it into a threatening thing. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/brain-levels-and-dreams/#mammalbrain
The tiger keeps coming because it wants you to learn not to be afraid of yourself – for all things in dream are simply images you create – everything in dreams is all you. So when you are no longer afraid the tiger will become a friend and will give you great strength.
Tony
I had a dream. I am afraid of something. It is a rainy day. Then at the backyard i open the door and i saw 7 cats. And those i were been afraid of. Then suddenly the cat became tiger and they were flush by the floods. I am just watching them being away from me and i am safe.please interpret it to me. Thank you in advance.
Hello,
I realize you must get thousands of comments and requests for dream interpretation, but I was hoping you could aid me in solving this puzzling dream.
In my dream world, I’m pursuing lessons in meditation and have visions of tigers. My teacher then decided to expose me to tigers physically, where I was treated as a family member.
Eventually, I found that my face was changing, and felt empowered and more beauteous, though others were startled.
What do you think>
hi tony, I don’t know if you can help me here!
I dreamed about my husband giving birth to 4 baby tigers.
I was there to see the delivery process while he still has his
pants on all the time. with the third tiger I helped him by pushing
on his stomac and with the fourth it was very hard by after delivery
the baby tiger was still under the right pant leds so i told my
husband that its there but stucked. As i remember there were
2 males and 2 females but i was trying to get them real baby clothes!!
and the tigers were more like light brown not with lines
like ordinary tigers much more like a baby lion but in the
dream i knew that they were tigers!! Please help
Rana – It sounds like you are a caring and understanding wife.
Giving birth to tigers sounds like he is gaining the power of standing up for himself and gaining the ability to become aggressive when necessary. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/questions-2/#AnimalDream
Tony
Thank you tony for your interpretation! have a nice day…
Rana – On second thoughts I think it is you that is growing stronger. The tigers often represent a woman’s power and ability to stand up for herself. Sorry, I see it is your dream not your husbands.
The tigers are small but will grow in strength. Please see http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/questions-2/#WomCreative
Tony
thank you for your care!!!
I have a dream where I fell into my own mouth off a giant waterfall inside the was nothing but darkness and out of the darkness came a tiger I’m assuming male, I was not afraid, nor did the tiger bare his fangs he approched me and began rubbing against me like a house cat I rubbed his side and he began to walk away back into the darkness without looking back
i dream that I and my relatives who are naturally my foes have gone in the wild for a trip. there again they start to say useless things about me. just then a a tiger appears in the field who was sitting there before we arrived. they all start to run but i stand there and befriend the tiger. After that the tiger stood up and attacked them. nearly hurt them all in there weakest link physical and physiological but no t hurting me or even growling by looking at me. The of my dream 5.45 am 1st may 2013.
Pankaj – The dream shows how you are hurt by the attitudes of your relatives. Then you feel a great anger – the tiger – and see them all hurt. That is a very child like dream and it is better to use something like http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/what-we-need-to-remember-about-us/#Victims
Tony
Hi Tony
Please help me understand my dream, i dreamt i was in a building surrounded by lots of people, and they were being attacked by tigers, then suddenly i see 3 large white tigers appearing and the orange and black tigers disappear, i can only remember seing my old bosses face and the tigers leaped on him, after a while it was all quiet and as i stepped out of the room i was hiding in, the tigers have disappeared, please help me understand the meaning of this dream
MAny Thanks
I had a dream that I was in this abandoned house and my mother was saying how it was fine all we had to do was straighten it up a bit. I was going around trying to close the windows with the blinds or curtains that were left and I noticed in the back yard (it was at night) a leopard, then a jackel, then 4 tigers and I saw a head of a male lion in the background. I started telling my mom how I felt unsecure in this house and she was just brushing off, when I large tiger came in the house..I awoke feeling very troubled. I have dreamed before of lions either outside my door usually 3 waiting for me..or once 3 cubs trying to get my feet as I was on a scooter..Please help me understand these.
Tony, I so very much enjoyed your interpretations! Last night I dreamt that I was back at one of my childhood homes with my mother. Outside there was a giant male tiger. Naturally she was frightened of it. I also found the tiger intimidating, but I went outside and kind of talked with it in a way. We almost communicated through our eyes. I felt a great love once I faced the tiger. It’s nothing I could ever explain. This tiger dream was a follow up dream to a loepard dream. (I was woken up inbetween) The leopard dream took place in my current house. I looked out my window and there were suddenly like 5 leopards in my yard. Some were adult some cubs, but I think all female. I also faced the leopards, but with no communication. This dream however took a turn for the worse. The adult leopards were hunting and where covered in blood. The cubs were trying to come into my house, so I would put them back outside. Being that the cubs also had blood on them the adults smelled this and started attacking. I was the only survivor in the house when they were finished. Then the lion dream started. Is this good or bad????
Hi Tony!
I’m still trying to figure out the meaning of the dream I just had. I was somewhere I’m guessing with friends (but don’t know who) and there was a tiger on the loose. We shot it with a tranquilizer (I don’t remember being the one to personally shoot it) and then laid it on a flat bed hitch (the kind you can attach to you car). We chained it down and I wanted to already attach it to the car and drive it where ever we were going to drop it off (I’m guessing a zoo or something). The people I was with said not to worry about it that we would do it later to leave it for now and to come inside. I was concerned that the tiger would wake up and there was no way those flimsy chains would hold it down once it was awake. The people kept insisting not to worry that we would get to it later. Later I find myself inside a house (this house isn’t familiar to me but I don’t feel uncomfortable in it or anything) and I see the tiger walking around inside the house following one of my cats. (I have 2 cats with completely different personalities and temperaments. The one the tiger is following is the one we refer to as being psycho but also has his sweet moments.) It seems to be following my cat and taking it’s lead. We go check on both of them and then we try interacting with the tiger and my mom even tried to feed it a bowl of food. Then my husband was on the floor holding my daughter playing with her and the tiger was coming around checking them out. I started saying someone needed to get that tiger away from my daughter before I went ballistic on the tiger and who ever was allowing this. My mom was saying it was just to take a picture or something the way I had wanted to take a picture with a tiger as a kid (when I say a picture was taken when I was a kid, it was in front of a tiger billboard at the zoo, lol) Then I woke up. I’m so lost as to what it can mean. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that yesterday afternoon I went with my mom to put down the family cat that lives with my parents as I now live on my own with my husband, 10 month old daughter, our 2 cats and 1 dog. My mom said that our family cat was like another child to her and she is heartbroken. I hope you can help clear this up for me cause it’s driving me nuts trying to figure it out.
Thank you in advance 🙂
Hi tony,
I really loved going through your website. So I am scared and do not know how to interpret my dream. I was home and with one of my really good friends. We were talking etc and i went to what supposedly is my parents bedrooms and on the bed there is lots of money lying. After a while my friend asked me to borrow money and i refused. After that she left saying goodbye and when she was leaving i was looking out the window and i could sense a tiger, Like i would get glimpses of this tiger and i was scared. Usually l love tigers but something about this tiger has a negative energy to it. Ok after that I was still having glimpses of the tiger. I was talking to my parents and then i saw the tiger on the roof of the house beside i was really scared. i went to see my mom thats when i saw the tiger. Somehow the wall dissappeared and we were actually kind of on a balcony and i could see the look on the tigers face. It was ready to kill. And i knew it was going t attack my mother. So i ran to help her and before the tiger jumped to attacked it kind of like smiled. Like an evil grin like it knew i couldnt save my mother in time. Thats when i woke up terrified,
Please PLEASE help me
Thanks
IK – How can anything die in the amazing world of your creative imagination? For that’s what dreams are – a world in which you create creatures to scare you, gods and angels to uplift you, and in which you are totally alone in sleep and dreams. Do you actually imagine that a real wolf is there in your dreams? So if it isn’t why you are afraid of it? It is like a realistic computer game in which you have creatures attacking you, presumably to scare yourself – but why, when you could make friends of your own inner powers; for each creature in our dreams is a projection of our inner world and its powers. As examples of this I quote three dreams from different people.
So you see, you can be anything you like in your dreams once you deal with your fears. And that is what dreams are for so that you can face the many fears we have in our inner world. So take irresponsibility for your fears, and know that as with a computer game you are in a virtual reality world in which you can face death a thousand times but never be killed or hurt.
The tiger is an expression of your anger toward your mother – the inner mother made of all your memories and experiences. But because you seem to be dependent on your mother you are both angry and horrified because of the part of you still tied to her emotionally. Maybe you are in the process of becoming independent of her; and so killing your dream parent is a logical step to become independent. See – http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/inner-world/.
Tony
Hi tony 🙂
Thank you so much for replying to my comment down below. You have put my mind as ease and you are really gifted. Also I remember this one dream but i swear it wasnt a dream, like i can feel that it cannot be a dream but its too bizzare not to be anything else but a dream i guess. I remember when i was younger i was walking upstairs to my balcony and i can swear that it wasnt a dream however when i got up there i could see the whole solar system/ universe in front of my eyes and all the planets revolving around me and the largest planet (jupiter) just did a full circle in front of my eyes That was a truly amazing experience. I cannot define the feelings in words. 🙂
Thanks once again.
Thanks.