Umbilical Cord

Ties based on dependence rather than love or mutual interests. It can also refer to a strong tie to your mother, or to life in the womb.

There is another aspect of the umbilical cord though. It shows how we connect in a relationship. Pains in the area suggest anxieties about our connection with someone we love or depend on in some way. But the umbilical is also a symbol of flowing connection in love. It is the very life-line or survival cord.

This is particularly about your earliest dependence upon your mother or carer. It also relates directly to your skill or difficulty in moving toward independence. So in many dreams it would illustrate your connection and emotional ties of dependence or need with other people – or how you are moving toward independence.

Example: I was looking at my belly button. There was a good three inches of cord sticking out. The end of it was red and raw. Cassie A.

Cassie had been in a long dependent relationship which she had recently broken. She felt at the time of the dream she was having to stand alone and do things for herself. The end of her relationship felt like a ripping apart, and thus the sore cord.

See: navel. Particularly read the piece under active imagination about the umbilical connection loss.

Useful Questions and Hints:

Does this dream bring any awareness of my deep dependent need for a flow of life and love?

Is this illustrating move growth toward independence – if so how am I achieving it?

Does relationship enter into this dream, or does it link with relationship?

For a deeper understanding of this see Growing Up to Love and Beware of Love