Circle Circles Circling Round

Yourself; personal identity; wholeness. It suggests a good harmony between all the aspects of your being – thus a feeling of pleasure, centeredness and openness, physical, mental and spiritual; may be used to depict the Self. It can also depict eternity; female sexuality; ‘the same dull round’ of routine suggested by Blake, in which one might be trapped if there is no alternative, depending on the content of the dream. If the circle is irregular, suggests imbalance or lack of harmony. See: ring.

Completeness, wholeness, all of the parts of our being, body, soul, spirit. It also represents the universe as a whole, harmony, symmetry. Sometimes symbolises an enclosure or restraining influence, or protection, and stands for the womb, or female sexual organs. May also represent emptiness, receptiveness, or a fertile condition. Or just yourself.

In dreams one often walks in a circle, or ploughs, or is moved in a circle. This means that one is enclosing, protecting or bringing the enclosed under the influence of the power that caused you to circle. Your circle of friends. But it can also mean searching for something or someone. Magic and teaching can occur in the circle in our dreams.

Example: To my amazement a huge living and wondrous circle appeared on the wall. It was full of movement, everything dancing in time to music. At the very centre of the circle was emptiness, nothing, a void. Yet out of this nothingness all things emerged. There were plants, animals, people, hills, rivers and mountains all coming to birth. They danced out in their own individual movement, yet each unknowingly was part of the whole wonderful and intricate dance which made a great pattern and movement in the body of the circle. All danced to the periphery and there turned and moved, still in their ballet, back to the centre. At that centre they plunged into its oblivion again. But at that very moment new life sprang from it to dance once more.

Example: I dreamt I was sitting in a circle of elders, it was cold and there was a fire. The mountains behind the oldest were purple and I could smell water. An elder to my right with very white hair in two long braids pulled out a pipe and I offered my cigarettes to him. I took one and sprinkled the tobacco in my palm and cupped my other hand underneath it. He turned from me and addressed the circle, speaking in a different language. I asked what language he was speaking and a voice in my head said “Tiwa” – it was a deep, masculine voice, and then I understood it.

“The magic circle of the fairies, the sun, the moon, a phonograph record with its diminishing grooves, a bedspring, or an ascending spiral, all may represent degrees of harmony and wholeness. A halo is an even more graphic illustration of a mandala, for it is automatically associated with saintliness. The triangle within the circle shows the same union with the divine self; for the triangle is representative of man in the earth and the circle symbolizes God. Combined, it shows wholeness of ideals and purposes.

The square indicates a balance in the material.” Quote from Dreams Your Magic Mirror.

Idioms: Go round in circles; come full circle; vicious circle; circle of influence/friends.

See: shapes and symbols.

Useful Questions and Hints:

Does this represent a figure of speech, such as: go round in circles, come full circle, circle of influence or friends, family circle and so on?

Does this suggest an enclosure or protection of some kind?

Is the dream about wholeness, or completeness?

Does it have a more spiritual meaning having to do with universal harmony?

Is there anything frightening about the circle?

Try using Techniques for Exploring your Dreams – Key Words