Cake

Pleasure and sensual satisfaction. It might even relate to childhood pleasure, or rewards. Similar to symbolism of bread, but more luxurious, less practical. See: Bread; Food.

This is often linked to the pleasure we feel at special times of sharing, so suggests shared pleasure, a time to celebrate something. But many people eat sweet things as a way to deal with boredom or difficult feelings – perhaps as a way of quieting the inner child.

Cake is a high energy food, and it might be used in that way in your dream – as a source of sustenance as you meet high energy expenditure in a difficult task.

But cakes are often made with a lot of love, and can indicate love in your life. So if you are sharing then you are giving of yourself to others. Or if received it is a sign of love and care given.

Example: I was about 8-10 I had this recurring dream once a year for about 3 to 5 years it would be right around my birthday. My parents would be getting in their car and starting to leave the house (forever). I would start to get worried and try to run to them but my brother and sister would call out and I would turn around seeing them eating cake and they would be really fat all the sudden but I didn’t want to go by them I was afraid and then I’d wake up. Aaron.

Aaron this appears to be a terrible shock your parent gave you, and it probably happened as you say, around your birthday. The threat to leave the child is the most devastating thing. It is much better to smack a child than to make threats that can last a lifetime. Once the child has received this threat it can mean, to the child, that its parents could give it away or leave it at any time. So from there on it lives in fear.

If you are eating the cake it shows you allowing yourself some enjoyment, satisfying a hunger or need. It may also relate to celebration, as with a wedding or birthday cake. If so, ask yourself why your dream is reminding you of this. But making the cake depicts you being independent and creating a pleasurable situation for yourself or others. If it is for someone else, who are they, and why are you giving it? They might be a needy part of yourself.

If you were making the cake and can remember why, it will give you insight into why you need pleasure or nourishment at this time.

Wedding cake: This traditional represented fertility and plenty. It also signifies all the plans and preparation that goes into marriage, and the shared fortune that lies ahead of the couple.

Folklore: In folklore there is a tradition that if you sleep with a piece of wedding cake tinder your pillow you will dream of your future mate. If you have this dream it probably refers to a prediction and depends on what the dream says.

“A Greek girl, on St Catherine’s Eve, bakes a cake with salt and wine, explaining that it is no more than an old custom, but secretly hoping it may help her to dream of her future husband. Traditional beliefs and practices of this kind have their counterpart in every country and in every age, as is shown by historical records that date back as far as Rome, Greece, and the Egypt of the pharaohs.” Quoted from Dreams and Dreaming by Norman MacKenzie.

Idioms: a piece of cake; have your cake and eat it, too; icing on the cake; nutty as a fruit cake; take the cake; that takes the cake

Useful Questions and Hints:

What was the atmosphere surrounding the cake – celebration, sharing, hunger – and how does that apply to me?

Did I make this cake, and if so why or who for?

If I am sharing it, in what situation?

See Being the Person or Thing; and Talking As