Beard

Male sexual power and virility. This depends on the age of the person and the situation in the dream. For instance stubble on a teenage boy suggests he is moving into manhood, or even to hide their adolescent acne. But a beard can also suggest carelessness – as when someone hasn’t shaved, or a mask if someone uses it to hide their youth. Or even a way of life that does not conform, or like a backwoodsman.

Sometimes the link is with a war veteran, suggesting a long exposure to conflict and extreme living conditions. I feel that a lot of elderly men grow a beard because they are not so worried about their social standing now and also because a feeling of tiredness about doing the ritual of shaving ever day. Many women feel that beards are a form of hiding or affectation, but they ought to try shaving every day, or in some cases twice a day. Shaving takes a slice of time out of ones life, and also whether electric or wet, shaving for some men leaves them constantly with sore of cut skin. See: Hair.

Example: Awoke in a girl’s room. She was there. I had a two-day growth of beard, and I went into the bathroom to shave it off, but didn’t manage to. Then made love to the girl, after spanking her. Felt great peace.

Here the beard obviously links with strong male feeling and sexuality.

Example: At that moment two young boys came into the room/area. They were like choirboys or trainee priests. One of them came straight to me and and my wife and sat on my lap, cuddling up like one of my own children. The man and I were emotionally stirred by such an open expression of needful contact and love. The boy appeared to be naked. I held him firmly in my arms. I felt strength in him and said, “I can feel the manhood growing in you.” I felt a noticeable increase of the strength in him. My hand touched his chin. There was a stubble of young beard there. I said how I was aware of his body growing into manhood. I was aware of us adults sharing the experience deeply.

This is an expression of soft love, and encouragement for the emerging youthfulness in the dreamer, and also the union of religious feelings into a wholeness. The dreamer had been held back in his actual expression of love and sexual feelings. The beard here shows the beginning of his development of his body moving toward manhood.

Cutting off beard: Making a change; feeling more certain about your manhood; or uncertainty about manhood, depending on dream. It can also suggest a fuller meeting or self expression, and uncovering of who you are. In some cultures it might suggest leaving behind traditional religious beliefs.

Very long beard: Sense of eternal or long life.

White beard: Wisdom or experience gained through long life, and perhaps an awareness of life beyond the senses.

Useful Questions and Hints:

How is the beard portrayed?

Could it indicate hiding something?

Does the beard represent wisdom?

What can you gather from the Plot of the Dream and also from Processing Dreams.