Dinosaur

Your present personality and body has arisen from processes and experiences that are millions of years old. The dinosaur or a prehistoric animal often represents your sense of this primordial past out of which your present self has grown. The dinosaur can also depict deeply instinctive urges, or your feelings about being a devouring monster.

Life on the planet is also only an extension of processes active in the cosmos. So in dreams we often sense this primordial past out of which our present self has grown, and frequently depict this meeting as a prehistoric animal.

The dinosaur might also suggest something you are dealing with that is no longer alive or functioning in your life. Perhaps it is outmoded, clumsy or instinctive.

Exploring dreams is like uncovering different strata of human psychological history – history we all share. The dinosaur often depicts one of these deeply buried strata, linking with our very basic urges of survival such as fear, reproduction, and survival reactions to situations. This does not make these brutal. They are fundamental and necessary in today’s life. Because these aspects of ourselves are so old, and have survived so long, there is often great wisdom in them if we can bring it to consciousness. Such urges as fighting over our territory or mate – grabbing what is available for ourselves – striving aggressively to provide for family, also need to be integrated in a way that socialises them, otherwise they exist in a primitive form still, perhaps in conflict with our present needs. This is similar to most animal symbols, but the difference is that the dinosaur portrays them at their most basic or unsocialised. They can also depict something that has not survived or the will to survive; something, or some element of your attitudes or feelings that is outdated or has no survival value.

Example: I was walking past a large building site which had been excavated for foundations. Rain had filled the excavated pits and a large lake had formed. As I walked past I could see ancient primitive creatures rising out of the water. One of them, a large dinosaur, came toward me. I was scared and ran away. The dinosaur followed and started speaking to me. I couldn’t understand what it said. Don.

Don explored his dream and says – I realised that through my internal digging into myself I had uncovered some feelings I had never met consciously before. This was about anxiety, which I had suffered from a lot, and about the anger I felt toward my step children for not appreciating the work I was putting into building them a home and working to provide. Seeing these things helped me understand what was behind my difficult feelings and fears. For instance I saw that fear is fundamental to all human experience, and I needed to meet it and help it to enter into the modern world instead of be repressed and remain primitive.

Example: It was darkening and the street was very appealing to me. I could just discern a house at the end of the street, facing me, and I walked toward it. I was not far advanced along the street when I saw, coming from the direction of the house at the end, in my direction, a very large dinosaur – as high as the house itself. It was walking upright on its large hind feet and the front feet were quite small and held in front. I was very nervous and frightened, but thought, If I walked very slowly, it might not notice me and pass by me But as I was just past it passing me on my right I quickened my steps in fear. It turned and caught up with me, and I thought, If I talk to it in a gentle voice, it might know I was a friend. I talked to it in a soothing voice, saying Good evening, and what are you doing with your little feet in the air? It turned its head down to me and said something in a very sweet voice, and I knew at once it was a friend, but I couldn’t understand what it said. I asked again what it did with its small feet, and it repeated what it had said before, softly, while we were walking toward the house at the end of the street. But I could not understand, though I knew it was something nice. Mrs. G.A.

Here there is an obvious meeting with fear, but this is transformed through communication. As with the previous dream, fear is part of this primeval level of us, along with flight or fight, reproduction and ritualistic behaviour. This means behaviour that is deeply instinctive and not learned. Like the dancing mating rituals of birds, it is behaviour that arises through an external stimulus. For instance some lizards will nod their head and expand their size if something red is flashed in front of them. They cannot help but respond in this way as it is hardwired behaviour.

Example: I meet a beautiful female from Jupiter, she is wearing a white cheesecloth dress and is almost divine in nature, and I am very attracted to her. We walk towards an entrance to her world (Jupiter), through the entrance I can see strange other worldly creatures, some look like dinosaurs, I am in awe of what I am seeing, as we step into her world, she tells me to look up, which I do, the reason for this was, she was telling me not to be distracted by what I am seeing around me, as a great raptor/eagle was coming out of the sky to pick me up.

From what you say of your dream it seems to me you are moving into a new awareness of yourself and what you life is – and its possibilities.

Example: My sister gets through the gate and we are being chased by dinosaurs, they are everywhere. We are running through an office building where I work but we cant find a way out. I distinctly remember reaching back to hold my sisters hand to keep her with me. Eventually we hide in an office and hope the dinosaurs don’t find us. My boss appears and we start to calm down but we are still in danger. As though the responsibility to keep us alive has switched from me to my boss. 

Perhaps you have been digging into yourself to let them loose. If not that, then you are meeting a very primal level of anxiety. But remember the images of the dinosaur are an aspect of yourself, as is the boss. I will try to explain.

When you were conceived you were at the very beginning of life forms. In fact we have to go to the very primal to reproduce. That may not mean much to most people, but in the dream world it means an enormous amount. Because from there we go through the whole process of evolution as we are in our mother’s womb. Again, most people say, “So what. I don’t remember!” You remember not in ordinary memories, but in ancient feelings of fear, or religious wonder or even intuitions of life’s meaning. But of course we do remember and such memories are seen in our dreams. So when you learned language you forgot all the past. A new program was running that aided you to have the waking, self conscious awareness you have today. And that awareness is often at odds with what are the foundations of consciousness your present self is built upon. That is what is happening in the dream. You need to meet and be at ease with what is actually a part of your experience.

 

Useful Questions and Hints:

How am I relating to the dinosaur – am I at ease or scared of it – and what does that show me about myself?

Is the dinosaur communicating anything to me, and if so what?

Am I caring for or injuring the dinosaur?

See Techniques for Exploring your Dreams – Being Person or thing – Facing Fear – Dreams are Like a Computer Game

 

 

 

Comments

-Leandra 2017-08-12 14:12:01

I have been dreaming of prehistoric animals that I never even knew existed until waking up from these dreams and then doing research.
A prehistoric hyena
Metadon (giant shark)
And a terror bird (large bird of prey)
They never felt threatening and I was never afraid of them.
They always approached me carefully. I was usually either in awe of them or inspired and felt a deep connection to these animals.

-Joakim 2017-06-13 5:56:17

Hey been following this site for awhile and now I realize I can post here.
This night I had a dream about a dinosaur. I was walking on the road when I saw it in my path at the horizon. The dinosaur ate a person that came close to it and I understood it as dangerous. I remember the defense tactic to lie still so it cant dee you. As I lay on the ground it started to sniff the ground like a vaccuum cleaner and I knew I was doomed. I hid in a tube at the dyke and crawled as far in as I could. The tube was full of small holes and so thr dino sniffed me out. It couldnt eat mr because of the tube shielding me but I knew it wss just a matter of time before it would break through and engulf me. So i started crawling out but thought to myself “what are you doing?” And then didnt quite know what to do.
Too me this dreams seems to be about a primal fear trying to get my attention. I have some ideas. For example i have a troubled sexlife, a house situation that is about to become uncertain and also a perception on work that is hard for me to deal with. Could you offer any insight?
Thanks, the ever dreamer Joakim

-Mya J. 2017-05-27 16:52:07

This interesting dream hit me out of nowhere but it’s sticking with me a lot lately. I was on a beach with a lot of my friends having a wonderful time. This giant T-Rex came up out of the water and started eating my friends and chasing some of us also. We went into this building to hide and I can remember that there wasn’t much to hide behind and there wasn’t a lot of space in it. I hid behind a table and my two friends were out in the open. I remember the dinosaur looking for us and it spotted me. It took me but did not kill me. It told me to come out of hiding because there was no point in hiding. The dinosaur and I had sex multiple times…yes a T-Rex and I. I was baffled in the dream but I wanted to do it again and I don’t know why.

-Nikki 2017-03-04 7:03:30

A while back I had a dream where I was knitting a very soft and fuzzy white sweater for a stegosaurus. I stopped to examine my completed work very excitedly and decided to try it on. After putting it on I then turned into a stegosaurus. I wasnt alarmed at all instead I was very happy and giddy. Then I woke up. I’ve always wondered what it might mean.
Note, I’m pursuing my childhood love of Paleontology as a career and the stegosaurus is one of my favorite dinosaurs.

-Kelcie Hovland 2017-01-27 8:41:37

My dream was terrifying. I was always with aaniyther person (i never knew them) it started with us being in a dark school like place, something didnt feel right, (i dont remember everything) i remember us being chased around and eventually us both dying to human killers. This led in to another random person and i walking outside on school grounds, the person opend the door to the building in front of us then closed it saying she must be crazy theres a monster in there, she starts laughing and walks away, i then turn around and see a dinosaur, the dinosaur slowly looks up at me with a blood thirsty look, it then starts walking towards me picking up speed, i panic and rush into the building that is now behind me, in there is another dinosaur called a screacher and it is black and red, this on sees me enter the building, it screams to tell its young there is food and it runs over to me, i try to hide up against the door but the other dino is right on the other side, to quickly the screacher gets to me and i feel it scratching and tearing the flesh from my back it hurts so much, the next think i know is i am laying on a cold gym floor and i see the screacher bend over and drink my blood, i can feel the blood leaving my body at a very fast pace an all i do is twitch. I manage to wake myself here

-Keirsten 2016-11-14 10:26:56

I keep having this constantly recurring dream where I am in some sort of school environment and it is being taken over by raptors. I can only get to the same six or seven rooms and hallways , and the raptors either present themselves in the hallway or they open the doors and come into the rooms after some time. Next thing I know, im watching everyone around me get chased, but thankfully I never actually view someone being torn to pieces. Every time the raptor has no one else to chase and sets it’s sight on me, when it gets close enough I jolt awake. Probably had this dream about ten times in three weeks.

-Mariela Gonzalez 2016-11-10 13:23:59

I have a dream that two reptiles dinosaur escaped from a cage and one of them saw me and start following and as soon as both of them cornered me a creamed out my brother’s name and he came out of no were and craved of the dinosaur by the neck and the other dinosaur was also detained by a un expected person witch I couldn’t see his face clearly, after that I felt a huge sense of peace and smiled that I had seen my loving brother who has past away…. what does it all mean?

-Julia 2016-10-28 12:03:29

Until now I had never had a nightmare that made me scared to go back to sleep. I was out having a drink with friends from work. The bar was eerie to begin with, sort of like an old hunting lodge. My friends were going outside, and I told them i’d be right there I just had to get a drink. That’s when I saw my father (he died almost a year ago from cancer at the age of 90, I’m only 23). He looked emaciated and very confused. I dropped my drink and ran over to see why he was there. He kept falling over because he was very weak. He didn’t really know who I was. The lodge slowly turned into a hospice home as I continued to help him walk. A nurse told me where his room was, I was furious he wasn’t being well cared for or watched, especially because of the Alzheimer’s. His room was a mess, and there were toy dinosaurs everywhere. I had to continuously help him stand up while I tried to clear all of the toy dinosaurs from his bed. They were almost never ending, and even when I finally laid him down, they would appear on his body. I remember one perfectly situated on his chest. I remember thinking, “when was the last time I visited my father, how long has he been here?” And also, “I need to visit him way more often, starting tomorrow I will come here every day”. I woke up drenched in sweat.

-Erin 2016-08-15 8:17:00

I had a dinosaur dream last night. And usually i would pass it off but it was very intense and that feel stuck with me throughout the day. I was in a big outlet mall or something and as i was walking i just heard crashing and people screaming. And then i saw it. This huge t rex standing right in front of me. I ran and hid and tried to gather a few people up to escape. But it was like no matter where i went it would find me. The 2nd floor went falling to the ground and people were terrified. Me and a few others finally escaped the mall and found a house right on a lake. I was hoping the dinosaur would pass us. But just in case we were trying to come up with a plan b. I never saw anyone killed or eaten by the dinosaur just a lot of destruction and chaos created by it. But it seemed to keep covering ground looking for people. Especially me. It never got to me and i was terrified to see what it would do if i let it get the chance to get me.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2016-08-19 11:21:09

    Dear Erin – I feel you have explained your own dream already; “And usually I would pass it off.”
    If we can agree that passing it off means “to disregard or ignore something by considering it to have some negative quality”, then your dream makes it clear that your usual way is not the right way to deal with something that is part of your inner world; “But it was like no matter where I went it would find me” and “just a lot of destruction and chaos created by it.” See http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/inner-world/#MakesInner

    Although the dream process attempts to release difficult emotions, trauma and past experience, most people have inbuilt mechanisms which prevent this spontaneous healing activity. It is natural to pull our hand away from a hot surface because of the pain. We do this ‘without thinking’, unconsciously in fact. Similarly we unconsciously pull away from any painful or frightening emotions, even though it may be in our best interests to release or integrate them.

    The non-release may lead to physical tension; a massive use of energy to contain such emotions; and development of physical illness; “just a lot of destruction and chaos created by it.”

    Resistance may also be in the form of not wanting to change; fear of the new; feeling threatened by fresh views of life or any questioning of the values one has long lived by. To free oneself from such resistances needs a positive motivation and the learning of new psychological and even physical skills, as presented in http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/

    It may first need some practice to overcome your fear “I was terrified to see what it would do if I let it get the chance to get me” and it is possible by using http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
    Anna 🙂

-James 2016-08-13 12:22:54

Hello. My dream began in a large two or three story house. There were people around but I’m not too sure about who were. I know that my brother was there, however. Then I remember a t-Rex came into the house, and everyone scattered and hid. The Trex would chase me and I’d hide and it would go away. This went on for about two or three times. Then I looked out the window and saw an even bigger T. rex walking to the house. I remember this T. rex had bigger class and teeth and had white on the ridges around his eyes. When this T. rex came into the house I was hiding and watched it eat my brother and my mother who was suddenly there! I remember feeling devastated and running to a window and being able to escape the house. I was running to my car and I could hear the sounds of the T. rex in the house. On my way to my car there was a man in a pink shirt and blue pants that seemed to be trying to cut off my escape by walking into the path I was running. He would freeze in his tracks when I looked at him, but I got the feeling he wanted to hinder my escape. I made it to my car and drove off. My last memory is that my neighborhood was very different. Then I woke up. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2016-08-16 8:25:20

    Dear James – Your dream may reflect your instinctive response – flight or freeze – when you meet your feelings or urges that you rather avoid.
    Your dream also reflects that running and hiding is not working well; “Then I looked out the window and saw an even bigger T. rex walking to the house.”
    The feelings or urges have grown to the point where part of you feel consumed by them; “When this T. rex came into the house I was hiding and watched it eat my brother and my mother who was suddenly there!”
    Often we explore in our dream approaches that do not work, before we can move on to a different more effective approach; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/ and http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/
    See also http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/flight-or-fight/
    Anna 🙂

-Roxanne 2016-07-14 6:57:23

In my dream. It always happens the same way. And always in the same house. It is a house that is sort of isolated. It starts with me and some of my family running through the house. And i soon as i stop to catch my breath i see 3 or 4 raptors come around the corner. i always try to sneek my way to the roof, but as soon as i get there a raptor always jumls up there and finds me. I find myself running aroind the house and even running outside trying to find places to hide. And as soo. As the raptors surround mei wake up. I dont know or i cant figure out why tjese dreams keep accuring.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2016-07-15 10:20:34

    Dear Roxanne – It is not clear from the way you described your dream what the purpose is of you and some of your family running through the house.
    Do you know why you are running; http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson?
    In general it can be said that anything moving toward you in a dream usually signifies that you are becoming more aware of it, feeling it more intensely. So being chased in a dream usually denotes that you are feeling something you fear more intensely and are trying to avoid confronting it. This is not usually a good policy, as you can never get away from yourself.
    Your dream may be recurring because you have not explored a different approach yet and running away is clearly not working.
    So how about using your imagination and explore what happens when you face the raptors?
    Your dreams are a unique area of self-expression. They are a safe area to experiment and experience things in any way you wish. Often we introvert, or take into our dream life, rules and fears that have no place there. For example, while dreaming, you may fall into the sea and be terrified you will drown. But that is impossible because you are only experiencing images of your feelings and thoughts. All you can do is to feel fear. You can easily breathe under water in a dream, or fly, or die and be re-born. So remove such limitations from your inner life by visualising such changes into your dreams when awake. Imagine yourself being what you can in your dreams. Even passive people who couldn’t stand up for themselves can change as they do this.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
    Anna 🙂

-Jannelle 2016-06-06 18:09:35

Hello. I keep having dinosaur dreams. But the one I had last night was different than the others. The part I remember is that my partner and I are in a truck this no roof over the cabin. It’s night time and reasonably dark and He’s driving very fast and erratically with the headlights off so that the dinosaurs can’t see us. But there are still 2 tyrannosaurus Rex’s chasing us and catching up to us. They never knock or bump the truck. They are about to catch us when a huge floodlight comes on in front of us and gets the attention of the t-rex’s. We get out of the truck and hide behind some trees and we see one run off and he tells me he sees the other leave as well. That’s when I feel the presence of something behind and turn around and that’s when I wake up. The whole time I remember feeling frightened and panicky and when I wake up Ibstill feel scared.

I’ve been trying to do some research into why I keep having dinosaur dreams and would like some insight to this one

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2016-06-11 6:46:08

    Dear Janelle – Unfortunately you do not share what is different about your last dinosaur dream.
    I will approach your recurring dreams as if you are chased and running away from your inner dinosaurs in all your dreams, and this could be the reason why they are recurring.
    In general dreams recur because there are ways you habitually respond to your internal or external world.
    Because your attitude or response is unchanging, the dream that reflects it remains the same. It is noticeable in those who explore their dreams using such techniques as described under http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/practical-techniques-for-understanding-your-dreams/ and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/peer-dream-group/ that recurring themes disappear or change because the attitudes or habitual anxieties that gave rise to them have been met or transformed.
    Anything moving toward you in a dream usually signifies that you are becoming more aware of it, feeling it more intensely. So being chased in a dream usually denotes that you are feeling something you fear more intensely and are trying to avoid confronting it. This is not usually a good policy, as you can never get away from yourself.
    So perhaps you feel like exploring a different approach to your dream; stop running and meet your inner dinosaurs?
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
    Because you are not behind the driving wheel in your dream, please also read http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/the-driving-seat/
    Anna 🙂

-Sai praveen 2016-03-12 1:11:39

We are having a small pool of thing in our home and there used to be 3-4 brachiosaurus (long necked ones). Only one of them looks out of pond and reacts to me plays with me every time and all others always under water ( and the water was unclear from the beginning ) aftersometime me and my dad thought they might be dead and we decided to check, we didn’t lowered the water level but it was decreased slightly and uneven (up and downs in water level) I was little afraid to step in but my dad was not he throwed small object like keychain in water(low lvl) to guess if anything is there and he stepped in to water as the sound implied that nothing at that place and took that object and throwed at higher lvl and it didn’t reach bottom now I took it (with no fear) and throwed at the same place it was not reaching the bottom looks like a heap of sand is there ,we thought one dinosaur (brachiosaurus) is hiding,but as we both stepped in to water the level is too low for a brachiosaurus to hide even in sleeping position , we were pretty clear that those were gone/ vanished and when we turned back even the first one also vanished,we checked if they made any holes,there are no homes for them to travel ,they just vanished and it doesn’t felt anything dangerous or harmful as it was friendly with me and most important we didn’t put them the there

-Kate 2016-02-21 17:30:44

I’ve been having these dreams for a while. They are always about a T Rex chasing me or me running away from one. But I just had a dream that I was helping an injured one and the government was trying to kill him. For some reason he grew smaller so he could fit into my house and I tried to patch him up with bandaids. My family that was in my house I knew none of them but knew they were my family. They were on my side but they were afraid of the T Rex. I’m so confused because usually my dreams are scary and this one I was trying to save the scary monster. I had absolutely no fear of him and he had complete trust in me.

-Fran 2016-01-15 10:10:19

I dreamed that I had thee big eggs: a present from a museum. I had put them in a pot between flowers on marble stairs entering some kind of victorian garden. I was there with my sister and another girl. When I looked at them I suddenly saw them hatching. I could see a baby raptor uncovering.. it was looking at me still covered in some egg shells. I was mesmerized at fist. But then I saw the urgency of contacting someone. I left with my sister, leaving the other girl behind. I was a little bit releaved that she was the one who would be eaten if it came to that. I was going home but first I lost my keyes and then I could not fine my home at all..

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2016-01-21 12:31:58

    Dear Francis – An interesting dream! What I see in your dream – and please explore it yourself as well http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-yoga/ and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/#BeingPerson – is that you become aware of the huge and very ancient potential that is part of your inner world. You decide to add this potential to all that you have already brought to “flowering” inside yourself and the Victorian garden might give an idea of your latent potential; of what you are able to express/give birth to, too. You do not describe what the garden looks like and it might be helpful to write down what you see there and explore it too, using “Being the person or thing”. Because you posted this dream in the entry of dinosaur, I trust that with a baby raptor you mean something like a velociraptor (meaning “swift seizer”); a dinosaur that lived approximately 75 to 71 million years ago.
    I wonder what made you decide to “contact someone”. Could it be fear for being consumed by ancient, basic feelings and drives? See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/brain-levels-and-dreams/#reptilebrain Do you feel that this “other girl” – this other part of you – is able to deal with this? And who is the “someone”? What (help?) do you expect to find in this “someone”? I think that being lost and losing your keys are symbols for feeling confused with these drives and emotions entering your world.
    Anna 🙂

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