Eyes

This is about How we SEE the world and ourselves. Although eyes are not mentioned much in the collection of dreams used for data in this book, SAW, SEE, SEEING, LOOK and LOOKING, constitute the highest number of mentions. In a computer word count of 1000 dreams, these words were mentioned 1077 times. Feel, feeling, felt, came second with 855 hits. So dreams are predominantly a looking at and seeing activity, in the sense of insight and awareness.

Fundamentally eyes are about awareness – seeing and being seen. These aspects of relating to the world and others have enormous impact in our life. What we see, and how we are seen, leave great depths of feeling. Someone I know of saw his mother kill his father. That image will never ever leave him.

In many dreams the eyes represent our understanding, or how we ‘see’ the world, our view of things or other people. This is very personal. Also, they depict intelligence, our ability to give attention, and where we focus that attention, along with our boundaries of awareness.

Eyes are used in many ways in dreams. As these quotes from people’s dream descriptions show, eyes can represent the soul or psyche in its many moods – ‘dark deep eyes’; ‘desperation in its eyes’; ‘shining eyes’; ‘impersonal eyes’; ‘staring eyes’; ‘eye to eye’. So in most dreams the eyes display the inner feelings or situation of the person or yourself.

Here is another description of eyes that tells so much.

She looked at me quickly. Her eyes were very brown, but quite round. “I was very much in love with somebody, ” she said. Her eyes were wide open looking at me, and her mouth was trying to carry on speaking, but the weight of emotion behind what she wanted to say carried the words to her eyes, where they began to come out as tears.

Blindness: Not being aware, not wanting to see something – usually about oneself.

Eye Lashes: I have only seen a few dreams that mention eye lashed, and these either show a woman’s sense of her own good looks, or the loss of an attractive feature.

Example: This guy in a TV audience is telling how exciting his life is living with this black girl sitting next to him. As he is talking excitedly all this fake hair – side burns, eyebrows, eye lashes, etc. – falls off. She is laughing, embarrassed. He goes on talking without noticing.

Loss of sight or difficulty in right eye: Not seeing what is going on in the outside world.

Loss of sight or difficulty in left eye: Not seeing what you are really thinking or feeling; not aware of self, motives, behaviour; no ‘in-sight’.

Lack of eye contact: Avoidance of intimacy; feeling ashamed or bowed.

Closed eyes: Introversion or avoidance of contact; not wanting to see. It is a huge step into your inner world because you have shut out a major sense organ for sensing the physical world.

In the Sixties Donovan sang a song called ‘There is an Ocean’.  To quote some of the words, he says the ocean is, “The abode of Angels, the mystical Promised Land, The one and only Heaven, the God of man, Is but the closing of an eyelid away.”

That ocean is just an eye blink away.  When you close your eyes you are in the huge ocean of consciousness.  Of course you are never out of it.  But with open eyes and ears, you may be completely unaware of its enormous depths and dimensions.  Even with eyes closed you may be lost in the choppy ocean surface waves of thought and emotions.  So many impressions claim awareness, apparently of enormous importance.  Urges gusting from hormones, from deeply etched habits, claim attention.

But if we you can find your way through those surface influences, as important or potent as they may be, we you discover another dimension of our experience.  It is one we all know when we surrender our desires and thoughts, our conscious motivations and urges in sleep.  Then that other dimension speaks to us in dreams and visions.  And in it there are depths or heights, forms of experience beyond the images and emotions even of dreams.  And to go consciously and willingly into that realm is to transform it.

Hair in eye: This suggests some sort of irritant or irritation connected with what you can see or have seen. If it is the right eye it means something interfering with what is going on in the outside world. If the left eye it is an interference with what you are really thinking or feeling; not aware of self, motives or behaviour; no ‘in-sight’.

The following example shows how eye contact can change a relationship, as if the eyes are in themselves a form of contact and touching.

Example: ‘ I saw a young soldier with a gun, but as our eyes met we were attracted to each other, and he put his arm round me.’ Pauline B.

Example: ‘I was dimly aware of a biggish black bird that came down close beside us on the step and pecked at the baby’s eye, then it flew off. The eye was gone completely.’ Heather C.

Heather’s dream shows the eye depicting the ‘I’ or identity. In fact her sense of self was damaged in infancy. Therefore ‘eye’ can often be a play on words meaning ‘I’.

Many eyes: This is usually about feeling watched or noticed, often by a god like awareness, either that or an audience or crowd looking at you.

Example: So I stood and watched the bubbles rise, and saw in each one of them an ‘I’, watching me like many eyes – a reflection of me looking back at me. All the lonely bubbles separated from each other, individual I’s, looking at me only because I was looking at them. They existed only because I existed, and knowing that I was their God, suddenly I loved them. Then suddenly, and with some shock I realised that I was a bubble, and only existed because a godlike awareness had caused my existence and was looking at me.

Example: The image was of a smart very confident and aggressive young woman. She was attractive and attracted but her approach was one of attack, so to have a relationship I needed to fight her. What I appear to be facing is that I have the sex drive, but what I am facing is a monster. In fact I had the image of a huge spider that could come out from hiding and drag you helpless into its lair, its many eyes shining.

Opening the eyes: If you have had your eyes closed for a long period, opening them in dreams represent opening them to a new realisation or experience, especially if you woke from sleep. It shows you have woken to new realisations and abilities.

Winking: A wink can suggest a communication that is hidden or only meant for a particular person or group.

Idioms: All eyes; an eye for an eye; apple of his eye; bat an eye; beauty in the eye of; believe my eyes; black eye; bright eyed; catch your eye; can’t you see; cry your eyes out; eyeball this; eagle eyed; evil eye; eye of the storm; eye opener; eyes glazed over; eyes peeled; evil eye; feast your eyes on; fresh pair of eyes; give her the eye; got my eye on; I see; I saw it with my own eyes; sheep eyes; keep an eye open; keep an eye out for; lay eyes on; one in the eye; meet eye to eye; more than meets the eye; out of the corner of my eye; turn a blind eye; keep your eyes open; easy on the eyes; right before my eyes; turn a blind eye; sight for sore eyes; wink of an eye; you must be blind; your mind’s eye.

 

Useful Questions and Hints:

What is it I am ‘seeing’ or understanding in my dream – can I define it?

In what way are eyes shown in this dream, and what idiom or life situation does that suggest?

What feelings or unspoken words are being expressed here?

Try Exploring Dreams -Techniques to useSecrets of Power DreamingProcessing Dreams

 

Comments

-Celia 2015-08-14 16:34:40

I dreamt that I was on a journey and had to travel through tunnels. I couldn’t get a clear view of my companions but there were three of us. We were aware we would possibly run into danger the whole time. We came to a fork in the tunnels and the far left had three bright lights on with a sign “many eyes are watching”, I was creeped out a bit and knew I was supposed to avoid that part so we took the other path and ended in a smaller, more secret section of cave. There were many seedlings and pants on either side of the cave and they were in glass cases swaddled like babies. We passed through that section and came to an even smaller section of cave with winding stone cut steps leading upwards. When I climbed up I saw a little niche cut out from the rock with many small bottles. It looked like an altar. Some of the bottles were labeled with instructions for use but most were blank. A fire started in another section of the cave and one of my companions told me to hurry. I wanted to take the seedlings to safety but they said there wouldn’t be enough time. I gathered all the bottles in a sack and we rushed past the fire and suddenly I’m on a balcony of a castle looking over at a calm section of sea. There are blocks of stone to separate a pool and tall men are playing a sport in the sea-pool while the waves slosh about around their hips. I have a baby in my arms and an older attendent?/my mom?/my sister? with me.
What does any of that mean?
I’m reading about herbalism right now and the bottles reminded me of tinctures and oils.

    -Santiago 2015-12-19 10:42:17

    Hi Tony!
    Last night I dreamt that as I was chatting with woman on the street an indigo colored butterfly flew into my eye. I wiped her out and she lost part of her wing.
    I’ve been making a lot of changes in my life for the good (spiritual, physical, financial, emotional) and am clearing out detrimental thought and action patterns.
    I feel like this dream was important but I don’t know why. Would you let me know your thoughts?
    Thank you!

-Ellie 2015-08-08 4:28:45

Last night I dreamt that I was out in the back garden with my father and another man who was trying to get over the fence and we needed to go over too, but the man couldn’t find a way over because there were nails spiking up. I cut my hand on the nails and then treated it with first aid, then the garden next to ours that we were jumping to was filled with smoke so we went back inside out house. I was then sitting at the kitchen table and I just decided that I wanted better eyesight (I wear glasses) and popped out both of my eyes. It didn’t hurt but then I put in X2 eyeballs which didn’t help with eyesight only made everyone seem really close up. I hated it and my dad saw what I had done and shouted at me so I decided to put my old ones back in but for some reason was blind in my right eye. Then i woke up.
Over the past couple of months I have been beginning to practice Wicca, and meditation. I did meditate a couple of hours before sleep, nothing huge just practiced ‘grounding’. Any insight would be appreciated 🙂

-JT 2015-07-13 21:06:56

Last night I had a dream that I was looking in a mirror. Looking at myself I saw extra eyes on my face. They were identical to my eyes. I had the extra eyes below my original eyes on my cheeks. I ended up popping the cheek eyes like a zit and the eyes fell out.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-07-19 8:32:32

    Dear JT – Looking in the mirror is basically looking at yourself, a self- examination; and the face in the mirror may not match your own. It may be better or worse. That is, in self-examination you may come across, or see, parts of your nature that are the worst side or the best side of yourself. These are the things you do not usually see about yourself. But the mirror might only reflect your negative worries about yourself, or how you think you appear to others.
    Unfortunately you do not reveal how you felt in the dream when you saw your “cheeky eyes – or I’s”.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/emotions-and-mood-in-dreams/
    The way to understand these extra pair of “eyes-I’s” is to enter your dream while awake and to perceive the world AND yourself through these eyes, before you decide to remove them.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
    In a way we can see (become aware) with and through every part of our body and it will be helpful to understand WHAT you let go off when you popped these eyes out.
    The association you have with this is “like a zit” and that could mean that you got rid of a way of perceiving that was not helpful to you (and/or others).
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/pimple/
    Anna 🙂

-Shaun 2015-06-29 0:21:57

I just had the most frightening dream, it scared me so much, I woke up crying!

I’ll just give you fragments of it, but telling you the important parts:

So, in the first dream, I was playing hide n’ go seek with my friends in a big house.

When I was looking for the one friend, I came across a man in a Jason mask, trying to cut my head off with a Machete, but I diverted it a few times.

Right before he was going to cut my head off, he said, “Now I’m gonna cut your head off”, but I ended it right before he did it.

Fast forward to the next dream, which was the most frightening!

I was in my kitchen finding Tupperware bowls, trying to put over-sized cookies in them, then had to use the toilet.

When I went to go flush the toilet, I looked down at my hands, which my fingernails and the middle of my fingers were dark blue, which scared me to death, so I went to tell my mom to call an after-hours nurse to see what they say, but she says the only hospital I’d be able to go to was in Montana.

My sisters boyfriend came in the room telling me the only thing I could do at the moment was get healthier, which made me feel hopelessness.

In fact, the whole dream had a depressing hopelessness looming over everyone’s head.

Then I went to go use the bathroom again, and when washing my hands, I looked into the mirror, to see my eyes were DEAD white!!!

I then heard a faint scream, which I can’t explain, because it was the most eery thing you would ever hear.

The dream then ended.

I woke up, and about two minutes later, I was balling my eyes out, to which I’ve never done before.

Actually, after being up for a few minutes, it still felt as if I was the dream still, feeling that depressing hopelessness looming over me.

Sorry this is so long, but now that I think about it, when I was staring at myself in the mirror, it almost seemed as if a demon was staring back at me, disguised as myself.

I mean, it looked half angry.

Whatever it was though, I never want to encounter it ever again!!!

-Jessica 2015-06-18 16:18:13

I’m hoping you can help me understand this incredible dream I had two nights ago. I dreamt that I was staring at a giant eye on a pillar. It was my own eye. Inside of my eye stood me. I was also inside my own eye, watching myself look at my eye from the outside. These weren’t separate dreams, or separate ideas. It felt whole and was happening simultaneously, me looking at my eye from a distance while I also watched myself from inside me own eye. I felt great peace, and like I was on the cusp of something very large but I couldn’t quite reach it.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-06-19 10:12:02

    Dear Jessica – A beautiful abstract dream about the “More than we are”; the mystery of LIFE.
    You wrote “It felt whole and was happening simultaneously, me looking at my eye from a distance while I also watched myself from inside me own eye. I felt great peace, and like I was on the cusp of something very large but I couldn’t quite reach it.”
    The way I see it is that you were exploring/experiencing a state of mind – the “highest” possible at this moment also called peak or Core experience – that is often perceived as “beyond normal”.
    The state of mind or consciousness that we call normal awareness is simply the one we experience most. In terms of evolution and education it is the one which has arisen because it offers the most survival value, or is culturally created – that is, it enables us to survive in or fit society. None of these factors make normal awareness anything more than one of many possibilities. There is no reason we should maintain this habitual state simply because circumstances have induced it and this is what your dream also suggests.
    I feel that Tony described this focused self-awareness of human beings and that fundamental Awareness behind existence in a way that gets as close as possible to “This Abstract Experience”:
    “I do have a sense of a core self. Lately I’ve tended to use slightly different words to describe this core. It is something that exists and is self-existent. It doesn’t depend upon what occurs in a transitory way, for instance through senses and impressions. These are always changing. Every moment they are new. So the sense of the self-existent core that is unchanging and not influenced by the appearing and disappearing of sensory impressions and the psychic life of thoughts and emotions, and the ever changing flow of the senses and psychic life, produce various ways in which we experience ourselves. The core, the centre, doesn’t seem to have a sense of ego or self as I know it. The very best experiences of this suggest that I Am That. In other words I am not an individual at all. I am the very process that exists in all beings. I ‘Am that I am’. I am the process that exists in all the phenomena in the world.”
    Please continue reading at http://dreamhawk.com/interesting-people/tony-interviewed-by-maxine/
    I trust that this article will be an interesting read for you too http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/extending-your-awareness/
    Anna 🙂

-Haley 2015-06-08 17:57:50

Today I meditated using my crystals as I haven’t done so in a very long time.. During meditation I must have drifted off to sleep with all crystals in place on chakras and in my hands. I then had a strange dream that I had been meditating with crystals on my eyes, when I took the crystals off I couldn’t see, my vision was cloudy similar to a frosted window screen, i slowly regained enough vision to look into a mirror in my dream, only to find my actual eyeballs were peeling, a layer was coming away from my eyes, I tried pulling it off but was scared. Then I woke. The dream was so vivid. And I can’t seem to stop thinking that it holds some importance to the fact I was mediating with crystals at the time? Can anybody shed some light if they have ever experienced anything similar? Many thanks. Haley.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-06-11 8:02:21

    Dear Haley – Crystals can represent the hidden inner power active within you that shapes who you are and that grows you; so a symbol of your core self.
    Whatever name you give to that enormous potential of your core self underlying your existence, whether you call it Life, Chaos, God, The Mystery, it is also the source of your physical existence.
    The snake is also an image connected with this force, the purpose or energy behind that power of growth and unfolding.
    I think that the way you set your intention for your meditation, before you get started, can make a difference.
    I feel that the dream shows you that if you set your intention on letting things happen, on letting your Core Self move you toward Consciousness Expansion; toward enlarging the usual boundaries of your awareness, then this intention will help you “shed the skin on your eyes” – like a snake does – which shedding is also a symbol of death and rebirth.

    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/letting-things-happen/
    and
    http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-archetype-of-rebirth-or-resurrection/
    Anna 🙂

-Emma 2015-05-04 21:24:10

Hi,

I had a dream last night that I rubbed both of my eyes and the bottom of them went in. Like my bottom eyelid went inside my eye. I couldn’t work out why there was no eyelid, why it was all white.
I went to sleep in my dream then when I woke up I was looking in the mirror and all this mucus was coming out of my nose/ eyes – all over my face. I kept wiping it to go away then realised my bottom eyelids were pushed in. I pulled them out myself. Seriously wtf. Can anybody explain what this means? I’m making a huge change in my life moving back home to save so I can travel overseas after I’ve now been living interstate for 5 years. I’m scared I will regret it but think it’s the best thing for where I want to go. Could this be related?
It’s strange how al lot of the posts above are all eye dreams in 2015. Maybe there is an awakening? How spiritual are the people above? 🙂

Please reply!! Xx

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-05-07 9:15:29

    Dear Emma – Thank you for sharing some information about your waking life, which is always helpful.
    You wrote “I’m scared I will regret it but think it’s the best thing for where I want to go”.
    I see the start of your dream as you not being aware yet what fear does to you, for fear influences your health and so your energy level.
    Your rubbing your eyes suggests that you are tired (of your fears).
    Sleeping in a dream is a symbol of not being aware of something – “I couldn’t work out why there was no eyelid, why it was all white” – and waking up in a dream is like a “wake up call” to pay attention.
    When you wake up you do “face yourself” in the mirror. The mirror particularly depicts self awareness in the sense of insight into your behaviour or character traits and what you become aware of are your worries/fears.
    In waking life mucous membranes are found where outside invaders are able to get into our bodies. They secrete mucus as protection from potentially harmful invaders such as bacteria, viruses, or outside matter that can mess up our systems. The mucus from these layers can trap and remove invaders.
    In our dream world a bacterie or a virus is a hidden or invisible attack that may weaken or even destroy you – your confidence – in one way or another. They can also depict anxieties that undermine your health or attack your well-being; or feelings that keep you away from another person or situation – in case of infection.
    Please also read http://dreamhawk.com/news/avoiding-being-my-own-victim/
    and http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/fear-is-another-word-for-hope/
    We do sense too that there is a change happening:
    http://dreamhawk.com/news/there-is-a-huge-change-happening/
    Good Luck!
    Anna 🙂

-Barbara 2015-05-02 13:23:16

Hi there,

I’ve had a dream last night about having my eyes and tongue removed. I had the feeling that it was against my will. When I was lying on the table before the “surgery”, I saw new set of eyes and tongues. After, my eyes were very sore and swollen, so I was wearing sunglasses. I have kept telling people that it’s not as bad as it looks like and that it’s gonna be alright.
Could you please help me interpret this dream?

Thanks.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-05-04 11:23:00

    Dear Barbara – Having a surgery is a symbol of going through difficult but healing changes in yourself.
    The tongue obviously relates to speech, and the capable expression of what you feel. It enables you to articulate what is deep inside you, perhaps unknown even to yourself till it is spoken. So dreaming of the tongue being cut out shows real feelings of being mute and not able to express clearly.
    So perhaps to support your inner process – the new tongue you receive – you can continue to write down your dreams?

    The unconscious can be helpfully likened to a person. It is intelligent, responsive, is moved by meaningful communication and relatedness. To gain the help of this potent power in yourself, you need its co-operation.
    The second step is to remember your dreams and see if they are already dealing with the subject you want information on. It may be your unconscious has other things that need attention first. So think around the question you want answered. Recognise the feelings surrounding the question. A frivolous question that does not connect with the important issues of your life will not easily get the attention of your unconscious. The more important the question is either for your own welfare or work, the more likely it is your unconscious will explore the issue and present a response in a dream.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/incubating-dreams/
    After your “healing surgery” you will be able to see the world “with new eyes”; perhaps you will learn to work with your imagination?

    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/imagination-and-dreaming-2/
    and http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/the-wonder-of-imagination/
    Another important part of your dream is this: “I had the feeling that it was against my will”.
    We have two wills “working in us”, the Life Will and the human personality. The Life Will is forever willing to help us heal and we often resist healing, because we will go through some pain first before we can release it.
    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.
    You have a lot of awareness in your dream: “I have kept telling people that it’s not as bad as it looks like and that it’s gonna be alright”.
    So please keep on trusting that it IS going to be alright, when you will go through this inner process of healing.
    Anna 🙂

-Amanda 2015-03-23 11:33:29

Hi, I woke up screaming last night at 2:20am. I was sweating and shivering at the same time. All I remember is some lady with grey eyes staring at me..and her face getting closer on a steady pace…and then her eyes / face immersing in my eyes..and I woke up screaming multiple times. Please help me interpret it.

-aude 2015-03-08 8:44:06

I dreamed of a man that would not let me look in his eyes he was very sad but did not want to be touched. what does this mean.

-Jordan 2015-01-18 7:20:37

I was dreaming about eyes. They were all looking at me, and they were just eyes and they were green and pink they were everywhere and I can’t stop thinking about them and what they mean

-Bry 2014-12-28 0:32:06

I had a dream where I went to a house that appeared large on the outside, but was pretty small on the inside and the main character in my dream showed me this office that was cluttered with stacks of papers. I looked at the end of the tiny room and noticed a dead grandmother on a bed and no one was going to bury her unless if we found her eye, because she stated before she died that she wants to be buried whole. So the entire dream, me and this character are searching through the office and found 5 human eyes, 3 rabbit eyes, and 2 lizard eyes, all individually soaked in formaldehyde in baby food jars. We burried all the eyes with her because we weren’t sure which eye was hers. What does this mean? I can’t decipher it much!

-samantha 2014-11-28 13:50:14

I woke early and my eyes were really dry from a late night wearing my contact lenses, but as If I’d been around smokers. I’ve often had late nights and my eyes sent this dry and uncomfortable. I fell asleep again and dreamt I had small blisters appearing under my upper eye lids and explaining to my friend that I’m allergic to tempeh (soy fermented) which makes my eyes swell terribly. My friends gave me directions to the hospital.. I had just eaten tofu for first time in she’s so surely I’m just dreaming about the days events?

-Ash 2014-06-18 18:44:18

I had a dream that some how I accidentally knocked out my right eyeball by rubbing my eye….found it and was trying to get to a hospital so they could fix it somehow but it disintegrated and I broke down and sobbed because I knew I wouldn’t have my right eye sight ever again. I’m not sure how to decode that!

    -Jon 2014-06-27 10:57:02

    The same thing happened to me, but not the last part. I woke up before I could get to the hospital. I lost my right eye but I could still see…

    -D 2016-01-30 12:23:52

    The left eye is the good eye the right evil i think.
    We need to block our right eye from seeing.

-Mickey 2014-02-09 11:46:03

I have really spaced out patchy dreams..or just my memory of them. But at the end of my dream, I was kicking people out of my old apartment and was in a dark room looking at the doorway which was like a hallway with people walking past and the person I was looking for earlier in the dream who allowed the party walked by and stopped was in the doorway and facing me from the hall. Then his eyes got all squinty and starred directly at me like he was pissed off or was going to “show me”. The thing is it was some kid from like 9 years ago that i don’t even really know, anyway during his evil stare, another person whom i dont recall stopped next to him and did the same gesture with his eyes and I woke up…It kinda freaked me out.

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