Animals in Your Dreams
The animals we dream of express the wealth of our own feelings and depth of our unconscious understanding of life.
Few of the things we do as an individual in today’s world are uniquely human. Like other animals we build dwellings, we eat, sleep and reproduce. We care for our young with the same passion and self sacrifice seen in other mammals. We follow leaders and develop hierarchy as do wolves and primates. Above all else, we share with our fellow creatures our existence in a physical body we have inherited from a long line of forebears and pre-human animals. From this long past we carry traits and urges, fears and dispositions that underpin our self aware human personality. In dreams, these largely unconscious responses to what we face in life are shown as animals. See Animals in your Brain
For instance some of these traits we know as the flight, fight or freeze response; as the new born baby’s instinct to suckle and bond with its parent; as our urge to find a partner and mate; and particularly we see it in the drive to survive and thrive. But there are many more subtle aspects of the animal inheritance we carry with us. Some of these we see in our social behaviour, as when we shrewdly asses a person’s character, or discover what we call the ‘chemistry’ that exists between us and another person. Such things arise largely from our unconscious intuitions and senses. Such senses and responses were developed over millions of years by our animal forbears. In fact we are like a small face on top of a long line of beautiful animals.
This ancient heritage that dreams portray as our animal is not simply a psychological belief. It is built into our body and is very evident in the fact that we have three interwoven brains. The most ancient brain, one we share with reptiles and birds is called the R complex – R for reptilian. This part of your brain deals with deeply instinctive behaviour such as flight or fight, swallowing, automatic reflexes, inbuilt mating behaviour, territorial defence and aggression. This R complex developed about 200 million years ago and is still an underpinning part of what influences your behaviour today. Dreams often portray these urges in you as snakes or lizards.
The second part of your brain is called the Limbic System. This is wrapped around the R complex, and is something we share with other mammals such as cats, dogs and horses. It developed about 60 million years ago and deals with your emotions, feelings responses to people and events, the subtler inner life you feel in love and sex, and it provides a deep wisdom about social and individual relationships. Dreams often use mammals or apes to portray the influence in your life of this part of your unconscious drives and intuitions.
Many people are frightened or terrified of their dream animals. That is rather like being terrified of a picture on a cinema screen, for dreams are nothing more than moving images on the screen four sleeping mind. Like a computer game you can be attacked or even killed many times but you are still whole and unhurt. Face up to the animals in your dreams and make friends of them, because they are really helpful assets to have. See Inner World
Useful questions:
Is there any concern about the animal’s health?
The third part of your brain is the Cortex. This is unique to humans and takes up five sixths of the brain mass. It deals with all the things that are distinctly human, such as logical thought, writing, analysis, self awareness and conscious movements.
An American advertising company, describing these three brains in its instructions to planning advertising campaigns says, “Our Reptilian Brain is more powerful than the Limbic (emotional) Brain, which in turn is more powerful that the Cortex (thinking) Brain. It is best to take all three brains into account when planning a marketing/branding campaign.” See Animals.
Meeting your dream animals
What has been said about your three brains and what sort of dream arises from them is of course a generalisation. When you are looking at your own animal dreams you want to know specifically how they refer to you. So we will move from the general to the specific in looking at the dream meanings of animals such as a dog, cat, snake, horse, tiger and elephant. Those are mentioned because they are, in the order given, the most frequently dreamed of animals.
As explained in an earlier chapter, these are not to be thought of as symbols. They are more like computer desktop icons that if you connect with them lead you to awareness of, and ability to work with, what are usually unconscious processes in you. To gain even the beginnings of insight into your dream animals, you first need to remember that you as a person are a tiny spark of consciousness. You are a little bit of self awareness riding an incredibly ancient animal you call your body. Remember that your body has formed from cells and genetic information that has gradually developed over millions of years. It holds that information in it unconsciously. To actually make a living connection with your dream animals see Acting in your Dream
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To gain an understanding of your dream animals, it is helpful to imagine that you are the keeper of a prehistoric type of human being. As such you would need to be aware what the correct diet is for this big creature; what type of dwelling it needs; what are its sexual and emotional needs; what frightens it or causes it stress; what amount of exercise keeps it healthy, what its stages of growth are and how it can best develop through those stages; and what satisfies it in relationships with others of its kind? Your animal dreams are showing you exactly those issues. They are giving you insight into how to care for the instinctive, the spontaneous and natural in you. |
Therefore ask yourself the following questions about your animal dreams, and write down any responses. If the answer is no to a question, move on the next one:
Is your dream animal struggling to survive?
Survival is the most powerful and fundamental drive in your body and personality. Survival skills today are often linked with managing to remain alive in difficult terrain or harsh countryside, but we all live in the midst of challenges even in civilised surroundings. Your everyday social, work and political environments confront you with enormous difficulties. Also, every cell in your being is trying to survive. Your body and its systems are constantly involved in maintaining balance amidst powerful counter influences, or even against your own bad habits. Understanding what difficulties you face in surviving, and what resources you have to handle them is a huge step toward a better life. If you had the reptilian brain and the mammalian brains removed you would not function.
Therefore define if you can what your dream animal is struggling with or against in its efforts to survive. Look for connections with your everyday life. In doing so remember that the dream is putting into graphic form, perhaps like a mime, something that needs to be lifted into everyday words and perceptions.
We all have so many aspects to what we need in life to survive as a whole person. We might be doing very well in work or social recognition, but our need for warmth and love might be struggling. So it is helpful to list the facets of your own life, such as physical health, mental health and vitality, emotional needs, finance, acclaim, and so on, and asses their survival rating.
Is the animal domesticated or wild?
This illustrates the difference between urges within yourself that you have completely socialised or learned to cooperate with, and those that are in conflict with your conscious actions or what other people expect of you. An example of this can be seen in youthful rebellion, and in the difference between what is instinctive and spontaneous in a young person, such as aggression or fear, and what is expected of them by others. The rebellious youth might allow their unsocialised urges to express as criminal acts, or disruptive social behaviour. On the other hand they might express it in the form of music or art that, while it is still anti establishment, is rewarded, as with the Rolling Stones.
So the need here is to recognise what of your feelings or urges are involved, and ask yourself if the wild is healthy as it is, or does it need a better relationship with your social or work activities? On the other hand, sometimes social restraints or needs deaden the spontaneous and natural in oneself, and so need to be reduced for greater personal harmony.
- Is there any concern about the animal’s health?
- Is there an indication the animal has been injured?
- Does love, caring or affection enter into the dream?
We have inherited and enlarged the great tenderness and care seen in other mammals.
- Are sexual feelings involved?
- Does the animal show unusual intelligence or ability to speak?
- Is the animal giving advice or showing you something?
- Are baby animals involved?
- Is the animal attacking or being attacked?
- Is there a herd or group of these animals?
- Has the animal been neglected or mutilated?
- Are you trapped by or running away from an animal?
Comments
I dreamt of a high school friend (who I havnt seen in a long time, but talk to occasionally)and myself were sitting outside in a front yard. About 4 small to medium size dogs came up to her front fence. She got some dog treats out and gave them to me to feed them. They started to snatch the treats from my hand hungrily so I dropped the whole box of treats on the ground. Then there was about 5 or 6 more big dogs that also showed up. My friend went to pick up the treats as I was walking back to go inside when I heard her scream “Oh my god there attacking me!” I ran back around the front to help her but stopped because her body was being eaten alive by most of the dogs while she covered her face and was screaming “This hurts so much help!” and ler leg was about 5′ away from her body being eaten by 2 of the smaller dogs and they looked up at me and came after me. I ran around the back and closed the fence and started banging on her door for her dad to come help us. Then I woke up. What could this dream possibly mean? Thank u for your time I appreciate it.
I dreamt that I was trying to save 3 or 4 different sized & odd looking fish by getting them to water or a vet. The main fish had bloody cuts to its back but it looked a bit like my Shitsu cury fur instead of scales. Every time someone saw them they would pat the shitzu and I would say its not a dog its a fish. One of the other fish I had been holding so tight so I would not drop it that .when I looked its tongue was handing out like a panting dog. The minute I eased my grip it was fine. My main concern was to get them water & help so they would be comfortable & pain free
I dreamed of a large herd of elephants surrounding me and some other people, in a semi-urban set-up. The animals were all healthy. young ones were there too. They were not violent but so sure of themselves and awe-inspiring. Me and the other people were scared and somehow I managed to come out of it ‘safely’. What does it mean? Can you please help?
RMA – You need never be afraid of anything in your dreams. Do you honestly believe there were any elephants physically with you in your dream? It is only images you use to show you things.
The elephants represent the divine power that is in all of us. It is yours to use if you are not frightened of it as you were. So feel the awe and let go of the fear. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/dream-yoga/
Tony
I have had recurring dreams of a short-haired light orange tabby that is living in the garage of my previous home or in a dark basement and is extremely friendly. It could be days that he has eaten, but he looks healthy and gets along well with other pets and people. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
Kiki – well the two dreams tell a different story. It seems that you suffer from slight anxiety, and that is a habit pattern that can be changed. I feel it is the anxiety that produces the loss of the dream baby and the massive amount of mail – a mass of worrying thoughts.
The cat dream is quite different, although you are not caring for it enough it is a supportive instinct. The cat represents feeling that you store in your unconscious. They are feelings to do with your own worth as a woman – and definitely need feeding. Please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYYXq1Ox4sk
It explains how to deal with anxiety/habits.
Tony
Thank you for your reply Tony! It makes sense now and is very true about what I am going through…maybe the toughest time in my life so far and never thought I would be in this situation. I should clarify that I was living at my previous childhood home while the cat was hiding out there. I dream of my childhood home almost every night and can’t understand why. If you are able to interpret this, I would appreciate it.
Thank you!
Last night (as most nights) I had a very long and vivd dream. Somewhere in the middle I had a baby bird, who I was carrying with me on some kind of journey. I was very emotionally attached and the tiny bird seemed to know what I was saying when I told it how to sit on my head or in my hand so it was comfortable and safe. Around this time I was in charge of hearding some larger mamals (I cant remember what) through a river to another location, and someone asked me how my bird was doing. When I looked it was no longer a bird but a crushed egg, and the person dissected it down the middle and saw the dead bird inside. the person who asked seemed very dissappointed in me while I wondered how I killed him.
Capricorn – The little bird is most likely an expression of your childhood, the memories of which you still carry with you. Nearly all baby animals represent our own inner child. After all as a baby you were a small vulnerable animal, with all the natural instincts to feed, to survive, and to bond with your mother. You couldn’t speak so you had no language. You became human when you were taught language and other human skills. See http://dreamhawk.com/interesting-people/animal-children/
The journey is the long twisting journey of your life, and the large mammals were the other parts of your animal past you are caring for. The river was the energy of life that continues to grow and take you through changes in body and mind.
The crushed egg appears to be something that happened to you at a very early age that led you to feel as if your protective shell was broken. I am guessing here, but did you have a twin?
In any case you feel as if an important part of you has been killed. Of course it hasn’t, it has just been held back in its normal development, and through loving the crushed part of you it can revive and continue to grow. Take the image of the egg and love it back to life.
Tony
Thanks for your reply, usually I’m the only one to interpret my dreams as my friends are usually just in awe that I can remember them. It’s funny you ask if I’m a twin, because my grandmother and mother have one. But no, I’m not. I’m not sure of any protective shell being broken while I was very young, except for the fact that my mother is in the military and that means moving cross country every couple of years – something I’ve adapted to and enjoyed. Again, thanks for replying, I love extra food for thought.
Ok, i had a dream that i was a yellow spotted wild dog w/ brown and black splotches and i was with my best friend, also a wild dog. we were captured by this basically universal “Bad guy” (like a dogcatcher) and herded along w/ more animals to a gym. i felt like this bad guy had me trapped, like a pig in a slaughterhouse, and i wasn’t getting out alive. Suddenly, a door opened and me along with about 1 fourth of the group ran and escaped. But, suddenly i was back with the other 3/4ths of the animals and the exact same thing happened 3 times until i was back for the 4rth group. the bad guy (finally) caught on to us escaping and had us trapped at gunpoint. i froze and suddenly felt like i was the only person there. somehow i squeezed through a side door and escaped and then i woke up. The image of the wild dog was so clear in my mind. What does it mean??
Emily – Who is this bad guy in your life? I can see it is threatening you in your dream. It is, or has been an authority figure that you are not actually terrified of, but who has cut you off from free movement in your life. Fear does that.
What is it in your dream that causes the door to open, something you thought or felt perhaps? It is important to make it conscious because it is the way to freedom. The wild dog is most likely you with your own natural feelings and instincts, and they are trapped, but you found a way to release them – well, all but you.
I think it is important that you explore what the associations – mental and emotional – with the bad guy. If you become conscious of what that is you are free. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/ or even http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/deepening-dream-understanding/
Tony
I have dreamed of a large black cat walking away slowly in the distance 2 baby ducks 1 with a closed eye and limping the other was fine 1 miniature owl 1 sparrow bird and 1 fish. I was saving them to take to my beautiful sanctuary home that I do have on 5 acres with fresh mountain creek and large pond. I let them all go in my gardens.
Last night I dreamt that I had a pet dog who was wounded, the flesh on his back was visible. I was trying my best to heal him but for some reason the dog was quite indifferent to my efforts.
Next the dream changed to me having a pet tiger that I adored (I love tigers in real life) , kept petting and hugging the tiger but sometime later the tiger was dying and I was trying my best to stop it from dying.
What does this mean?
regards
Suchi
I had a VERY vivid dream that my two (recently deceased) dogs came back to life and were running happily towards me in the garden like nothing had happened! My turned to my husband (also in the garden with me) amazed, and said, incredulously,”It’s Spuddie. He never died after all! And Arnie is FOLLOWING him!” They both bounded happily up to greet me, approaching me from the west facing path. I KNEW that they had died (I buried them) but now it was like nothing had ever happened. They were alive, like they had never died. I, ecstatically, immediately took them over to see our neighbours (their friends) across the road to share my amazement and joy.
PLEASE help me with the meaning of this dream.
Sue.
Sue – The mind and the human being is an amazing thing that we fail to understand. Of course dogs, especially when they are loved as much as yours, survive death just as humans do.
Have you ever taken time to think how much of your mind is your own? Language for instance, that most of us take for granted, is thousands of years old, is still growing, and it was given to us. None of it was your own, we share it with everyone. Also your philosophy of life, whatever it is, was already in place and yet you may take it so personally. Your traits are largely given you by parents and family. We take them in just as all mammals do by unconsciously absorbing them.
In fact, apart for the obvious difference between bodies, we are none of us separate. Do you make your own clothes – and even if you do, do you make the threads and material? Do you grow your own food, build your own homes, produce your own electricity, gas, and education?
We are all a part of Life and a super-organism, and we would find it difficult to exist alone. Even if we lived on desert island we could not exist without all the chain of life that supports us and the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.
We are all a part of each other – especially those we love. As I said to someone today in the forum – For many years I felt that we are more than a physical brain. Then on December 8th of 2008 I had personal proof when I experienced a devastating stroke. I lost all movement on the right side of my body and also loss of speech. But I realised that although my brain was severely damaged I, Me, still existed whole behind it all. I realised that brain damage is only damage to the ability to control the body – it was not damage to me. So to speak, the car had broken down but me, the driver, was intact.
Now here is a miracle in action of a severely mentally disabled young woman who fond a way to get past the damaged brain to tell the world what the situation is. Please view this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNZVV4Ciccg
It is the story of a girl breaking out of her own body.
Tony
I had a dream last night of a kitten that was attacking a nest of baby birds in a white cage. I noticed the mother cat was close by waiting to eat the baby birds the kitten was delivering to her. I tried to kill the mother cat by strangling her. But she didn’t die.
MelQ – I think this is about a family situation which involved your mother in a nasty game. The mother cat is usually referring to ones mother and the kittens her children. The baby birds were probably the sensitive or vulnerable ones.
You strangling the mother is an attempt to kill her influence in your life.
I hope I am wrong.
Tony
I was on a balcony with my mum over looking a lake and then we saw the lake monster emerge and there was excitement over seeing it ( I feel that my nieces may have run from somewhere to see it aswell). Then a dog was downstairs wandering about – at first we thought it was my dog but then discovered it was a she and a stray which I took in. Next there was an injured tiger walking down the road – I was worried that it was hurt and may have been mistreated from a zoo or circus, next a cheetah also injured walked passed , I was not sure what to do as they were hurt but couldn’t help them myself at the same time I had this dog at my feet being petted. On deciding to call animal welfare the city council garbage truck came passed travelling back the other way with both cats scooped up on the front of it.
I have not dreamt anything like this before, your thoughts would be appreciated.
Beck – I would love to have a real description of your ‘lake monster’. So I am guessing it is a form of prehistoric creature. If so it shows you in touch with all of you from the head down. If you take time to think for a while you may realise that are a bloom, on a very ancient plant. You may not be in touch with the forces of Life that keep your heat beating, makes you breathe even while asleep.
As such you grew you from a seed in your mother’s womb, and as it did so took you through the whole process of evolution, through the vegative phase as cell division, then into the reptilian phase and up to the mammalian. Then you entered the time when you learned the amazing computer like program called language, up until then you were a little animal and you were living in the ‘unconscious’. It was only then that this bright and vulnerable flower ‘you’ are came into being. The ancient plant is the process of Life that is incredibly ancient. And it – Life – is a wonderful thing with such depths and opposites containing everything that has ever lived and been experienced. And your dreams arise from that. See http://dreamhawk.com/interesting-people/animal-children/
So you are something of an unusual person, because most people cannot see that they are everything that has ever existed, but you have only just touched it in your dream. Most people are scared of Life in them and run terrified from most dream animals. Even in our body we have thre brain levels – the reptilian brain, the mammalian brain and the human brain. We would not exist without them.
I think that the realisation the dream deals with is because you obviously love animals – and that is a love of the many animal you are.
As for the garbage truck scooping up the cats, I can only guess that in the past you might have thought of these animals as dangerous, but because they were hurt it triggered your caring nature and so the truck was a safe way to deal with them.
Tony
Hey i was wondering if you could answer a dream i had the other night , i was strangling a cat , the cat was orange and very thin please shed some light on this dream im confused
Jack – As a baby you were a small vulnerable animal, with all the natural instincts to feed, to survive, and to bond with your mother. But what many people find is that they are frightened of their dream animal, or have never learned to help it evolve into the human world. This means that many people have a great lack in themselves and in their dreams they have to meet and work with the animal in them. As a child we are often told not to do things that would allow to mature with our animal self intact.
So your dream skinny cat was a very vulnerable part of you that you are trying to kill out. And that is probably due to your childhood left you feeling just like the cat. If you continue to suppress/kill that part of you – most likely because it is painful to feel it – you will lose a very important part of you, your childhood, and so you will be stuck in a place of not being able to grow. So be a hero and face it. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-in-your-dream/
Tony
Tony, last night I had a dream that featured a tiger and a young man. The young man was raising the tiger in a small cage. I went over to help him with nursing the tiger when it escaped and became fully grown. The tiger attacked both myself and the young man. I spent the rest of the dream trying to shield the man from the tiger, hiding behind various doors and slowly losing the battle: the tiger had eaten up my left arm to almost the shoulder by the end of the dream. This was unsettling to me because when I was very young I was plagued by nightmares. One night I resolved that I would kill any nightmare that came for me. Since then I have had very few nightmares. I would not describe this as a frightening dream, merely disturbing that when attacked or threatened in my dreams I responded defensively instead of aggressively as I have almost always done since my resolution. Thank you in advance for any light you can shed on this.
The last dream I had before awakening this morning was that of a tiger, a pretty large one, who indicated that he/she (unclear) needed to suckle. So I did. There was no fear and there did not seem to be sexuality involved, just nurturing. I have had notable tiger dreams throughout my adulthood and the tiger has been benevolent or overtly protective of me.
LZ – You are an unusual woman, one who is at ease with being a woman, and also with nurturing something many people would scared of.
It is an unusual dream because it shows you loving beyond your natural boundaries. Our instincts are to love only our kin. You dream also shows you as someone at ease with your iiner anmal and your aggressiveness.
Tony
i dreamed a goriila came to my job and fought me. I also was a gorilla to. Every time i move he knew my tricks and stunts. Next night i dreamed he chased me through tha jungle. Ignoring the people around me and only going after me. Then he whisperd something to me and left. Wish i could remember what he said.
Pee1 – Of course he knew all your tricks – he was you! In our dreams we are in something like a computer game – except we are wired in, and everything in our dreams is a reflection of your own feelings, thoughts and fears.
So you have been having a real struggle, a sort of jungle tactics, with your own instinctive drives. And you can remember what was said to ou if you get back into your dream and run it through in your imagination. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-in-your-dream/
Tony