About
Welcome to DreamHawk.com, one of the longest running dream interpretation sites in existence. Millions of people have accessed its database of dream symbols, interpretations and reference material.
The site began in the mid-eighties on CompuServe, and later was called Waves. It has over 6000 individual pages of information.
About the Author
Tony Crisp is an internationally renowned expert on dreams and their interpretation. His bestselling Dream Dictionary: An A to Z Guide to Understanding Your Unconscious Mind has become a classic of the genre. Based on material from thousands of dreams gathered during three decades of research, the Dream Dictionary has been translated into seven languages worldwide. See Tony’s Books
Tony has worked at the vanguard of the personal development and self-help movement for more than fifty years, co-founding in the 1970s one of the first human growth centres in the UK. In addition to teaching and leading groups in self-development and yoga, Tony has worked variously as a photographer, journalist, writer and broadcaster both in the UK and abroad. He was LBC’s resident dream therapist for seven years.
Tony was also the earliest writer on dreams who attempted a dream dictionary not based on the more rigid dream theories derived from Freudian or Jungian ideas. His book Do You Dream, published in 1971, was one of the first of his many other books about dreams and the inner life, and included a dream dictionary.
He has five children and currently lives alone in a cottage in Wales. For a more detailed look at Tony’s life see Biographical Information.
But more important than that is that I am an ‘End User’. That is I present myself not as an authority on dreams but as an end user who has used dreams to survive, to find the unborn part of me, and that it has taken me most of my life. As an end user I dealt in the dreams I was using. In this way I earned a living and hopefully showed other people how to ‘use’ dreams as well. I had an intense feeling with this, as if it was vitally important, and that presenting myself in this way would alter the whole direction of my life.
Site Features
The site enables you to search the Dream Dictionary for any entry and quickly find it, via the Search box at the top right of the page. Such a search will also bring up related entries, and give the user access to a vast database of knowledge.
Many of the entries also link to articles in the Encyclopedia of Dreams, Life and Human Mystery, offering further reading on a vast range of related topics.
A huge collection of features can be found on Features-Found-on-Site
Our Policy
It has always been Tony’s policy never to charge for any service given, wishing to pass on the help and love that flows from ordinary people supporting each other, so this site and the hours spent producing it are a non-commercial venture. But obviously we need your support in maintaining the site, and ask for that in the following ways:
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- Please note: this a not-for-profit site and it offers real dream interpretations, not dream dictionary features that are not real interpretations. We ask no payment for these interpretations, but it would be a great help if you wish to donate anything to the running of the site. I do not ask a fee for what I do, but if you wish to donate you can click on this to give a Paypal Donation
He has five children and currently lives alone in a cottage in Wales. For a more detailed look at Tony’s life see Biographical Information.
Stories >
Comments
Thank you for this great resource DreamHawk.
I had a dream that has made me probe into understanding the meaning. I was in a wildlife reserve that looked like an old english garden maze with manicured hedges 4ft tall.While in the predator section-Lions and tigers ,I got separted from my group.Just as my anixety and fear level were rising I enter the tiger section and this full grown tiger picked me up and carried me out of the reserve,through a crowd of humans and into a building-as the tiger placed me down it was shot with sleep darts.
Most importantantly, the whole time I was being carried ,I focused on the fact I was not being harmed by the animal and I kept saying my Mantra.
I have been doing alot of clearing in my personal space….. I dream- and this was different.
any insights would be appreciated.
Beach House. Steps leading down into the water (aka my subconscious) towards a flooded ledge. If you step off the ledge, you will be submerged in the deep ocean water. I point out the flooded ledge to those around me and I’m excited to walk through the flood water, but no one else wants to follow suit. So I go out on the ledge by myself to cool my feet in the water. Upon my return up the watery steps, I see a gigantic snake swimming in the water behind me. Afraid it will try to bite me, I try to run, but find myself frozen in fear. The snake is watching me the whole time as if reading my thoughts. Closer and closer it comes, almost teasing me, letting me know I cannot get away without brushing against it. At the last second, it rushes my face. Just as the snake is about to strike, it turns into this gigantic-headed lizard and runs right past me. I find myself suddenly surrounded by delighted children who are eager to help me catch this strange and mysterious lizard, resembling a monitor (a flesh eating lizard I greatly feared in college while working in the biology basement as I cared for these flesh eating mini Kimodos) All these little children around me trying to catch the lizard are unsuccessful. It keeps slipping through our hands. I feel like in this dream the snake never intended to bite me and was, in fact, friendly. Help???
Erica – Well, you are a gem on a bracelet of gems.
Not only that you dare to go where many do not even think of – ‘but no one else wants to follow suit’. Whatever you have been doing to enter deep into yourself it has worked – and entering into the new world of your inner self usually faces us with fear. After all, we have been used to the outer world of our senses.
The gigantic snake/lizard is the power of Life – an awesome power that is life and death, rebirth and everything that you have never imagined. But even in the dream it came for you despite your fear, and transformed. And the children are all the wonderful questions arising from curiosity, interest and excitement you have stored in you.
But of course you can never catch the lizard – it is the spirit of Life – which is never the same and can never be held only experienced – it is your central self. So learn to be quiet and let it come to you. And please read these as they might explain so much – The Two Powers – Reptilian Brain – Life’s Little Secrets.
Tony
Tony,
Thanks a million. Your dream interpretation helped me immensely and made such perfect sense! – I’m trying to locate …The Two Powers – Reptilian Brain – Life’s Little Secrets. Are these your books? Or just articles on your site? Where can I procure copies?
Thanks again!
I had a dream about a girl I had never met. She asked about a very dear friend of mine. This girl or young lady wanted my friends phone number, as she hadn’t spoke to her in a long time. When I told my friend about this and described what the woman in my dream looked like my friend got chills. She showed me a photo and it was the woman from my dream. My friend and I have been both going trough hard times. I feel my friend and I are soul mates, but we are both with other people. We want to be together but curtain circumstances keep us apart. I am not sure what I want to know. But this dream just furthers my feeling we belong together.
I had I dream that i was hugging an ex of mine he was my first love in the dream when we hugged I felt so safe and secure like I had no worries or cares in the world it felt like I was home it had been about a year since I seen him because I moved but as soon as I moved back I had that dream
i had this dream there was a long hair that i pulled on and it was stuck up my rear. i dream alot of vivid dreams but can’t find anything about this one. stumped in salt lake city.
I’ve sick for ’bout 2 years. This year I was in the hos from Jan to Apr. While there I had a dream that I step out of darkness and told myself that “next year this time you will not be here”
Debra – Stepping out of the darkness is a very positive thing, and suggest big changes. But it takes some adjustment as you become used to the light.
It depends on what you felt it mean when you said “I will not be here”. It could mean that you will be out of hospital and in a new life situation. But if it means you will die, it still says that it is a good thing and a great freedom.
Tony
Hi, my name is Maya, i live in Kuala Lumpur simce abt 5 months ago, i live with a bf, we live 6 months together now.. Things going perfect on 1st 4 months or so.. But then, started from a month ago, things start to change.. Not so bad, but it’s just only the dream that he is been having lately.. He is been having the same dream this past a month! He sleeps talk, says his EX’s name over and over again, and then some words too.. I love him to death, and he loves me too! I have no other problem with him.. Ohh well, few months ago, we had few, but we got though it.. This is the only problem I have! I can’t sleep well anymore, I’ve been taking Xanax a lot.. It’s hurts me, when he holds me and called someone else’s name.. Everything we talk about it, he got mad, he said I didn’t remember I had a dream, and I don’t think about her, and there is no way I would mention her name whole in sleeping… I got nothing really to say you know.. I have no prove!! Can u please give me some advice.. Would be great and I’d appreciate it, realty..
Cheers
Maya
Maya – You have to realise that we live in three different worlds, and they all have different rules. The one we know best is our waking experience. The second one is the world of dreams – the unconscious. And the third is the world of dreamless sleep.
When your boyfriend goes to sleep he is in another world, while he sleeps and dreams his muscles are paralyzed, only to be moved by another force – not his personality that you are worried about. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/what-we-need-to-remember-about-dreaming/
The thing is that whenever we have sex with someone or love them, we form a bond with them that can never be undone. But the bond is unconscious, and in your boyfriend case sounds as if it was a bad one, so while he is unconscious he is trying to heal the problem. Your feeling hurt by it is only you making it worse. What you could try doing is to say to him, quietly, while he is calling her name and dreaming, something like, “All the muscles of your body are relaxing, You are letting go of any tensions and all the healing energy within you is being released – pause – As this is happening you have the strength to meet and deal with any issues you have with – the woman’s name. Pause – You are feeling stronger as the healing takes place.”
I hope this helps.
Tony
I have had a very similar dream two nights in a row. I will be waitressing (something I do part-time) at a restaurant that I have never seen before, I will walk into the kitchen and then come out into the dining room with people sitting and standing everywhere. I am then expected to help all of these people, but there is only me to do this. At some points I am not hustling, but instead getting side tracked and doing other things. I then find myself naked as my co-workers start to appear for the shift (people who I recognize). I am not embarrassed by being naked, but more of a “hmmm. I wonder why I’m naked right now kind of feeling”. I am now running around trying to help people while covering myself up with an apron. At one point my co-workers are all kind of standing around and I then ask them can you please start watering glasses and filling coffee cups in a stern way. It turns out the dining room is filled for a banquet and when the food has been served and the awards start to begin I sit at a table with people that I do not know. It turns out we have a similar heritage, because some of their phrases were in french and I ask if they are french canadian. they state that they are. I then start talking to a younger guy my age (I’m 33 and single) at the table, we then find ourselves in a back room where his two adorable huskies (puppies) are located. We start to kiss and it is now the middle of the night. My mom comes in and asks why I am still up. I do not live with my mother, I live two states away from her. I then show my guy friend to the door and an old female classmate (from highschool) of mine shows up at the door (it was 3am in my dream) and tells me that the house I am in is part of a ghost telling tour and the house is one of the stops. I say goodbye to my guy friend and tell my classmate to enjoy the rest of her tour. then I wake up. The dream from the previous night was similar in the waitressing, finding myself naked and then telling other people what to do. The banquet, the guy, his puppies, the french canadien reference, my mom, classmate and ghost tour were all new factors last night. My current state is uncertainty in romance, I am a single 33 year old woman who has never been married, but am available for a committed loving relationship.
hi
if it possible can you please tell me what it means: I saw an eagle(huge eagle with black and white color of a tail) flying above my head. flying slowly and not very high(almost touching the tops of the trees). in this dream i had thought about the beauty of this moment but then i felt horror and i tried but couldn’t open my eyes for a while.
Svetlana – I think the horror came as you were waking up. That is because you could not open your eyes, and the horror was because the probably thought that another power was taking over control of your body. While we sleep our conscious self is largely or totally unconscious, and while we sleep our voluntary muscles are paralysed – so another will or motivating force moves our body. So we have a Conscious Will, and what I will call a Life Will. The first one we have experience of as we can move our arm or speak; but the second will takes over when we sleep.
This Life will can move us to speak, to move our body, and in fact do things that we cannot do with our Conscious Will. As Freud pointed out this inner will has full access to our memories. It can do so many other things that are described else where – See ESP in Dreams; Edgar Cayce.
This Life Will or motivator has been active for millions of years and we see it working all the time in animals. We are partly split in half because we are often opposed to what our Life Will in us wants. So the only way to express what is good for us is in dreams when our conscious will is largely passive. Because it is what controls all of our life functions such as heartbeat and has full power; but because we seldom experience it taking over our conscious will, people often feel they are being taken over by an alien force, and are terrified – of their own life process.
The eagle is used in dreams to represent a huge and higher power – the Life Will. That led you into feeling beauty which turned to horror as you got nearer to Life. It is the same old story, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”
They too were afraid of the Big You.
Tony
Hi Tony, I’m writing a children’s book about dreams and would like to use some of your information on your website. But according to what I’ve read in copyright information, I’m not allowed to use any of your info from this website. Is this correct? Thank you for your time and attention.
Ann – Yes, it is a way of trying to stop people from copying the whole thing. Before this new site was set up someone copied a whole book and used it on their site, then criticised me for a few typing errors.
Anyway I would like to help you so I hereby give you permission to use anything from my site. I would like to see what you use though because I am interested in what you are doing, and hopefully will put a link to your book.
Tony
Hi Tony,
I had a dream last night where I was in an empty room. It was bright, spacious and airy. I stood near the window and looked out in a westerly direction, the curtains were blowing in the breeze. I felt calm and peaceful. I looked out over a field that stretched to the horizon. The room may have been a bedroom but I couldn’t be sure. The house was unfamiliar but I felt completely comfortable there. There was no furniture. I was alone. For some reason I thought I had to lock the house as I was going away for a week or so and I kept looking out the west facing window. I decided not to lock or close all the windows. I didnt leave this room. I walked to the eastern side of the room and looked out through a big glass door and realised the house was a huge mansion. This side was darker, but not eerie. Just in the shade. The house was grand. It was clean and well kept and was mostly white. It felt almost looking this way I was looking back and looking out to the west, I was looking forward. I felt entirely at peace throughout the dream. It felt significant.
Amy – You are right – it is a significant dream.
The empty room was a mind that was not full of distractions, free of memories of the past – if only for a while. You are looking to the West to a far horizon, so there is the promise of a long life ahead as you move into your mature years. It is also space, which suggests opportunity and freedom of movement.
There is no need to lock the house because it is only you that can and has lived in it, for it is the house of your ancestors, your forebears, and so is a picture of all you have come from, and all you can be. Please see http://dreamhawk.com/stories/the-house-of-the-ancestors/ as this shows what you can find if you explore your dream.
The house looking East was darker because you were looking back into what is usually unconscious in most people, but you have a very good past with a lot to gather from it.
I feel that we are all seeds, and many people do not grow and blossom, so much of them remains unknown. But if, as in your dream, you are growing to the edge of blossoming, and even producing seeds that will grow in other people’s lives, then the gifts from the past you looked into in the house can become yours. So please think about exploring the dream as in http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/acting-on-your-dream/
I get the impression from your dream, a dream showing great personal growth, that you have done a lot of work on yourself and so this dream has come. It is quite unusual.
Tony
Hi Tony,
I have dreamt with my mum who died of cancer 4 years ago, just a few times, maybe 3 or 4, no more. I my dream I don’t know that she is dead, we are talking… But in my last dream, in presence of my brother I ask her (I am upset in my dream) why she has treated me different than my brother and sister.
The truth is that, we had a hard life (for different reasons), I am the middle one and I always thought that my mum was tougher with me than with my brother and sister.
What do you think does this mean? Am I unconsciously trying to overcome this?
Or is it related with a present relationship which reminds me of that? Thank so much and congratulations for your site
Mary – It seems that all of your suggestions could be true. A trend that started with you as a child can become an entrenched habit, and so of course it can be influencing your present relationship.
But it could be that if you asked your brother and sister whether you had it tougher that they, you might find their viewpoints are very different to yours. Maybe they too felt they had a tough time.
The important thing to remember is that you feel as if it was a hard time for you. Obviously you are trying to overcome it. Did your dream mother actually answer your question as to why she treated you differently?
We all suffer from conditioned reflexes – once a hurt or influence has been repeated it becomes conditioned – in other words a habit. Unfortunately we tend to built awful feelings around things that hurt us and have become habits. We take them so personally. And if we recognise them as a habit we can form a new habit, one that doesn’t tears us apart emotionally. I know it can be done because I have lived through some heavy times.
So see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYYXq1Ox4sk this as it might help. Also talk with your mother in your imagination while awake. What we do not realise is that we have such enormous store of memories and insight we can call on by simple using the image of your mother and really telling her your feelings, and then letting her reply. See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/peer-dream-group/#dialogue to help with that.
And do not simply empty your emotions, but actively seek an answer to your situation.
Tony
Thankyou Tony. You interpretation is beautiful and fitting. I am on the brink of my 30th birthday and have plans to quit my job of ten years in July. I am taking all my money, clearing out my closet and embarking on a journey. Its as much about following my heart and instinct as seeing the world. You are right – I have done much work on myself in the last few years. The road has been very rough at times but I have learnt a lot and find myself now with no ties and an unknown road ahead. Some days are filled with clarity, others remain cloudy. My instinct says this path is right though & I feel it is time to listen. I stumbled upon your site today by accident and have only now just read your biography. What an amazing life you have had… I feel very happy to have found your site and that you have taken the time to reply so quickly to me. I am a writer also… I will certainly spend more time checking out your website here. Thanks again ~ Amy.
Amy – Thank you for replying and explaining things. I do not know why, but I feel a kinship with you, and would like to know how your journey goes.
I feel we all have cloudy days, but the sun comes out again and we can press on with more vigour. And draw from the depth you have within you in that wonderful house. And what do you write about?
Tony
Oddly I feel a connection also and some strange comfort in sharing and a sense you will understand.
I have had many vivid dream experiences over the years, most of which you have touched on in your writings. I haven’t really found any information however, that has helped guide me through these experiences. Most of these dreams I have had have come without explanation, and so I have remained fearful due to a lack of understanding. I haven’t dared explore them. This dream I have written to you about is the first I have had of this nature. Prior, my experiences have been darker.
Writing was a big part of my life from early childhood. Like music, I have always written instinctively, but have limited understanding and recall of technicality. Mostly I have enjoyed writing poetry, insights and ‘ramblings’. I decided some years ago to study and graduated five years ago with a degree in journalism. I have not written since, despite graduating with very high grades. It removed the pleasure, funnily enough. I can’t explain why but it is only recently that I feel the words returning… I look forward to writing on my travels but what I have found difficult is to write with purpose. I think much time has been spent worrying about what others think, which is something I feel I am finally beginning to shake.
Your writing is very inspirational and I feel a deep level of understanding of many of the topics you have chosen – things I have felt, but not been able to say. I have read a few articles you have written, and will continue to.
Certainly I can stay in touch during my journey…
Amy.
testing
hi i sleepwalk most nights and looking for a new born baby i have had 2 children my self but my mum lost a baby whilst carrying me so i,m from a twin but this dream is giving me panic attacks now i look in all my rooms under the beds and also my freezers whyi,m 41 yrs of age my children are still young the same same dream i have had for years can you help please i have been to the doctors they cant give me any answers its starting to get to the point where i dont want to go to asleep
Andrea – “When we lose a twin, it feels for many of us like the literal end of our lives. That is true, in that it is the end of life as we have known it since the moment of our conception. As one twin explained to me: ‘The day my twin died, the lights went out.’ Another twin said to me, ‘After Daphne died, it was as if I couldn’t breathe. I’d never in my life thought about breathing. I just took it for granted that Daphne and my breath were part of being alive.’ When our twin dies, we must begin to breathe again; we must begin again with our lives, starting with what truly feels like the end.”
“Twins begin their identify formation in the womb. Whether fraternal or identical, they receive different stimuli and resources in the womb environment and, therefore, have different experiences that affect their fetal development. But from their cellular origins, they are ushered into the womb in relationship, both to their mother and to each other. And early on, they begin to show distinct, individual, and also interactive patterns of behavior and temperament, which have been observed and documented by researchers with the use of ultra-sonography. These patterns are often repeated after birth.”
The two pieces have been quoted from the wonderful site – http://www.twinlesstwins.org/GRIEF/ProfessionalResearch/TwinBereavement.aspx
But I recommend that you go in search of your twin. I know you may think that is ridiculous because your twin is dead, but we are remarkable creatures humans, and have a unique ability to search our immense unconscious mind. And in the unconscious nothing is forgotten or lost. So I suggest you read it and see if you can use it. If you need help please write to me again. http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/active-imagination-and-dreams/
Tony
Sorry to say that,
This is, to me, more likely to be a BS,,,