What Animals Symbolize in Dreams, Part 3: Owl–Zoo
As we all know, dreams can be very symbolic; recognizing what those symbols mean can help you interpret your dreams. Animals are some of the most commonly occurring symbols in dreams and nightmares. In these guides, you will learn what each animal can symbolize in your dream.
Animals in Dreams
Animals represent your deepest emotions, instincts, and desires. When an animal appears to you in a dream, you are sending yourself an important message about who you are right now and where you are going. To dream of many animals together suggests your instincts have overcome your ability to be civilized. To see animals in cages suggests you’ve reigned in your instincts, perhaps too far. Sick or dying animals suggest you’ve lost touch with your instincts almost entirely.
Owl
The wise old owl, an ancient symbol of both wisdom and darkness, can be an omen of death, change, or loss, as well as a reminder to use your head in an emotional situation. Some cultures believe the owl is the goddess of night or an incarnation of death, or protection from death. Most cultures attribute some spiritual significance to owl dreams, so some important aspect of your spiritual life may be relevant to consider if you dream about an owl.
Oysters
An aphrodisiac if you eat them and a symbol of passionate female emotion if you find them, oysters symbolize love and desire in its most feminine incarnation. If you dream of oysters, your own female energy is keyed up, or you are particularly in tune with someone else’s female energy.
Panting
1. To dream of panting means you are too hurried or too worn out to be effective. It’s time to take a break and cool off. 2. If you dream of someone else panting, you have exhausted a resource. 3. If you dream of a dog panting, your inner instinct is to take it easy. You’ve been a little too overexcited about something.
Pet
Pets you dream about but don’t actually have in your waking life usually symbolize one of two things: an instinct you’ve tamed (or not) or a dependent you care for. 1. If the pet is sweet and cuddly or interesting and rewarding, you crave the chance to nurture someone or something, or you fully relish your natural urges. 2. If you mistakenly neglect or forget about a pet and it gets very sick or dies, you have been denying a deep inner urge, or you have been neglecting someone who depends on you. 3. If the pet is dangerous or annoying, you’ve had enough of someone who keeps following you around, or you fear your inner instincts and can’t seem to control them. 4. If you are a lucky dog, you will occasionally dream about a pet you loved and lost. It’s bittersweet.
Pig
1. Pigs represent slovenly habits and greed, hedonistic behavior, excessive consumption, and decadence, or good luck and financial prosperity, depending on whether the pig or pigs in your dream seem dirty and gluttonous or clean and well cared for. 2. If you actually touch, talk to, or have a pig as a pet in your dream, you have used your intelligence to overcome your bad habits. 3. If you dream of cooking or eating pork, you put pleasure before conformity, so pig out.
Pigeon
1. If they act as pests, appear in large groups, or steal food in your dream, pigeons represent your own or other people’s greed, mob mentality, bad hygiene, or mental instability. 2. If you dream of sending or receiving a message via carrier pigeon, a current communication is working. 3. If you dream of keeping pigeons as pets or finding a tame pigeon, your gentle way has charmed someone.
Poison
To dream of poison suggests something has gone horribly wrong. You’ve lost your trust or confidence in someone, a situation is no longer safe for you, or a relationship or job has become toxic to your emotional health. 1. To dream someone is trying to poison you suggests that you don’t trust someone or suspect you’ve been betrayed. 2. To dream of poisoning someone else suggests extreme anger at someone. 3. To dream of finding poison where children or pets could have gotten it suggests your current environment is no longer safe for you or others. 4. To dream of food poisoning is a message from your body to closely examine the effect your dietary habits are having on your health. 5. To dream of environmental poisons like pesticides, herbicides, rat or insect poison, or other chemicals suggests you feel poisoned by the advances of the modern world, and you wish you could get back to a simpler, more basic, more natural life. 6. To dream of getting bitten or stung by a poisonous animal like a bee, rattlesnake, or tarantula and injected with venom suggests distrust in your current work environment. You’ve been stung, and you don’t feel comfortable as part of the team anymore. 7. To dream of a poison plant like poison ivy suggests that a recent brush with nature has left you feeling frightened or anxious. You would feel much better safe inside your house.
Possum
Dreaming of possums, which are nocturnal animals, suggests that you don’t want anyone to see you. You feel like hiding out and being by yourself, and if anybody tries to get too close, you’ll attack and they’ll be sorry.
Rabbit
Rabbits symbolize timidity, intimacy, nurturing, and yes, of course, fertility. 1. If you see a rabbit in your dream, you might be fertile right now. 2. If the rabbit runs away or seems scared, you might need protection, or someone else might need your protection. 3. If you dream you have a rabbit for a pet, you have a warm and fuzzy intimate connection with someone.
Rabies
1. If you dream of a rabid animal, someone is dangerous to you right now and can’t be reasoned with. Best to back off. 2. If you dream of killing a rabid animal, you’ve made the best of a bad situation. 3. If you dream a rabid animal bites you or you have rabies, you’ve been influenced by something that has led you down a wrong path. You need to escape the bad influence and spend some time healing before you can go on with your life again.
Rat
1. If you dream of a rat, someone in your life can’t be trusted. That person will do anything to survive, even if it means you will have to go down. 2. If you dream you have a pet rat, you are handling a current difficult situation with cleverness and skill.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Dreaming of reptiles or amphibians, whether snakes, lizards, frogs, or newts, symbolizes deep instincts for survival unrelated to social propriety or responsibility to others. 1. If you see a reptile or amphibian in your dream, some deep instinct urges you to take action for your own sake. You have to preserve yourself first if you are going to help anyone else. 2. If you dream of catching or holding a reptile or amphibian, your explorations into your own deepest urges or your indulgence of temptation could result in health or relationship problems. Don’t lose all sense of decorum; you still need to bathe and maintain your job and relationships. 3. If you dream of a lizard’s tail coming off or a snake shedding its skin, you are undergoing a transformation. 4. If you dream a reptile or amphibian leaps away from you, you have a good opportunity, but you have to act fast or you will miss it.
Scorpion
Dream of a scorpion, and you don’t trust someone, or you are in a dangerous situation. Watch your back.
Setting Something Free
A butterfly or a tiger or a person you love—whatever you set free in your dream symbolizes the part of you that desires freedom from repression, oppression, or control. 1. Setting butterflies and birds free symbolizes your own free spirit that wants to soar beyond the boundaries of societal constraints. 2. Setting a wild animal free symbolizes your deepest urges and instincts. You are tired of repressing them, and you just want to let them roar. 3. If you dream of setting free someone you love, you wish someone would set you free from the obligations of a relationship. Or you fear you might really be constraining someone in your waking life and your dream is trying to tell you not to hold on so tightly.
Shark
Sharks symbolize threats, danger, or dangerous people who may try to take financial or emotional advantage of you. If you dream of a shark, be careful. You don’t want to lose an arm and a leg.
Sheep
If you see sheep in your dream, you feel like one in a crowd. Nobody notices you. Or you haven’t been thinking for yourself. Or both.
Snake
The quintessential symbol for evil and the sacred symbol for healing, the snake has many archetypal meanings for modern society. Snakes are among the most feared of all animals and one of the most fascinating. 1. If you dream a snake threatens you, such as a rattling rattlesnake or a lunging cobra, or if you dream a snake bites you, you feel unsafe or in danger on a deep instinctual level. You are sensing a real threat. 2. If you dream of seeing a snake but you aren’t scared of it, having a snake as a pet, or seeing a shed snakeskin, you are preparing for a transformation in your life. Like a snake shedding its skin, you have outgrown the old and you are ready for the new. 3. If you dream of killing a snake, you resist change and will go to great lengths to avoid it. 4. If you dream of the snake in the Garden of Eden tempting you, you are facing real temptation in your life and are trying to decide how you will handle it. You may also be facing a spiritual crisis. 5. If you dream of holding a snake and not being afraid, you have the power to heal someone.
Tiger
Tigers symbolize power, nonconformity, and standing out from the crowd. 1. If you see a tiger in your dream, you can make a strong impression right now or strike out on your own and do just fine. 2. If you are threatened or attacked by a tiger in your dream, you regret a bold move you made. It has come back to bite you. 3. If you dream that you ride or pet a tiger or have a tiger for a pet, you have power over others. Your strong personality and charisma can rule the show.
Turtle
If you dream of a turtle, you are patient and steady in your approach. You will get there eventually. If you dream you have a turtle as a pet, other people describe you as patient and persistent.
Unicorn
An ancient symbol of innocence and purity, the mythical unicorn symbolizes these same qualities when it appears in a dream. 1. If you see a unicorn in your dream, you’ve recently come into contact with someone or something pure and innocent. 2. If you ride a unicorn in your dream, you feel cleansed and renewed physically or emotionally. 3. If you dream a unicorn approaches you and you touch it, someone has forgiven you. 4. If you encounter an injured or dead unicorn, some innocent part of you has died. You feel older, wiser, and less pure.
Weasel
If you dream of a weasel or a ferret, someone is being sneaky, and you don’t trust this person. You think he or she is planning to cause trouble, or is a bad influence.
Werewolf
1. If you dream a werewolf is chasing you or attacks you, you fear your own inner urges and instincts. You feel like you might lose control of them and you might do something you shouldn’t. 2. If you dream of escaping from or killing a werewolf, you’ve mastered your urges … for now. 3. If you dream you turn into a werewolf, you aren’t acknowledging the darker side of yourself and it is trying to come out in protest.
Whale
1. If you dream you see a whale, something significant has happened, and you feel changed forever. 2. If you dream of hearing a whale singing, you’ve had a spiritual experience. 3. If you dream of getting attacked or swallowed by a whale, a problem you are facing is too big to handle alone.
Wildlife
Dreaming of encounters with wildlife symbolizes encounters with your own natural instincts. 1. If you feel threatened or fearful of wild animals, you are intimidated or fearful of your own instincts and your ability to control them. 2. If you feel excited or positively challenged by wildlife encounters in a dream, your own instincts and natural urges interest and thrill you, and you like to make the most of them.
Wolf
The wolf symbolizes strength and independence and instincts that seem dangerous. 1. If you see a wolf in your dream, you may fear the power of the natural world. A recent unpleasant brush with nature could trigger this. You may also fear something within yourself, such as your own anger or violence, that you can’t control—the wild part of you. 2. If you dream a wolf chases or attacks you, you feel threatened by something. 3. If you dream of petting a wolf or having a wolf as a pet, you tend to be a loner, or you feel like being one recently. You also feel comfortable with your own natural instincts and your place in the natural world—more so than in society.
Worm
1. If you dream of finding or seeing a worm, you have a secret, or you’ve accidentally discovered someone else’s secret. 2. If you dream of keeping a worm as a pet, you have a great but undeveloped potential. 3. If you find a worm in your food, something you hoped for has been spoiled.
Zoo
1. If you dream of visiting a zoo and looking at animals in pens or cages, you have reined in your own natural instincts so they don’t get out of control. 2. If you dream of animals escaping from a zoo, you’ve let your natural urges get out of control. You may have already behaved inappropriately, or you are about to. 3. If you dream you are in a zoo, you feel trapped in some area of your life and unable to move on or be appreciated for who you are or what you can do. You are being treated like an inferior, even a prisoner.
For more animal dream interpretations, check out our quick guides What Animals Symbolize in Dreams, Part 1: Alligator–Elephant and What Animals Symbolize in Dreams, Part 2: Feather (Bird)–Mouse.
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Dream Dictionary by Eve Adamson and Gayle Williamson (a.k.a. Dream Genie)
