![The Dream Dictionary from A to Z [Revised edition]: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams - Theresa Cheung](/cover_481431.jpg "The Dream Dictionary from A to Z [Revised edition]: The Ultimate A–Z to Interpret the Secrets of Your Dreams - Theresa Cheung")
Dog
The dog depicts natural urges that are well integrated, but still have the tendency to revert back to the spontaneous or ‘wild’ state quite easily. For instance, our anger might usually be well under control but, if someone teases us, we might unexpectedly erupt with uncontrollable anger. Like the cat, the dog can also represent affection or caring. A black dog suggests depression or fear of death.
See also PETS.
Donkey/Ass
In the Bible, the ass carries Christ and is often thought to represent humbleness and humility but it can suggest the stubbornness arising perhaps out of long-entrenched habits and automatic behavior. Generally the donkey represents the plodding, long-suffering body and its basic needs, and a dream in which the dreamer is riding on a donkey hints at progress, even if it is slow. Do you feel impatient with your progress or overburdened? Are you refusing to give way on an important issue? Don’t forget about Eeyore, of Winnie the Pooh fame. Eeyore is a depressed and sluggish donkey. Are you feeling that way?
A dream that features a donkey braying implies that the dreamer is on a liberating journey from some kind of family or health trauma. A dream in which the donkey is tied up attests to the dreamer’s fierce willpower that can ‘move mountains’ if directed toward a positive goal. If the ass or donkey is being ridden by or pulling someone else, you may be feeling you are doing all the hard work in a relationship, or working like a beast of burden.
Elephant
To dream of an elephant is to recognize the qualities of patience, long memory, strength, wisdom, and loyalty. It’s a particularly good sign if you are riding it. If other people are riding the elephant, it could suggest help from a friend or a close strong friendship. To feed an elephant suggests meetings with people in key positions. If you run from a herd of stampeding elephants, this could suggest being afraid of your own strength or inner power. If a rogue elephant stampedes, it could represent a chaotic element in yourself that threatens to wreak havoc in the waking world if it isn’t controlled. The question is, can we meet this enormous strength and energy in ourselves and learn to direct it positively? The elephant’s trunk is sometimes said to be a sexual symbol indicating the ability to satisfy needs.
Elk/Moose
Suggests the wild drives or emotions that can carry us along, or trample us.
Ferret/Ermine
Suggestive of inquisitiveness – the ability to ferret or find out things – as well of selfish actions that can injure another person’s feelings. (The ermine was traditionally linked with virgin saints and thus purity.)
See also PETS.
Fox
A fox symbolizes shrewdness in dealing with life’s challenges, but also a tricky person or relationship, or false or deceptive rumors. It also suggests unpredictable behavior and a refusal to conform. If the dreamer chases a fox in a dream, it suggests that they are too detached from reality and is in danger of floating in a sea of untruths. Do you need to be as ‘wily as a fox’ at present? Does your dream fox need protection from the hunt and, if so, what can this be linked to in your daily life?
Game Animals
Game animals – notably the deer, rabbit, and hare – offer encouragement, and dreamers should view their presence optimistically. The rabbit’s renowned ability to breed offers the promise of fertility in women and virility in men. Hares are closely associated with the moon goddess and they suggest an ability to see the magical in everything. Deer are also viewed as animals of the spirit. Due to the branching nature of their antlers, stags have been linked with the ‘tree of life’, and are thought to impart intuitive wisdom to those who dream of them.
Goat
Traditionally a symbol of virility, and so if a goat appears in a woman’s dream, it can be linked to a lover she desires, or to fertility and procreative power. Similarly, if a goat appears in a man’s dream, it attests to the amount of importance he ascribes to his virility and, in context with the rest of the dream, should be interpreted in this way. It can also suggest the ability to ‘climb’ and survive difficulties, personally or socially. Occasionally it is connected with natural drives which, if they become repressed, are associated with the devil. If the goat is attacking, this may indicate somebody butting into your life or some form of conflict.
Hare
In past cultures, the hare was often given great respect. It stood for intuition, rejuvenation, and resurrection, and thus of the immortal nature of humans. Because of the hare’s habit of bounding up suddenly from hiding places, to dream of a hare suggests sudden, powerful intuition. If the hare appears as a supernatural figure giving advice or as a sacrificial animal, it indicates the ability to draw on hidden potential and make great changes in life. On the other hand, dreams about hares and rabbits can also symbolize timidity and inhibition as far as sex is concerned. Having said that, if the hare is running or in flight it could suggest that great changes are about to take place, and a positive change in status, environment, and finance are on the cards. If you dream you are eating a hare, this can suggest envy – yours or someone else’s.
There is a legend that a hare breeder has only to tell a hare to kill itself and it will do so, thus showing its capacity for self-sacrifice. Are you making sacrifices at the moment? Are you thinking clearly or doing yourself an injustice?
Hedgehog/Porcupine
If a hedgehog or porcupine appears in a dream, it might indicate that the dreamer, or someone they know, is very prickly, easily offended, or irritated by the remarks or actions of other people. It might also represent a vulnerable part of oneself that is quick to withdraw, but can react by lashing out and hurting others.
Hippopotamus
A dream about a hippopotamus suggests the dreamer is suffering from feelings of inferiority. Those who dream about a hippo are not satisfied with themselves, physically or mentally. These feelings do not always have a basis in reality but represent how you view yourself. The hippopotamus is considered to be clumsy, ungainly, and fat, and you may also feel this way about yourself. Whether true or not in waking life, this inner feeling of being a loser will hold you back and prevent you from succeeding in life. The dream implies that the image you have of yourself is a figment of your imagination. If you could only shake it off and see yourself in a less critical light, you would feel much better about yourself and be able to attract success into your life. Dreams about hippos can also represent concerns about fertility and childbirth, as the female hippopotamus represents the Egyptian Great Mother, Amenti, the goddess of childbirth.
Horse
Studies show that the animals that most often appear in dreams are horses, along with cats and dogs, and women seem to dream of horses more often than men do; indeed, Artemidorus of Daldis (2nd century ad) lists horses among the most common dreams of women. Some dream interpreters suggest that horses represent male sexuality.
According to Freud, horses symbolize the sexual drive. Jung noted that horse dreams could often be indicative of health conditions. Horses, like dogs, represent urges and passions in ourselves that we have learned to harness or direct, and in general they represent positive things that are about to happen in a dreamer’s waking life. Horses suggest the sort of enthusiasm
