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Is there somewhere in life you want to let you hair loose?
Our feelings towards our hair are very personal and intimate, often running very deep and associated with our sense of identity and how we wish the world to see us. To dream of hair can often be tied to our feelings of confidence or insecurity.
If we dream of cutting or colouring our hair, it can be sign that we are breaking away from an identity we have outgrown and trying to create a new one for ourselves, and discarding that which is no longer useful for us. We can understand if this new direction is a positive one by looking at whether our hair is healthy, indicating a “healthy choice,” or alternatively by examining the feelings that arise in the dream. Does changing your hair make you feel liberated and free, excited and confident, nervous or brave, younger or more mature and responsible, maybe more practical or more attractive? We can also look at how we would describe our hair, then use those words to describe ourselves. Is the hair in our dream unruly or easy to manage? Is it wild, or well-groomed? Is it tied up or flowing free?
Hair can symbolise our “crowning glory,” that which are most proud of in our personality, our appearance or our achievements. Hair in dreams can also relate to our feelings of sexuality and sensuality, our desire to be admired, and our wish to enjoy the sensuous side of life. But some of us use our hair to hide behind. Could a dream of hair be asking us to reveal our true selves?
Hair has played important roles in history and mythology. Samson’s hair was a symbol of strength and virility, and when his hair was cut he lost his power. Lady Godiva covered her naked body with her long flowing hair. Dreaming of lost, falling or cut hair that creates a negative feeling may indicate a sense of loss of power, or maybe of feeling exposed somewhere in waking life.
Some hair dreams are not about the hairs on our head, but may be about hair growing in places that we would not expect, that we do not like, or hair that it is unusually dark, wiry or strange in some other way. These kind of dreams can be disturbing, but generally have rather benign meanings. They may indicate a new idea cropping up in a place we weren’t expecting, or can be a sign of a wilder, untamed side our personality seeking expression. Hairy things are often scary to us, such as hairy monsters or hairy spiders. Hair showing up in a dream this way can be asking us to confront something we are afraid of, or reconsider something we may find unattractive at a surface level and ask us to look beyond appearances. Either way, there is a lesson to be learned from things we have an initial aversion to if we stay long enough to see what else might be going on.
If we dream of grey hair or long beards can often indicate age and all that we associate with that. We may think of age in this way as the acquiring of wisdom and respect, or as of the gradual loss of capacities that we fear in old age. It may even be we have a reaction to age that is a mixture of these too extremes. To dream of going grey or growing a long beard may ask to examine our feelings towards aging, gaining experience, or playing a more senior role somewhere in our life.
Do you feel that time has bestowed the mantle of wise elder upon you?
To understand dreams of hair, it can help to look at where on the body the hair is (see the posts on different body parts) and if necessary, what colour the hair is if that seems significant (see post on colours.) We can also see if the hair seems wild and unruly, or lustrous and beautiful, to indicate how we feel about our image, and what we are projecting to the outside world.
Dreams of hair invite us to look inside and see if what we show the world is what we really are, and to check how we are growing and caring for ourselves. Dreams of hair ask us to consider our confidence and our vanity, and how strong, seductive, exposed or vulnerable we may feel.
What are you welcoming into your life?
Dreaming of arms will create very different feelings and have very different meanings depending on precisely what those arms are up to! Like all dreams, we can look to see if any puns or sayings are at play, and how these might associate with our waking life. For instance, the dream may have us carrying many things, which might be an indication that in our waking life we have our “arms full” and maybe have too much work, responsibility or activities to do, leaving us no time for things that really matter. Carrying something on our shoulders might be a sign we feel we have “the weight of the world on our shoulders” or simply that we are happy to “shoulder a burden.” Something small might be a “chip on our shoulder.” By understanding what that chip is, we may gain some insight into a resentment we are harbouring. We also use the phrase “to stand on the shoulders of giants,” which means to have made progress in life thanks to the hard work and success of those who have gone before us. If you dream of standing on someone’s shoulders, it can be helpful to consider what they have done or achieved that may assist you to progress in your own life.
Arms can be symbols of strength and power. We use our arms to carry and lift and move things, but we also use them to protect ourselves and others. ”Arms” may also be used to refer to weapons that attack, or as “armour” to defend. To understand if this may be the meaning of arms in a particular dream, look for other symbols of weapons, feelings of being attacked, or a sense of aggression. Dreaming of arms in this context may mean there is some conflict in your life, and a feeling of a need to defend a position, belief or opinion. Or it could be a sign of creating tension your self, through an attacking behaviour.
Closely linked to defence and attack, arms can also indicate the opposite meanings, and be signs of surrender or welcome. If the dream is of open arms, it might imply welcoming something or someone new into our lives. Dreams of arms raised might mean they are held up in surrender, which can indicate giving up some long held belief or behaviour, or submitting to a force stronger than us. We need to look at the associated symbols and feelings in the rest of the dream to understand better whether this surrender is a positive thing for us or not. Giving in to feelings of love for someone may be a positive thing, but surrendering our power to a dominant person who intimidates us might be more negative. Alternatively, it may be that the raised arms are done so in joy, celebration or even exultation, which would likely mean a very positive experience in our lives. These kind of dreams can indicate a sense of profound gratitude, of freedom, or of release from some kind of constraint. Conversely, to dream of having arms tied behind our back can be a symbol of frustration, loss of power or restriction in some area in our life.
Is there a burden you are happy to shoulder?
And of course, we use our arms to hug, to embrace, to hold onto things and people. An embrace in a dream can mean we are literally embracing something or someone new, maybe a new idea or new lifestyle. Hugs and cuddles can be a sign of nuturing and caring for a part of ourselves. By understanding the symbol behind who or what we are hugging we can also see what it is we caring for and inviting into our life. We can also “link arms” to show unity or friendship. If you dream of arms in this way, there may different parts of your life that are starting to come together, or conflicting beliefs that have become reconciled.
To dream of a broken arm then, can be a sign that our power, strength, or ability to care for or manage a part of our life is in some way compromised. An arm dropping off may have a similar theme of loss of power, or it might refer to “throwing down arms” and indicate a new period of peace.
What is your view of the world?
When we notice eyes in a dream, they often seem profoundly striking. Sometimes we will even wake and remember those eyes as the single most memorable image of the dream. It can be as if those eyes see through us to our very soul, or as if when we look into those eyes we see something deeper there, some kind of wisdom or insight that knows more then we can ever say. And yet when we remember that everything in our dream is a part of us, it becomes clear that dreaming of eyes is a way of looking into ourselves.
We may dream of human eyes, of animal eyes or our own eyes. We may dream the eyes are wise, kindly, and understanding, or they may be startling, vivid and piercing. Animal eyes may thrill us with their wild power, or scare us with their predatory gaze. In these dreams it is helpful to try and relate to the animal. Think, it is my dream, my head, I am the tiger in the jungle – how does it feel? What are you doing as a tiger? You may discover hidden strengths you didn’t know you had!
The way the eyes look at us can be surprise us and amaze us. These dreams are often signs that we are starting to see things in new ways, that we are discarding old ways of thinking for new ones, that we are losing our prejudices to see things as they really are, or that we are learning new things about ourself, new qualities that we never thought we had.
Dream eyes can seem to look right into your soul
To dream of eyes is not simply about how we see the world and ourselves, these dreams can also have wider meanings associated with the eye’s abilities to convey truth despite no words being spoken. We might like to consider such phrases as:
- To “avert one’s eyes”, as when we look away so as not to witness something horrific or shameful; out of shame, fear, shyness or subordination so as not to meet another’s gaze who we wish to remain hidden from
- The “scales falling away from one’s eyes” is reference to gaining sight after blindness, and can symbolise when we see something as it really is for the first time
- To be a “seer” is a role that involves looking into the future or seeing events far away, which in dreams can symbolise a growing understanding of our place in the world, how our actions have repercussions far away in distance and in time
- An “eye for an eye” can symbolise justice and equality, or it may have negative connotations to some of base violence and revenge
- To “turn a blind eye” is to ignore something, and in a dream may ask us what are we choosing not to see, that we really know is there, or going on?
- “Apple of my eye” is a symbol of great affection, something to be cherished, particularly when times are difficult
- “More than meets the eye” might mean we are only looking at a situation from superficial perspective, and maybe we ought to take a second look and see what we might be missing
- “Eye catching” can mean something that deserves our attention
- “Shut-eye” can indicate the need for sleep, rest, or maybe just to slow down and take a holiday!
- The “eye of the storm” can mean the centre of something, and usually a moment of peace to find respite amidst a stressful, emotional or chaotic time
- The “eye of a needle” is a symbol of small details, it can mean attempting to force something that is never going to work (like threading a rope through the eye of a needle) or it can refer to an area that you are paying meticulous attention to
Do you see things for what they really are?
Because the eyes don’t lie, in dreams they will often appear to reveal to us something we either didn’t want to see, have just become ready to see, or something that is too profound to put into words. The language we speak with eyes is universal, every human can tell a smiling eye from a crying one. We know our deep feelings show in our eyes, be it love, anger or hurt. We look away when we don’t want someone to know what is really going on inside us. By our dreams are inside us. We can not look away from ourselves.
Our dreams may ask to consider if we are shortsighted, in that maybe there is something important we are overlooking, or maybe we haven’t considered all the long term implications of our choices and need to consider a longer term view. If we are wearing glasses, have lost glasses or need them for the first time, this can be a sign that it may be a good idea to take a look at ourself, our choices and check that we have all the right information before we proceed. Maybe we didn’t see something we should have.
The eyes really are the windows to the soul, and when we notice eyes in a dream it can be a way of looking directly at our own soul, of seeing deep inside our own subconscious. Dreaming of eyes can reveal what is really going on, or that we aren’t really looking in the right direction. But justice is blind, and so too is love. Sometimes what we know is more than what the eyes can see.
What do you want to hold onto, and what do you choose to let go?
Dreaming of our hands is actually not as common as many other parts of the body, but when we do dream of our hands or anothers, it often seems to have an unusually strong significance. Dreaming of hands is often a sign of self awareness, of taking control of our own life and destiny, or or of making an impact through our own actions on another person or the world around us at large. The unusual act of actually looking at your own hands in a dream is used by some to achieve lucidity, that is, to realise that they are actually dreaming.
The process works by “programming” your mind when you are awake, so that you remember to look at your hands in a dream, and follow that with the intent that when you do so this will trigger your awareness and remind you that you are alseep.*
Our own hands in dreams are often taken for granted, many times simply functioning as tools which we use to make things happen, though we tend to focus more on the action and result than how we made this happen. If we stop long enough to notice our hands in our dreams, it can be a sign that we are becoming aware of our own influence, or lack of it. Dreaming of another person’s hands can often feel very intimate. The two profound symbols of another’s hands in a positive context are of “holding hands” and of the “helping hand.” Both of these images require us to let someone else into our lives, to be open to love, affection, consideration or assistance. For this reason, hand dreams can leave us with a lingering feeling of happiness and warmth long into the day. These dreams may indicate that we are receiving assistance, affection or support from another in a waking life, but in many cases they are a symbolic representation that we are learning how to help our selves, that we are being kind to our selves where once we may have been a harsh judge, that we are befriending a part of ourselves that once we may have ignored or rejected, or even that we are healing a part of ourselves that once was sick and neglected.
Of course, as with any dream symbol, there can also be a negative image. We may be noticing our hands in our dreams for the first time because they are empty, which may lead us to think what have we let go of, given up on, or given away that leaves us feeling “empty handed.” Hands can also be used to strike, to hold back and to push away. These kind of dreams invite us to question what controls or restrictions are we inflicting on our lives that prevent us from achieving what we want, or going where we choose. In short, how are we jeopardising our actions, and acting as our own worse enemy?
Hands in dreams can leave us feelingwarm and happy well after waking
As with all symbols, looking at the ways we use words around hands can help us make sense of what they mean in our own personal context. Some suggestions include:
- If the hands are actually red, it may imply to be caught “red handed.” This may cause us to question if there is something in life we feel guilty about, a behaviour we don’t feel proud of and may wish to stop before somebody knows. Or maybe we secretly want to be found out, to bring an issue that we are afraid to speak about into the open
- If you are looking at the back of your hand, it could mean there is something in your life you “know like the back of your hand”, or wish that you did!
- Shaking hands is often a sign of making a deal (maybe you have made a pact with your self, or made a commitment to your self) but it can also mean a greeting, introduction or parting (maybe some new aspect of your personality is becoming apparent to you)
- To bite the hand that feeds you is to show an attack against something that is actually supporting you
- Something that is “handy” is easy and accessible, just as to “get a handle on things” can be understand them and start to control them more easily
- To “get the upper hand” can be to gain an advantage in a certain situation
- To be “even handed” implies to be fair
- To be “open handed” suggests honesty and generosity
- To “give someone a hand” can either be to offer help, or to show appreciation, as in a “round of applause”
- To “put one’s hand up” can mean to volunteer, or offer to speak up
- The “laying of hands” can be a profound healing, maybe at a physical level, but maybe a more emotional or even spiritual level
- A “hand-out” is often something given for free, but may imply charity, pity or a sense of lack
- To do something “by hand” (raised by hand, fed by hand, made by hand etc.) implies a high level or personal involvement, and therefore may also mean a great degree of care, interest, craftsmanship, love, authenticity, time, uniqueness, effort and be the counter to “machine made” or manufactured. (Of course, hand made in this context can also imply lower quality, not as modern, and being foreced due to budgetry constraints. Only you will know what a hand made dress or birthday card means to you!)
- As Ben Harper said, ”We can change the world with our own two hands”
While hands themselves can have symbolic meaning our dreams, just as in our waking life, our hands can tell us things by what we do with them. We communicate with our hands, we wave goodbye and hello, we gesture to come closer, to follow or to move away. We make things with our hands, we shape the world, our lives, we create and we control how things work. And with our hands we touch others, be it in kindness, with passion or to inflict pain. Our hands in dreams can reveal to us how we treat ourselves, and what we are doing to shape and control our own mind, influence our relationships and build the life we want to live.
*(I first came across this in “The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castenda, but I don’t know if he pioneered the process)
Are you making headway in understanding your own mind?
For many of us, our head is where is our consciousness lies. If we close our eyes and try to pinpoint a part of our body that is where we are, to most of us it is that place just behind the eyes, inside our skull. Our brain is so connected with who we think we are, that dreams of heads are often related to our sense of identity, of who we think we are. We often refer to “what’s going on inside my head” as what we are thinking, how we define reality. If we want to look “inside someone’s head” or wonder what is going on in there, it can indicate a desire to understand them better, to see what motivates them and know why they make the choices they do. In a dream this could be literally peering at someone’s brain!
The symbolism for heads in our culture is very rich. As the head houses the intellect and sits atop our body, it is often associated with mental abilities and intelligence; with success and achievement; with reason over emotion (the mind ruling the body as opposed to the heart), even to the point of being cold and calculating. The opposite can be when we are “head over heels” in love, as in the head has lost its position of importance, and reason has given way way to the emotions of love and infatuation, or to ”lose your head” can be to lose your sense of reason, to behave erratically or irrationally. The head can represent a pinnacle or the conclusion. A head can also be symbolism for ruling, decision making and leadership.
To understand what the head in your dream may mean to you, look at how you interact with it, what are you doing? It might be a pun. Word plays and puns associated with the head can include:
- To “get (a)head”, as in to make a successful go of a particular venture
- To “bring things to a head”, can be to bring something to light, to make the hidden things apparent or to move along certain developments
- To be “Head” of a company, corporation, country or State can indicate leadership
- To “head (someone) off” can be to anticipate someone’s plan and pre-empt your response
- To “clear your head” can be to think clearly, to make a decision or overcome confusion
- We can “bury our head in the sand” when we don’t want to face up to something that is going on
- “Heads up” can mean to pay attention, that there is something we should be noticing
- “In over your head” can feel like we are not coping, or are ill-prepared for a venture we are starting out on
- “Head to Toes” can be a symbol of completion, of wholeness and inclusivity, addressing every part of you
- “Hit the nail on the head” can be to make a point resoundingly clear, to remove any ambiguity
- To “bang your head against a brick wall” is often when we feel like we aren’t making any progress, as if no-one is listening to us or understand what we are saying
- A “hot head” can be when our emotions, particularly anger or frustration, are impacting on our ability to reason
- Conversely, a “cool head” can be staying rational, often in extreme circumstances or where others are overly emotional, and being able to make decisions when maybe others cannot
- “Big headed” is to have an over inflated sense of self importance, a large ego
This list is by no means exhaustive, but it gives an indication of how symbolism of the head may be at play in dreams in general, and hopefully provide some insights as to what the symbolism may mean in your own particular dream. To use this list, look for ways these words can be expressed as things, for example, to be “hot headed” you might have a temperature, you might dream of some one with flames coming from their head, you might see someone with red hair. Some symbols will be literal, but others will be more abstract.
Do you know where you are headed?
If none of these things seem relevant, it can help to start thinking what the head and mind mean to you. Dreams about heads may invite us to consider our rational mind versus our emotions, to consider what we think and what we feel (for more information about the relationship between head and heart see my post on “Dream Symbols: Decapitated or Headless.”) Dreams of the head can also question our goals, ambitions and sense of self, where we want to end up, and how our are plans are going in getting there.
What beliefs and attitudes are supporting you?
Dreaming of legs invites us to look at what is going on with our basic foundations, our beliefs and attitudes that support our outlook on life, and our ability to move around – either physically or metaphorically.
If legs are important in our dreams we can consider how key phrases might apply to our life.
If we have no legs, or have lost or legs, maybe there is some conviction we hold that we should consider changing our mind on, as we “don’t have a leg to stand on.” Or maybe we feel as out of control as when intoxicated, and feel “legless.” This could be a good thing, if it is associated with a love interest for instance, which might make us go “weak at the knees.” Dreams of losing our legs, or having weak legs might even indicate we need to take a stronger stance in some matter and “stand up for ourselves.”
Other phrases that might be helpful are:
- To shake a leg – see a leg being shaken, or even shaking your own leg? Maybe we need to hurry up with something
- To break a leg – usually applied to success on the stage, might mean a sense of having to perform well in front of others, fear of not performing, or wishing someone else to perform well
- An arm and a leg – if you dream of these two limbs conspicuously together, it might be indicating a high cost. So what in your life do you feel is costing you too much, maybe in terms of time, energy, focus or actual money?
- Pulling your leg – is something literally pulling at your leg in your dream? It might be something trying to get your attention, or it could be a sign of someone having a bit of a joke, not being really serious. Is there something in your life you are taking too seriously, or somewhere you should look beyond face value at what is really going on? It might just be a joke…
- Give or receive a leg-up – this might be the act of hoisting someone up, or being helped, or it could be a physical act of literally lifting up a leg somewhere in a dream. Is there someone who is helping you advance in life, or are you helping someone else, or could this be even just helping yourself get on with things?
- Leg of the journey – often refers to the last part, so could encourage us to question something we have been looking to make progress on, how far have we come, and how far do we have to go?
Legs of course also give us mobility, so we can look to how we are moving as a reflection to how we feel about our own ability to move ourselves through life and make progress with our goals and tasks. Are we running freely, with energy and strength? Or are we dragging our feet, reluctant to go forward? Maybe we are part of a group, or perhaps someone has given us “marching orders” maybe implying it is time to either leave or get on with something.
Dreams of legs can be about own confidence and mobility. When we learn to walk as a baby, we are on the way to maturity and becoming and adult. Leg dreams may appear when we are learning new things, going through phase of growth and development, where it can feel like we are learning to walk all over again.
But remember, we must learn to walk before we run. And then when we can run, we can learn to fly…
