A Wisdom Archive on Dream dictionary Old Woman

 
Old Woman
These are archetypal figures of wisdom or spiritual power in dreams. For many people, the role of the father or mother has been lost in society due to divorce, workaholism, or some other emotional dysfunction. The psyche is prone to look for the missing figures wherever it can create them, even out of the self.
 
Often, these characters personify and validate an internal source of wisdom that has been written off by the psyche. It may be that you are confronted with a problem that escapes solution because of the most conscious worldview you ascribe to. However, another means of problem-solving that you view as old-fashioned may be effective. The wisdom figure in your dream is trying to teach you this truth.
 
Do you fear or disdain either your lineage or the prospects of your own aging?
 
Are you ambivalent about the purported wisdom of your elders concerning life choices you are now facing?
 
Are you looking for or missing some wisdom that would aid your life-quest?

 
Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk
 
(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Old Woman, Meaning of Dreams about Old Woman, Dream Interpretation Old Woman  )

Wise Old Man/Woman
A Wise Old Man figure may appear in a mansdream, a Wise Old Woman in a woman''s dream. The Wise Old Man may take various forms; for example, old bearded man, guru, priest or prophet, king, magician, teacher, The Wise Old Woman may appear as Earth Mother, Great Goddess, Mother Church, priestess or prophetess, teacher. Attend to whatever this figure tells you in dreams: the result could be a transformation of your personality and your life, in tune with your true self.
 
Such figures Jung called "mana" personalities. Mana denotes awesome, mysterious power associated with gods but also with natural phenomena and extraordinary human skills, genius, holiness, psychic powers and supranormal knowledge. These figures may therefore be frightening. If you find them too frightening, consult a {Jungian} therapist. People may let themselves be "possessed" - taken over by the Wise Old Man/Woman and become insufferably domineering, self-important, opinionated. Alternately, failure to acknowledge the "divine" wisdom and power within yourself may lead you to project it on to some authoritarian but not necessarily authoritative public figure, or guru, or personal aquaintance. Whatever such a " mana figure says to you in a dream will be extremely important and will almost certainly open up a new dimension of life for you.
 
Should the Wise Old Woman appear in a man''s dreamor the Wise Old Man in a woman''s dream, it may be the anima/animus that is being represented.
 
(Source: Myths - Dreams - Symbols)
 

God - Goddess
Basic Meaning - A source of meaning/wisdom/energy.
 
(1) A god or goddess figure may represent a source of meaning/wisdom/energy. Look for that source within yourself, where it is usually covered by layers of emotion.
 
(2) Male god figures may represent the animus in a woman''s dreams, and goddess figures may represent the anima in a mansdreams. They may lead you to deeper into your psyche.
 
(3) Sometimes god/goddess may represent father/mother, functioning as a part of your own (unconscious) psyche. In such cases it is likely - though not invariable - that your feelings towards the parent are ambivalent, with fear or awe as well as affection. A stern Old Testament type God may symbolize your super-ego, whose origins often lie in irrational prohibitions imposed on oneself in childhood as a reaction to real or imagined threats of punishment.
 
(4) God(dess) may represent your true self, your potential wholeness.
 
(5) The god figure in your dream may be - God! Don''t be surprised if your unconscious comes up with god images from a more ancient tradition than the ones you were brought up with: the unconscious seems to have a memory that reaches back to humankind''s remotest past, and even beyond (universal dream images such as that of God are from the primitive unconscious, therefore images will go beyond the traditional images you know from religious teachings). At a certain level of your psyche you may go beyond everything that is merely individual and experience oneness with life itself: an experience that may cause you to live authentically - for inner wisdom/ values - instead of merely role playing.
 
Reference: Eric Ackroyd
 
(Source: Myths - Dreams - Symbols)
 

Relationships
(1) Personal relationships in dreams are always important. They fall into two categories: first, those that refer to actual awakening life relationships; secondly, those that depict relations between the conscious ego and other parts of the psyche. Meetings with strangers will nearly always belong to the second category: the strangers will parts of your psyche that you have not yet got to know very well. And even where there is no doubt that the dream is asking you to take a serious look at an actual real life relationship, you should bear in mind that the quality of your extrenal relationships may be determined by the way your conscious ego relates - or fails to relate - to the other parts of your psyche. For example, a man who does not acknowledge the feminine side of his own nature may have a very unsatisfactory - perhaps very superficial - relationships with women. In other words, when a dream shows you in a relationship with an actual real-life person, it may be inviting you to look at the relationship with a view to understanding yourself better: How you relate to other people reveals yourself (e.g. are you proecting on to the other person some unacknowldged characteristic of your own?)
 
Patterns in dreams correspond to patterns in your conscious life, or else - occasionally - a dream may present a pattern for you to follow in your life instead of old patterns. For example, a man may relate in dreams to very feminine women. This may represent an established pattern in his waking life, in which case he is being asked to reassess that pattern in his waking life. Perhaps he is attracted only to very feminine women because he is proecting on to women his own repressed femininity and needs to integrate his anima. On the other hand, a dream of relating to a woman in a very bold and assertive manner may be the unconscious way of telling a man he needs to display his masculinity more.
 
An antagonistic or belligerent relationship in a dream probably indicates a need to be reconciled with the other, whether the other person is another person or another part of yourself.
 
In the dream do you control, or want to control, the relationship? Perhaps the dream is a descriptive one simply describing how, in fact, you do behave; in which case, your unconscious is probably asking you to review your situation. Perhaps you need to learn to let go, and trust people more. On the other hand, the dream may be a prescriptive one, telling you what you ought to be doing: perhaps you have been too weak and unassertive in the past. Do you tend to be, in your dreams, a mere observer, watching other people relate? Well, it is a good thing to observe, whether what you are observing is external relationships or internal relations between parts of yourself. But the process of self-discovery may be accelerated if you resolve to participate more in future dreams. Try it. Relating with your shadow may be much more revealing than just looking at it.
 
(2) There may be an impersonal or spatio-temporal relationships between dream items or between one epsiode of the dream and the next. For example, an earlier dream episode may symbolize whatever is the cause of what is symbolized in the following dream episode. (But do not assume this casual relationship always exists between different parts of a dream). If a person is taller than you (in a dream), this may mean you see that person as superior to yourself. If the person in the dream represents some part of your psche, the meaning would then be that your conscious ego tends to submit to this other psychic component.
 
Reference: Eric Ackroyd
 
(Source: Myths - Dreams - Symbols)

 
Old Man, Old Woman
Carl Jung said that the wise old man is the "archetype of the spirit" and the "speaking fountainhead of the soul." Dreaming about him may attempt to bring the dreamer into awareness of the larger meaning of ones life. Old people in dreams represent wisdom and maturity. They may appear in our dreams at times of confusion and lack of direction, or when we need consultation and help in decision-making.
 
See also: Meaning of Dreams about Aging Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com  (See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Old Man, Old Woman, Meaning of Dreams about Old Man, Old Woman, Dream Interpretation Old Man, Old Woman  )

Hair
(1) Abundant hair may signify virility or male sexuality.
 
(2) Long matted hair or a (long white) beard may symbolize wisdom - available in your unconscious depths.
 
(3) Cutting hair may symbolize loss of virility, or castration.
 
(4) Pubic hair and (in a woman''''''''s dream) hair in armpits or on legs may symbolize sexuality.
 
(5) Loss of hair/baldness may express (fears of) getting old and/or unwanted.
 
Reference: Eric Ackroyd
 
(Source: Myths - Dreams - Symbols)