depression, fear, old age; an unclear state of mind; insecurity

And Childhood Recollections

{1} If the child in your dream is you as a child, the significance of the dream may have to do with a childhood experience. But don't be too ready to understand it this way {see Childhood Recollections at bottom}.

{2} The child may be a symbol of your true self, that which is essentially you and which you are capable of unfolding. That fact that your real self is represented by a child suggests that your true self is a beautiful unspoilt product of Nature; that it is worthy of unreserved love; and that it needs the nourishment of your love if it is to grow and unfold all its loveliness.

{3} If the child has some divine aura {e.g. if it is the Christ-child}, waht is symbolized is as in {2} above. The aura represents the transcendent nature of the self: it is much more than your conscious ego or your present image of yourself; it holds together the opposites that are within you {e.g. conscious and unconscious aspects, "head" - intellect and "heart" - intuitiveness and compassionate giving, extroversion and introversion, masculine and feminine}, and it is your ultimate goal and fulfillment.

{4} The child may represent {the possibility of} a new beginning, a new development in your psyche - a new attitude to life, a new set of values, a new balance of your psychic forces, a new reconcilation of previously conflicting forces. The child in you is the growing-point in you.

{5} There is a child in all of us - our emotional self - that often needs reassurance, to be told that all is well and there is no cause for fear, or anger, or guilt, and that love makes all things good and dissolves all pain. At the same time the child sometimes needs to be chided and corrected if it is eventually to - as it should - grow up.

A spider is a common symbol of mother as an object of fear or dislike and particularily in a mansdream. Freud sees it as a symbol of 'the phallic mother (big surprise), of whom we are afraid; so that the fear of spiders expresses dread of mother-incest and horror of the female genitals" (Freud's own italics). Try to get to know, not only your mother, but - more important - what your mother means to you. One way of doing this is to converse with the spider: hold it in your mind and ask it searching questions.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

Going through transformations, changes. Changes in your unconscious self that can be beneficial to your conscious being. Changes having to do with heavy emotions, anger, fear, passion.

(1) If seen as mindless automata, insects may symbolize either (your attitude towards) your instinctive drives or unconscious forces that seem to constitute a threat to the rule of reason. In either case, you probably need to overcome - or at least examine - your repulsion.

(2) If it is a solitary insect, it may be bringing a message from your inner self. That your inner self should appear in such a paradoxical guise or employ such a dispicable and unlikely ambassador is a reflection of your (very unwise) contempt for your inner self, as shown perhaps in the way you exclude it from your conscious life. (Remember the cricket in Pinocchio's adventures?)

Spider

A spider is a common symbol of mother as an object of fear or dislike and particularily in a mansdream. Freud sees it as a symbol of 'the phallic mother (big surprise), of whom we are afraid; so that the fear of spiders expresses dread of mother-incest and horror of the female genitals" (Freud's own italics). Try to get to know, not only your mother, but - more important - what your mother means to you. One way of doing this is to converse with the spider: hold it in your mind and ask it searching questions.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

A fear of something coming to and end with dire consequences as a result. Experiencing extreme stress and lots of tensions in your life. Fear of death, or an end to something in your life. Overly religious attitudes.

Basic meaning: Verbalization; losing teeth, unable to understand a problem or situation.

(1) Teeth may be a symbol of aggressiveness. If the dream is showing someone bitting someone else, it may mean there is an aggressive nature towards that person.

(2) False teeth may symbolize insincerity.

(3) Losing teeth may symbolize a feeling of - or fear of - getting older or impotent or losing sexual attractiveness. Or they may represent a retreat to infancy (when, toothless, you enjoy your mother's breasts and nourishment), and hence a refusal to face reality. Alternatively, they may symbolize the start of a new phase in your life (knocking a tooth out sometimes featured in male initiation rites in mythology).

(4) A bad tooth may represent a painful or rooten part of one's feelings, life or relationships; angry or regretful words.

(5) 'teeth" in the dream world are most often an archetypal image of the dreamer's sense of confidence and competence in the waking world. Dreaming that there is something amiss with my teeth usually points to insecurities about my ability to "get my teeth into it, " or maybe I"ve "bitten off more than I can chew." Ironically, the very fact that you remember such a dream is a reliable indicator that the you, the dreamer, can deal creatively and transformatively with the problems that life presents. If this were not the case, you would not even have remembered the dream. All dreams (even nightmares!) come in the service of health and wholeness, and no dream ever came to anyone to say, "Nyah, nyah--you"ve got these problems and you can't do anything about them!" The more emotionally charged, or urgent the dream, the more likely that it points to a creative possibility previously hidden from the conscious mind, in response to a pressing waking life problem.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

Teeth Dreaming that you have rotten or decaying teeth, forewarns that your health and/or business is in jeopardy. You may have uttered some false or foul words and those words are coming back to haunt you. Dreaming that you are brushing your teeth means your level of confidence, struggles and aggressiveness. You need to look out for yourself and your own interest

(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

Parents may appear in a dream in the guise of animals. It then would represent a love-hate feeling toward that parent. May represent other people in which the meaning would symbolize a slyness or aggressiveness that is characteristic of that person. May be symbolic of some primitive or animal part of your psyche; thus the emotional response to the animal would represent a fear (if the animal in your dream is feared) of an instinctive urge. May represent your animal nature; aggression or anger buried in your unconscious. Perhaps you need to pay more attention to your instincts instead of listening to others.

Emotional release; fear; cooling down a heated situation

Dependency on something or someone. A loss of control and/or weakness. Driven by unconscious fear or attitudes. Surrendering self-awareness to someone else or something else other than what is best for you.

Dreaming of hell indicates that you may be suffering from a seemingly inescapable situation. You may have placed your decision or course of action into someone else's hand. Alternatively, you may be possessing many inner fears and repressed guilty feelings. It is time to quit punishing yourself and take it easy for awhile.

Losing control. Setting your goals too high and fearing failure. Drastic changes in your life. A fear of flying.

An end to some phase, event in your life. Also see death. This is a symbol representing fear and evil. What is in your life that gives you fear or makes you want to do evil?

If the child in your dream is you as a child, the significance of the dream may have to do with a childhood experience.

The child may be a symbol of your true self, That which is essentially you and which you are capable of unfolding. The fact that your real self is represented by a child suggests that your true self is a a beautiful unspoilt product of Nature; that is worthy of unreserved love; and that it needs the nourishment of your love if it is to grow.

The child may represent the transcendent nature of the self; it is much more than just your conscious ego or your present image of yourself; it holds together the opposites that are within you, "head" and "heart", extroversion and introversion, masculine and feminine.

The child may represent a new beginning, a new development in your psyche - a new attitude to life, a new set of values, a new reconciliation of previously conflicting forces.

There is in all of us a child - our emotional self - that often needs reassurance, to be told that all is well and there is no cause for fear, or anger, or guilt, and that love makes all things good and dissolves all pain. At the same time the child sometimes needs to be chided and corrected if it is eventually to - as it should - grow up.