(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 / goddess 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.

From SpiritCommunity

Gold Dreaming about gold could be a reflection of concerns that you have about your most precious valuables or a reference to "alchemist's gold" which is usually spiritual in nature. If you are losing gold in your dream, it may express your anxieties over a missed opportunity. However, remember "All that glitters is not gold." Your unconscious mind may be reminding you not to judge things on appearances alone.

a source of higher wisdom or energy; the father/mother functioning aspect of self; your true self or creative self; your spiritual self; harmony in your life

island may be a symbol of the conscious ego's relationship to the unconscious (the unconscious would be symbolized by the sea or ocean).

It may symbolize your relationship with your mother (represented by the sea, the mother being the higher source). Is the sea threatening to engulf the island?

May be a symbol of depression or despair. May symbolize being swallowed by your mother (mother attachment). If a ship is sinking it may represent the end of something in your life.

Basic Meaning: A boat often symbolizes an aspect of the feminine, a reference to the unconscious.

(1) Because of their connections with water, boats may symbolize (some aspect of) the feminine, either with a plainly sexual reference or with reference to the unconscious (in the case of a male dreamer, the reference may be specifically to the anima), (See Anima/Animus or with reference to mother or Great Mother.

(2) Leaving one's own shores for a foreign country may symbolize entry into the unconscious insofar as the latter is unknown and frightening - alien, in fact.

(3) If the boat is crossing a narrow stretch of water, it may symbolize some type of transition: for example, moving from one phase of life to another, or making a new start and a clean break from the past.

(4) If in the dream you miss the boat, the meaning would seem to be obvious: you have failed to take advantage of an opportunity that has offered itself - perhaps an opportunity to open new vistas in your life.

Eric Ackroyd

Example in a Dream

You are in a boat drifting far from shore with sharks swimming all around you.

Possible meaning for a male: The boat would be an anima symbol representing the feminine aspects of the male psyche {compassion, tolerance, patience, ready to forgive}. Drifting far from shore would mean you are drifting away from these unifying feminine aspects. The sharks may represent those other internal aspects that want to assail you {in order to force you back to shore} or other people or circumstances in your waking life that are causing you to drift away from the natural feminine tendencies.

Possible meaning for a female: For a woman the meaning may have the same interpretation, you are drifting away from those essential feminine aspects. But it may also symbolize that you are moving away from those negative aspects {sharks} that can prevent you from an understanding of a higher self {the Great Mother}. It also may be a reference to your actual mother, an unconscious need or desire to move away from her destructive {sharks} attitudes. the meaning may have the same

Symbolizes tenderness, love, nurture, and motherly love. Perhaps there is still a need for required loved that has been missed in your life.

May symbolize the feminine side of a manspsyche. May represent your mother, or the wisdom that is available to you in your unconscious. May represent aggressive attitudes or threatening situations. Perhaps you need to bare your soul and let everything out into the open.

It may symbolize mother-love, or your nurturing (or lack of) as a child.

A symbol of your unconscious. You must come to terms with the frightening aspect in your life, found at the center of the labyrinth. Liberation from your mother. A path toward self-discovery (life is a labyrinth in which you must return to your center (unconscious self) for wholeness.

{1} {Climbing} a ladder may symbolize progress: improving your status; achieving or moving towards a goal.

{2} Climbing a ladder to heaven is a recurring mythological motif. It may be seen as a symbol of achieving personal wholeness

{3} Sometimes the ladder - like Jacob's in the Book of Genesis - is used by angels descending and ascending: a symbol of communication between the spiritual and physical aspects of the self, or between the true self and the ego.

{4} Descending a ladder to escape from an upper story of a burning house might symbolize {a need to} escape from your emotional self.

{5} Descending a ladder into a deep pit or well might symbolize a resolve - or need - to explore your unconscious depths. Climbing a ladder to get out of a pit or well might symbolize the need to escape from something that threatens to engulf you - a mother-attachment, perhaps, or other unconscious contents.

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

Mother Earth which could signify your real mother; your unconscious; your true self (spiritual); your intuitive self; contrasted with the sky, it may symbolize keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground.

(1) Contrasted with the sky, earth may symbolize a need to "keep your feet on the ground" or pay attention to "earthly" aspects of your being.

(2) It may be "Mother Earth", symbolizing your own mother. Bear in mind that earth, as well as giving birth to things, also swallows them up again (when they die). Similarly, your mother - or your attachment to her - may have a "devouring" aspect: one that hinders your individual development.

Mother Earth may also represent your unconscious. Life-giving energy comes up from the unconscious region. This is the "womb" that contains potential for further development. Again, this may present a negative effect: the unconscious may seem to be threatening the conscious ego's attempts to maintain order in your life. However, the menacing appearance of the unconscious is a sign that such "order" is precarious, having been achieved at the expense of neglecting important parts of your psyche. Wholeness is what counts.

(3) The planet earth seen as a sphere floating in space could be a symbol of your true self, as yet unrealized (i.e. not yet translated from idea or ideal into act and fact); wholeness, integration; or a weightless, relaxed "floating" with the life-giving currents that will carry you to fulfillment of your individual "destiny".

Reference: Eric Ackroyd

a symbol for your mother or mother-attachment

The deepest unconscious where one finds repressed, forgotten emotions. Also is a symbol for mother, your own mother or Mother Nature. May symbolize creative potential.

Parents may appear in a dream in the guise of animals. It then would represent a love-hate feeling toward that parent. An opossum is a marsupial, an animal whose young is carried within a pouch. What is the relationship with your mother? Or, what is the relationship to your wise self {Great Mother metaphor}? Are you, or should you, provide a more cultivating atmosphere for those unconscious aspects {creativity/spirituality} within your psyche.

May be a feminine symbol, representing the mother, or some other woman, or women in general. In a man's dream it may symbolize the anima. The vessel {emotions-attitudes-belief system} in your life that you have attached your being to.

In a woman's dream, rape may represent either (unconscious) fears of sex or (masochistic) fantasies of being raped.

A man's dream of committing rape would probably be a straightforward symbol of sexual desire, but of a sadistic kind. You probably need to acquaint yourself with your own feminine qualities and let them play a larger role in your life. What are you trying to take vengeance for? Did your mother seem to withdraw her love from you as a boy?

May represent mother; the unconscious; intuition; instincts; nature; personal growth.