As an attribute, it pertains to several mythic characters, including Hecate
(31). It is symbolic of mystery or enigma, or of a task to be performed, and the
means of carrying it out. It sometimes refers to the threshold of the unconscious
(32). The key to knowledge corresponds, within the cycle of the year, to the
month of June (healing). The conjunction of the symbols of the male dove and the
key signifies the spirit opening the gates of heaven (4). The emblem formed by
two keys, sometimes placed over a heart, relates to Janus (4). In legend and
folklore, three keys are often used to symbolize a like number of secret chambers
full of precious objects. They are symbolic representations of initiation and
knowledge. The first key, of silver, concerns what can be revealed by psychological understanding; the second is made of gold, and pertains to philosophical
wisdom; the third and last, of diamond, confers the power to act (38). The finding
of a key signifies the stage prior to the actual discovery of the treasure, found
only after great difficulties. Clearly there is a morphological relationship between
the key and the Nem Ankh sign (or ‘Eternal Life’)—the anserated cross of the Egyptians; their gods are sometimes shown holding this cross by the top as if it
were a key, especially in ceremonies concerning the dead. But it should perhaps
be pointed out that, in this case, it is the keys that derive from the anserated cross,
the archetype of the key of Eternal Life that opens up the gates of death on to
immortality.

To see a key in your dream, symbolizes opportunities, access, control, secrets, freedom, knowledge or responsibilities. You may be locking away your own inner feelings and emotions. Or you are unlocking the answer to some problem. In particular, a ring of keys, represents status, authority, and power. It also highlights your adaptability to a situation. If the key is gold, then it suggests that influence, power and wealth will give you access to almost anything you want.

Alternatively, keys have sexual connotations. They can represent intercourse, impotence, infidelity, etc. depending on the condition and usage of the key.

To dream that you lose your keys, signify fears of losing control of yourself or losing your position or status in life. It may also indicate unexpected changes, frustrations, and unpleasant adventures. The dream could be analogous to lost or missed opportunities. If you give your key away, then it suggests that you have given up control of some situation or responsibility.

To dream that you find a key, indicates that you have found a solution to a problem.

To see broken keys in your dream, represent a lost in status. You are denied access to a place where you were previously allowed. If the key is rusty, then it symbolizes a talent or skill that you have neglected.

To hear the sound of keys rattling, indicate that you have the right attitude toward life. You are heading in the right direction and asking all the right questions in the process. It is also a sign of decisive action.

To dream of keys, denotes unexpected changes.

If the keys are lost, unpleasant adventures will affect you.

To find keys, brings domestic peace and brisk turns to business.

Broken keys, portends separation either through death or jealousy.

For a young woman to dream of losing the key to any personal ornament, denotes she will have quarrels with her lover, and will suffer much disquiet therefrom. If she dreams of unlocking a door with a key, she will have a new lover and have over-confidence in him. If she locks a door with a key, she will be successful in selecting a husband. If she gives the key away, she will fail to use judgment in conversation and darken her own reputation.

Seeing a key in your dream, symbolizes opportunities, access, control, secrets, or responsibilities. You may be locking away your own inner feelings and emotions. Dreaming that you lose your keys means your fear of losing your position or status in life. You may have lost control of yourself. It may also foretells of unexpected changes and unpleasant adventures. If you give your key away, then it suggests that you have given up control of some situation or responsibility. Dreaming that you find keys means that you have found a solution to a problem. Seeing broken keys in your dream means many quarrels and possibly a break-up. Hearing the sounds of keys rattling indicates that you have the right attitude toward life. You are heading in the right direction and asking all the right questions in the process. It is also a sign of decisive action.

As with most dreams, look for the obvious connections by comparing the details or the theme of your dream to your daily life. Are you trying to figure something out and "unlock" a puzzling question? Do you wish to hide something? Are you locking something up or are you opening the door? Last, but not least, does this dream have any sexual connotations?

To see or drive a van in your dream, symbolizes convenience and/or practicality. Consider the load that you are carrying and what you can handle. Don't stress yourself out.

Seeing or driving a van in your dream, symbolizes convenience and/or practicality. Consider the load that you are carrying and what you can handle. Don't stress yourself out.

To see something burning in your dream, indicates that you are experiencing some intense emotions and/or passionate sexual feelings. There is some situation or issue that you can no longer avoid and ignore. Alternatively, it may suggest that you need to take time off for yourself and relax. Perhaps you are you feeling "burned out" or "burned up".

To dream that you or someone is being burned alive, suggests that you are being consumed by your own ambition.

Dreaming of something burning indicates that you are experiencing some intense emotions and/or passionate sexual feelings. There is some situation or issue that you can no longer avoid and ignore. Alternatively, it may suggests that you need to take time off for yourself and relax.

If you dream of burning wood you could be feeling creative and mentally agile.

A dream about burning incense can represent a need for emotional warmth.

If you have a dream about a house burning down, you could be hoping to be relieved of a problem.

Superstition-based dream interpretations often say that a dream of something burning is good luck.

Man comes to see himself as a symbol in so far as he is conscious of his
being. Hallstatt art, in Austria, shows fine examples of animal-heads with human
figures appearing above them. In India, in New Guinea, in the West as well, the
bull’s or ox’s head with a human form drawn between the horns is a very common
motif. Since the bull is a symbol for the father-heaven, man comes to be seen as
both his and the earth’s son (22), also, as a third possibility, the son of the sun and
the moon (49). The implications of Origen’s remark: ‘Understand that you are
another world in miniature and that in you are the sun, the moon and also the
stars’, are to be found in all symbolic traditions. In Moslem esoteric thought, man
is the symbol of universal existence (29), an idea which has found its way into
contemporary philosophy in the definition of man as ‘the messenger of being’;
however, in symbolic theory, man is not defined by function alone (that of
appropriating the consciousness of the cosmos), but rather by analogy, whereby
he is seen as an image of the universe. This analogical relationship is sometimes
expressed explicitly, as in some of the more ancient sections of the Upanishads—
the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya for instance—where the analogy between the human organism and the macrocosmos is drawn step by step by means
of correspondences with the organs of the body and the senses (7). So, for
example, the components of the nervous system are derived from fiery substance, and blood from watery substance (26). These oriental concepts first
appear in the West during the Romanesque period: Honorius of Autun, in his Elucidarium (12th century) states that the flesh (and the bones) of man are
derived from the earth, blood from water, his breath from air, and body-heat from
fire. Each part of the body relates to a corresponding part of the universe: the
head corresponds to the heavens, the breath to air, the belly to the sea, the lower
extremities to earth. The five senses were given analogies in accordance with a
system which came to Europe, perhaps, from the Hebrews and the Greeks (14).
Thus, Hildegard of Bingen, living in the same period, states that man is disposed
according to the number five: he is of five equal parts in height and five in girth; he
has five senses, and five members, echoed in the hand as five fingers. Hence the
pentagram is a sign of the microcosmos. Agrippa of Nettesheim represented this graphically, after Valeriano, who drew the analogy between the five-pointed star
and the five wounds of Christ. There is a relationship, too, between the organic
laws of Man and the Cistercian temple (14). Fabre d’Olivet, following the Cabala,
maintains that another number closely associated with the human being is nine—
the triple ternary. He divides human potentialities into three planes: those of the
body, of the soul or life and of the spirit. Each of these planes is characterized by
three modes: the active, the passive and the neutral (43). In the Far East, also,
speculation about the symbolism of man began very early. The same kind of
triple ternary organization is to be seen in the ancient teachings of the Taoists
(13). It is also interesting to note that there is a relationship between the human
being and the essential or archetypal animals (the turtle, the phoenix, the dragon
and the unicorn) who appear to bear the same relation to man—who is central—
as the tetramorphs do to the Pantokrator. Now, between man as a concrete
individual and the universe there is a medial term—a mesocosmos. And this
mesocosmos is the ‘Universal Man’, the King (Wang) in Far Eastern tradition,
and the Adam Kadmon of the Cabala. He symbolizes the whole pattern of the
world of manifestation, that is, the complete range of possibilities open to mankind. In a way, the concept corresponds to Jung’s ‘collective unconscious’. According to Guénon, Leibniz—perhaps influenced by Raymond Lull—conceded
that every ‘individual substance’ must contain within itself an integral reproduction of the universe, even if only as an image, just as the seed contains the totality
of the being into which it will develop (25). In Indian symbolism, Vaishvânara, or
the ‘Universal Man’, is divided into seven principal sections: (1) The superior,
luminous spheres as a whole, or the supreme states of being; (2) the sun and the
moon—or rather, the principles to which they pertain—as expressed in the right
and the left eye respectively; (3) the fire-principle—the mouth; (4) the directions
of space—the ears; (5) the atmosphere—the lungs; (6) the intermediary zone
between earth and heaven—the stomach; (7) the earth—the natural functions or
the lower part of the body. The heart is not mentioned, because, being the ‘centre’
or dwelling-place of Brahma, it is regarded as being beyond the ‘wheel’ of things
(26). Now, this concept of the ‘Universal Man’ implies hermaphroditism, though
never specifically. For the concrete, existential human being, in so far as he is
either a man or a woman, represents the dissected ‘human’ whole, not only in the
physical sense but also spiritually. Thus, to quote the Upanishads: ‘He was, in
truth, as big as a man and a woman embracing. He divided this atman into two
parts; from them sprang husband and wife.’ In Western iconography one sometimes finds images which would seem to be echoes of this concept (32). A human
couple, by their very nature, must always symbolize the urge to unite what is in
fact discrete. Figures which are shown embracing one another, or joining hands, or growing out of roots which bind them together, and so on, symbolize ‘conjunction’, that is, coincidentia oppositorum. There is a Hindu image representing the
‘joining of the unjoinable’ (analogous to the marriage of fire and water) by the
interlinking of Man and Woman, which may be taken to symbolize the joining of
all opposites: good and bad, high and low, cold and hot, wet and dry, and so on
(32). In alchemy, Man and Woman symbolize sulphur and mercury (the metal).
In psychology, level-symbolism is often brought to bear upon the members of the
body, so that the right side corresponds to the conscious level and the left to the
unconscious. The shapes of the parts of the body, depending upon whether they
are positive or negative—whether they are protuberances or cavities—should be
seen not only as sex-symbols but also in the light of the symbolism of levels. The
head is almost universally regarded as a symbol of virility (56). The attitudes
which the body may take up are of great symbolic importance, because they are
both the instrument and the expression of the human tendency towards ascendence
and evolution. A position with the arms wide open pertains to the symbolism of
the cross. And a posture in the form of the letter ‘X’ refers to the union of the two
worlds, a symbol which is related to the hour-glass, the ‘X’ and all other symbols
of intersection (50). Another important posture is that of Buddha in the traditional iconography of the Orient, a posture characteristic also of some Celtic gods
such as the so-called ‘Bouray god’ or the famous Roquepertuse figure. This
squatting position expresses the renunciation of the ‘baser part’ and of ambulatory movement and symbolizes identification with the mystic centre.

To see a man in your dream, denotes the aspect of yourself that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. Perhaps you need to incorporate these aspects into your own character. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him.

If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, then it suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality. It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man.

To see an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness. The old man may be a archetypal figure who is offering guidance to some daily problem.

To dream of a man, if handsome, well formed and supple, denotes that you will enjoy life vastly and come into rich possessions. If he is misshapen and sour-visaged, you will meet disappointments and many perplexities will involve you.

For a woman to dream of a handsome man, she is likely to have distinction offered her. If he is ugly, she will experience trouble through some one whom she considers a friend.

Seeing a man in your dream indicates the masculine aspect of yourself - the side that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him. If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality . It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man. Seeing an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness.

All different kinds of people clutter our dream landscape. The men in your dream may include family members or total strangers. You may dream about your father, son, husband, or friend and should interpret the dream according to its details. A man, particularly the father figure, may represent collective consciousness and the traditional human spirit. He is the Yang and his energy, when mobilised, creates the earthly realities. Depending on the details of the dream, the masculine figure could be interpreted as the Creator or Destroyer. At times, women dream about men that are strangers to them. These men may represent the women's unconscious psychic energy. At times, a strange and ominous man in men's dreams could represent their "shadow" or their negativity and darker sides of personality.

To see a road in your dream, refers to your sense of direction and how you are pursuing your goals. If the road is winding, curvy, or bumpy in your dream, then it suggests that you will encounter many obstacles and setbacks toward achieving your goals. You may be met with unexpected difficulties. If the road is dark, then it reflects the controversial or more frightening choices which you have made or are making.

If the road is smooth and bordered by trees or flowers, then it denotes a steady progress and steady climb up the social ladder. If the road is straight and narrow, then it means that your path to success is going as planned.

To see an unknown road in your dream, represents a path that has not been ventured. You are setting a new precedence for something.

To dream that a threatening creature is on a road, parallels a hostile situation/person you are encountering in your waking life. It is an obstacle that you need to overcome, no matter how intimidating the situation or person may appear.

Traveling over a rough, unknown road in a dream, signifies new undertakings, which will bring little else than grief and loss of time.

If the road is bordered with trees and flowers, there will be some pleasant and unexpected fortune for you. If friends accompany you, you will be successful in building an ideal home, with happy children and faithful wife, or husband.

To lose the road, foretells that you will make a mistake in deciding some question of trade, and suffer loss in consequence.

Seeing a road in your dream indicates your sense of direction and pursuit of your goals. Seeing a winding, curvy, or bumpy road in your dream, suggests that you will experience many obstacles and setbacks in achieving your goals. You may be met with unexpected difficulties. If the road is dark, then it reflects the darker or more frightening choices which you have made or are making. Seeing a smooth road bordered by green trees and flowers indicates a steady progress and steady climb up the social ladder. If the road is straight and narrow, then it means that your path to success is going according as planned. Seeing an unknown road in your dream means that you new project will cause more grief than it is worth and a waste of time. Dreaming that a threatening creature is on a road, parallels a hostile situation/person you are encountering in your waking life. It is an obstacle that you need to overcome, no matter how intimidating the situation or person may appear.

It usually symbolises the journey that we take to achieve our goals. The road in the dream represents a road in your life. It could be the road to your heart, spirit, or mind. Consider the kind of road that you are on and try to see how it relates to your daily realities. If the road is straight, well marked and lit, it may be reinforcement to you that you are moving in the right directions. If there are many obstacles and the road is very hard, consider your options.

To dream of going through a tunnel is bad for those in business and in love.

To see a train coming towards you while in a tunnel, foretells ill health and change in occupation.

To pass through a tunnel in a car, denotes unsatisfactory business, and much unpleasant and expensive travel.

To see a tunnel caving in, portends failure and malignant enemies.

To look into one, denotes that you will soon be compelled to face a desperate issue.

To see a tunnel in your dream, represents the vagina, womb, and birth. Thus it may refer to a need for security and nurturance.

To dream that you are going through a tunnel, suggests that you are exploring aspects of your unconscious. You are opening yourself to a brand new awareness. Alternatively, it indicates your limited perspective as in the phrase "tunnel vision". Are you being close minded or narrow minded in some issue?

To see the light at the end of a tunnel, symbolizes hope. You will navigate through life and all its difficulties with great success. Alternatively, it also indicates the end of your journey and the realization of your goals.

Seeing a tunnel in your dream, represents the vagina, womb, and birth. Thus it may refer to a need for security and nurturance. Dreaming that you are going through a tunnel, suggests that you are exploring aspects of your unconscious. You are opening yourself to a brand new awareness. Alternatively, it indicates your limited perspective. Seeing the light at the end of a tunnel, symbolizes hope.

Did you see a light at the end of the tunnel, or were you trapped in a tunnel unable to determine your location? The tunnel could represent a variety of things. If it was not an unpleasant experience, it may symbolise a transitional period and a passage into new levels of understanding or ways of living.

To dream that you are in a strange place, represents change in your life. Consider how you feel about the surrounding. If you are afraid or lost, then it indicates that you are not ready for the change. You are not ready to leave the past behind. If you are excited or happy in this unknown place, then it suggests that you are ready for change.

To walk through an open path in your dream, signifies clarity of thought and peace of mind. It also symbolizes your progress.

To see a blocked or windy path in your dream, denotes that you need to give serious attention to the direction you are heading in your personal and/or business life. You need to take time out to consider and rethink the consequences before acting on your choices.

To dream that you are walking in a narrow and rough path, stumbling over rocks and other obstructions, denotes that you will have a rough encounter with adversity, and feverish excitement will weigh heavily upon you.

To dream that you are trying to find your path, foretells that you will fail to accomplish some work that you have striven to push to desired ends.

To walk through a pathway bordered with green grass and flowers, denotes your freedom from oppressing loves.

To walk through a quiet, open path means clarity of thought and peace of mind. It may also symbolize your progress. Seeing a blocked or windy path indicates that you need to give serious attention to the direction you are heading in your personal and/or business life. You also need to take time out to consider and rethink the consequences before acting on your choices.

To dream that you find something, suggests that you are coming into contact with some aspect of your psyche or unconscious. You are recognizing a part of yourself that was previously repressed or undeveloped. Alternatively, it represents change.

To dream that you find someone, indicates that you are identifying new facets of a relationship. You may be taking the relationship to a new level and/or direction.

Dreaming that you find something, suggests that you are coming into contact with some aspect of your psyche or unconscious. You are recognizing a part of yourself that was previously repressed or undeveloped. Alternatively, it represents change. Dreaming that you find someone indicates that you are identifying new facets of a relationship. You may be taking the relationship to a new level and/or direction.

To dream that you are on the ground, represents your foundation and support system. It is also the boundary between your conscious and unconscious. You may be getting closer in confronting and acknowledging your unconscious thoughts. The dream may be a pun on being well-grounded and down to earth or that you have been grounded. Perhaps you are feeling restricted in some aspects of your life.

Dreaming that you are on the ground, represents your foundation and support system. It is also the boundary between your conscious and unconscious. You may be getting closer in confronting and acknowledging your unconscious thoughts. The dream may be a pun on being well-grounded and down to earth. It may also be a pun on being grounded. Perhaps you are feeling restricted in some aspects of your life.