10-20-13
I was lucid and looking in a mirror again. This time I watched my own face go from my present one through a slow aging and then decomposition into a mummified state. I watched my lips go from being full to being stretched over my teeth like a leather mask. Then I woke up.
As a symbol, it has the same characteristics as the mirror in fact; the
temporal and existential variety of its function provides the explanation of its
significance and at the same time the diversity of its meaningful associations. It
has been said that it is a symbol of the imagination—or of consciousness—in its
capacity to reflect the formal reality of the visible world. It has also been related
to thought, in so far as thought—for Scheler and other philosophers—is the
instrument of self-contemplation as well as the reflection of the universe. This
links mirror-symbolism with water as a reflector and with the Narcissus myth:
the cosmos appears as a huge Narcissus regarding his own reflections in the
human consciousness. Now, the world, as a state of discontinuity affected by the
laws of change and substitution, is the agent which projects this quasinegative,
kaleidoscopic image of appearance and disappearance reflected in the mirror.
From the earliest times, the mirror has been thought of as ambivalent. It is a
surface which reproduces images and in a way contains and absorbs them. In
legend and folklore, it is frequently invested with a magic quality—a mere hypertrophic version of its fundamental meaning. In this way it serves to invoke
apparitions by conjuring up again the images which it has received at some time
in the past, or by annihilating distances when it reflects what was once an object
facing it and now is far removed. This fluctuation between the ‘absent’ mirror and
the ‘peopled’ mirror lends it a kind of phasing, feminine in implication, and
hence—like the fan—it is related to moon-symbolism. Further evidence that the
mirror is lunar is afforded by its reflecting and passive characteristics, for it
receives images as the moon receives the light of the sun (8). Again, its close
relationship to the moon is demonstrated by the fact that among the primitives it
was seen as a symbol of the multiplicity of the soul: of its mobility and its ability
to adapt itself to those objects which ‘visit’ it and retain its ‘interest’. At times,
it takes the mythic form of a door through which the soul may free itself ‘passing’
to the other side: this is an idea reproduced by Lewis Carroll in Alice Through the
Looking Glass. This alone is sufficient explanation of the custom of covering up
mirrors or turning them to face the wall on certain occasions, in particular when someone in the house dies (21). All that we have said so far by no means exhausts
the complex symbolism of the mirror: like the echo, it stands for twins (thesis and
antithesis), and specifically for the sea of flames (or life as an infirmity) (50, 51).
For Loeffler, mirrors are magic symbols for unconscious memories (comparable
with crystal palaces) (38). Hand-mirrors, in particular, are emblems of truth (4),
and in China they are supposed to have an allegorical function as aids to conjugal
happiness as well as a protection against diabolical influences (5). Some Chinese
legends tell of ‘the animals in the mirror’.
To dream of your own reflection in the mirror, suggests that you are pondering thoughts about your inner self. The reflection in the mirror is how you perceive yourself or how you want others to see you. You may be contemplating on strengthening and changing aspects of your character.
To dream that you are looking through a two-way mirror, indicates that you are coming face to face with some inner or worldly issue. What you see is related to your persona and unconscious. Seeing images through the mirror may be a safe way for you to consider and/or confront material from your unconscious. Mirrors symbolize the imagination and the link between the conscious and unconscious.
If you are being watched through a two-way mirror, then it suggests that you feel you are being scrutinized and criticized. Alternatively, the dream means that you are unwilling to acknowledge your unconscious emotions.
To break a mirror in your dream, suggests that you are breaking an old image of yourself. You may be putting an end to an old habit. Breaking a mirror is also an old symbol for seven years of bad luck.
To see a cracked or broken mirror in your dream. represents a poor or distorted self-image. Alternatively, it means that you have put an end to your old habits and ways.
To see a fogged mirror in your dream, signifies a hazy concept of who you are and confusion in your life goals. You are lacking clarity and purpose and questioning your self-identity.
To dream of seeing yourself in a mirror, denotes that you will meet many discouraging issues, and sickness will cause you distress and loss in fortune.
To see a broken mirror, foretells the sudden or violent death of some one related to you.
To see others in a mirror, denotes that others will act unfairly towards you to promote their own interests.
To see animals in a mirror, denotes disappointment and loss in fortune.
For a young woman to break a mirror, foretells unfortunate friendships and an unhappy marriage. To see her lover in a mirror looking pale and careworn, denotes death or a broken engagement. If he seems happy, a slight estrangement will arise, but it will be of short duration.
Seeing your own reflection in the mirror, suggests that you are pondering thoughts about your inner self. The reflection in the mirror is how you perceive yourself or how you want others to see you. You may be contemplating on strengthening and changing aspects of your character. Dreaming that you are looking through a two-way mirror indicates that you are coming face to face with some inner or worldly issue. What you see is related to your persona and unconscious. Seeing images through the mirror may be a safe way for you to consider and/or confront material from your unconscious. Mirrors symbolize the imagination and a link between the conscious and unconscious. Dreaming that you are being watched through a two-way mirror, suggests that you feel you are being scrutinized and criticized. Alternatively, you may be blocking or unwilling to acknowledge your unconscious emotions. To break a mirror in your dream, suggests that you are breaking an old image of yourself. You may be putting an end to an old habit. Breaking a mirror is also an old symbol for seven years of bad luck. Seeing a cracked or broken mirror in your dream. represents a poor or distorted self-image. Alternatively, it suggests that you have put an end to your old habits and ways. Seeing a fogged mirror in your dream means a hazy concept of who you are and questions about your self-identity. You are confused in your goals in life an you may have a lack of clarity in a purpose.
It is a symbol of vanity and superficiality. You may be concerned about your image and the way you present yourself to the world. Some say that if you see a clear image, you may be getting a glimpse of your true self. Broken mirrors always seem to be a sign of bad luck, or, at least, represent some distortions. On a deeper level the mirror can be considered to be a representation of the intellect. The intellect is an instrument of navigation and is constantly persuading us to identify ourselves. When we think about this, it makes a lot of sense. Our self-identity is very much connected to the way we look (not only superficially but also characteristically as man - woman, young - old, etc). We use this self-identity, which is greatly a production of our intellect, to navigate through life.
Dreaming about old people or your own aging may have several different meanings. An old man may symbolise wisdom and forgiveness while an old woman may represent life and death. In general, aging may represent the wisdom that a person acquires through experience. The dream may also be giving you a message in regard to life's lessons. This may be a good time for you to apply some of your experience and knowledge to a current situation. This dream may also be a reflection of your concerns about aging. If you are thinking about your mortality and do not welcome maturing and age, the dream may be bringing out some of your worries and/or vanities.
To see lips in your dream, signify sensuality, sex, love, and romance, especially if they were pursed. Lips are a means of communication as reflected in the familiar phrase "read my lips".
To dream that you or someone has blue lips, indicate illness or possible problems with your blood circulation.
To dream that you or someone has black lips, suggests that you are refusing to say anything about a particular situation. You are remaining completely silence.
To dream of thick, unsightly lips, signifies disagreeable encounters, hasty decision, and ill temper in the marriage relation.
Full, sweet, cherry lips, indicates harmony and affluence.
To a lover, it augurs reciprocation in love, and fidelity.
Thin lips, signifies mastery of the most intricate subjects.
Sore, or swollen lips, denotes privations and unhealthful desires.
According to Allendy, teeth are the primigenial weapons of attack, and
an expression of activity. Loss of one’s teeth, then, signifies fear of castration or
of complete failure in life, or inhibition (56); it represents an attitude which is the
inversion of that of the Primitive, who, according to the findings of anthropology,
commonly adorned himself with the teeth and claws of conquered animals. Some
interpretations underline the significance of teeth in respect of the sexual aspect
of energy. But of greater importance is the Gnostic concept—for which we are
indebted to Leisegang’s Die Gnosis—in which the teeth constitute the battlements, the wall and the fortifications of the inner man, from the material or
energetic point of view, just as the eyes and the glance are the defence of the spirit.
This explains the negative symbolism of the loss or fracture of the teeth.
If the doctor pulls your tooth, you will have desperate illness, if not fatal; it will be lingering.
To have them filled, you will recover lost valuables after much uneasiness.
To clean or wash your teeth, foretells that some great struggle will be demanded of you in order to preserve your fortune.
To dream that you are having a set of teeth made, denotes that severe crosses will fall upon you, and you will strive to throw them aside.
If you lose your teeth, you will have burdens which will crush your pride and demolish your affairs.
To dream that you have your teeth knocked out, denotes sudden misfortune. Either your business will suffer, or deaths or accidents will come close to you.
To examine your teeth, warns you to be careful of your affairs, as enemies are lurking near you.
If they appear decayed and snaggled, your business or health will suffer from intense strains.
To dream of spitting out teeth, portends personal sickness, or sickness in your immediate family.
Imperfect teeth is one of the worst dreams. It is full of mishaps for the dreamer. A loss of estates, failure of persons to carry out their plans and desires, bad health, depressed conditions of the nervous system for even healthy persons.
For one tooth to fall out, foretells disagreeable news; if two, it denotes unhappy states that the dreamer will be plunged into from no carelessness on his part. If three fall out, sickness and accidents of a very serious nature will follow.
Seeing all the teeth drop out, death and famine usually will prevail. If the teeth are decayed and you pull them out, the same, only yourself, is prominent in the case.
To dream of tartar or any deposit falling off of the teeth and leaving them sound and white, is a sign of temporary indisposition, which will pass, leaving you wiser in regard to conduct, and you will find enjoyment in the discharge of duty.
To admire your teeth for their whiteness and beauty, foretells that pleasant occupations and much happiness will be experienced through the fulfilment of wishes.
To dream that you pull one of your teeth and lose it, and feeling within your mouth with your tongue for the cavity, and failing to find any, and have a doctor for the same, but to no effect, leaving the whole affair enveloped in mystery, denotes that you are about to enter into some engagement which does not exactly please you, and which you decide to ignore, but will later take it up and secretly prosecute it to your own disquieting satisfaction and under the suspicion of friends.
To dream that a dentist cleans your teeth perfectly, and the next morning you find them rusty, foretells you will believe your interest secure concerning some person or position, but you will find that they have succumbed to the blandishments of an artful man or woman.
To dream 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.
To dream that your teeth is gleaming, signifies happiness and fulfilled wishes.
To dream that you are brushing your teeth, refers to your level of confidence, your struggles and your aggressiveness. You need to look out for yourself and your own interest. Perhaps, you feel that your position is shaky.
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.
Dreaming about teeth is very common in all cultures and age groups. Most dreams about teeth leave people feeling uneasy and anxious. Consider the overall content and context of the dream and note if you are having dental problems before making interpretation. Teeth usually symbolise power and/or control. Animals use their teeth for defence and nourishment and show their teeth when they are angry. Humans often display similar behaviours. Look and see if you are losing or abusing power and control in any area of your life (especially if you are losing teeth in your dream). Old dream interpretations say that dreaming about teeth is a bad omen that suggests financial difficulties.
Did you know that this is a very common dream? In fact various theories of interpretation have been put forward for this.
It is a dream where you suddenly find that you do not have teeth, or that they keep falling out, suddenly. Certainly bizarre, this dream can be interpreted as a readiness for change.
Just as you lose milk teeth while moving from child to adulthood, so also this dream is telling you that it is time for a massive change in your attitude to life, or asking you to adapt yourself to new circumstances. This is one of the classical interpretations.
At a more ground level, it could just mean that you are insecure about certain aspects, or
It could just mean you are afraid of losing your teeth!
To see a present in your dream, may be a pun on being "present" and here. Or perhaps you need to live for the moment and not dwell in the past.
To see your own face in your dream, represents the persona you show to the world as oppose to the real you. It may refer to how you confront problems and deal with issues in your life.
To dream that your face is flawed or pimply, symbolizes erupting emotions. You may be suffering an attack on your persona or your reputation. According to folklore, if you dream that your face is swollen, then it means that you will see an improvement to your financial situation.
To dream that you or someone has two faces or that the faces changes quickly from one person to another, indicates untrustworthiness. You or someone in your life is acting "two-faced".
To dream that you are washing your face, suggests that you need to come clean about some matter.
This dream is favorable if you see happy and bright faces, but significant of trouble if they are disfigured, ugly, or frowning on you.
To a young person, an ugly face foretells lovers' quarrels; or for a lover to see the face of his sweetheart looking old, denotes separation and the breaking up of happy associations.
To see a strange and weird-looking face, denotes that enemies and misfortunes surround you.
To dream of seeing your own face, denotes unhappiness; and to the married, threats of divorce will be made.
To see your face in a mirror, denotes displeasure with yourself for not being able to carry out plans for self-advancement. You will also lose the esteem of friends.
Seeing your own face in your dream indicates the persona you choose to show to the world as oppose to the real you. It may refer to confrontations and your willingness to deal with problems and issues in your life. Dreaming that you face is flawed or pimply, represents erupting emotions. You may have suffered an attack on your persona or your reputation.
To see or wear leather in your dream, represents toughness and ruggedness. It may imply your thick-skinned nature. Or perhaps you are seeking protection from the elements. Alternatively, the dream refers to your instinctual and animalistic nature. It may also have sexual connotations.
To dream of leather, denotes successful business and favorable engagements with women. You will go into lucky speculations if you dream that you are dressed in leather.
Ornaments of leather, denotes faithfulness in love and to the home.
Piles of leather, denotes fortune and happiness.
To deal in leather, signifies no change in the disposition of your engagements is necessary for successful accumulation of wealth.
Seeing or wearing leather in your dream, represents toughness and ruggedness. It also refers to your instinctual and animalistic nature.
All transformations are invested with something at once of profound
mystery and of the shameful, since anything that is so modified as to become
‘something else’ while still remaining the thing that it was, must inevitably be
productive of ambiguity and equivocation. Therefore, metamorphoses must be
hidden from view—and hence the need for the mask. Secrecy tends towards
transfiguration: it helps what-one-is to become what-one-would-like-to-be; and
this is what constitutes its magic character, present in both the Greek theatrical
mask and in the religious masks of Africa or Oceania. The mask is equivalent to
the chrysalis. Frazer has noted some very peculiar types of masks used in the
initiation ceremonies of some Oceanian peoples: the youths keep their eyes closed and cover their faces with a mask of paste or fuller’s earth, and pretend not
to hear the orders shouted out by their elders. But they gradually recover, and on
the following day they wash themselves clean of the crust which had covered
their faces (as well as their bodies); and their initiation is then complete (21).
Apart from this—the most essential—symbolic meaning, the mask also constitutes an image bearing another symbolic meaning which derives directly from it.
The mask, simply as a face, comes to express the solar and energetic aspects of
the life-process. According to Zimmer, Shiva created a lion-headed, slender-bodied monster, expressive of insatiable appetite. And when this creature demands of
his creator a victim to devour, the god tells him to eat of his own body, which the
monster does so that it is reduced to a mere mask itself (60). There is a Chinese
symbol, T’ao T’ieh—the ‘mask of the ogre’—which may well be similar in origin
(5).
To dream that you are wearing a mask, suggests that you are trying to be someone you are not. You are trying to hide your true feelings and only reveal half truths. If you have trouble taking off your mask, then it suggests that your true self is lost or blurred. Alternatively, wearing a mask signifies temporary trouble due to some misunderstanding of your action and conduct.
To see someone wearing a mask in your dream, denotes that you are struggling against deceit, falsehood, and jealousy. If someone removes their mask, then it symbolizes failure in gaining the admiration and/or respect of someone sought for.
To dream that you are wearing a mask, denotes temporary trouble, as your conduct towards some dear one will be misinterpreted, and your endeavors to aid that one will be misunderstood, but you will profit by the temporary estrangements.
To see others masking, denotes that you will combat falsehood and envy.
To see a mask in your dreams, denotes some person will be unfaithful to you, and your affairs will suffer also. For a young woman to dream that she wears a mask, foretells she will endeavor to impose upon some friendly person.
If she unmasks, or sees others doing so, she will fail to gain the admiration sought for. She should demean herself modestly after this dream.
Dreaming that you are wearing a mask means temporary trouble as a result of some misunderstanding and misinterpretation of your actions and conduct. Alternatively, you may be pretending to be someone you are not or are hiding your true feelings. Seeing others wearing a mask in your dream indicates that you will battle against deceit, falsehood, and jealousy. Seeing others unmask in your dream, symbolizes failure in gaining the admiration and/or respect of someone sought for.
Masks might represent our persona and how we appear to others. The roles that we play in life; such as parent, student or worker. On the other hand, masks can be a symbol of pretentiousness. If you are wearing a mask, look inside and check if you are being sincere in your presentations, or if you are hiding something and pretending to be something you are not. If other people are wearing masks, it suggests that you may be concerned about their genuineness.