I look back on my entries and take note of all of the animals that have come to me outright: A snake, a bear, a praying mantis, and an orangutan.
Interesting, I love love love animal totems
Traditional symbols of love always express a duality in which the two
antagonistic elements are, nevertheless, reconciled. Thus, the Indian lingam, the Yang-Yin, or even the Cross, where the upright beam is the world-axis and Chinese
the cross-beam the world of phenomena. They are, in other words, symbols of a
conjunction, or the expression of the ultimate goal of true love: the elimination of
dualism and separation, uniting them in the mystic ‘centre’, the ‘unvarying mean’
of Far Eastern philosophy. The rose, the lotus flower, the heart, the irradiating
point—these are the most frequent symbols of this hidden centre; ‘hidden’ because it does not exist in space, although it is imagined as doing so, but denotes the
state achieved through the elimination of separation. The biological act of love
itself expresses this desire to die in the object of the desire, to dissolve in that
which is already dissolved. According to the Book of Baruch: ‘Erotic desire and
its satisfaction is the key to the origin of the world. Disappointment in love and
the revenge which follows in its wake are the root of all the evil and the selfishness
in this world. The whole of history is the work of love. Beings seek and find one
another; separate and hurt one another; and in the end, comes acute suffering
which leads to renunciation.’ Or to put it another way: Maya as opposed to
Lilith, illusion balanced by the serpent.
To dream of love or being in love, suggests intense feelings carried over from a waking relationship. It refers to your contentment with what you already have and where you are in life. On the other hand, the dream may be compensatory and implies that you may not be getting enough love in your life. We naturally long for the sense to belong and to be accepted.
To see a couple in love or expressing love to each other, indicates success ahead for you.
To dream that your friend is in love with you, may be one of wish fulfillment. Perhaps you have developed feelings for your friend and are wondering how he or she feels. Your preoccupation has found its way into your dreaming mind. On the other hand, the dream may suggests that you have accepted certain qualities of your friend and incorporated it into your own character.
To dream that you are making love in public or in different places, relates to some overt sexual issue or need. Your dream may be telling you that you need to express yourself more openly. Alternatively, it represents your perceptions about your own sexuality in the context of social norms. You may be questioning your feelings about sex, marriage, love, and gender roles.
To dream of loving any object, denotes satisfaction with your present environments.
To dream that the love of others fills you with happy forebodings, successful affairs will give you contentment and freedom from the anxious cares of life. If you find that your love fails, or is not reciprocated, you will become despondent over some conflicting question arising in your mind as to whether it is best to change your mode of living or to marry and trust fortune for the future advancement of your state.
For a husband or wife to dream that their companion is loving, foretells great happiness around the hearthstone, and bright children will contribute to the sunshine of the home.
To dream of the love of parents, foretells uprightness in character and a continual progress toward fortune and elevation.
The love of animals, indicates contentment with what you possess, though you may not think so. For a time, fortune will crown you.
Dreaming of love of being in love, suggests intense feelings carried over from a waking relationship. It implies happiness and contentment with what you have and where you are in life. On the other hand, you may not be getting enough love in your daily life. We naturally long for the sense to belong and to be accepted. Seeing a couple in love or expressing love to each other indicates much success ahead for you. Dreaming that you are making love in public or in different places, relates to some overt sexual issue or need. Your dream may be telling you that you need to express yourself more openly. Alternatively, it represents your perceptions about your own sexuality in the context of politic and social norms. You may be questioning your feelings about sex, marriage, love, and gender roles.
To dream that you are praying, signifies respect, sincerity and humility. You are looking for help from a higher source. You need to relinquish your worries and let go of your old problems. More directly, the dream means that you need to pray more. Alternatively, the dream may be a pun on "preying". Perhaps you are taking advantage of others or that someone is taking advantage of you.
Dreaming that you are praying means a need to turn over some matter to a higher force and let it go. You need to learn to relinquish and let go of your worries. It may also be an indication that you need to pray more.
To see an orangutan in your dream, signifies your wild inner character and sexual desires. Alternatively, an orangutan suggests that you are being manipulated.
Seeing an orangutan in your dream means unfaithfulness in a lover or that some person is manipulating for their own advancement.
Dreaming of animals is a indication that you should be listening more carefully to your instincts. Try to think of the characteristics and particularities of each animal: what do you think it refers to? You may need to identify your instincts, as primitive as they can be, and try to find how they can help you in your life. Each animal has also his own significance: an owl could indicate bad news, death or sickness, a friendly dog can represent a good friend, a snake can be a mean enemy, a bird will herald some good news, a horse means victory, an agressive threatening black dog can present itself as the guardian of the dead...Generally speaking, talking animals represent superior forms of intelligence and are spiritually more important.
The interpretation of the animal in your dream depends on your relationship with it in daily life. Animals represent the qualities in our character or specific aspects of our personalities. They could symbolise our more intuitive and instinctive parts, or they could serve as messengers for the unconscious.
There are various interpretations, for the animals you see in your dreams. Some dream researchers feel that animals appear to take on activities (in your dream) of which you are subconsciously ashamed. For example a woman who had cheated while dieting saw a farm animal eating too much of cattle feed repeatedly, in her dreams!
These apart, here are the animals, and their significance according to dream interpretation:
* Alligator - Dangerous emotions
* Ants- Dissatisfaction
* Bees- hard work and organization
* Butterfly - spiritual or emotional metamorphosis
* Camel - endurance/financial gain
* Dinosaurs - refers to the past
* Donkey- humility/honor
* Dragonfly- good news
* Eagle- prosperity
* Elephant- knowledge/ power/ strength
* Horse- Power and sexual energy
* Mice- disappointment
* Tiger- power and beauty
To see a bear in your dream, symbolizes independence, the cycle of life, death and renewal, and resurrection. You are undergoing a period of introspection and thinking. The dream may also be a pun on "bare". Perhaps you need to bare your soul and let everything out into the open.
To dream that you are being pursued or attacked by a bear, denotes aggression, overwhelming obstacles and competition. You may find yourself in a threatening situation or domineering relationship.
To see a polar bear in your dream, signifies a reawakening.
Bear is significant of overwhelming competition in pursuits of every kind.
To kill a bear, portends extrication from former entanglements.
A young woman who dreams of a bear will have a threatening rival or some misfortune.
Dreaming that you are being pursued or attacked by a bear indicates aggression, overwhelming obstacles and competition. You may find yourself in a threatening situation. Alternatively, bears symbolize the cycle of life and death and renewal. It may signal of period of introspection and thinking. The dream may also be a pun on "bare". Perhaps you need to bare your soul and let everything out into the open. Dreaming of a polar bear means a reawakening.
A bear in a dream is a very rich and complicated dream symbol.
Bears are highly regarded symbols in a variety of cultures and traditions. The interpretation of the bear in a dream may be influenced by your perception of it and by the events in the dream. The bear may represent qualities in your character or specific aspects of your personality. Bears are usually associated with danger and aggression, and a bear can represent an adversay, but this is a very narrow view of this powerful dream symbol.
Bears are solitary animals, so a bear in a dream can signify the ability to rely on your own strength to survive. Bears symbolize independence, either in yourself or in someone else.
Females bears are solitary mothers. Therefore,a bear in a dream often symbolizes a mother figure. The behavior of the bear, whether it is uncaring, possessive or devouring, can indicate how you feel towards your own mother.
A bear that is clearly male can stand for a father figure, or just an overbearing person in your life.
A bear can also represent the ability to revive yourself after a period of rest, based on the fact that bears hibernate in winter.
Bears in dreams may represent a period of introspection and depression. However, this may be a part of a healing cycle, where the dreamer has retreated into himself in order to regenerate and in order to create something new and valuable in his life.
Bear Meanings from Native North American Views
When we walk the Path with the bear, this animal will inevitably tell us about its long history with the First People of North America.
As a Native American symbol, the bear is as free in spirit as the great wind; and grander than its mass. To match that magnitude is the quality of unpredictability in the bear. A massive animal who forages seemingly peacefully in the woods on berries and bush. when provoked in certain ways, the First Peoples witnessed a ferocity expressed from the bear that (understandably) could elicited terror.
Because of this potentially furious storm brewing just under the surface of bears spirit, our native forebears were extremely cautious and respectful of this animal. Even tribes inclined to peace honored the spirit of a warrior, and witnessing the bear seemed to embody that kind of blind, powerful surge of courage and strength that every warrior is want to tap into.
Bear meanings were enhanced by observations made tribal sages. These vital tribal figures were inclined to pensive and deeper understanding of how nature communicated intent in all her forms. These sages found connections between human and beast and from these associations would interpret profound meanings that propelled the community into direction, action, and wisdom.
One such connection to bear meaning comes from a Shoshone sage who, set about bridging worlds in a manner of trance walking. During his trance walk, he was gifted with the site of a clan of bears who were performing what seemed to be a ritual dance.
These were not spirit bears, but real bears, on their hind legs, dancing in the golden rays of the sun. The Shoshone sage understood this to be a dance of gratitude as well as a prayer for the healing and protection of their young. From that point further the Shoshone have instigated their own Sun Dance where the bear is a central figure of the ritual symbolizing protection, strength and continuation of the progeny of the tribe.
Native American Bear Meaning - A quick list of keywords summoned by the tribal mind:
Protection
Childbearing
Motherhood
Freedom
Discernment
Courage
Power
Unpredictable
We see a lot of connections with bear and man in the Native mind. We can intuit these bear meanings to come from the human-like appearance of the bear when it’s posed on hind legs. Further, the natives observed the bear looks remarkably human when skinned of its fur.
Bear meanings of motherhood and child protection continue in the Aleut and Haida minds where legend indicates the bear would take a tribal woman as its wife. From this union, man and bear strengthened their greatest aspects, combining the best (and sometimes worst) traits.
As a Sioux symbol, the bear also has healing symbolism. Sioux legend indicates mother bear was weary from carrying her heavy babies in her belly. She was having trouble walking and feared she could not make the journey to the great foraging fields to feed during her final days of pregnancy. She rested against redwood sorrel plant and the plant spoke to her, telling her that if she ate of its leaves her body would be able to sustain her load. Mother bear did as the sorrel advised to discover the treatment worked. She knew her Sioux sisters would have the same troubles when they were heavy with their own babies, so she shared the medicinal advice with the Sioux medicine woman.
The bear is a strong Native American symbol to the Cree who are powerfully connected with the bear. Recognizing its girth, and amazingly effective teeth and claws, the Cree adopted the bear as a symbol for successful hunt. Intricate preparations were made prior to a hunt. These preparations featured the bear as the guest of honor. Every aspect of pre-hunting ritual was designed to honor the bear. Even after the ritual bear skulls would hang in the lodge overnight to induce dreams of bears that provided good luck in the hunt. That is, if the bear was pleased, the dreams would come, and the hunt would be a success.
Above all, bear meaning holds incredible influence and magnitude to the North American tribes. And although the bear is a profound Native American symbol of majesty, freedom and power it is far more. The spiritual connections made with the bear makes it a brother to the First People.
As a brother, the bear imparts this advice to both our ancestors and us today:
Because the bear is cautious, it encourages discernment to humankind.
Because of a fierce spirit, the bear signals bravery to those who require it.
Because of its mass and physical power, the bear stands for confidence and victory.
Because it prefers peace and tranquility (in spite of its size), Bear calls for harmony and balance.
Hibernation is a key attribute of the bear. Having a bear as your power animal indicates the need to go within yourself - to withdraw from the world to find your answers. Your dream time is extremely important.
Seeing a snake or be bitten by one in your dream means hidden fears and worries that are threatening you. Your dream may be alerting you to something in your waking life that you are not aware of or that has not yet surfaced. The snake may also be seen as phallic and thus symbolize dangerous and forbidden sexuality. The snake may also refer to a person around you who is callous, ruthless, and can't be trusted. As a positive symbol, snakes represent transformation, knowledge and wisdom. It is indicative of self-renewal and positive changes.
In some cultures snakes are highly regarded and symbolise the ability to transcend into higher levels of consciousness or into areas of knowledge that exist outside perceived time and space. In the pre-Christian days, snakes were considered symbols of fertility, healing, and nurturing (the healing serpent representing a god). Post Eden, snakes are often considered symbols of temptation and evil, anger, and envy. Snakes emerging out of the ground may represent your unconscious or repressed materials coming to your conscious mind. Most snake dreams seem to be disturbing and they leave the dreamer feeling anxious and afraid. There are no simple interpretations to the snake dreams. Sometimes snakes may be phallic symbols and other times they represent negativity in our lives that hampers our progress and constantly threatens us. In the long run the snake may be a positive symbol; it may represent difficulties that lead us to the centre of personality and result in feelings of completeness.
Snake symbolic meaning, overwhelmingly and in various cultures, deals with primordial life force and usually turns our attention to gender supremacy (both male and female).
Consequently, snakes span the symbolic bridge between lunar and solar associations as well as aspects between water and fire.
Coiled within this polarity, we clearly see symbolism of duality and the search for balance. Other snake symbolic meaning includes:
Cycles
Rebirth
Patience
Fertility
Eternity
Balance
Cunning
Intuition
Awareness
Healing
Intellect
Protection
Solemnity
Rejuvenation
Transformation
Occult (hidden) Knowledge
Male/Female, Yin-Yang, Duality
As a Native American Indian symbol (depending on the nation/tribe) the snake can be a masculine symbol, associated with the phallus of lightning which is considered a medicine staff of tremendous assertive power. Other tribes lean in the direction of feminine attribution for the snake and pair it with mothering (creation), and lunar (moon) symbolism.
Whether raising itself in masculine authority, or encircling the Earth in a motherly fashion – the snake symbol of the Native American’s was highly regarded; utilized in ritual to invoke an element of pointed focus and weighty influence.
The ancient Celts were extremely nature-wise too, and approached snake symbolism from the behavior and life cycle of this magnificent creature. From the Celtic perspective, the snake was a symbol of secret knowledge, cunning and transformation.
Further, the snake Celtic symbol comes from observations of the European viper (also known as the adder) which is the only (along with the common grass snake) species able to tolerate the colder climate of the ancient Celts.
In the keen Celtic mind, snake symbolic meaning of transformation came from the shedding of its skin. Physical evidence of leaving its form behind (casting off the old self), and emerging a sleeker, newer version made the snake a powerful symbol of rebirth and renewal.
As far as the occult (hidden) symbolic meaning in Celtic and other cultures, this can be connected to the sleuth-like ways of the snake.
Disappearing in colder months and summoned by the sun marks the snake’s connection to the shadow worlds with its successful ability to live within the dark realms for extended periods of time. Alternatively, the snake softly moves into the embrace of the sun, and so it encapsulates the ancient magician's creed of moving in perfect rhythm of natural forces.
In Eastern Indian myth the Sanskrit word for snake is naga and these are associated with the element of water. Picking up water’s symbolism of emotion, love and motion, nagas in this light are considered a feminine aspect and embody nurturing, benevolent, wise qualities.
To wit, the practice of nagayuna in Eastern Indian alchemy seeks to achieve loving harmony between the physical and ethereal. Simply put, all of us striving to better ourselves by calmly easing into places of personal balance within the cosmic balance of the whole are practicing this ancient technique.
Snake tattoo symbolism varies according to the bearer of the mark. For example, I have a back piece depicting two serpents (nagas) wrapped around the seven prime chakras down the length of my spine. This (to me) incorporates the kundalini power available to all humans.
Additionally, this entwined snake imagery hearkens to the caduceus, in which the staves of Asclepius are made of two polar (and copulating) serpents which symbolizes balance, equanimity, union and regeneration.
Double snakes are common in almost all cultural symbolic languages. Ultimately the double snake is an icon representing:
Connection between primal forces
Integration of opposites
Advanced communication
Joining together on a divine level
Making whole what was once fragmented and doing so in a magical, organic way.
Snake Double HelixCarrying this dual snake imagery a step further, we could look to the language of science. Observe the formation of DNA and how it forms a perfect, serpentine double helix (shown left). This prompts us to consider how the energetic mind is connected to the grander whole, and how it so effortlessly makes graceful connections between the basic building blocks of data with the manifestations of the natural world.
There is no doubt, the snake is a unifying force embodying infinite messages to those who are energetically available to perceive them. Alchemists understood this, and thus incorporated the philosophy of snakes in their grimoires, practices, and even their daily life.
Indeed, alchemy literature is rife with the image of the uroboros which is symbolic of conceptualizing totality – embracing the whole of consciousness and devouring it with unquenchable passion.
As an animal totem, the snake surfaces into our awareness with all the power of the symbolic attributes listed on this page (and more). Those who are drawn to the snake (and vice versa) are gifted at perceiving life through an uncommon lens. Other characteristics of those who are connected to snake energy include:
A natural ability to balance energies (you’re likely a gifted healer)
Diplomatic and eloquent in areas of speech and writing
Dynamically intuitive (often knowing other’s thoughts and emotional states without trying)
Impulsive, but not without careful consideration – this may sound paradoxical, but those with the snake totem know what I mean here.
I invite you to step into the calming energy of the snake, and see what this noble creature offers you in the form of messages, growth, and enlightenment.
Further, it should be understood this page is but a miniscule sampling of the diverse snake symbolic meaning s available to us. Therefore, I encourage you to slither into your own personal ruminations, research and meditation of the snake.
You will find your investment to be infinitely rewarding.
By shedding its skin, the snake symbolizes change in the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. It counts among its strengths the power of creation, of se xuality, of the soul, as well as of transformation and immortality. Snake-people are higher cast, because as part of their experiences they have had to come into contact with poison (physical or mental) and have been able to transform the poison in their bodies into something harmless. The snake belongs to the element of fire, which causes desire and passion in the physical realm and, in the spiritual realm, creates a connection with the Great Spirit and leads to all-encompassing wisdom. Whenever the snake appears in your dreams, it is a sign of change as you come ever closer to perfection.
This animal gives you the ability to let go of things that are worn out and no longer useful - just like the snake sheds it skin when it is no longer needed.
Rebirth, wisdom, fluidity, wholeness, transmutations, sexuality, look for transitions, changes and new opportunities. Creative forces are awakening with heightened intuition. Snake can teach about shedding what is not needed; perceptions, attitudes, ideals. Snake shows how to access vitality, ambitions and dreams along with intellect and personal power. What things are surfacing that you need to strike out and take advantage of? Perhaps a time to rest and reflect? Listen to your intuition and visions at this time. Contemplate the colors, striking ability and activity of the snake type to further understand what snake is saying.
Of the utmost importance in symbolism, both in connexion with
their distinguishing features, their movement, shapes and colours, and because of
their relationship with man. The origins of animal symbolism are closely linked
with totemism and animal worship. The symbolism of any given animal varies
according to its position in the symbolic pattern, and to the attitude and context
in which it is depicted. Thus the frequent symbol of the ‘tamed animal’ can
signify the reversal of those symbolic meanings associated with the same animal
when wild. In the struggle between a knight and a wild or fabulous animal—one of
the most frequent themes in symbolism—the knight’s victory can consist either
in the death or in the taming of the animal. In Chrétien de Troyes’ mediaeval
romance, Yvain, the hero is assisted by a lion. In the legend of St. George, the
conquered dragon serves its conqueror. In the West, some of the earliest references to animal symbolism are found in Aristotle and in Pliny, but the most
important source is the treatise Physiologus, written in Alexandria in the 2nd
century A.D. Another important contribution was made one or two centuries
later by Horapollo, with his two treatises on Hieroglyphica, based on Egyptian
symbolism. From these sources flows a stream of mediaeval animal symbolism
which produced such notable bestiaries as that of Philip of Thaun (A.D. 1121),
Peter of Picardy and William of Normandy (13th century); or the De Animalibus,
attributed to Albertus Magnus; Libre de les besties of Raymond Lull; and
Fournival’s Bestiaire d’Amour (14th century). The primitives’ view of animals,
as analysed by Schneider (50), is mirrored in all these works, namely that while
man is an equivocal, ‘masked’ or complex being, the animal is univocal, for its
positive or negative qualities remain ever constant, thus making it possible to
classify each animal, once and for all, as belonging to a specific mode of cosmic
phenomena. More generally, the different stages of animal evolution, as manifested by the varying degrees of biological complexity, ranging from the insect and
the reptile to the mammal, reflect the hierarchy of the instincts. In Assyrian and
Persian bas-reliefs, the victory of a higher over a lower animal always stands for
the victory of the higher life over the lower instincts. A similar case is in the
characteristic struggle of the eagle with the snake as found in pre-Columbian
America. The victory of the lion over the bull usually signifies the victory of Day
over Night and, by analogy, Light triumphing over Darkness and Good over Evil.
The symbolic classification of animals is often related to that of the four Elements. Animals such as the duck, the frog and the fish, however much they may
differ one from the other, are all connected with the idea of water and hence with
the concept of the ‘primal waters’; consequently, they can stand as symbols of
the origin of things and of the powers of rebirth (37, 9). On the other hand, some animals, such as dragons and snakes, are sometimes assigned to water, sometimes
to earth and sometimes even to fire (17). However, the most generally accepted
classification—which is also the most fundamentally correct—associates aquatic
and amphibious animals with water; reptiles with earth; birds with air; and mammals (because they are warm-blooded) with fire. For the purposes of symbolic
art, animals are subdivided into two categories: natural (often in antithetical
pairs: toad/frog, owl/eagle, etc.) and fabulous. Within the cosmic order, the latter
occupy an intermediate position between the world of fully differentiated beings
and the world of formless matter (50). They may have been suggested by the
discovery of skeletons of antediluvian animals, and also by certain beings which,
though natural, are ambiguous in appearance (carnivorous plants, sea urchins,
flying fish, bats), and thus stand for flux and transformism, and also for purposeful evolution towards new forms. In any event, fabulous animals are powerful
instruments of psychological projection. The most important fabulous animals
are: chimaera, sphinx, lamia, minotaur, siren, triton, hydra, unicorn, griffin, harpy,
winged horse, hippogryph, dragon, etc. In some of these the transmutation is a
simple one, and clearly positive in character—such as Pegasus’ wings (the spiritualization of a lower force)—but more often the symbol is a consequence of a
more complex and ambiguous process of the imagination. The result is a range of
highly ambivalent symbols, whose significance is heightened by the ingrained
belief in the great powers exercised by such beings as well as in the magic importance of abnormality and deformity. In addition, there are animals which, while
hardly or not at all fabulous in appearance, are credited with non-existential or
supernatural qualities as the result of a symbolic projection (for example, the
pelican, phoenix, salamander). There is a fragment by Callimachus on the Age of
Saturn, in which animals have the power of speech (this being a symbol of the
Golden Age which preceded the emergence of the intellect—Man—when the
blind forces of Nature, not yet subject to the logos, were endowed with all sorts
of extraordinary and exalted qualities). Hebrew and Islamic traditions also include
references to ‘speaking animals’ (35). Another interesting classification is that of
‘lunar animals’, embracing all those animals whose life-span includes some kind
of cyclic alternation, with periodic appearances and disappearances (18). The
symbolism of such animals includes, in addition to the animal’s specific symbolic
significance, a whole range of lunar meanings. Schneider also mentions a very
curious primitive belief: namely, that the voice of those animals which can be said
to serve as symbols of heaven is high-pitched if the animal is large (the elephant,
for example), but low-pitched if the animal is small (as the bee); while the converse is true of earth-symbol animals. Some animals, in particular the eagle and the lion, seem to embody certain qualities, such as beauty and the fighting spirit,
to such an extent that they have come to be universally accepted as the allegorical
representations of these qualities. The emblematic animals of Roman signa were:
eagle, wolf, bull, horse and wild boar. In symbolism, whenever animals (or any
other symbolic elements) are brought together in a system, the order of arrangement is always highly significant, implying either hierarchical precedence or relative position in space. In alchemy, the descending order of precedence is symbolized by different animals, thus: the phoenix (the culmination of the alchemical
opus), the unicorn, the lion (the necessary qualities), the dragon (prime matter)
(32). Symbolic groups of animals are usually based on analogical and numerical
patterns: the tetramorphs of Western tradition, as found in the Bible, are a fundamental example; another example would be the Chinese series of the four benevolent animals: the unicorn, phoenix, turtle and dragon. The following animals occur
particularly in Romanesque art: the peacock, ox, eagle, hare, lion, cock, crane,
locust and partridge (50). Their symbolic meaning is mainly derived from the
Scriptures or from patristic tradition, though some meanings, arising from analogy, such as that between cruelty and the leopard, are immediately obvious (20).
The importance in Christianity of the symbols of the dove, the lamb and the fish
is well known. The significance of the attitudes in which symbolic animals are
depicted is usually self-evident: the counterbalancing of two identical—or two
different— animals, so common in heraldry, stands for balance (i.e. justice and
order, as symbolized for instance by the two snakes of the caduceus); the animals
are usually shown supporting a shield or surmounting the crest of a helmet. Jung
supports this interpretation with his observation that the counterbalancing of the
lion and the unicorn in Britain’s coat of arms stands for the inner stress of
balanced opposites finding their equilibrium in the centre (32). In alchemy, the
counterbalancing of the male and the female of the same species (lion/lioness, dog/
bitch) signifies the essential contrast between sulphur and mercury, the fixed and
the volatile elements. This is also the case when a winged animal is opposed to a
wingless one. The ancient interest in animals as vehicles of cosmic meanings, over
and above the mere fact of their physical existence, persisted from the earliest
beginnings of the Neolithic Age up to as late as 1767, with the publication of such
works as Jubile van den Heyligen Macarius. This treatise describes processions
in which each symbolic chariot has a characteristic animal (the peacock, phoenix,
pelican, unicorn, lion, eagle, stag, ostrich, dragon, crocodile, wild boar, goat, swan,
winged horse, rhinoceros, tiger and elephant). These same animals, together with
many others (such as the duck, donkey, ox, owl, horse, camel, ram, pig, deer stork, cat, griffin, ibis, leopard, wolf, fly, bear, bird, dove, panther, fish,-snake
and fox) are those mainly used also as watermarks in papermaking. The use of
watermarks, undoubtedly mystical and symbolic in origin, spread throughout the
Western world from the end of the 13th century onwards. All the above particular
symbolic uses rest on a general symbolism of animals, in which they are related to
three main ideas: the animal as a mount (i.e. as a means of transport); as an object
of sacrifice; and as an inferior form of life (4). The appearance of animals in
dreams or visions, as in Fuseli’s famous painting, expresses an energy still undifferentiated and not yet rationalized, nor yet mastered by the will (in the sense of
that which controls the instincts) (31). According to Jung, the animal stands for
the non-human psyche, for the world of subhuman instincts, and for the unconscious areas of the psyche. The more primitive the animal, the deeper the stratum
of which it is an expression. As in all symbolism, the greater the number of objects
depicted, the baser and the more primitive is the meaning (56). Identifying oneself
with animals represents integration of the unconscious and sometimes—like immersion in the primal waters—rejuvenation through bathing in the sources of life
itself (32). It is obvious that, for pre-Christian man (as well as in amoral cults),
the animal signifies exaltation rather than opposition. This is clearly seen in the
Roman signa, showing eagles and wolves symbolically placed on cubes (the
earth) and spheres (heaven, the universe) in order to express the triumphant
power of the force of an instinct. With regard to mythic animals, a more extensive
treatment of this subject is to be found in the Manual de zoología fantástica of
Borges y Guerrero (Mexico and Buenos Aires, 1957), in which such creatures are
characterized as basically symbolic and, in most cases, expressive of ‘cosmic
terror’.
To see animals in your dream, represent your own physical characteristic, primitive desires, and sexual nature, depending on the qualities of the particular animal. Animals symbolize the untamed and uncivilized aspects of yourself. Thus, to dream that you are fighting with an animal signifies a hidden part of yourself that you are trying to reject and push back into your subconscious. Refer to the specific animal in your dream.
To dream that animals can talk, represent superior knowledge. Its message is often some form of wisdom. Alternatively, a talking animal denotes your potential to be all that you can be.
To dream that you are saving the life of an animal, suggests that you are successfully acknowledging certain emotions and characteristics represented by the animal. The dream may also stem from feelings of inadequacy or being overwhelmed. If you are setting an animal free, then it indicates an expression and release of your own primal desires.
To see lab animals in your dream, suggest that an aspect of yourself is being repressed. You feel that you are not able to fully express your desires and emotions. Alternatively, it suggests that you need to experiment with your fears, choices, and beliefs. Try not to limit yourself.