I’m in the hospital elevator with Granny, Papa, and my mom. We’re going up to our floor, the sixth floor, but Papa says we don’t really need to anyway. So instead of stopping, we go up to the seventh floor to take a breather. Papa wants fresh air. But when we get there, there’s only a small outdoor balcony- fenced in. He complains he can’t sit on the fence when we check it out. Me and my mom end up having a fight, so I follow Granny toward the animal petting area, which is the “outside” part of this open floor. I look close and see that the animals are black goats. A little girl is feeding them chicken feed. I take some that she’s pouring out, but she doesn’t get mad at me for it like I expected her to. I decide that I like her. Then, I look closer at the animals. I see that the goats do not have black coats, but black and bronze speckled feathers. Then I notice the goats are clucking and bawking. I realize that some of the goat-chickens are Scottish terriers disguised as the feathered sheep to be their guardians. This makes me laugh.
Then I’m not in the hospital at all. I’m at the campground, the entire pin of animals is at the campground. I try to feed a cow some of the seed, a cow that is on a trailer right behind me parked near the playground, but she doesn’t want any. Then I try my cucumber sandwich. She only takes a bite before her keepers, two men, laugh at me. I leave in stride though, and run toward the pool. I end up falling to my knees when I reach the tent area. People rush past me, people I think I was trying to stay ahead of- who now left me behind without even giving me a glance of acknowledgment. I look up through the trees above me. Even thought it’s daylight, I can see evening stars between the leaves and branches. I see a shooting star, then another even brighter to the left. I make a wish, but save the second for later, later when I can actually remember and make a good one. I fall back in the grass. [End]
Relative to Real Life~
Night of November 24th, 2013
Real-life characters: Granny, Papa, Mom.
Dream-created characters: Other people in elevator, people on sixth and seventh floor, little girl, two men with the cow, group that runs past me.
Real-life places: Hospital (in big city), campground.
Dream-created places: Seventh floor, animal petting area.
Different than real life: I never went up to the seventh floor in the hospital, I was never in the elevator with Papa, I’ve never fed a cow to the best of my recollection.
Reoccurring: No.
Precognitive: No experiences yet.
To see the floor in your dream, represents your support system and sense of security. You have a firm foundation that you can depend on. The floor in your dream may also symbolize the division between the unconscious and conscious. Alternatively, the dream may be a pun on being "floored" or being completely surprised. Perhaps you have been caught off guard about something.
To see a polished, wooden floor in your dream, indicates that you are fully aware of your unconscious and keeping it suppressed. Consider the condition of the floor for further analysis.
To see a slanted floor in your dream, indicates that you are deviating too far from your original plans and goals.
To dream about the floors of a building, represents your level of understanding, awareness or success. The higher floors signify higher accomplishments and achievements. If you are in the lower floors, then it refers to more primal attitudes, the unconscious and/or sexuality. It also denotes failures. Consider the significance of the floor number and the type of building the floors are on.
Seeing the floor in your dream, represents your support. It may also represent the division between the unconscious and conscious. Seeing a polished, wooden floor in your dream indicates that you are fully aware of your unconscious and keeping it suppressed. Seeing a slanted floor in your dream, foretells that you are deviating too far from your original plans and goals.
To see or dream that you are in a hospital, symbolizes your need to heal or improve your physical or mental health. You need to get back to the flow of everyday life. Alternatively, the dream suggests that you are giving up control of your own body. Perhaps you are afraid of losing control of your body.
If you dream that you are a patient in a hospital. you will have a contagious disease in your community, and will narrowly escape affliction. If you visit patients there, you will hear distressing news of the absent.
Seeing a hospital in your dream, symbolizes your need to heal or improve your physical or mental heath. You need to get back to the flow of everyday life.
Many people reported having dreams about hospitals and surgery. This appears to be a relatively common dream setting. Most of us are in some need of healing. The healing may be physical, psychological, emotional or spiritual. By paying attention to this dream you may be able to identify the source of your pain, and where and how the healing needs to take place. Think about why you or someone else was in the hospital in the dream. You may ask yourself, "What is going on in the dream? What is the prognosis, and what is the cure?" Answering these questions in light of a situation or issue from your daily life could be very helpful and, at times, enlightening. Therefore, try not to get upset by your dream, but rather pay attention to its message. Superstition based dream interpretations suggest that if you are visiting a patient you will be receiving surprising news (good or bad), but if you are the patient, you may be currently overwhelmed by life and should ask others for help.
To see people you know in your dream, signifies qualities and feelings of them that you desire for yourself. If these people are from your past, then the dream refers to your shadow and other unacknowledged aspects of yourself. It may represent a waking situation that is bringing out similar feelings from your past relationships.
To see people you don't know in your dream, denotes hidden aspects of yourself that you need to confront or acknowledge.
Seeing people you know in your dream means qualities and feelings of those people that you desire for yourself. Seeing people you don't know in your dream indicates hidden aspects of yourself that you need to confront. Seeing people from your past in your dream, refers to your shadow and other unacknowledged aspects of yourself. It can represent a waking situation that is bringing out similar feelings as your past relationships.
Associated with the earth and with the moon. A great many lunar
goddesses wear the horns of a cow on their head. When linked with the primigenial
goddess Neith, the cow is a mother-symbol, representing the primal principle of
humidity and endowed with certain androgynous—or gynandrous, rather—characteristics (31). In Egypt it was linked with the idea of vital heat (39). Vac, the
feminine aspect of Brahma, is known as the ‘melodious Cow’ and as the ‘Cow of
abundance’, the first description stemming from the idea of the world’s creation
out of sound, while the second—as hardly needs be said—comes from its function of nourishing the world with its milk, the fine dust of the Milky Way. In this
we can see also the idea of heaven as a fecundating bull, with its sex in verted; in Hindu belief, the bull and the cow represent the active and the passive aspects of
the generating forces of the universe (40).
To see a cow in your dream, symbolizes your passive and docile nature. You obey others without question. Alternatively, a cow represents maternal instincts or the desire to be cared for. For some cultures, the cow represents divine qualities of fertility, nourishment and motherhood.
To see the skeleton of a cow, suggests that your mother or motherly figure in your waking life is displaying a lack of emotions. She is being unresponsive to your needs.
To see a herd of cows, indicates your need to belong.
To dream that you are milking a cow, represents your willingness and drive to work hard. In the end, you will benefit from your hard work.
Milking cow is a sign of riches. To be pursued by a cow indicates an overtaking
enemy.
Seeing a cow in your dream means your obedience to authority without question. It symbolizes your passive and docile nature. Alternatively, it represents maternal instincts or the desire to be cared for. For some cultures, the cow represents divine qualities of fertility, nourishment and motherhood. Seeing a cow with a skeleton face, suggests that you mother or motherly figure in your waking life is displaying a lack of emotions. She is being unresponsive to your needs. Seeing a herd of cows indicates your need to belong.
In our dreams, this simple domestic animal can represent a variety of very important and deeply felt issues. In some cultures the cow is a sacred symbol, representing divine qualities of fertility, nourishment and motherhood. Consider the details in your dream and make attempts to identify the individual, (it could be yourself), to whom the symbolism applies. Additional characteristics to consider when interpreting a dream with cows as one of the primary symbols are passivity, docility and general contentment with life. The cow is mostly a positive dream symbol, and superstition-based dream interpretations say that grazing cows are symbols of prosperity, contentment and happiness.
Cow Symbolism
In many cultures the cow is symbolic of Mother Earth, and has been a symbol of fertility, nurturing, and power.
This makes udder sense (pardon the pun), cows have been generous with their life force for eons. They are closely associated with provision and very earth-associated in symbolism.
The cow is also a lunar symbol, aligning itself with feminine (yin) qualities (see list of yin attributes) among the Chinese yin-yang energies.
A quick-list of Animal symbolism of the cow would include:
Patience
Nourishment
Abudance
Fertility
Female Power
Potential
Possibility
Calming
Grounded
Provision
Beginnings
The Egyptian goddess Nut is sometimes depicted with the cow having four stars on its belly. This represents the four cosmic quadrants of the earth, and the respective flavor each directional energy freely flows through each of these corners.
Also in Egyptian mythology, Hathor was an ancient goddess worshipped as a cow-deity. Hathor was the Great Mother gooddess of joy, and was considered the nourisher of all things. She was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was seen as the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow. She was also considered a protective goddess and an emblem of royalty.
In Norse mythology the cow makes an appearance as Audhumla whose utters emitted the four rivers of power - these provided nourishment for the giants (primarily the first giant, Ymir) that ruled the First World.
In Vedic literature the cow is also a symbol of abundance and fertility as it represents both earth and sky.
To Hindus and Buddhists, symbolism of the cow deals with patience and holiness. It is considered India's most sacred animal. The calm, tender nature of the cow wins this right among the Buddhists.
The cow is a symbol of motherhood and hourishment. It is also a symbol of fertility.
Cows can teach us about the home and community and the joy, contentment therein. Cows aid us in realizing to be easy going and live in the moment. They show us about love and connections at work and home. Cow also may demonstrate how to eat properly. Are eating enough fruits and vegetables? Are you happy at home? Cow can teach how to make those changes that are needed to balance to the joy in your surroundings.
To dream that you are ascending in an elevator, represents a rise to status and wealth. You may have risen to a higher level of consciousness and are looking at the world from an elevated viewpoint. If the elevator is moving upward in an out of control fashion or it crashes through the roof, then it indicates that you are being catapulted to a position of power in which you do not yet know how to deal with. You are afraid of the new responsibilities ahead for you. Descending in an elevator, suggests that you are being grounded or coming back down to reality. It also signifies setbacks and misfortunes.
In general, the up and down action of the elevator represents the ups and downs of your life. It also symbolizes emotions and thoughts that are emerging out of and submerging into your subconscious. Alternatively, the dream may have sexual connotations.
To dream that the elevator is out of order or that it is not letting you off, symbolizes that your emotions have gotten out of control. It may be a reflection of your life or your career. You are feeling stuck in some aspect of your life, whether it is your career, relationship, etc.
To dream that the elevator is moving sideways, means that your efforts are counterproductive. You are going nowhere in your work, relationship or other situation.
To dream of ascending in an elevator, denotes you will swiftly rise to position and wealth, but if you descend in one your misfortunes will crush and discourage you. If you see one go down and think you are left, you will narrowly escape disappointment in some undertaking. To see one standing, foretells threatened danger.
Dreaming that you are ascending in an elevator means that you will quickly rise to status and wealth. You may have risen to a higher level of consciousness and are looking at the world from an elevated viewpoint. Descending in an elevator indicates that misfortunes will crush and discourage you. The up and down action of the elevator may represent the ups and downs of your life go emerging out of and submerging into your subconscious. Dreaming that the elevator is out of order or that it is not letting you off, symbolizes that your emotions have gotten out of control.
Going up and down in the Elevator may symbolise going from one state of consciousness to another. Messages from the unconscious may be accessible. Some believe that the Elevator may be a symbol of a boring and mechanical sex life. On a more pragmatic note, the Elevator may simply represent the "ups and downs" of life. If you are ascending, then you may perceive your current situation as optimistic and moving upward. If you are descending, you may be experiencing some negativity and helplessness.
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.
To dream of an end to something, represents an achievement or goal that has been reached. It may also mean that the bad times are coming to an end. Or perhaps your time is running out and you need to come to a decision about some issue. The end of something also signals the beginning of something new.