Freudian Fridays: 8 Dreams and Their Meanings
It’s another issue of our weekly psychoanalysticle, Freudian Fridays, wherein we take a close look at the Interweb’s unconscious desires and telling trends. This week we look at a list by Dayna Davis on Divine Caroline, entitled 8 Dream Symbols That Point to Stress.
Of course, any good Freudian knows this list’s alternate (and more truthful) title is 8 Dream Symbols of Repressed Sexual Impulses, since all manifestations of the mind are sparked by displaced sexual impulses. With that knowledge firmly in mind, let’s take a look at these dream symbols:
Nudity
According to Davis and her sources, being naked in a dream is a sign of anxiety and fear of humiliation. Really though, this is one of the simplest dreams to interpret since its sexual impulse is so near the surface. Basically, your dream is telling you that humiliation turns you on. This is a fantasy not a nightmare. Get out there, get naked and let that libido run lose! Or at least fess up to your fantasies, like the happy gentleman below:
Storms
For Davis, storms of any sort symbolize fear of being swamped or overwhelmed. This is partially true, but needs to be qualified. Storms stand for a fear of sexual overpowering. Maybe you’ve begun a relationship with someone more sexually mature, maybe you’ve recently contacted a group sex network and suddenly don’t feel able to cope. If, in the dream, you see yourself weathering the storm, then all will be right and you’ll persevere in this new sexual venture. If you’re swept to sea by a hurricane or into the sky by a tornado, perhaps you should break off or ease out of this sexual pursuit for the moment.
Crashes
These dream scenarios (irrespective of the vehicle that’s crashing) represent fear of failure for Davis. These dreams are sexual in nature though, so the visual symbolism of the crashing vehicle is incredibly important. Planes and submarines crashing signal castration anxiety, sinking ships suggest a fear of oral sex, and if you’re stuck in the trunk of a crashing car you are worried about anal sex. Here’s a more obvious one:
Long, phallic bus + store selling hole-shaped pastries = most Freudian crash ever.
Hell
Hellfire, according to Davis’s research, symbolizes repression, while fire means nearly anything. Of course it’s all about context. If fire is being used for lighting or cooking it’s a symbol of sexual desire and passion. If you’re running over hot coals or being prodded with a hot poker, you’re anxious about STDs. Hell, meanwhile, symbolizes a glutenous sexual need you’re having difficulty containing. Your desires are boundless and hell represents your inner den of sin.
Death
Davis is especially concerned to comfort readers that death dreams are not premonitions of actual death. In fact, death dreams are about impotence. You are worried about losing your sexual appetite and ability to satisfy partners. Sadly, in a sexually repressive society this dream is pretty standard, so just keep satisfying your partners and you’ll have nothing to worry about!
Bugs
Bugs mean a number of things for Davis (uncertainty, anxiety) though she comes closest when mentioning elusively that insect dreams “may represent your sexual thoughts.” They do, of course, and specifically symbolize an out of control libido, your own or someone else’s. Small, scurrying slimy things you can’t catch (snakes, hamsters, porcupines, etc.) mean you’re worried you can’t control your sex drive. Big, scary bugs mean a partner’s libido is threatening.
Watch out for that huge libido, Kirsten Dunst!
Cats
Depending on context and your feelings about cats generally, Davis sees them symbolizing misfortune or creativity. In Freudian symbolism though, cats and all other things feline stand for feminine impulses and desires. So, if the cat in your dream is mischievous, you are worried about revealing your feminine side to others. If you like cats, then a cat dream means you have certain feminine traits that you are comfortable with and ready to acknowledge. In a sexually balanced world, we would all love cats.
Losing Teeth
Remember that Seinfeld episode where Elaine tells Jerry about her dream in which he has wooden teeth? He doesn’t listen and then in a later episode he begins worrying that he wasn’t sexually satisfying her when they were together. Dreams about losing teeth or having false teeth, as this pop culture example reveals, symbolize anxieties about being sexually inadequate or dissatisfying to one or more partners. If you’ve been dreaming about losing your teeth, maybe you’re biting off more than you can chew in bed.
Of course there’s the opposite problem, where someone gains teeth, which usually symbolizes crippling sexual anxiety, like so:
(via The Huffington Post)
[...] Freud tells us constantly, every human activity that isn’t sex is the direct result of displaced sexual impulses, and [...]