ANIMALS - C

CAMEL - This often associates with the ability or personal qualities to face difficult experiences the dry places of life. Such dryness is when there is little satisfaction, no feelings, nothing growing in your experience maybe even sterility of one sort or another. A word that can be connected with this in some dreams is barrenness. The camel may also link with patience, long suffering, perseverance. Or having inner stores of energy or resourcefulness that will carry you through difficult situations. John the Baptist clothed himself in camels hair. This means his patient, persevering seeking of truth despite living in the wilderness of intellectual doubt. The camel at times can also represent pregnancy because of it hump/bump.

Useful questions are:

Is there an aspect of my life that feels sterile or lacking growth at the moment?

Is the camel in the dream helping me to deal with a difficult environment, and if so how does that relate to my life at the moment?

What is the action with the camel, and how does that translate to my present life?

What are my personal qualities in regard to dealing with difficult times?

CAT - Because a cat is often an easy source of physical contact and affection it can depict the need to be cared for and warm affection, even sexual love accompanied with intense warm feelings.

For some women cats are a substitute baby, it is therefore used in many dreams to represent a woman's urge or need to care for someone, or directly her need to reproduce, therefore desire for sex; refined female sexuality or ruttiness unless the cat is markedly a tom.

In a man's dream the cat may therefore refer to a woman or to the female, intuitive side of his nature.. It can therefore depict his intuition and feelings, perhaps warning him through its sensitivity to moods of unseen dangers.

In some dreams it represnts cattiness - showing one's 'claws', jealousy, anger or vindictiveness in a relationship. In this aspect it might refer to ones mother; independence; stealth; fertility.

In some dreams the cat definitely represents the fear of bad news or general fears.

If you have bred cats it may well represent your own, perhaps unconscious, desires to have a baby.

Alley cat:: Sexuality; promiscuity; down on luck.

Black cat: Depends what dreamer associates with it - so may be good luck or bad luck and evil - i.e. events working for or against one; anxiety.

Cat's claws: Spitefulness; desire to hurt; hidden aggression; clinging, or 'getting ones claws in someone'.

Cat having kittens: Desire for or feelings about babies or ones own babyhood; fertility.

Fear of cat: Fear of the female in oneself; fear of females; difficulty in meeting feelings and intuition; sense of danger. See: Animal phobias at the end of the animal section.

Group of cats: Group of women; relating to the different moods or feelings.

If allergic to cats: If you are allergic and dream of a cat it would signify a negative and threatening reaction to a situation or relationship.

Kitten: Feelings about vulnerability or babyhood; feelings about caring for someone or something vulnerable; parental urges, perhaps protectiveness.

Speaking cat: Ability to express feminine feelings, intuition or sexuality; a realisation of feelings of physical hunger or emotional or sexual attraction. See last example below.

Wild cat: Stealth, ferocity, cunning, ability to survive.

EXAMPLE: "I went to the fridge to get out some mince meat to feed the cat. It came in. As it fed I had a strong urge to touch it, such strong feelings of love were pouring out of me. The animal looked up at my face as I wanted to kiss it. The lips had pink lipstick on. I kissed it, it's paw came up around my arm, I could see the black claws. We were rolling around on the floor, it felt very sexual." Monica.

EXAMPLE: My husband died over a year ago, and I live alone, no pets. Yet I dreamt I opened my front door and there was a cat waiting to be let in. It was my cat, and I knew I hadn't fed it for ages or looked after it. I felt awful that I had neglected it for so long. The strange thing was that the next day as I walked around the supermarket, I kept wanting to go to the cat-food section to buy food. - Winnie P. - Exeter

In losing her husband Winnie has lost her source of given and receiving affection.

EXAMPLE: I was with a young boy and went to his house. I believe his mother was there and a cat. The vivid part was that the cat spoke to me. It spoke in a rather female voice, very clearly. As it spoke I felt great amazement. I had lots of thoughts about how it had learned language - that it could speak because of human language - what did language do to its psyche - and so on. I didn't reach any conclusions. I noticed as it spoke that it had tiny lips, but they were perfectly formed like a woman's. They had lipstick on - or at least were red and attractive. Ben.

Ben's dream has a mixture of sexual attraction, femininity and the ability to express in it.

See: First example under the general information at the end of the separate animal definitions.
IDIOMS: Copy cat; bell the cat; cat and mouse; cat's whiskers; cat out of the bag; cat and dog life; cat on hot bricks; something the cat brought in; a cat's paw; cat among the pigeons; while the cat's away.

Idioms: Copy cat; bell the cat; cat and mouse; cat's whiskers; cat out of the bag; cat and dog life; cat on hot bricks; something the cat brought in; a cat's paw; cat among the pigeons; while the cat's away.

Useful questions are:

What is happening or what am I realising in my relationship with the dream cat(s), and how does that relate to my life?

If I take out the word 'cat' from my dream description, and replace it with what I feel about this cat, what would I write?

If there are elements of caring or love in this dream, am I looking after that side of my life?

If this is about a kitten, what are my feelings or desires about my childhood, or about a baby?

CATERPILLAR - Male sexuality; prenatal forces of growth; bacteria.

If moving to chrysalis stage: Urge to find environment in which to make life changes.

Chrysalis: Major change going on within yourself; a new aspect of yourself getting ready to emerge; desire to retreat from the world.

Useful questions are:

What is the main thing happening to the caterpillar in the dream, and how do I relate to that and feelings I have about it?

Are there sexual feelings involved in this dream, and if so were in my life am I meeting such feelings?

Am I experiencing an urge to withdraw from events as I am undergoing a major change? Or am I emerging from such a change?

COW - Similar to the bull, but representing the female side of one's nature, especially the easy self-giving of oneself and one's body to others, or to ones baby. The cow might also link with one's mother, motherliness or the mother role; a woman; the forces of nature or life in oneself, especially as they relate to receptiveness or nurturing and the feminine which can lead or direct the masculine positive energy in oneself. Occasionally the cow suggests being taken advantage of.

In ancient cultures the cow represented fecundity of the earth, and therefore the universal mother earth the provider and nourisher.

Cow being milked: Giving of oneself; taking support or nourishment from someone else; taking, or being taken, advantage of.

IDIOMS: Sacred cow; milch cow; till the cows come home; silly old cow; being milked - meaning being taken advantage of; to be cowed - meaning beaten or conquered.

Useful questions are:

Do the feelings in the dream link in any way to how I feel about my mother?

Is there any link here with motherhood or giving of myself or being nourished by others?

What is the action here and how does it relate to me? (i.e. is there conflict, abuse, good feelings, fear?)

COYOTE - In general similar to dog or fox. It is sometimes used to represent the 'trickster' or tricky and unexpected unplanned for element of life, as is the fox.

The coyote is one of the few large animals that has increased its numbers in areas colonised by humans. The fox in the UK has done the same, suggesting their adaptability and survival instincts.

One writer describes coyote as, "The wily, tricky, sneaky, pesky, cheaty God of the Wild West. He's the ubiquitous Trickster God and Cultural Hero of Native American mythology, the original Marx Brother….." And Encyclopedia Mythica online says, "Coyote is a ubiquitous being and can be categorized in many types. In creation myths, Coyote appears as the Creator himself; but he may at the same time be the messenger, the culture hero, the trickster, the fool. He has also the ability of the transformer: in some stories he is a handsome young man; in others he is an animal; yet others present him as just a power, a sacred one." See: trickster under archetypes.

Useful questions are:

What sense do you arrive at of your dream coyote - is he/she sneaky, divine, wise or a messenger?

Whatever it is can you sum up what you get from coyote in the dream?

What do you experience if you imagine yourself and talk as your dream coyote? (For help doing this see Stand in Role under peer dream work.) What are the key words used in describing the interaction between yourself and coyote? See: key words for help with this.

CROCODILE - See alligator.

CROW - See: crow.

CUCKOO - See: cuckoo

ANIMALS - D

DEER - The soul, the gentle harmless self that is often hurt or wounded by our aggressiveness and cynicism, or by other peoples criticism; vulnerability; the unsocialised or wild, but gentle side of our instincts; love-sickness. In Greek mythology the deer was associated with the virginal huntress Artemis. So the female deer in a dream suggests the qualities of female gentleness and the connection with nature and the hidden world of the unconscious with all its strange wisdom. While the stag often links with bold and powerful masculinity and sexuality in a natural and potent form.

In a mans dream: The deer may depict a young woman the man is in pursuit of, or a daughter if you have one.

In a womans dream: The deer may link with you as a young woman, or to a daughter if you have one.

Useful questions are:

What are the qualities of the deer in your dream?

Does it link in any way with a feeling of entering the magical realm of nature or the unknown?

Are you feeling about it as you would with a female?

If a stag, are there symbols linking it with sexuality, such as its horns or its attraction to you?

DINOSAUR - Exploring dreams is like uncovering different strata of human psychological history - history we all share. The dinosaur often depicts one of these deeply buried strata, linking with our very basic urges of survival such as fear, reproduction, and survival reactions to situations. This does not make these brutal. They are fundamental and necessary in todays life. Because these aspects of ourselves are so old, and have survived so long, there is often great wisdom in them if we can bring it to consciousness. Such urges as fighting over our territory or mate - grabbing what is available for ourselves - striving aggressively to provide for family, also need to be integrated in a way that socialises them, otherwise they exist in a primitive form still, perhaps in conflict with our present needs. This is similar to most animal symbols, but the difference is that the dinosaur portrays them at their most basic or unsocialised. They can also depict something that has not survived or the will to survive; something, or some element of your attitudes or feelings that is outdated or has no survival value.

Example: I was walking past a large building site which had been excavated for foundations. Rain had filled the excavated pits and a large lake had formed. As I walked past I could see ancient primitive creatures rising out of the water. One of them, a large dinosaur, came toward me. I was scared and ran away. The dinosaur followed and started speaking to me. I couldnt understand what it said. Don.

Don explored his dream and says - I realised that through my internal digging into myself I had uncovered some feelings I had never met consciously before. This was about anxiety, which I had suffered from a lot, and about the anger I felt toward my step children for not appreciating the work I was putting into building them a home and working to provide. Seeing these things helped me understand what was behind my difficult feelings and fears. For instance I saw that fear is fundamental to all human experience, and I needed to meet it and help it to enter into the modern world instead of be repressed and remain primitive.

Example: It was darkening and the street was very appealing to me. I could just discern a house at the end of the street, facing me, and I walked toward it. I was not far advanced along the street when I saw, coming from the direction of the house at the end, in my direction, a very large dinosaur - as high as the house itself. It was walking upright on its large hind feet and the front feet were quite small and held in front. I was very nervous and frightened, but thought, If I walked very slowly, it might not notice me and pass by me But as I was just past it it passing me on my right I quickened my steps in fear. It turned and caught up with me, and I thought, If I talk to it in a gentle voice, it might know I was a friend. I talked to it in a soothing voice, saying Good evening, and what are you doing with your little feet in the air? It turned its head down to me and said something in a very sweet voice, and I knew at once it was a friend, but I couldnt understand what it said. I asked again what it did with its small feet, and it repeated what it had said before, softly, while we were walking toward the house at the end of the street. But I could not understand, though I knew it was something nice. Mrs. G.A.

Here there is an obvious meeting with fear, but this is transformed through communication. As with the previous dream, fear is part of this primeval level of us, along with flight or fight, reproduction and ritualistic behaviour. This means behaviour that is deeply instinctive and not learned. Like the dancing mating rituals of birds, it is behaviour that arises through an external stimulus. For instance some lizards will nod their head and expand their size if something red is flashed in front of them. They cannot help but respond in this way as it is hardwired behaviour.

Useful questions are:

What automatic responses are you experiencing in the dream or in your waking life?

How are you dealing with fear in the dream and in life?

If you imagine yourself as the dinosaur what insights do you arrive at? (For help doing this see Stand in Role under peer dream work.)

DOG - The dog appears in dreams more often than other animals. It depicts our natural drives that are well socialised, but still have the tendency to revert back to the spontaneous or 'wild' state quite easily. For instance our anger might usually be well under control, but if someone teases us we might surprise ourselves by the amount and strength of our anger. Similarly our sexuality may be usually expressed in a socially acceptable way, but if we are in a situation where our sexual pleasure is stimulated or allowed easy expression we might deeply shock other people and ourselves by what we do; easy expression of such aspects of ourselves as aggression - maybe because dogs show their teeth easily - sexuality, especially male sexuality, friendship; the parts of self we usually keep out of sight, but which may express spontaneously; our easy flowing natural feelings; devotion, perhaps to a lover or child; for some people a dog was the only source of expressive love in their childhood, so may well depict this; fidelity and faithfulness; as the sheep-dog it is also the guardian of our welfare; like the cat, the dog can be a substitute baby for childless women, or represent affection or caring; occasionally we depict a person, or what we feel about a person through the character of a dog. See: cat.

In mythology the dog has symbolised the guardian of the gates of death, or a messenger between the hidden and the visible world. The dog was also thought of as a guide or guardian of the hidden side of life entered in sleep and death.

Black dog: The black dog figures in quite a lot of people's imagery. Bernard Levin uses it to represent depression. For some people it is death. The sense or meaning the dog gives in relationship to depression or death is that it is a living energy in us which has gone 'bad' which causes the depression or death; urges which are largely unconscious; messenger related to death.

Dog attacking:Either being attacked by someone and so represents their anger or snide criticism or your own anger or aggression. See: Animal phobias.

Dog on lead attacking: If you are holding the lead - restraint of your aggression toward someone. If someone else is holding the lead - feeling attacked by someone. As in Cornelia's dream in the example below, there may be a sexual connection.

Dog on lead: Restrained or controlled urges; urges we have trained or directed; holding back or restraining parts of oneself.

Puppy: Youth, heedlessness, spontaneous affection and enthusiasm. It often represent a child, or feelings about wanting a child, being pregnant with a child, even one of your own children. Also vulnerability or dependent needs. Like any young animal, it can depict your need to care for or love something, or be loved. What happens to the puppy, if neglected or mistreated, most likely indicates memories of pain from your own childhood, or neglect of vulnerable parts of yourself. See: Baby animal in animal situations; Neglected animal in animal situations.

Woman's dream - attacked by dog: Could well be feelings about male sexuality or a relationship with a male. Possibly the dreamer is holding back her own female strength and cannot meet the male strength.

EXAMPLE: "I continue on my path, and suddenly the nettles disappear and the path is clear. Ahead the wall has curved round to face me, but there is a gate in it, and I can see my dog waiting for me on the other side." Mrs. M. G.

In the dream from an elderly woman the dog is leading the way through the experience of meeting death. Mythology has often shown the dog in this light, as an inner sense of knowing how to find transformation through death - or as the ravaging threat of death.

EXAMPLE: I was with a female friend who is a lesbian. Two dogs attacked us. My friend ran away but I couldn't. Cornelius.

On exploring her dream Cornelius discovered feelings about her own womanhood and relationship with males. She realised the dogs represented her relationship with male sexuality, and that her friend was afraid of males.

EXAMPLE: I was aware of the danger of two, or maybe one young child. They had been allowed to carry a small animal which acted as a scent lead for large tracker dogs which were hunting and would attack and kill whatever they were tracking. I found one of the boys trying to hide under a pot or a basin in the spare ground behind the house I lived in London. I pulled him out from his attempts to hide. He had no idea of his danger. Two of the dogs - perfectly harmless and friendly when not hunting, were coming close to me and trying to lick me. They had huge mouths. I got very angry with one man, a farmer type, who I thought had been careless in the way he was urging the dogs to hunt. I swore at him in public, calling him something like a 'fucking idiot'. There was a large public gathering and I wondered what the public would think of me swearing. D.G.

There is an obvious reference in this dream to the unconscious urges some people have to hunt and hound others. The dogs especially depict this unleashed aspect of human nature, harmless when not set into motion. It also shows how such actions by others threaten the child in us, or the areas of personal vulnerability.

Example: I come out of my house. Across the street is a nursery. (this is actually true, there is a nursery across the street and the street is well used and busy) I looked up to see my yellow male labrador dog named Odo. (He is a dog I have now) He was sitting in a truck on the passenger side. He looked like he was smiling. I thought, "What in the world is Odo doing in that truck?" At first I thought he was driving the truck, but then realised that he wasn't, an ancient old man was. And the truck was weaving from one side of the street to the other. I yelled for Odo to come back and he jumped out of the truck. How I don't know. But he did. He came running toward me, but there was a chain-linked fence between us. The fence ended at the street, but Odo was attempting to climb over the fence instead of going around it. I shook my head and said to myself that he was going to hurt himself. Sort of laughed, too. Then I woke up. I remembered thinking the day before that I was comparing my husband, A, to Odo. And thinking if I could just accept the silly things he does as well as I do with my dog, our relationship would be so much easier. K.

In this dream K. is probably right that she is using her dog to consider her relationship with her husband. She may even be using the dog as an image of her husband and his character.

Idioms: See a man about a dog; hair off the dog that bit you; call off the dogs; you can't teach an old dog new tricks; raining cats and dogs; dirty dog; as sick as a dog; dog eat dog; dog in the manger; dog tired; dog's life; gone to the dogs; let sleeping dogs lie; lucky dog; tail wagging the dog; top dog.

Useful questions are:

Is my dream dog represent someone I know or my own spontaneous feelings?

Is there any indication of relating to this dog as a child or a love object?

What feelings is the dog expressing? Is the dog helping me meet or understand death or the unconscious?

If so what am I learning?

DOLPHIN See other dolphin entry.

DONKEY - See: ass.

DOVE - See: birds.

DRAGON See other dragon entry.

ANIMALS - E

ELEPHANT - Although the elephant is much like any other animal in your dreams, it tends to represent the power and influence of the potent forces active in your body and mind, that if you relate to well bring about health and success, and if badly illness and ruin. For example the elephant can refer to the powerful responses in us such as fear, sex, survival, and the power of imagination to evoke great anxiety or great pleasure. Often our personality evokes these forces in a destructive and disorderly way. A person may have read an article about cancer for instance and develop a great fear they have the disease, causing much stress and actual physical illness in some degree.

So some elephant dreams revolve around how we relate to this power, and the attempt of the elephant to place us on its back to direct it. So in general it is your potential or energy. Also depicts your big self, or the power of the unconscious and your cosmic, eternal nature. The tremendous inner power of the unconscious, with a mahout, or conscious direction or co-operation can achieve wonderful things. Ganesh, the Indian elephant god, represents the remover of all obstacles, the power of life manifesting. He is the god of good fortune.

So it is the totality of yourself rather than awareness of only the conscious ego. It is what is referred to in Christianity as the 'spirit', the influence that can heal or instruct, thus power from our unconscious; strength; unforgiveness from association of long memory; patience; fidelity; intelligence or wisdom of the unconscious. In some ways the elephant has similar qualities to the crocodile in its link with the collective unconscious. The difference is that the elephant does not usually in dreams seek to consume you like the crocodile or alligator. It therefore depicts a relationship with one's incredible potential that can lead to directing or working with the potent forces of the unconscious. See: alligator.

If we run from the elephant: Being afraid of our own strength or inner power. The question is, can we meet this enormous energy in ourselves enough to direct it? Sometimes represents the collective unconscious.

Elephant's trunk: Sometimes a sexual symbol, the penis. As such it is usually referring to how your sexual feelings are being influenced by the great spirit of Life acting on you - the cosmic power of the spirit. Also the trunk illustrates the ability to get or reach out for ones own needs - see example below.

In ancient cultures the elephant was often seen as a holy animal. In India the god Ganesha has the form of an elephant, often seated. It represent good fortune and prosperity, the overcoming or removal of obstacles.

EXAMPLE: During an experience arising from the use of psilocybin, I had a very clear mental image of a baby elephant. It was like a bas-relief made out of clay, but mobile. I could see that the baby elephant had some problem with its trunk, and I wondered why my unconscious had produced this image so clearly and what it meant. Immediately the image disappeared and a series of associations arose unbidden. It was that the elephant actually ate with its mouth, but it had to reach out for everything with its trunk. As a baby the elephant would suckle, but as it matured it would have to learn to get its own needs with its trunk, therefore the problem was about me reaching out for my own needs. Danny.

Example: I was on a road and noticed that a magnificent elephant had appeared. It had enormous tusks and ears, the latter being powdered with blue dust and adding tremendously to its impact. As it was coming in my direction I was frightened and began to run. I ran off the road, over a fence into a field. I thought the elephant would be stopped by the fence. It wasn't. It walked straight through it after me. Then I tried to climb a low bank back to the road. The elephant was drawing nearer and I was so frightened I could hardly move to climb the bank. The elephant caught hold of me and I suddenly realised it wasn't going to destroy me, but wanted, despite it being a magnificent and powerful beast, to sit me on its back. I was still frightened however and ran to a doctor's surgery. The elephant came and, thrusting its trunk into the surgery, drew me out to it. AT.

Example: I looked out of a window and noticed a wild elephant in full charge. It ran past the end of the building and I went to the opposite window, seeing it charge another elephant. After the impact it seemed to be a strange mixture, in my mind, of elephant and rhinoceros. It then stood shaking with sexual motions, until a great deal of sperm came out and its tension was released. AT.

The above two examples illustrate firstly the enormous power of the elephant and how it is not usually an attacking or destructive power, and in the second example it shows the link between that power and the sexual drive.

Idioms: White elephant; pink elephants; rogue elephant. See: the self under archetypes. See: the self.

Useful questions are:

If I imagine myself as the elephant what do I experience? (For help doing this see Stand in Role under peer dream work.)

What powerful influence am I meeting or directing at the moment?

Am I aware in any way of the enormous impact the collective power of society and my own unconscious has on me?

What is my relationship with the elephant and what does this depict in my life?

ELK/MOOSE- Like horse but wilder, less tamed - so the force of drives or emotions that carry us along or trample us. The moose or elk sometimes appears as a magical animal that brings a feeling of loving connection with the world. Generally a natural and instinctive urge you are meeting in yourself or others.

Useful questions are:

Can I learn anything about what urges or feelings I am meeting from my interaction with the moose?

Is there conflict or harmony shown in my dream?

In my description of the dream what key words do I use. See: key words.

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