The basic rhythm of life needed to stay healthy and happy. The importance of being more in touch with your natural urges. If you are playing the drum, this suggests that you are responsible for the rhythm of your life.
Gong
If you hear the sound of a gong in your dreams, this suggests the end of a phase in your life and the beginning of another. If you are striking the gong, this suggests a need to find strength in waking life or to wake up to the reality of a particular situation. See also SOUNDS.
Guitar
If you are playing the guitar in your dream, this can suggest your need to be more creative in daily life. If you hear guitar music, it can indicate a need for caution or the possibility of a new romance.
Harp
The harp is the symbol of music and indicates the correct vibration we need to create harmony in our lives. To harp on about something is a term used to describing keeping on about something in waking life, and dream harps may well be urging us to be persistent in some activity.
Horn
A musical or hunting horn in a dream suggests some kind of summoning or warning in waking life.
Organ
In dreams, an organ can often represent the dreamer’s feelings about religion, but recall that in some circles, organ is a slang term for penis. The organist as an image in a dream is the part of us that knows how to bring the parts we play into harmony. It represents the discipline and determination we need to manifest in daily life in order to make ourselves heard.
Piano
In dreams, pianos, piano players and piano playing are symbols of your own creativity. To be a great piano player you need to learn and practice, and the same applies to using your creativity. Pay attention to the piece you are playing. Is it one you have composed, or is it by someone else? Often in life we need to be creative with someone else’s work. Is it time for you to create something of your own?
Tambourine
If you are playing the tambourine in a group, this suggests your ability to participate effectively in life. If you are playing alone, you have some control over the basic rhythm of your life.
Trumpet
In a dream of a trumpet, it suggests the need to be ready for action. It may be alerting you to some danger you might be facing. Angels are often depicted blowing trumpets, and it could also suggest the call to reach your potential and find the best within yourself.
Violin
If you are playing a violin well in your dream, or hear violin music, this could suggest that you are expressing your creativity with skill. If you aren’t playing well, or the music sounds discordant, this could suggest the opposite. Violins can also represent sexual intercourse or even masturbation. Be aware of the term, ‘get the violins out’, as your dream may be suggesting that you are trying to get unnecessary sympathy. It could also relate to ‘fiddle’ as another word for violin. Are you ‘fiddling about’ and doing nothing constructive? Are you playing ‘second fiddle’ and feeling second best in waking life?
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
To see musical instruments in your dream suggests an anticipation of fun and pleasure in your waking life, but if the instruments are broken, this denotes the interruption of pleasure.
ORCHESTRA
If an orchestra or musical concert figures in your dreams, it refers to those aspects of your personality that must work together with one another in order for you to function properly. Such dreams suggest ways for you to bring all these aspects of yourself together to create a balanced whole. If you orchestrate something, this means you make it happen and this dream may also be urging you to take action in your waking life. If you find yourself conducting an orchestra, this means that you need to take control, but are you creating sweet music or disharmony? If you are a member of an orchestra, you are a vital part of a greater task. Are you in or out of tune? This could refer to your waking life, in which you might be blending in harmoniously with friends and colleagues, or conflicting with them.
OPERA/SINGING
If you are watching an opera in your dream, this suggests that you need to observe the drama taking part around you in waking life. If you are taking part in an opera, but not singing, this suggests that you need to inject more drama into your waking life. If you are singing in the opera, you are beginning to express your emotions more fully in everyday situations. If you hear singing in your dream, this suggests that you are, or need to be, in touch with your emotions and creativity. Singing is a way of raising your vibration to a higher level, emotionally and spiritually. If you are singing, this is a pure expression of joy and love of life. If you are singing alone, you have learned to enjoy your own company. If you are singing in a choir, you are able to express yourself well in a group.
PAINTING
To be looking at paintings or painting in a dream suggests that you are paying attention to new ideas, and making changes in the way you think and feel. It may also refer to the need to take note of the details of a certain situation in your life. Painting has a lot to do with self-expression, and what you are painting and the colors you are using are important. If you are painting a miniature, perhaps you need to concentrate on small details. If you are painting a nature scene, perhaps you need to spend more time in the fresh air. If you are painting larger pictures, perhaps you need to see the larger picture. The actual image that you are painting in your dream may symbolize the way that you are visualizing your current situation in your waking life. If you are painting as in decorating, this could suggest making changes in the way you feel about yourself. It could also represent changes in your appearance or lifestyle. See also COLORS; PLACES.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Photos in dreams represent some aspect of yourself that you need to be looking at, perhaps your younger self, or a part of yourself that you have grown out of but need to understand. If you are developing photos, this suggests discovering hidden talents or abilities. If you are looking at family photos or an album, this refers to an appreciation of past influences in your life. If the photo is of yourself, this suggests you need to take an objective look at yourself, especially if you are given the photo in your dream. You need to stand back and see clearly. If the photo is of someone you know, perhaps you need to look at that person’s qualities and make use of those qualities yourself. If the photos in your dreams come to life, this indicates your continuing involvement in what the picture depicts, or that the past as a whole is still influencing you.
If you are taking a photograph, this suggests that you need to remember or take notice of something. If you are using a camera in your dreams, this might suggest that you need to remember what is important in your life and perhaps take more notice of certain situations or people. You may have noticed something out of the ‘corner of your eye’, but not yet have processed it into waking consciousness. If you are being filmed or having your picture taken, you need to take a careful look at your thoughts and responses to certain situations.
PICTURES
Pictures in dreams often represent situations in our lives, or a view we may have about something. The subject matter will suggest what we should be looking at in our lives. The condition of the picture will be significant, as will the colors (see COLORS). If a drawing fails to appear, a video refuses to focus or a photo refuses to develop properly, there may be something wrong with your own vision of an important part of your life. Are you seeing things clearly?
PLAY/PANTOMIME
Typically, plays in dreams are images of yourself and your life projected by your unconscious. They represent an aspect of your past or your character that you are repressing in waking life or, depending on the play, particular moods or feelings. Alternatively, such dreams can suggest a desire to escape from the pressures of everyday life. If the play is a tragedy, is the routine and repetition of your life restricting your creativity? If the play is a comedy, do you need to lighten up a little in waking life? If what you are watching is a pantomime, has the time come to stop fooling about and get serious about something or someone in waking life?
STAGE
To be on stage in your dream suggests a desire to become more visible. If the stage is open air, this suggests communication with a large audience, not just a selected few. If the stage is moving, this indicates your desire to keep moving, even when acting a role. Carl Jung once wrote, ‘The whole dream-work is essentially subjective, and a dream is a theatre in which the dreamer is himself the scene, the player, the prompter, the producer, the author, the public, and the critic.’ In other words, dreams are themselves like a theatre in which your problems, hopes and fears are acted out by characters generated by your imagination. To dream of a theatre is therefore like a dream within a dream. If you dream of watching or acting a play, pantomime or circus, consider what aspects of your personality each character represents. Do these characters raise the curtain on some of your most poignant questions and experiences in life? This dream is showing you your life, the way you behave and the way you present yourself to others from a new perspective. The scenes being played out are typically ones that are being played out at present; they are experimenting or exploring an idea, relationship or situation. For example, if you watched members of your family or a group of friends performing a play, your unconscious may be telling you that in waking life they may be deceiving you in some way or not revealing their true feelings. If the stage was empty, your unconscious may be referring to the lack of creativity in your waking life and the need for more color, variety and stimulation. A curious superstition claims that if you dream you cut new teeth, it is a sign that you will hear of the birth of a child who will do great things in theatre.
Idioms: set the stage for; stage fright; stage-manage; act a part; act on; catch somebody in the act; get in on the act; get one’s act together; act one’s age; play a role.
VENTRILOQUIST
To see a ventriloquist in your dream symbolizes some sort of deception in your waking life that is affecting you in a negative way. If you are the ventriloquist, there is a part of yourself that you are not revealing in waking life.
WRITING
If writing figures in dreams, this is an attempt to communicate information when spoken words are inadequate. Your dream may be reflecting your true thoughts and feelings. If you are writing down names and addresses in your dream, this may be a reminder to remember your friends and take note of your enemies. It also suggests a need to reflect on something, or sort out your ideas and decisions. Perhaps the instrument with which you are writing is significant. For example, to write with a pencil or chalk would suggest the information is less permanent than were you to write with a pen or fountain pen, and a typewriter or word processor would suggest that the information is connected to business, rather than personal, issues. Writing a novel or writing in general can also suggest a desire to leave your mark on the world in some way. If the writing is by someone you know, this refers to their influence over your life and thought processes in waking life. If you are writing to someone you know, he or she may represent the nature of the issues you are trying to express. If you dream of someone else writing, this can show an aspect of yourself that is seeking to express itself.
Crafts and Creativity Scenarios
HANDICRAFT
In dreams, doing any handicraft, from embroidery to pottery, suggests that we have situations in hand, but also that we need to take responsibility for our actions. Pay particular attention both to what is being made and to how well it is being made, as it will reflect a situation in your waking life.
KNITTING
If you were knitting or doing crochet, the symbols may be indicative of some waking situation. For example, if you dropped a stitch in the dream, have you been tactless in waking life? If there was a break in your yarn, have you argued with someone? Wool has from the earliest of times represented warmth and protection, and if you are knitting with wool or see wool in your dreams, it can suggest gentleness or motherly qualities within yourself. Be aware, too, of the phrase ‘pulling the wool over someone’s eyes’. There might be things that you don’t know about or don’t wish to see at the present time.
MAKING A SCRAPBOOK
If you are making a scrapbook in your dreams, or looking through one, this is about making memories. Are you taking the time to treasure the uniqueness of each new day in your waking life?
NEEDLEWORK
If you are sewing in your dreams, your dream may be suggesting that your waking life has been taken over by boredom and routine. This is because sewing requires constant attention to detail and much of the work is repetitive. Your dream may be urging you to broaden your horizons. If you are sewing pieces of fabric together in your dream, this may suggest that you are bringing aspects of your life together.
