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Tuesday 1 December 2020
Friday 22 May 2015
Unicorn Dreaming: Unicorn Dream Symbolism
Dreams have long been
interpreted as meaningful, and the Chinese may have been the first to give
dreams meaning through the book “Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation” by
Chen Shiyuan, in the 16th Century. This theory related dreams to a
particular organ and used them as a tool to diagnose an emotion and related
physical patterns, according to the Five Element theory of medicine. Ancient
cultures in Egypt and Greece believed that dreams were a form of divine
communication, which could be interpreted by those with special powers. The
oldest known written dream interpretation is included in the Epic of Gilgamesh,
an epic poem from Mesopotamia that dates to the 18th century.
In western culture a serious
study of dreams and the symbolism therein was begun by Sigmond Freud in his
1900 book “The Interpretation of Dreams.” In this book he claimed that all
dreams were a form of “wish fulfilment” that often featured “day residue” or
events that instigated the dream. Freud’s work on dreams was not universal
enough to be considered absolute, but it was a launch-pad for the modern
psychological investigation of dreams.
Carl Jung took up the study of
dreams and believed that dreams reflected the entire consciousness, both
individual and collective. He believed that every aspect of a dream could be
interpreted both objectively and subjectively. This means that an aspect of a
dream could represent itself, ie, the mother represents the mother (objective);
and the aspect could also represent part of the dreamers self, ie, the mother
represents the nurturing part of the dreamer (subjective). Archetypes could manifest
themselves in dreams, according to Jung’s theory, and help a dreamer to become
aware of their attitudes, ie the Shadow may present itself as aggressive,
indicating a person’s latent aggression; a silent woman could appear in a man’s
dream as his anima, indicating that he doesn’t speak from his feminine side; a
man looking away could appear in a woman’s dream as animus, suggesting she’s
not looking at things from a masculine or logical perspective, and so on. A
good grasp of symbolism is essential to understand Jung’s method of dream
interpretation.
In the 1950’s Calvin S. Hall
theorised that dreaming was a cognitive process, meaning that dreams were a
visually-presented form of thought that occurs during sleep.
More recent dream theorists
suggest that dreams don’t need to be interpreted because they are able to
autonomously achieve their objective because they are a kind of “rehearsal.” In
2000 Professor Antti Revonsuo presented his theory of “threat rehearsal” where
our dreams are a form of exercise for our survival instincts. Keith Stevens
expanded this idea and claimed that dreams exercise all our primary instincts,
such as threats to self, threats to family members, reproduction, overcoming
challenges, and status. He backed up his theories with research of over 22,000
email dream submissions and was able to categorise all the dreams into these
groups. By dreaming about instinctual themes, our instincts are kept “in
practice” neurologically and biologically; we are encouraged to do things that
assist our survival such as mating; and our responses in real life are
enhanced.
Personally, I find all of these
dream theories helpful and useful.
Having been a vivid dreamer from a young age, able to recall many of my
dreams in great detail, I started reading books on dream interpretation as a
teenager and it drove my hobbyist interest in psychology. Most of my
investigation into dreams has been based on New-Age Jungian theories and Taoist
(Chinese) theories. I keep a detailed dream journal about 6 months out of twelve
of the year, and let me tell you, I have a lot of unicorn dreams! Like everyone
else, I have a lot of the “normal kind” and I like to think that my brain is
hard at work enhancing my survival and keeping my neurones and biology in
practice. However I’ve also got a lot out of classical dream interpretation,
whereby I’ve got answers to my questions and noticed themes in my life by
tracking and interpreting my dreams. Directly, without interpretation, my
dreams have also brought me masses of inspiration, answers and good reminders.
I think it’s good to keep the various dream theories in mind when recording and
interpreting dreams, because a) you don’t want to waste your waking hours
interpreting every dream, I’ve done that and it gets pretty boring! And b)
looking at an amazing dream from a different perspective can make its purpose
in your life quite clear.
When I first started looking for
information about unicorns in dreams, most of the interpretations were
over-simplified and focused on the phallic elements indicated by the unicorn’s
horn. Although I was a teenager, I was pretty sure I wasn’t quite as
pre-occupied with “boy bits” as these simple dream dictionaries would have me
believe! Luckily for me, I came across the marvellous book “Ariadne’s Book of
Dreams” by Ariadne Green. Unfortunately I can’t find it on my bookshelf at the
moment to give you more details, but I do remember that Ariadne’s model of
“Upper World” or Heaven, “Middle world” or Earth-Life, and “Underworld” or
Astral, helped me to identify the categories of my dreams based on setting and
objects. While Ariadne’s book didn’t have a listing for unicorns, I was able to
begin my interpretations, as many of my unicorn dreams also contained castles
and meadows, flowers and clouds, crystal palaces and other such elements.
Working with this model, I could see that these dreams were related to my
Heavenly aspects, or my Higher Self. I came to understand that the unicorns in
my dreams represented the Pure and Ultimate Truth. These dreams were encouraging
me to break the significant bonds controlling me at the time, and be the Truth
of Who I Really Am.
When Unicorns appeared to me in
the Middle World, i.e. everyday-life dreams, they encouraged me to use my
intuition and “sharp-points” of communication to battle my way out of my
situation. When they appeared in my Lower World, (dark alleys, mirrored rooms)
they encouraged me to manage and utilise physical energy of all kinds,
including kundalini energy, meditation, and exercise. There were certainly phallic
and masculine elements involved in these images, but sometimes it took a more
“colloquial” investigation to get to the meaning: i.e. Unicorns have a pointy
horn, they’re using their horn to chase people; the unicorn is making those
people “get the point.”
There is now much more
information available about unicorns, so I’ve used my information as well as
the new information I’ve since come across to create the “astrology column”
style “Unicorn Dream Meaning” paragraph below. I hope you find it helpful for
interpreting your unicorn dreams!
Unicorn Dream Meaning
If you are dreaming about
unicorns, you may be seeking a return to child-like innocence and purity.
Unicorns in our dreams can encourage play, sweetness, simplicity, and all the
other good, light-hearted aspects of childhood that can enhance our adult lives.
When unicorns appear in childrens’ dreams, it is often thought to be a sign of
blessing, healing, affinity with the Otherworld or Heaven, or a safe way to
explore and heal difficult circumstances, such as child abuse. Unicorns
represent power that will never be abused, as a unicorn’s massive strength is
restrained by his loving, pure nature. Consequently they are often thought to
be an important guide for children who are healing.
So often sexuality and guilt are
tied in knots around one another. To dream about a unicorn, with it’s pure
nature to guide its strong (phallic) horn, suggests that the solution to guilt
about sexuality is to purify our relationship to it by giving love, healing,
and respect through it. Fidelity, chastity, self-love, and gentleness are all
indicated where appropriate, for example you may choose to refrain from
intimacy if the right kind of partner is unavailable, or you may be encouraged
treat your sexual-self as precious and beautiful. A unicorn can also be an
affirmation of a choice to honour your sexual-self in an energetically clean
and spiritual manner, or a healing of these parts of your being.
The unicorn is a special symbol
of healing for those who have suffered from abuse, especially sexual abuse.
They are also a special symbol for those who may be considering losing their
virginity, encouraging the dreamer to make sure their intentions are pure, and
not driven by peer pressure.
Unicorns are a symbol of
balance. The pure-white, lunar and feminine form of the unicorn body coupled
with the masculine form of the horn suggests both a balance of the masculine
and feminine aspects of our nature, for example intuition and rationality, or
receptivity and proactivity. It can also indicate the animal and divine aspects
of our selves, ie the union of the divine wisdom of the horn and the animal
body. It may be encouraging us to use or trust our intuition, due to the horn’s
position on a unicorn’s forehead and the resultant association with the third
eye.
Another meaning for an emphasis
in a unicorn’s horn in a dream is “to be less (or more) singular about
something.” Since the unicorn has only one horn, “one” is an important symbolic
association. “One” also relates to God, Unity, and all those concepts that
relate to the Truth of our beings: we are all made of the same stuff. The
upward point of the unicorn horn can indicate the point at which we unite with
All, or become most pure. Many people refer to this part of themselves as The
Higher Self or Soul. When our Higher Self shows up in a dream, whatever its
form, we are being asked to choose to Be Who We Really Are, no matter what the
circumstances may be.
Finally, no matter what else
they have been portrayed as, unicorns have always been considered healers.
Healing isn’t just about being free of illness, but about feeling well, vital
and contented in every way. If some part of your life has been less than
satisfactory, a unicorn dream can be a sign that you will now have the energy
to transcend problems and find new ways to be.
Links, references and further
reading:
- 10,000 Dreams Interpreted
- “Ariadne’s Book of Dreams” by Ariadne Green
- “Treasures of the Unicorn” by Ted Andrews
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_symbolism
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh
- http://www.dreamomania.info/dreamdictionary/animals/unicorn_meaning/
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