Shànna Curry

Dreams… the language of your soul.

Dreaming of People

There are many roles that people play within dreams:

  1. They can be a person you know from waking life, from your present or past, or a loved one who has passed away; they can be a part of your dream because they are involved in the present matter the dream is about or the dream is of importance and has a message of guidance or forewarning. You can also dream of another person’s matters that have no relation to you.
  2. They can be a person you know from waking life, present or past and represent the traits and qualities of the person.
  3. They can be a person who represents a particular type of figure to symbolise characteristics, for example, a mother to symbolise a mother’s aspects.
  4. They can be a person or people representing duality of the feminine and masculine qualities, helping you understand how to balance yourself.
  5. They can be a person who represents a particular type of figure to symbolise the stage of a situation or a phase in life, for example, a teenager alludes to a transitional phase.
  6. They can be a person who represents a particular type of position in society to symbolise the role you perceive that type of position to be, for example, a police officer alludes to help, self-policing, or authority.
  7. There can be non-player characters, they can be a part of the landscape or place to symbolise the overall mood or theme. For example, a dream of a party where the place is full of people could symbolise, ‘full, busy and crowded’ or ‘included, accepted and enjoyment’.

Dreaming of a person you know

When you dream of a person who is currently a part of your life, they can symbolise who they are as a person, a quality or behaviour that you think of when you think of them, or they could be themselves in a matter that the dream is about.

When it is in regards to a matter that involves you and them, your dream may be exploring what you are processing about the matter and exposing an in-depth view of them and yourself, that you may or may not have been aware of.

You can also dream of another person’s matters that have no relation to you through the web of consciousness that interconnects us all. You may dream of their mundane matters or something of importance going on with them. In these situations, you need to do what is best for you, by understanding the message of the dream, will help you with your choice. When there are elements of destruction or warnings, do not heed your dream’s information.

For example, I dreamt of a scene that my parents were in and it included a tornado. Upon understanding that the dream was connected to my parents, the destructive element of a tornado was my prompt to mention something, and my Mum shared with me that she also had a dream the same night, in hers, a cliff collapsed. I translated both of our dreams and they exposed some destructive thoughts my mum had been thinking, this is an example of mutual dreaming, whereby two people dream of the same matter. Because the landscape in my dream was a holiday place and in Mum’s dream it was the place they were going to for a holiday, she took the tornado and cliff collapsing as an omen and cancelled their trip.

Dreaming of a person from your past

When a person from your past is in your dreams, they can be symbolising who they are as a person, a quality or behaviour that you think of when you think about who they were. How would you summarise that into a word or phrase?

For example, when I dreamt of a friend from intermediate, I remembered her as pleasant, kind, and nice, then summarised this as ‘a good person’. I summarised her as I remembered her, not as the dream portrayed her. Within the dream, she was wearing a beanie, had tattoo arm sleeves and was breaking into my house, she represented the opposite of ‘a good person’. This is how dreams communicate, with duality, good or bad, positive and negative aspects.

When you have identified why someone from your past is appearing in your dreams, they will most likely appear to symbolise the same thing when you dream of them again, you just need to determine if it is a positive or negative aspect each time.

Can I suggest you have a list of people who appear in your dreams and when you figure them out, you can add it next to their name and refer to it when they appear again. 

I have thought about why dreams do this, using a person from the past to symbolise a quality or behaviour, and I wonder if it is because when you have no attachment to people from the past any longer, they can play this role in your dream and not have any other meaning.

Qualities and behaviours could be, integrity, success, loving, sense of direction, spirituality, ideal self, etc.

The reason for dreams symbolising a quality or behaviour could be because this is how you are acting or reacting or maybe you are using this quality or not using this quality. For example, when ‘integrity’ is being symbolised by using a person you knew who had this quality or not, is a great way to symbolise ‘integrity’, how else would you symbolise integrity?

They can also symbolise what you learnt from your relationship with them. For example, someone who was not meant to be, could appear in a dream to symbolise ‘something that is not meant to be’.

You may also dream about someone from your past because you are thinking of them. The dream itself would be about your past relationship or situation because somehow it is currently affecting you, maybe through some regret or desire. The message of this dream gives you the opportunity to see if you still want the past to be a part of your present.

Dreaming of a loved one who has passed

When a passed loved one is in your dream, they are either symbolising who they are as a person, a quality or behaviour that you think of when you think of them, or they are somehow interweaving into the message of the dream for an important message.

The former would symbolise how you remember them. For example, your mother or father who has passed away may be dreamt of to symbolise the motherly or fatherly qualities from a loving aspect. This is the same for a friend or grandparent. How do you remember them? Summarise it into a word or phrase and insert this into the message of the dream and see how it fits. They could be seen or just sensed within the dream, or maybe there is an item of theirs or you are at their home, whichever way they are a part of the dream, it has an important message.

For example, whenever I dream of my Grandad, he symoblises a spiritual aspect, often I am just at his house and he is not there, and because I associate spirituality with him, this is what he symbolises.

The latter is where your longings and desires, sorrows and regrets can be why you dreamt of them.  Maybe there was something unfinished or that you did not get to say, and through your dreams, you get to view this matter deeply or maybe your heart’s desire was fulfilled by saying what you did not get to say.

The appearance of a loved one could also be to symbolise guidance or forewarning, as these types of messages that include a loved one, leave an imprint whereby you remember them. When a dream is of importance, you will remember it and dreaming of a loved one who has passed is definitely a good way to make sure you remember the dream with an important message of guidance or warning.

I have read many accounts of loved ones giving important messages about where to find something or some information that will help them that they had been hoping for or did not know anything about.  So on all accounts, these are important dreams.

If something within the dream does not quite make sense or you are unsure of the message, speak to anyone who knew them, who may be able to shed light on it. I have acted on these hunches and been presented with what I could not have known without asking or talking to the person who knew the person I had dreamt of.

You are dreaming of a loved one because something is either weighing heavy on your heart, in a good or bad way or they are helping you with guidance or forewarning. So embrace the dream, understand what it means to you and if you need further help, ask someone else who knew them, or ask your dreams before going to sleep to reveal what you need to know.

Dreaming of a person who symbolises characteristics

When a person represents a particular type of figure to symbolise characteristics, you may recall the person to be a mother or your mother, a child or your child, and this feature is the dominant role of the person.

For example, a mother could symbolise a mother’s characteristics and a child could symbolise a child’s characteristics.

Through the ages: a baby, a toddler, a child, a teenager, an adult, an elder, could symbolise that age’s characteristics.

For Example, an elder could symbolise experience, knowledge, and wisdom.

Dreams communicate subjectively, so how you would summarise the characteristics of a figure is most likely what that figure is symbolising.

Another thing to consider is when there are a few people or many and they all share a common characteristic. This could be friends, family colleagues, etc. who are symbolising a trait or quality. For example, 2 females symbolising feminine characteristics.

If you recall a certain number of people, then the meaning of the number will add to the characteristic. For example, 2 females could symbolise duality of the feminine characteristics.

Dreaming of a person or people representing the feminine and masculine qualities

Duality is who we are, everything has a dual aspect.  So, when the feminine and masculine qualities appear in your dreams, you can understand how to balance these attributes.

Your dream will define a weakness, what is out of balance, how the quality could help you and where you could use these attributes.

I suggest thinking about what qualities the feminine and masculine represent to you, to help you understand the fundamental principles of these constitutions.  Then when you dream of these attributes, you can view your different perceptions of these features to find what fits a particular dream.

Your dreams may symbolise the feminine qualities as a whole or as individual attributes and vice versa for masculine qualities.

You could dream of how a quality governs a matter, how a quality can help you, and a quality you can develop or balance.

The variety of ways that the feminine and masculine qualities appear in dreams is most commonly as a male or female, where you dream sense, they are this, and there is no other characteristic or dominant role.

I often dream of two females or two males.  Two alludes to duality, highlighting the duality of the qualities. 

Maybe you dream of a couple, again there is no other dominant role other than they are a couple, now if they do not symbolise a ‘relationship’ then they could symbolise the female and male duality.

The age of the people will contribute to what they are symbolising, it could represent the stage or phase of the duality or qualities.  For example, if they are children, there would be innocence influencing the stage of the qualities, teenagers maybe showing a transitional phase or an adolescent stage, and if they are elderly, there is experience and wisdom.

Sometimes these qualities will appear as someone from your waking life, my father symbolises protector and provider and my mum symbolises nurturing and loving when I dream of them.  So, you may find there are people who you see dominant feminine and masculine qualities in, and you may use them in your dreams to symbolise these qualities.  Once you have identified why someone appears in your dreams, from my own experience they continue to symbolise the same thing in every dream, the only thing I have to do is understand the angle that they are coming from, positive or negative, am I using the quality, or am I not using the quality, etc.

Is the reason for duality to awaken and round out these qualities which are latent within us?

When they are latent, they can be contributing to a weakness, for example, if you lack motivation, identify what goals will engage you, or if you lack creativity, discover what opportunities will create a flow and connection.

Dreaming of a person who represents a stage of a situation or phase in life

When a person represents a particular type of figure to symbolise a stage or phase, you may recall the person to be a teenager or a student and this feature is the dominant role of the person.

For example, a teenager could symbolise a transitional phase and a student could symbolise a stage of development.

Dreaming of a baby being born or someone dying, could be to symbolise an aspect of you being born or an aspect of you coming to an end.

Dreaming of a person who represents a stage in a matter or phase in life, may be portrayed by a newborn symbolising a new phase or an elder symbolising a stage of wisdom.

Dreaming of a person who represents a stage of learning or development, may be portrayed by a child of kindergarten age symbolising that the basics are being learnt or an intermediate/middle school-aged child symbolising a halfway point in the stage of development.

Dreaming of being pregnant or having a baby

Dreaming of being pregnant or having a baby could be to help you with your thoughts, projects or direction in life…

Dreaming of a person who represents a position in society

When a person represents a particular type of position in society to symbolise the role you perceive that type of position to be, you may recall the person to be a professional or police officer and this feature is the dominant role of the person.

For example, a professional could symbolise the level of experience through the skills gained to be in that position or that type of position has standards and a police officer could symbolise that you want help, the need to self-police or a positive or negative aspect to authority.

However you perceive a person’s position in society, maybe by why you would interact with them or your impression of them could be why they played a role in your dream.

For examples and suggestions…

Dreaming of people who represent the overall mood or theme

When people are in the background or a part of the setting, the quantity, type and way they are, can symbolise a mood or theme to add more detail about the matter the dream is exploring.

For example, a dream of a party where the place is full of people could symbolise, ‘full, busy and crowded’ or ‘included, accepted and enjoyment’.

The detail you recall and the thoughts you had within the dream during the scene that included the non-player characters will symbolise your subjective perception of them.

Dreaming of people in the car

Dreaming of people in the car can help you understand how you are controlling the matter and the condition of the matter that the dream is about…

Other things to consider…

When you are uncertain of why a person from your waking life was in your dream. You could try having a list of people who appear in your dream, noting the dates of the dreams they are in, then when they reappear in another dream, see if there is a connection to the previous dream to help you identify what they are symbolising.

I have found that people reappear symbolising the same trait or quality in every dream. It is always the aspect that I take into consideration; do they represent the positive or negative aspect of the trait or quality. For example, the person who symbolises ‘integrity’ in my dreams, could be to portray if I am aligned with my integrity or not. This is how dreams communicate, with duality, was the grass lush and green or dry and withered.

A person you know in waking life can physically look like themselves or not within a dream. How they presented themselves within the dream may be to add to what they are symbolising.

For example, the person from waking life who appears in my dreams to represent ‘direction’ had an enlarged nose that was bruised, the bruise was symbolising ‘injured and damaged’, showing me that my ‘sense of direction is damaged’. Then I turned away to do something and when I turned back towards this person, the nose was now black, showing me that my ‘sense of direction was damaged and has now turned negative’

Take any detail, clothing, skin, hair, and anomalies and add what these are symbolising to what the person is symbolising.

A person within a dream can be a reflection of yourself. When you interact with people within your dreams, see if their words, actions, and intentions are a mirror of your thoughts, words and actions.

For example, I dreamt of a person trying to convince me about this game he loves and why he is buying it. By considering the angle that this was a reflection of myself, I ask, where in waking life am I doing this, where am I convincing myself of ‘something (the game)’, that I am in the act of buying (the act of buying an idea or theory).

There are different angles to look at within each act of a dream scene. When you translate the message of the dream in sequential order from start to finish, each act will unfold with the help of the previous act and the entire dream itself will have a theme. When you are unsure of one or more elements, continue to translate what you can and this can help you understand the previously unknown elements.

How one ‘figure’ can be perceived. Using a ‘father’ as an example. In the dream, the person could be:

  • Your father
  • Your father, but does not look like him physically
  • A father you know, for example, a father of a friend you have in waking life or a friend of yours in waking life who is a father
  • You only sense they are your father

In each of these scenarios, the ‘father’ figure was the dominant role that you recall about them.

The specific number of people adds to what the people are symbolising. The number of people could symbolise the numerical value, for example, 2 babies alludes to 2 new opportunities, ideas, etc. Or the number of people could symbolise what the number represents to you, for example, a collective meaning of 2 is duality; a couple could symbolise the feminine and masculine duality.

People within a dream to convey a world play. For example, people who are your family could be to symbolise ‘familiar’, or cousins could be to symbolise ‘close association or close relationship’.

People can change from scene to scene within a dream. When this happens, see if there is a link between them, there could be a trait or quality that these people share and each one is showing another aspect to the trait or quality.

A person can portray a quality to show that the entire dream is coming from this perspective. For example, my Mum often appears in my dreams to represent ‘motherly characteristics’ and this quality is not an individual part of the dreams message, the quality is attached to the perspective of the dream, whereby the dream itself is being dreamt of, from a motherly, loving, and nurturing aspect.

Why and how people appear in dreams.
How to identify people who symbolise characteristics, positions in society, and stages/phases in dreams.