Animals In Dreams

[OceanSoul]

It's probably not an uncommon occurrence for many people to have dreams featuring animals considering how most have pets. I also know that seeing animals doesn't necessarily -mean- anything.

Point aside, I'm wondering if anyone here knows much about shapeshifters. A couple of my dreams have a figure who shifts between animal types for whatever purpose. For instance, I had a dream where I was in a meadow and saw a wild rabbit hopping about not far from where I stood. It moved towards my general direction so I said to it, "Aren't you cute?" So I slowly walk towards the rabbit and it didn't hop away then when I try to pet him, the rabbit shifts into a kitten. Is that common? Then I had another dream where a cat is there with me and shifts into a snake.
He keeps popping up.

I often see cats or felines (and crows for warnings) which isn't strange, just I don't get the shapeshifter's appearance in them. So does anyone here have something similar? Or have some connection to animals?

*If this isn't in the right section to ask the question then my thread can be moved.

 

[Quintessence]

I don't know if this is the right section - are you a Pagan? Were you intending to ask this question in a forum that only Pagans can respond to?

 

[OceanSoul]

I don't know if this is the right section - are you a Pagan? Were you intending to ask this question in a forum that only Pagans can respond to?

I meant to ask about animal spirits, fylgja, etc so I'm not sure where to ask that question. I'm okay if it's moved since I'm not Pagan, but I thought there might be someone here who is familiar with these concepts.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I had some waking dreams with shape shifting creatures. I wondered at first if I was seeing another being like a spirit perhaps. In the end I decided that it was as if I was seeing myself through the eyes of another being. It was how they were seeing me. It was probably just me dreaming about myself anyway, but I continued to wonder about it from time to time.

 

[Quintessence]

The way DIR spaces work is that they are intended for the use of that group only, so I think it makes sense to move your thread based on what you've told me. Not entirely sure where to move it too - presuming you don't want debate, General Discussion might be a good generic place to move the thread to. Or if you don't mind debate, could move it to General Debates instead.

 

[OceanSoul]

The way DIR spaces work is that they are intended for the use of that group only, so I think it makes sense to move your thread based on what you've told me. Not entirely sure where to move it too - presuming you don't want debate, General Discussion might be a good generic place to move the thread to. Or if you don't mind debate, could move it to General Debates instead.

Okay. Heh generic is not as fun though! But General Discussion is probably a better idea.

 

[Quintessence]

We don't have an ideal home for a topic like this, for better or worse, hence I suggested GD. All that stuff aside...

Shapeshifting is a common motif in storytelling, whether from Pagan religions or elsewhere (though it does seem to be a particularly Pagan thing). The lessons that come out of that lore vary based on the tale, so it's hard to generalize about the meaning. In some tales, it is used as a form of humiliation or punishment; in others it's part of a transformative initiation or rebirth; in others it's a characteristic of trickster figures.

Personally, I can't say I've had parallel experiences to yours. As a Druid I connect a lot to the non-human persons, but my experiences are distinct from your own. Mystical experiences like that are inherently personal - they're something you navigate through on your own. Maybe next time you encounter this creature, address them as a person. Maybe ask them if they have something they'd like to tell you. I don't know.

 

[OceanSoul]

We don't have an ideal home for a topic like this, for better or worse, hence I suggested GD. All that stuff aside...

Shapeshifting is a common motif in storytelling, whether from Pagan religions or elsewhere (though it does seem to be a particularly Pagan thing). The lessons that come out of that lore vary based on the tale, so it's hard to generalize about the meaning. In some tales, it is used as a form of humiliation or punishment; in others it's part of a transformative initiation or rebirth; in others it's a characteristic of trickster figures.

Personally, I can't say I've had parallel experiences to yours. As a Druid I connect a lot to the non-human persons, but my experiences are distinct from your own. Mystical experiences like that are inherently personal - they're something you navigate through on your own. Maybe next time you encounter this creature, address them as a person. Maybe ask them if they have something they'd like to tell you. I don't know.

I don't know much about shapeshifters in folklore (except the Fylgja can do that), just wondering about it. Most of the time, animals have some kind of role in my dreams like a murder of crows will appear in a nightmare or signal something is going on inside. Could just be connected to animals.

The shapeshifter is kind of random where it pops up from time to time and usually appears as a cat as cats are my favorite animal and I can connect well with them. I see your point though, I will try speaking to it when or if it appears again in one to understand it's purpose.

 

[DawudTalut]

......Then I had another dream where a cat is there with me and shifts into a snake.
He keeps popping up.

.....

Peace be on you.

In general
Cat represent a snake in dream represent jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

 

[OceanSoul]

I had some waking dreams with shape shifting creatures. I wondered at first if I was seeing another being like a spirit perhaps. In the end I decided that it was as if I was seeing myself through the eyes of another being. It was how they were seeing me. It was probably just me dreaming about myself anyway, but I continued to wonder about it from time to time.

Right! I wonder if these shapeshifters are really just a spirit who takes the form of an animal or something else. Maybe or maybe not. It doesn't seem malevolent either way.

Why do you think it's you? I don't get that feeling with mine.

 

[OceanSoul]

Peace be on you.

In general
Cat represent a snake in dream represent jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

Whoa, I better keep an eye on myself then heh.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Right! I wonder if these shapeshifters are really just a spirit who takes the form of an animal or something else. Maybe or maybe not. It doesn't seem malevolent either way.

Why do you think it's you? I don't get that feeling with mine.

This creature was hard to see, and so at first I thought I might be seeing a representation or part of something else. I changed my mind. Imagine a super-being that was beyond human ken. How could such a creature communicate to a being like me. Perhaps this was how an invisible super being saw me, but also why would such a being bother me in the morning while I was waking up? Then at the same time I realized that dreams are often about our subconscious thoughts and that we often don't understand ourselves, so then I though maybe I was looking at myself.

 

[OceanSoul]

This creature was hard to see, and so at first I thought I might be seeing a representation or part of something else. I changed my mind. Imagine a super-being that was beyond human ken. How could such a creature communicate to a being like me. Perhaps this was how an invisible super being saw me, but also why would such a being bother me in the morning while I was waking up? Then at the same time I realized that dreams are often about our subconscious thoughts and that we often don't understand ourselves, so then I though maybe I was looking at myself.

Ah, that makes sense. Yes, the subconscious does often bring up one's issues in dreams as a way to awaken you to them. There is a concept called the Shadow Self which is usually discussed in Jungian Psychology circles which is basically a way "you", that is your subconscious that is trying to say you need to work on your inner demons (metaphorically speaking.) It can appear in dreams.

Though the shapeshifter doesn't feel like me, more like it is there to watch over me, but I have weird dreams where "I" appear in other ways so my subconscious does this.

 

[Quintessence]

Peace be on you.

In general
Cat represent a snake in dream represent jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

According to who? None of those are "general" representations that I would read from this.

 

[OceanSoul]

According to who? None of those are "general" representations that I would read from this.

He might've gotten it from a dream interpretation website. Never heard of this one though.
:Shrugs:

 

[Quintessence]

He might've gotten it from a dream interpretation website. Never heard of this one though.
:Shrugs:

Never been a fan of dream dictionaries or dream interpretation guides. Back when I used to do dream interpretation for people, I would never tell them what something meant. I'd ask them to reflect on what various icons meant to them, because symbolism is individual and cultural, not universal. The guides written for Western audiences are particularly influenced by Biblical mythology, so they work poorly for people of other religions whose sacred stories tell much different tales about various icons. There's a lot of work that can be done developing relationships with various icons to build a personal vocabulary for how one relates to them. I guess in that respect I can understand the appeal of dream dictionaries actually taking the time to intimately know the world around you to understand various denizens is a ton of work, and it is way easier to just pop open some book that tells you what to think.... lol.

 

[OceanSoul]

Never been a fan of dream dictionaries or dream interpretation guides. Back when I used to do dream interpretation for people, I would never tell them what something meant. I'd ask them to reflect on what various icons meant to them, because symbolism is individual and cultural, not universal. The guides written for Western audiences are particularly influenced by Biblical mythology, so they work poorly for people of other religions whose sacred stories tell much different tales about various icons. There's a lot of work that can be done developing relationships with various icons to build a personal vocabulary for how one relates to them. I guess in that respect I can understand the appeal of dream dictionaries actually taking the time to intimately know the world around you to understand various denizens is a ton of work, and it is way easier to just pop open some book that tells you what to think.... lol.

I agree with you. When I dream, I usually understand what they're telling me. Also if you have a dream, it might mean something different to you, but another person might see it as having a different meaning. So it's probably preferable to use the meaning you believe it's saying instead of someone else's like dream interpretation websites, IMV.

 

[DawudTalut]

Peace be on you.
In general
Cat represent a snake in dream represent jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

According to who? None of those are "general" representations that I would read from this.

He might've gotten it from a dream interpretation website. Never heard of this one though.
:Shrugs:

Peace be on you two.
As you can see I happened to write:

In general
Cat represent a snake in dream represent jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

==

I wanted to correct the words placement, but it was already quoted.

==

The right way was to be:
Cat turning to snake:
In general, snake in dream represents jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

I read few sites, this interpretation i liked more, because of true personal experience.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

 

[OceanSoul]

Peace be on you two.
As you can see I happened to write:

In general
Cat represent a snake in dream represent jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

==

I wanted to correct the words placement, but it was already quoted.

==

The right way was to be:
Cat turning to snake:
In general, snake in dream represents jealousy, envy, perfidy, swindling people's properties, deceit and an avowed enmity.

I read few sites, this interpretation i liked more, because of true personal experience.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

It's fine.