To better understand your feeling about the cat in your dream, think about other dream elements you might remember. For example, if you remember drowning, then being rescued by a cat, you might be filled with surprise and gratitude. This might mean that help comes from unexpected places or people. Was the cat familiar to you, in the dream? Whether or not you recognize the cat from your waking life, you may experience a sense of familiarity to the cat in your dream. Perhaps the cat is a symbol of safety. If the cat was causing you to feel afraid, perhaps there is something in your life that’s causing you fear or worry. For example, if the cat was attacking you, this might suggest that you’re feeling attacked by some circumstance of your life.
Dreams are emotional, not rational. Perhaps your cat was swimming underwater, quite happily (and unrealistically!) Don’t worry if your dream doesn’t make sense. As you write about every element, think about how you feel about it. The dream came from your subconscious, and you are the best interpreter of what your dream means.
Consider what cats mean to you, specifically. Are you allergic to cats? Did you have a cat in your childhood? If there is any unique meaning that you connect to cats, it’s likely that this meaning will be part of your dream interpretation. Remember that the goal of dream interpretation is to better understand yourself. Dreams are unlikely to be functional predictors of the future, to provide lucky lottery numbers, or to give you the answer to an algebra problem.
Did the cat in your dream appear unique in any way? Did the circumstances in which the cat appeared feel familiar? Or was the situation novel or unlikely? Dreaming makes the connection between the dreamer’s conscious and unconscious mind. Feelings, thoughts, and ideas found in the dreamer’s unconscious mind can surface through dream imagery and symbols.
If the cat in your dream was playful, perhaps you may desire to be a little more light-hearted in your life. If your dream cat was aggressive, perhaps you’re experiencing some difficulty with the more feminine side of your nature. If you’ve lost your cat in your dreams, it might be a sign that you’re not as independent as you’d like to be. The health of the cat in your dreams is also a clue to its meaning. For example, if the cat in your dreams is sickly, this might mean that you’re not paying enough attention to your intuition. By being overly rational, you’ve allowed the intuitive part of your nature become weak.
While cats are generally a symbol of independence, a dream about a kitten often reflects vulnerability and the need to be taken care of. Dream images can be simple, or they can be complex. When you’re interpreting what the cat in your dream might mean, allow yourself to be open to a wide range of possible interpretations.
In the past, any cat appearing in a dream was generally considered to be bad luck. This has changed, however, as cultures became more comfortable with mystical topics. Cats often represent sexuality and women. When a woman dreams about a cat, she may be dreaming about her own sexual power. A man dreaming about a cat may be symbolizing sexual fulfillment, or his own intuitive nature.
Notice if you see a pattern in your dreams. Do certain elements recur on a regular basis? Do you notice that you often dream about a certain cat, or different cats? Your observations on your dreams should include who, what, when, where and why. Always ask yourself: how did I feel about this?
Try to write down any dream you have, no matter how difficult it may be to remember clearly. Include as many details as you can, no matter how strange or random. List colors, location, characters, sounds, emotions and objects. Each element has a possible meaning. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling. No one else is likely to read this - it’s just for you. If using an app on your phone or tablet is easier for you, consider keeping your dream journal here. The main thing is to have it very close to your bed, so that it’s there as you wake up.
Feelings expressed in dreams can help you better deal with depression, guilt, and other difficult emotions in your waking life. The most common emotions found in dreams are fear and anxiety, followed by anger and sadness.
There are apps, such as Dream Professor, that provide instant analysis of your dream elements. These apps focus on the pattern of images and words in a dream, rather than trying to read the plot or recognize individual symbols.
Many experts suggest that the dreamer avoid thinking of a dream in literal terms. For example, a dream about skydiving doesn’t usually mean that the person is likely to jump out of a plane. Sometimes an element of a dream is not a metaphor, but simply a way that the person processes information. For example, people who spent most of their lives before color television also dream in black and white.
There are many dream dictionaries available online or in bookstores. These are interesting and entertaining, but genuine dream analysis is more subtle and complex than these books may suggest. Dream interpretation was a standard part of psychoanalytic models of both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Jung’s understanding of archetypes found in dreams shaped generations of scholars and psychologists.
