For the part of the dream
that stayed.

Symbols of Sleep is an independent dream dictionary. We explain what common dream symbols — teeth falling out, being chased, snakes, water, and 504+ others — can bring to mind, in plain English, for anyone who wakes up wondering.

How we write it

Our entries bring together several kinds of interpretation. We draw on three streams and try to be honest about which is which:

• Psychology — the way dream researchers and thinkers like Jung and Freud read recurring symbols, presented as perspective rather than fact.
• Common experience — the patterns that show up again and again in how people actually dream and what tends to be going on in their waking lives.
• Folklore & tradition — cultural and spiritual readings, always framed as beliefs (“in many traditions…”), never as certainty.

Dreams are personal. We aim to give you useful angles to think with, not a single “correct” answer. Nothing here is medical or psychological advice.

Get started

Try the dream interpreter to explore the details of a dream in your own words, browse the full A–Z index, or get in touch.