Wicca dream interpretation: what your dream means

A young tradition with old building blocks

Wicca as we know it emerged in the mid twentieth century, but draws on much older material: European folk custom, ceremonial magic, and nature religion.

There is no central authority and no single holy book. Some people work in a coven, many others alone. What follows is a general description; your practice may look different.

For dream interpretation this mainly means the tradition does not tell you what your dream means. It gives you a framework to work with yourself.

Element first, image second

For many practitioners the element is the first way in. In what setting does the dream take place: ground and stone, wind and height, flames and heat, or water and depth? Each element has its own territory. Earth is about what you hold on to and what nourishes you, air about what you think and say, fire about what drives you or burns you, and water about what you feel but perhaps do not put into words.

The same dream image thus takes on a different colour. Someone fleeing a flood in a dream is pointed to a different part of their life than someone fleeing a forest fire. And when two elements clash within one dream, practitioners look precisely at that tension. The guide to elements and moon phases shows how that works in practice.

The moon and the wheel of the year

Besides the what, wicca also looks at the when. The moon goes through its phases in about a month, and many practitioners write the phase down next to their dream. A dream in the days before the full moon then carries a different charge from a dream just after the new moon: growing and building up versus completing and letting go.

The wheel of the year plays a part too: the eight seasonal festivals, from Yule in winter to Litha in summer. The best-known dream moment is Samhain, at the end of October, when many practitioners remember the dead and look at dreams about the deceased with extra attention. You can read more in the guide to Samhain and dreams.

Shadow work: why nightmares are welcome

Bad dreams are not tucked away or fended off in modern wicca. Many practitioners see them as material for shadow work: giving attention to the sides of yourself you would rather not look at.

A nightmare is then not a verdict, but an invitation to see what is surfacing. What startles you, and what would happen if you stayed with it for a moment instead of walking away?

That work goes slowly. Writing down without judging and leafing back after weeks often yields more than trying to get to the bottom of one dream.

What we do not do here

This site holds no spell, ritual or working, and nowhere does it say you must do something in response to a dream.

The reason is simple: Wicca is a practice people shape themselves, alone or within a coven, and it adapts to the person. Prescribing what someone should do would run directly against that.

Work concerning other people, or attempting to steer someone's will, does not belong with dream interpretation at all.

Symbols in this tradition

• Dreaming of being chased in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a car accident in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a baby in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a bear in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of bees in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of blood in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of the forest in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of dying in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of your ex in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of money in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of your hair in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a dog in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a house in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of insects in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a cat in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of the moon in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of your mother in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of mice and rats in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of being naked in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of vomiting in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a deceased loved one in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of spiders in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of losing teeth in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of getting married in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of an airplane in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of cheating in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of fire in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of water in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a wolf in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of a mermaid in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of being pregnant in the Wicca tradition
• Dreaming of swimming in the Wicca tradition

Guides

• Elements and moon phases: how Wicca reads a dream Wicca does not tell you what your dream means. It gives you a framework to work with yourself, and that begins with which element your dream took place in.
• Samhain and dreams: the veil, the ancestors and your dream journal Samhain, pronounced roughly sow-in, falls on the night of 31 October to 1 November. For many wiccans and other pagans it is the most important festival of the year: the end of the harvest, the beginning of the dark half and a time to honour the dead. It is also a night for dreams above all.