different symbols for "dream"

I’m trying to find different symbols for the word “dream”.
So if you have any pictures or links, don’t hesitate! :content:

I’m gonna paint a poster (or something like it) on the wall, to look at when i’m going to sleep, since i have waaaaaay to much thoughts in my head at all times.

All help is really appreciated!

very cool idea, I hope you are able to make a digital photo when it´s finished :smile:

First symbold that came to my mind is a closed poppey plant, which is morpheus symbol, god of death and dreams. It´s used by many cultures to represent either the underworld or dreaming.
The moon of course is another one
A cat or owl perhaps…

tapir

yeah, i’m gonna do my best to give it to ya when i’m done!

you’ll have to excuse my english, but what in the universe’ name is a poppey plant? :help:

is it btw possible to post pictures on this board?
i’m not the most experienced of forum usage :smile:

It´s the plant that opium is made of (and actually I just noticed it´s spelled “poppy”)

Here it is:
home.t-online.de/home/ufetzer/pr … r/mohn.jpg

It´s the plant opium is made of, and in german it´s called Schlafmohn ( =sleep-poppy)

How about the sacred symbol Aum? It symbolizes the four states of consciousness. The symbol has three curves. Dreaming is represented by the one on the right. It lies between the curves of the waking state and deep sleep on the left. Here’s some artwork:
himalayanacademy.com/art/aumcd/index.html

Great idea, I thought recently that if we want to communicate with our subconscious then we need to use its language - symbols, so I tried to think how to say ‘I want to be aware of dreaming’ in symbolism, that was as far as I’d got.

The Egyptian symbol for dream was an open eye, I’m not sure if it was the same as the eye of Horus (my avatar) but I read recently that the left eye symbolizes the subconscious and the right the conscious.
Anyway you can find out more about it here:
https://www.mossdreams.com/egyptian.htm

I look forward to seeing the finished project.

don’t you all just loooooove to read about the egyptians?
(btw, what really happened to their empire?)
psyconaut, i think your avatar looks kind of egyptian-ish, am i wrong?

mystic those aums were really beautiful!

these ones are kinda nice too:
1st is celtic
2nd is chinese

considering how many cultures there’s been on the planet, there must be like a thousand different symbols.

i do however really like the egyptian open eye thing.

Another symbol is the Greek-Egyptian caduceus, also known as the Winged Staff of Hermes, who used sleep and dreams to transfer his messages to the people: drblayney.com/images/Enigma.jpg

tjockis i do like to read about the egyptians

no you are right, psyconaut said that it is the eye of horus, who is and egyptian god of sort of the sun, moon and the absence of the two. i think it is called an Udjat, the sound eye of Horus, which symbolises healing and protection.

mysitc, is the medical symbol that also?

Yes the caduceus is also used as a medical symbol. But it has many meanings. I’ll give you one: the vertical staff in the middle together with the two snakes represent the spinal cord and the carnal nerve system. The wings symbolize the ventricular structure of the brain. Between these wings you can see a little knob. This is the pineal gland or Third Eye chakra, through which one receives sacred subconscious powers (dreaming may be one element of these). The combination of the little knob and the wings is sometimes called the mystical swan, which then symbolizes an enlightened being. The two snakes are well-known in Hindu mythology: they are kundalini, the snakes of cosmic energy. One snake represents the hot solar channel; the other one is the cold lunar channel. In most people these snakes lie dormant at the base of the spine. If one develops spirituality, the snakes will slowly awaken and climb up through the channels (and the chakras which are connected with them). Chakras will be opened and one will start to see the world through the Third Eye. Eventually the two snakes converge into the top chakras and enlightenment is established.

I wrote this story down in my paper for philosophy last year. Well, I should have known that the teacher was too narrow-minded… He didn’t even read it all.

hey why don’t you just use the eye off the top picture thingy on this board

a philosopy teacher not reading homework? That is not a very good work ethic. I admit that it is different to what i believe, won’t go into that here, but he should have read it if it answers the question/fulfils the task.

i cannot believe that caduceus symbol!

a few years ago i drew a symbol just like that, because i just ‘had’ to paint/draw it that way and it felt very symbolic and spiritual to me, but i had never seen it IRL. And now it turns out it exists and has a name too, and has something to do with dreams and intuition and all those meanings, i’m flabbergasted.

later i’ll see if i can find that painting and scan it so you can see it :content:

Yes well I’m not 100% sure that he didn’t read it.
I chose to make a paper about LDing. First part was the scientific approach. Second part the use of LDing in buddhism, shamanism and so on. Both parts were about 15 pages. I only briefly mentioned the caduceus in this second part. Afterwards when I got it back, he had written this on it: “please stick to western science instead of describing the esoteric aspects of this subject…” I’m sure he meant “esoteric nonsense” instead of “esoteric aspects”. So I don’t think he read all 15 pages no. A doctor of philosophy who likes to call the buddhistic concepts of dreaming “esoteric aspects” isn’t quite a true model of open-mindedness.

I’m impressed pasQuale! That would be awesome if you painted it exactly the same way :smile:
Actually there is a similar symbol which is also used now as a medicine symbol (but more specifically as a symbol of pharmacists): the Staff of Asclepius. The difference with the caduceus is that here there’s only one snake coiled around the staff. There are also no wings if I’m correct… But the two symbols are closely related and they probably date back from the time of the Sumerians.

well, here it is… i noticed i got only one snake and the wings, and an eye on top… but it still feels powerful. the real one is about 50 cm height and drawn with pastel on paper.

Whoa now I’m truly impressed :eek:
What do you mean with “I had to draw it that way”? Perhaps that’s the reason why our ancestors chose this imagery. The entire symbol leaves you with some kind of impression that there’s much more behind it. Kinda like the pentagram :smile:

when i draw/paint i do it on intuition. So i will just feel atracted to a color or know i have to draw a specific shape or start in a specific place on the paper. Sometimes i only see what i have made after it is finished.

from this one i only remembered i started at the bottom and worked my way to the top where the eye shape appeared and then i just had to draw the wings. As you can see there are two snake like extensions from the wings also.

i have a similar even stronger experience with another symbol. This one i just started drawing out of nowhere. Just in the air, making the shape with my hand, until i decided well, ok let’s do a real drawing of it then. I did a painting of it.

about a year later i found out it was called a triskell and is a powerful celtic symbol. It is a highly attractive and powerful symbol for me. the triskell symbolises the 3 powers of creation.

The painting is in one of the mirrors on the site.

and here is a ‘real’ one, there are a lot of variations.

(do an image search on google with ‘triskell’)

Great paintings PasQuale!
I’m very familliar with the Triskel and the triple spiral symbols as I’m in Ireland.

I was just thinking of other symbols that represent Dreams, and came up with Mirror and Clouds, The Apple is a symbol of consciousness, as in the garden of Eden etc. So maybe a good subconscious dream symbol would be a picture of a mirror showing an open eye with an apple as the pupil and clouds around it? Hmmm… Where are those paints gone :smile:

hehe, not a bad idea

i was thinking maybe a mirror with the eye of horus in it with the celtic dream symbol acting as pupil…