Abbey

(see also Church, House, Monastery, Monk, Temple)

(1) An abbey is a holy place and represents a more profound dimension of reality than most of us are aware of most of the time. It may, therefore, be a symbol of those parts of the psyche that lie below the surface - that is, below die level of consciousness. It may even represent the self - that is, the ‘true’ or ‘essential’ you.

(2) An abbey is usually an old place and as such may symbolize the older, more basic parts of your psyche. All the mental processes of perceiving, naming and recognizing things, knowing facts, following a train of thought, spinning arguments and so on are, on the evolutionary scale, recent arrivals in the world - or at any rate on the planet Earth. But there is a kind of awareness that is quite independent of these mental processes, is much more ancient and may indeed be as old as evolution itself, and often, in order to get at the truth about ourselves, we need to stop thinking and learn to rely on older modes of knowing.

Other very old, primitive parts of the psyche are the instincts for sex and survival.

All religious buildings in dreams can be interpreted, roughly, in the same manner. The abbey symbolizes questions or concerns—in the intellectual, moral or spiritual realm of our life—that are about to emerge. When a building appears in a dream, it usually represents the dreamer herself, her body, or the different levels of her mind. An abbey is a sacred place and not lavish, like your true Self.

If the abbey is old, it is advisable to consult the old stories of the Celtic tradition and the first Christians; their valuable knowledge will favor your spiritual awakening.

Although almost all faiths believe dreaming of an abbey is a good omen, there are some different superstitions. When the dreamer is a young woman, this dream predicts disease. And, if the abbey is in ruins, it means that your plans will fail. However, if the path to access it is blocked, you will be safe from a painful mistake.

To see an abbey in ruins, foretells that your hopes and schemes will fall into ignoble incompletion.

To dream that a priest bars your entrance into an abbey, denotes that you will be saved from a ruinous state by enemies mistaking your embarrassment for progress.

For a young woman to get into an abbey, foretells her violent illness.

If she converses with a priest in an abbey, she will incur the censure of true friends for indiscretion.