A Dictionary of Dream Symbols

by Eric Ackroyd
(1) The cow mav represent your mother. Please note: this does not mean your mother (or mother-in-law) is either fat or stupid! Rather, the cow is an obvious symbol of motherhood, since it produces an abundant supply of milk from its prominent udders.

(2) The cow is also a symbol of fertilitv, signalling a possible new development in your life, new personal growth.

(3) The cow may be an anima figure, representing a man’s feminine psychic components (for anıma see Brother / Sister, sections (4)-(6)).

(4) A cow may represent a primitive awareness; intuitive knowledge that comes, not from making a detached, objective examination of things, but from an inner oneness with natural things and processes.

(5) Cows (and cattle generally) may symbolize dignity, strength, passive endurance.

(6) Is the cow chewing the cud? Well, are you ruminating over something? Perhaps your unconscious is telling you not to. What’s the point of turning something over and over? Once you have the necessary information, only a decision will change things - change your life - for the better.

On the other hand, your unconscious may be telling you that you need to think things over, and not to be in too much of a hurry. Perhaps you need to take time off from frantic - compulsive - activity to meditate on the meaning of your life with a view to re-orientating yourself, giving yourself new values and more positive goals.

The Big Dictionary of Dreams

by Martha Clarke
Although it is infrequent that it appears in dreams, the cow is related to maternity, goodness, patience, and fertility. So, fat cows signify richness, whereas skinny cows signify the benefits that you will await. It could equally denote a tolerant attitude. Maybe the dream is warning you that you should slow down and reflect more on your decisions. Cows, on the other hand, are also associated with dignity, strength, and passive resistance. For a man it symbolizes his feminine side; for a woman, it could be a reflection of her maternal instincts.

For the hindus, cows are sacred and represent the protection and care of their gods. Krisna, for example, was the one who taught the shepherds that they should not worship the divinities that they could not see with their own eyes, but rather the cows. In them resides God.

Islamic Dream Interpretation

by Ibn Seerin
A cow in a dream represents longevity.

A black or a yellow cow represents happiness, prosperity and a good harvest.

A white spot on a cow’s face means firmness if seen in a dream at the early part of the year.

The piebald cow or a cow blotched with white and black in a dream means the same, though the latter also represents firmness when seen in the middle of the year.

A fat cow in a dream represents longevity and prosperity.

A fat cow in a dream also may represent a pious woman.

An emaciated cow in a dream represents drought. Drinking cow’s milk or eating its meat or fat in a dream means prosperity and earning lawful income for that year.

If the cow has horns, it represents a rebellious woman.

If a dairy cow allows the person to draw her milk in a dream, it means conferring benefits. Otherwise, if it refuses to allow the person to milk her in the dream, it means dissonance and discord.

If a servant sees himself milking his master’s cow in a dream, it means that he will marry his wife after the master dies, and that he will become extremely rich.

If a cow enters one’s house and thrusts against him, or butts against him in the dream, it means losses and mistrust in one’s own family.

If one sees himself hitting a cow with a wooden stick or biting a cow in a dream, the cow then represents his sins.

If a cow scratches someone in a dream, it means an illness.

If one is attacked by a cow or a steer in a dream, it means that a great punishment will befall him, or it could mean that he may be killed during that same year. Ifone sees himself riding a black cow, or if a cow enters his house, where he ties her to a pole in his dream, it means money, good business and dispelling of his anxiety, sadness, loneliness or distress.

A slaughtered cow in a dream represents a calamity.

If a shipment of yellow cows arrives at the port of a city in a dream, it means a plague or the spreading of unknown diseases.

If a herd of ugly looking cows enters a city with smoke emanatingfrom their noses, and if the people hate their look in the dream, it means a raid, an enemy, or that unwanted solders will control that town.

If one sees himself riding a cow in a dream, it means that he will inherit a woman.

If one is offered a cow hide as a gift in a dream, it means that he will receive money from someone in authority. On the other hand, if one is stripped of a cow’s hide he owns in a dream, it represents a fine that he will have to pay.

To see the calfofthe Children ofIsrael in a dream means dissension, temptation or a murder. It also may mean a miraculous event, or that a heavenly sign will take place in that locality.

If the person is disobedient to his mother, he will repent and turn to be good to her.

If a cow butts against him in a dream, it means that God is displeased with him.

(Also see Counting cows)