The Element Encyclopedia

by Theresa Cheung
In the Bible, the ass carries Christ and is often thought to represent humbleness and humility but it can suggest the stubbornness arising perhaps out of long- entrenched habits and automatic behavior. Generally the donkey represents the plodding, longsuffering body and its basic needs, and a dream in which the dreamer is riding on a donkey hints at progress, even if it is slow. Do you feel impatient with your progress or overburdened? Are you refusing to give way on an important issue? Don’t forget about Eeyore, of Winnie the Pooh fame. Eeyore is a depressed and sluggish donkey. Are you feeling that way?

A dream that features a donkey braying implies that the dreamer is on a liberating journey from some kind of family or health trauma. A dream in which the donkey is tied up attests to the dreamer’s fierce will power that can ‘move mountains’ if directed towards a positive goal.

If the ass or donkey is being ridden by or pulling someone else, you may be feeling you are doing all the hard work in a relationship, or working like a beast of burden.

Little Giant Encyclopedia

by Klaus Vollmar
The obvious meaning is stupidity. But also stubbornness, sexual energy, and vitality.

(In the language of the 16th century, “driving an ass” meant to arouse the penis.) Today this symbol is seen differently, since the proverbial stubbornness of the ass can be seen as his strength. He follows his own sense and possesses a sense of what is his. And in the pursuit of his urges, the ass can also be very smart (urges are not always stupid!).

According to the 2nd century dream interpreter Artemidorus: if you see an ass that is carrying a load, a burden is removed from you.

The most widely read book of the Middle Ages, Physiologus, relates the ass to the custom of castration.

Folklore: Luck in love.