HIPPOPOTAMUS

A dream about a hippopotamus suggests the dreamer is suffering from feelings of inferiority. He or she is not satisfied about him or herself, both physically and mentally. These feelings do not always have a basis in reality but represent how the dreamer views him or herself. The hippopotamus is considered to be clumsy, ungainly and overweight, and the dreamer may also feel this way about themselves. Whether true or not in waking life, this inner feeling of being a loser will hold the dreamer back and prevent him or her succeeding in life. The dream implies that the image the dreamer has of themselves is a figment of their imagination.

If they could only shake it off and see themselves in a less critical light, they would feel much better about themselves and be able to attract success into their life. Dreams about hippos can also represent concerns about fertility and childbirth as the female hippopotamus represents the Egyptian Great Mother, Amenti, the goddess of childbirth.

Large or bulky.

Obvious.

Hiding aspects of yourself (thoughts, opinions, motives, physical self) or not communicating or revealing everything about yourself (as hippos are sometimes seen submerged in water.) Dreaming of this animal can represent too much or not enough of one of those qualities, or someone or something you associate with the quality or animal.

Consider also the animal’s actions, context, and your feelings about it.

See Animal, Rhinoceros

Physical urges and emotional energies that have not yet been developed and are in need of differentiation. It could also mean encountering the massive and devouring energies of the unconscious, particularly physical urges and emotions.

The devouring mother or woman; the devouring unconscious, animalistic but also comic.

According to Jung, the monster, the evil, that wants to swallow you up.