Religion

If a young woman imagines that she is over religious, she will disgust her lover with her efforts to act ingenuous innocence and goodness.

If she is irreligious and not a transgressor, it foretells that she will have that independent frankness and kind consideration for others, which wins for women profound respect, and love from the opposite sex as well as her own; but if she is a transgressor in the eyes of religion, she will find that there are moral laws, which, if disregarded, will place her outside the pale of honest recognition. She should look well after her conduct.

If she weeps over religion, she will be disappointed in the desires of her heart.

If she is defiant, but innocent of offence, she will shoulder burdens bravely, and stand firm against deceitful admonitions.

If you are self-reproached in the midst of a religious excitement, you will find that you will be almost induced to give up your own personality to please some one whom you hold in reverent esteem.

To see religion declining in power, denotes that your life will be more in harmony with creation than formerly. Your prejudices will not be so aggressive.

To dream that a minister in a social way tells you that he has given up his work, foretells that you will be the recipient of unexpected tidings of a favorable nature, but if in a professional and warning way, it foretells that you will be overtaken in your deceitful intriguing, or other disappointments will follow.

(These dreams are sometimes fulfilled literally in actual life. When this is so, they may have no symbolical meaning. Religion is thrown around men to protect them from vice, so when they propose secretly in their minds to ignore its teachings, they are likely to see a minister or some place of church worship in a dream as a warning against their contemplated action.

If they live pure and correct lives as indicated by the church, they will see little of the solemnity of the church or preachers.)

If a figure or image of your own personal faith appears in your dream, the most likely interpretation is that your dreaming mind is reminding you of the importance your faith plays in your life; it may also be urging you to make decisions in accordance with your beliefs. If, however, you dream of an aspect of a belief system that is not yours, the meaning is less obvious; the key to its interpretation lies in what the figure or image means to you in waking life. For example, if you associate Christ with humility and self-sacrifice, your dreaming mind may be suggesting that you need to make some kind of personal sacrifice.

Dreams that feature a strong religious factor do not only occur to those who practice a faith. Indeed Jung said that many of his patients who had such dreams had lost their faith and their dreams were referring to their sense of guilt and loss. When an individual neglects the spiritual in waking life, dreams may try to compensate with images that highlight the existence of an inner truth.

It is impossible to include here all the symbols of all religions, but many of the symbols mentioned in this chapter can be applied to other faiths.

See also MIND, BODY, SPIRIT; SURREALISM AND FANTASY; SYMBOLS.

A specific religion.

Your inner spiritual experience (real or imagined).

A specific religious reference in your life (a certain religious authority or location, a symbol, an event, a memory, etc.).

A (religious or non-religious) group with something in common (such as shared beliefs, philosophies, goals, attitudes, or leadership).

An organization that holds authority.

A setting in which teaching takes place, such as school.

Feeling “preached to” or pressured to adopt certain beliefs.

See Church, Light (Spiritual), Religious Figure, Religious Symbol, Organization, Membership, Authority Figure, Rule or Law, Ritual or Tradition, Cult