Rituals and religious ceremonies Dream Meanings

Each of the symbols that appear in a religious dream should be taken into account as each will contribute in some way to its meaning. Their significance is likely to accord with your religious faith but whether you are religious or not, the interpretation tends to be similar.

If you were reading, hearing, singing or chanting from a religious book, manuscript, sacred scripture or text such as the Bible or Koran, your dreaming mind is highlighting your desire to know the truth or the answer to a question that is on your mind. You may feel the need for some kind of guidance and your dreaming mind is urging you to pay attention to the problem or issue on your mind before it gets any worse. Dreams about praying also reflect a feeling of helplessness and the need for guidance in waking life.

If you attended a religious ceremony or rite or were part of a congregation in your dream, your feelings about this are crucial.

If you felt uplifted and comforted, this suggests that you feel at peace with your moral code; but if your attitude was one of rebellion or anger, your dreaming mind may be urging you to assert your individuality, as you are currently being stifled by the restrictions of your belief system. Alternatively, if you are not allowed to participate in your dream ritual, you may be harboring feelings of guilt because you have broken some important rules. As ceremonies are used to attain deeper awareness and to establish a new order, another interpretation suggests that dream ceremonies and rituals refer to major life changes or new attitudes in your waking life that are having a profound effect on you. Religious processions and carnivals in dreams reflect a need to stimulate your imagination and perhaps increase your faith

A dream of visiting a religious place may be commenting on the lack of spirituality in your life; this is especially so if the church, mosque, chapel, temple, cathedral or religious site was peaceful and calming, as it suggests that you need to seek out a place where you can feel secure and reflect on your waking life.

If you dreamed of a crypt or religious burial ground, this may be suggesting that your spiritual self is buried.

If the religious site or building was in ruins, you need to consider which aspect of your spiritual life is crumbling away.

If you heard church bells or religious music in your dream, this suggests a desire to expand your spirit

A dream that features baptism or an initiation of some kind suggests spiritual renewal or a new life for the dreamer.

If you were baptized and given a new name, this indicates a new start; the significance of that name will be important.

If you attended the baptism of a baby, this may represent an idea or project you are working on and for which you need approval.

If you were blessed in your dream, this suggests approval of some kind of action or attitude in your waking life. Blasphemy, on the other hand, reflects irreverence or insults of some kind in your waking life.

If you dream of taking Holy Communion, because in real life this is a form of blessing for forgiveness and renewal, in dreams it represents sacred sharing.

If bread and wine appears in your dream, these refer to the basic needs in your life. As always, your feelings in the dream are important. Did you feel comforted or anxious? If you dream of a crusade, this suggests that you need to fight for or against something or someone in your waking life.

See also GATHERINGS.