Dream Themes

Jung noticed that the dreams of people around the world share common symbols. These symbols can also be found in the myths and stories of many different cultures. Jung called these universal symbols archetypes.  He thought that the shared archetypes of the human race were stored in a part of the mind that he named the collective unconscious.

Evolutionary theory provides an explanation of why human beings share common dream themes.  Some evolutionary biologists think that dreams teach us how to cope with dangerous situations.  Many of the dreams that we have today began as a means of teaching our ancestors, hunter-gatherers who lived during the Pleistocene era, how to survive.  These dreams were designed to help us develop the skills that were needed at that time. For example,  some dreams teach us how to protect ourselves from wild animals or from human attackers, while others teach us how to improve our social skills so it is easier for us to obtain food and to obtain sexual partners.

Your culture and your personal experiences will help to determine which themes appear in your dreams and the details of how these themes are manifested.

Places where you spent your childhood, films that you've watched and books that you've read will all play a role in determining how universal dream themes appear in your dreams.

This page contains a list of many common dream themes, which complement our expansive Dream Dictionary.

By utilizing our Dream Dictionary, learning about dream themes and discussing your dreams on our Dream Forums with other people - dream experts as well as others who are seeking the meaning of dreams - you will soon become adept at comprehending the meaning of your dreams.