New to these forums so would like to say "hi" first and how glad I am to have found this place.

I have been having somewhat of a recurring dream theme the last month and a half. I remember very little of the first few except this one thing -- lions. They are not roaring at or chasing me; however, I am frightened/threatened by their presence. Not sure if it matters but I believe they are female lions as I don't recall them having manes.

Last week, I had another one and I recall only slightly more. I am headed down a wooded path to what I sense is my home, a cottage in a quiet, serene setting. I may have one of my children with me. I cannot get to the home as there is a tiger laying across the path. It doesn't move or even seem to see me and yet I am scared, I must turn around and go back to another home. It is brighter with lots of windows and some of my other children are there. However, I have the sense that I am just biding my time there.

My main concern in dream is the presence of lions & tigers and the sense of fear although they are not necessarily threatening me.

Look at your life poetically and metaphorically and ask yourself, "What is keeping me from my 'true home?'" Not that the answer will be all that simple; but I think it will get you pointed in the right direction, as it were.
My experience has been that when something scares me in a dream, it is intended to; but that's not invariably true. That tiger may be guarding your home while you are away, (and wondering when you're going to show up and give it some supper.) Or it may be an obstacle "lyin'" across your path.
Decades ago, I had a dream of being in the front yard of my boyhood home and almost knocked off my feet by a brown bear. When I turned and saw it, another was with it. What scared me was not the bears; but the thought that the neighbors might not understand that they were a great deal more playful than dangerous. There's no guarantee; but those Big Cats of yours may be playful kittens.

Hi Bob, thanks so much for your feedback! Not so sure my cats are as playful as your bears. They are definitely obstacles of some sort. I had been considering a relationship, that from an objective perspective (admittedly mine) seemed oh-so-right but internally, I couldn't process or come to terms with it wholeheartedly.

Or maybe just that I haven't been focusing myself where I know I should be to secure my future. Nevertheless, when I drew back from further involvement, the dreams stopped ...but some unremembered dreams with startling wake-ups followed for a couple of days. As it turned out, this person angrily retrieved a gift/plant from my patio that they had given me (pulled out of a pot actually) and I had woken up screaming within minutes of it happening. Several days later, he replaced it with another twice its size. This time I had woken up out of a sound sleep very suddenly, had strong feelings about someone on the patio but didn't see any evidence of this until a half hour later when a new plant was in its place. Just before these two unnerving wake-ups, this same person encountered me while I was out hiking. In fact, he was sitting atop a boulder as I neared the end of the hike. I've never been so stunned in my life.

If you can hear noises from your front porch when awake, your sleeping/dreaming mind can hear them also and incorporate them into a dream or just trigger an emotional response.
I should emphasize that when I post here I'm drawing solely on my own experience. I am not a professional interpreter or analyst; and the same dream symbol can have radically different associations to different people. That said, your relationship issues are obviously tied in with your dreams; and your not going to "reach your true home" until you've settled them and moved on. That tiger may yet prove to be a friend: he may be keeping you from going to a home you're not ready for.
It's your waking brain that is eventually going to have to reach decisions; but what you learn in dreams can help you immensely. Keep on keeping track of them. And, yes, the ones lost to a sudden wakeup are maddening. I've had quite a few lately.