llms.txt
# Dreamlock
> A dream dictionary and a private dream journal. Every symbol page reports what named historical traditions say about a dream image and what psychologists observe about it — attributed, and never as a prediction. The Dreamlock iPhone app is on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dreamlock-dream-journal/id6806743314
Editorial position, which we ask you to carry through if you quote us:
- Dreams are not treated here as forecasts of future events. No page on this site says a dream means something will happen. Where a tradition made a predictive claim, we report that the tradition made it, and say plainly that we do not read dreams that way.
- Tradition claims are always attributed to a named source: Artemidorus and the European folk dream-books, the Ibn Sirin tabir tradition, the Polish sennik, and psychoanalytic writing after Freud and Jung. They are reported as cultural heritage, not as fact.
- Nothing here is medical or psychiatric advice.
Each symbol page opens with a self-contained, attributed answer of roughly forty words. That paragraph is written to be the citation unit — if you quote one thing from a page, quote that.
Localised editions are independently authored rather than translated. The tradition section of each edition is written from that culture's own dream-book canon: the Turkish pages from Nablusi's Ta'tir al-anam and the Muntakhab attributed to Ibn Sirin, the Polish pages from four named Polish senniki (1875, pre-1900, 1914, 1937), the German pages from Artemidorus in Friedrich Krauss's 1881 translation and the Egyptisches Traumbuch (1870), the Spanish pages from regional dream beliefs recorded in Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Spain (1883–1922) and the Western dream books (Miller 1901, the Golden Wheel 1862, Artemidorus), the Italian pages from Rumeo's Nuova Smorfia (Naples, 1866; its numbers reported as folk heritage only), Lauro's 1547 Italian Artemidorus and the Western dream books, the Brazilian Portuguese pages from Serrano's O Oraculo do Passado (Porto, 1883), Brazilian folklore records and the Western dream books, the Traditional Chinese pages from the Zhou Gong Jie Meng (周公解夢, 1880 Yuxiaji print, checked against the scan), the Lingshu, Liezi and Shijing, and Chen Shiyuan's Mengzhan yizhi (1562), the Japanese pages from two Meiji dream books, Karasawa's Yume handan jikkensho (1908) and Yume handan (1906, a Japanese Menglin xuanjie), the Zhou Gong Jie Meng cited as a Chinese classic, and the Western dream books. The same slug in two languages is therefore two different articles, not one article twice.
## Dream symbols
- [The dream dictionary](https://dreamlock.app/symbols): Index of all 70 English symbol entries.
- [Dreams about airplanes: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/airplane): The old dream books predate the airplane. The nearest they come is Miller's 1901 dream dictionary, which read seeing a "flying machine" as satisfactory progress and one failing to work as gloomy returns for worried planning. The crash, turbulence and the missed flight are modern scenes.
- [Dreams about babies: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/baby): The old dream books mostly read a baby kindly: the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called a young infant "an excellent omen", and Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a newborn as pleasant surprises. The scene changed the verdict: Miller read a crying baby as disappointments, and Artemidorus read one's own infants as cares.
- [Dreams about bears: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/bear): The old dream books read the bear as a strong opponent: Miller's 1901 dictionary called it overwhelming competition, the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) a sign of enemies. Yet the Golden Wheel read a bear attacking the dreamer as the enemy overcome, Miller read killing a bear as freedom from old entanglements, and his polar bear as deceit.
- [Dreams about bees: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/bee): The old dream books read bees as luck and good work. Miller's 1901 dictionary called them pleasant and profitable engagements and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) good and lucky. The sting was the exception: Miller read it as injury from a friendly source, and Artemidorus read the swarm's hum as unrest for anyone but farmers and beekeepers.
- [Dreams about being chased: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/being-chased): The old dream books read a chase through the pursuer. Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read being chased by a monster as sorrow ahead and by the devil as snares set by false friends; a bull meant jealous rivals. Psychologists often read being chased as an avoidance dream: something unfaced, following at night.
- [Dreams about being late: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/being-late): The old dream books barely knew the dream of being late. Miller's 1901 dream dictionary came closest: being delayed he read as enemies scheming against the dreamer's progress, and arriving late at a feast as vexing affairs. Being late for a flight, a train or a wedding, psychologists read as an overload dream.
- [Dreams about being lost: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/being-lost): The old dream books read being lost as a warning about the dreamer's affairs: Miller's 1901 dream dictionary said losing one's way called for putting "lucky speculations" out of mind. The place mattered. Miller read being lost in a forest as family quarrels, in a maze as perplexing business, and in snow as waves of ill luck.
- [Dreams about being naked: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/being-naked): The old dream books read nakedness as exposure: Miller's 1901 dictionary called being naked a sign of scandal, and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read undressing in front of others as slander. Miller read hiding one's nakedness as regret, and both books split sharply over seeing someone else naked.
- [Dreams about being shot: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/being-shot): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary called the gun "a dream of distress": being shot meant annoyance from ill-meaning people, and dying from the shot meant abuse from friends, then reconciliation if the dreamer woke first. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read hearing gunshots as strife. Psychologists hear sudden hurt landing from a distance.
- [Dreams about birds: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/bird): The old dream books read birds by rank and by what they did. Miller's 1901 dream dictionary called flying birds a sign of prosperity, while the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read birds flying over the dreamer's head as enemies' prejudice and birdsong as a good sign. A caged bird, psychologists read as a voice kept confined.
- [Dreams about blood: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/blood): The old dream books split sharply over blood. Artemidorus read it as money, so the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) counted vomiting blood as good luck for the poor, while Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read bleeding, blood-stained clothes and blood on the hands as enemies and bad luck. A nosebleed, to the Golden Wheel, meant riches decaying.
- [Dreams about cars: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/car): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary, one of the earliest to read the motor car, saw riding in one as restlessness and a change of affairs, and a breakdown as a pleasure falling short. The car dreams people search for now, failing brakes and a stolen car, came later; psychologists read them as control and direction.
- [Dreams about a car crash: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/car-crash): The old dream books have no reading written for a car crash. The nearest are general: Miller's 1901 dictionary read a collision as disappointment in business, while the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read an accident by contraries. Psychologists hear momentum meeting resistance, and read driving, surviving and witnessing differently.
- [Dreams about cats: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/cat): The old dream books distrusted cats. Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a cat as ill luck unless the dreamer killed it or drove it away, and a cat attacking as enemies blackening one's name; the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read seeing cats as hidden enmity. Even Miller's white cat and kitten were no luckier.
- [Dreams about your partner cheating: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/cheating-partner): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a faithless sweetheart by contraries, as "a happy marriage". The rest was darker: the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read jealousy as a sign of betrayal, and Miller read catching a husband in a compromising position as trouble through friends. None of them treats the dream as evidence.
- [Dreams about crocodiles and alligators: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/crocodile): The old dream books read the crocodile as treachery: Artemidorus called it a pirate or a murderer, and whatever it did to the dreamer, the person it stood for would do. Miller's 1901 dictionary read it as deception by one's warmest friends, and an alligator as bad news unless the dreamer killed it.
- [Dreams about crying: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/crying): The old dream books split on tears. Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read crying as pleasures sinking into gloom, but the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read grief "by the rule of contrary" as a jolly time. Seeing someone else cry, Miller read as a reunion after estrangement; psychologists hear feeling that finally found room.
- [Dreams about a dead loved one: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/dead-loved-one): The old dream books did not agree about the dead. Artemidorus read a dead loved one by how they had been in life, and anything they gave as luck; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read most such dreams, even one where they talk to you or seem alive, as a warning. Psychologists call them continuing bonds.
- [Dreams about death: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/death): The old dream books disagreed sharply about death. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read seeing death by contraries, as happiness, long life and a wedding; Artemidorus read one's own death as a turning point, like marriage; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read dying and funerals darkly. Psychologists hear an ending, not a forecast.
- [Dreams about your late father: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/deceased-father): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a late father as a call to caution: talking with him warned of an unlucky transaction, his ghost of danger. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read seeing one's father as fortunate, though seeing him die as unlucky. Psychologists hear a conversation with the standard he left behind.
- [Dreams about your late mother: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/deceased-mother): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary was sterner about a mother's return than most dreamers expect: it read seeing a dead mother as a warning against morbid thoughts, and hearing her call as neglected duty. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) knew only a living mother. Psychologists read her hug and her words as comfort arriving when it is most needed.
- [Dreams about dogs: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/dog): The three old dream books cited here read dogs by how they behaved. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called fawning dogs a lucky omen and snarling ones enemies; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a dog biting you as a quarrelsome companion and a vicious dog attacking as misfortune. Artemidorus even graded dogs by colour.
- [Dreams about drowning: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/drowning): The old dream books split over drowning: Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read it as loss, the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) said it "portends good to the dreamer". Both read rescue warmly: Miller read being rescued as rising to wealth and honour, and saving someone from drowning as helping a friend to high places.
- [Dreams about earthquakes: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/earthquake): The old dream books read the earthquake as upheaval: Miller's 1901 dictionary saw business failure and distress, the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) change of estate, and a town destroyed as famine and war. Artemidorus read the moving earth as movement in the dreamer's affairs, good only for travellers and debtors.
- [Dreams about eggs: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/egg): The old dream books read eggs mostly as good fortune and children. Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read finding a nest of eggs as substantial wealth and fresh broken eggs as fortune's richest gifts, but eating eggs as trouble at home and rotten ones as loss. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read eggs as a sign of many children.
- [Dreams about your ex: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/ex-partner): The modern reading is steady: dreaming about an ex rarely means you want them back. Getting back together, arguing, or seeing your ex with someone new usually stands for what the relationship held. Artemidorus, Miller and the Golden Wheel have no entry for an ex; Miller's 1901 dictionary read only break-ups and divorce.
- [Dreams about exams and failing tests: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/exam): None of the three old dream books we cite has an entry for an exam. The nearest is school: Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read being back at school as sorrow and longing for simpler days. Psychologists read the exam dream, failing it or arriving unprepared, as competence under audit, unpassable by design.
- [Dreams about falling: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/falling): The old dream books disagreed about falling. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read a fall from a height as a dignity conferred; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read it as a struggle ending in honour, unless the dreamer was hurt; Artemidorus counted plunging down a slope as bad both ways. Miller read falling off a cliff as disaster.
- [Dreams about poop: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/feces): Does poop in a dream mean money? In the two books that read it, only half. Miller's 1901 dictionary read manure as a favourable omen and a dunghill as unexpected profit, but Artemidorus read human excrement as many sufferings, and poop on the floor at home as a sign of leaving that house. Psychologists hear letting go.
- [Dreams about fighting: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/fight): The old dream books disagreed about fights. Miller's 1901 dictionary read a fight as trouble with rivals and quarrels as unhappiness, but the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read them by contraries: a quarrel with a friend meant a pleasant time together, and quarrelling lovers grew fonder. Artemidorus read wrestling a relative as real disputes with them.
- [Dreams about fire: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/fire): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary counted fire favourable "if he does not get burned", and even read a burning home as a loving family. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) agreed about your own house on fire, while Artemidorus read a great unbridled fire as disaster. Psychologists read fire as intensity.
- [Dreams about fish: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/fish): The three old dream books cited here read fish as gain. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called catching fish excellent good fortune and many fish money received; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read eating fish as lasting attachments. Dead fish turned the reading: Miller saw loss of wealth, Artemidorus hopes that failed.
- [Dreams about a flood: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/flood): Two old dream books disagreed outright about floods. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read a flood as "riches and plenty", and water surrounding the house as wealth; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read being swept away as loss and misfortune, though he read land flooded with clear water as profit and ease after long struggle.
- [Dreams about flying: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/flying): The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called flying an excellent omen, and the other books argued about height. Artemidorus counted a low, upright flight lucky and wanting to fly but failing the unluckiest flying dream of all; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read flying high as marital calamities, and falling mid-flight as a downfall that waking early could undo.
- [Dreams about frogs: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/frog): The old dream books split on frogs. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read a big frog, many frogs or croaking as good for health, but killing frogs as an accident. Miller's 1901 dictionary read toads as unfortunate adventures, and Artemidorus read frogs as jugglers and beggars, good only for those who live off the crowd.
- [Dreams about gold: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/gold): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read finding gold as rising easily ahead and losing it as missing the grandest opportunity of one's life; the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called receiving gold a very good omen. Artemidorus distrusted found treasure, counting it pleasant in the dream and bad in its outcome.
- [Dreams about graves and cemeteries: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/grave): The old dream books read the cemetery more gently than the grave. Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a well-kept cemetery as news of a recovery and the Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) a churchyard as a long, happy life, while Miller read an empty grave as disappointment and digging one as uneasiness overcome once the grave was finished.
- [Dreams about hair falling out: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/hair-falling-out): The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called hair that fell off or thinned a bad omen; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a woman's balding as fortune passing her by; Artemidorus read baldness by where it fell. Hair falling out in clumps has no entry of its own.
- [Dreams about horses: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/horse): The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called them excellent animals to dream about and read riding well as fortune advancing; Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read a white horse as prosperity and a fall as a strong rival. Artemidorus read the horse as the dreamer's wife or beloved.
- [Dreams about houses: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/house): The three books we cite read the house by what happened to it. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) counted burning your own house as increased riches, Artemidorus read a clean blaze as prosperity, and Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read being unable to find your home as lost faith in others. New rooms have no old entry.
- [Dreams about insects and bugs: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/insects): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read most insects as petty enemies and small ills: bugs as revolting complications, beetles on the body as poverty, ants as little worries. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) read vermin in the house as ill luck. Both books agreed on one thing: killing the insects turned the dream good.
- [Dreams about keys: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/keys): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary read keys as unexpected changes: lost keys as unpleasant adventures, found keys as domestic peace. The Golden Wheel Dream-Book (1862) called losing a key a bad omen of shame, and read finding one as a secret told. Artemidorus noted that a key is made for locking, not opening.
- [Dreams about killing someone: what they mean](https://dreamlock.app/symbols/killing): Miller's 1901 dream dictionary judged a dream killing by its cause, reading killing in self-defence as victory and a rise in position, but killing a defenceless man as sorrow and failure, and committing murder as a
