In Poland, the ‘science’ of converting dream symbols into winning lottery numbers has endured since – well, the appearance of lotteries.
Gamblers and pseudoscientists hit the jackpot by publishing books that claimed to reveal the key between your dreams and the lucky numbers. A monkey in your dreams, apparently, foretells ‘love gone cold’ and the number 63.
Dream interpretation is big business because dreams are so mysterious and personal that we can’t help but search them for doom or hope. Your dream life is a one-person spiritual universe.
On the other hand, dream motifs recur from person to person and across cultures. Our dreams are shaped – in part, anyway – by our surroundings. So, if everyone in your country dreams of monkeys, it doesn’t mean 63 will come up on the National Lottery – but there’s a good chance you live in a country where monkeys are common.
Mornings.co.uk was curious which dreams were most common in different countries around the world. So, we analyzed Google search data to see which dream symbols every country is searching for. And then we looked at what the most common dreams might mean. Scroll on to see what we found.
The World Dreams of Snakes
Our world map, below, shows the most commonly Google-searched dream in every country where data was available.
The world dreams of snakes. More countries most commonly dream of snakes than any other topic, and it is the most common in more than 1/3 of the countries we surveyed (52 out of 147). Snake dreams are particularly ‘popular’ across Eastern Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. The snake lends itself to symbolic interpretation, but, in the case of some snake-inhabited localities, sometimes a snake is just a snake.
Click to see full size image
At least snakes can crawl the other way. There’s no panic quite so real as the dream of losing your teeth. This is the second most prevalent dream in the world and is number one in 17 countries – mostly northern ones.
Perhaps the gloomy northern personality is to blame. One University of Colorado study found that tooth loss dreamers “were significantly more anxious and depressed, had lower ego strength, were less satisfied with their lives, felt they had less control over their lives, and felt helpless more often than the control subjects who dreamt of flight.”
The Most Common Dreams in the US and UK
Our next two charts show the ten most common dreams in the UK and US. Dreams of teeth falling out are significantly more common than any other kind of dream in both countries, particularly the UK. And both countries share snake dreams at number two. However, among terrifying snakes and spiders, the US dreams of ex-partners at number three – while Brits dream of hair.
The same dreams feature in different positions across much of the top ten for both countries. But for a clearer insight into the different psyches of the average UK and US inhabitant, we need to turn to the dreams that feature uniquely in one or the other table. This reveals that while Americans dream of vacations, bears, and being chased, Brits have pregnancy, birth, and fire on their (subconscious) mind.
The Five Most Common Dreams, Explained
We turned to dreammoods.com to provide speculative interpretations of the top five dreams in the world. The dream interpretation site uses a “psychological perspective or Freudian view” with an injection of mythological insight for its dictionary of common dream symbols.
Phallic, skin-shedding, poisonous, slippery, and smart, since biblical times, our slithery friend has represented the sacred and profane, life-giving medicine and certain death. So, while some dream experts point out that the context of the dream snake is what gives it meaning, you could equally argue the meaning is in the eye of the interpreter. For example, Cosmopolitan magazine suggests the snake “is your subconscious sending you a message that a person or situation you’re involved with is, well, pretty toxic.” That’s a pretty Cosmo way to look at things, really.
A World of Dreams
Local nature, culture, art, media, and events may ‘localize’ our dreams. But there’s another local culprit that could explain some differences: food. While only 17.8% of us believe that what we eat influences what we dream, the body and mind are closely interdependent – and those who eat fattier foods before they sleep enjoy a different quality of rest than those with more fruit and nuts in their diet. Could certain feelings and aftertastes suggest certain preferred themes for national dreams?
Methodology & Sources
We found out which language is spoken predominantly in each country and used Google Translate to find out the word for dream in every language. Then we used Ahrefs to find the dream with the most Google searches in every country and US state. We used DreamMoods to research the meaning of each dream.
More from MediaFeed:
What your money dreams & nightmares really mean
So you are dreaming about money. Whether it’s finding money, looking for money, or earning a lot of money. Your money dreams should be decoded.
It can help you when you think about how you cream about money and figure out what your money dreams mean.
Personally I find dreams very fascinating. Especially the fact that dreams can influence our mood, our relationships or other moments in our lives
To think that dreams can influence all of this means that it’s important to think about what it means when you dream about money.
It can be very different, depending on what happened with the money in your dream. We will go into what it means when you:
- Find money
- Lose money
- Win money
- Give money away
DepositPhotos.com
When I was growing up, I could never remember my dreams. All my friends were talking about their awesome dreams and I was jealous I never remembered them. I was trying to fit in.
This resulted in me writing down every morning what I had dreamed of. After a couple of months, I started to remember my dreams better. This dream journal is something I have done ever since.
While I love dreaming, it is not always fun. You can be chased, drowned, or lose money. You can also win money, find tons of money, and wake up happy.
Naturally, I am a super curious person. I wanted to find out what my dreams meant. When I was in university, I started researching what it means when you dream about money.
What I learned back then, I’d like to share with you so you can start understanding your money dreams!
It is important to note that it is my interpretation of what I learned. If you don’t feel like it means the same to you that’s totally fine.
MangoStar_Studio
Money is a symbol. Just like in real life, money symbolizes something like power, success, confidence, and wealth in dreams. While it can mean material gain, it can also mean richness in the more abstract sense of the word. The richness of wisdom, health, relationships and spirit.
If you feel an abundance of money in your dreams, these things are present in your life. You feel abundant in your life and you feel that everything you need is provided to you.
If you experience a lack of money in your dreams, there is a lack of something. This can be other things than only money. It can be a lack of power, confidence or anything else that you may feel is lacking.
DepositPhotos.com
When we are going through the different situations that can occur in your money dream, it is important to know what money means to you.
Is money a tool that enables you to live the life you want and share with others?
Or is money something bad that makes good people do bad things?
Being aware of your money mindset and what you think about money is very important when interpreting dreams about money.
Depositphotos
Here are some things to guide you:
- How did the dream make you feel? Paying attention to how you are feeling is very important in dreams. Did you feel happy? Joyful? Abundant? Overwhelmed? Anxious? Scare?
- What is happening with the money? Are you finding money, winning money, lending money to your friend, or even losing money? Knowing what happens with money in your dream is a great way to start understanding it.
DepositPhotos.com
Finding money is fun! Imagine that you’re going outside and you’re wearing a different jacket than you normally do. It’s colder outside so you put your hands deep in your pockets. Suddenly you feel something in your pocket. You pull it out and you’re holding a $20 bill in your hand. You’re super happy and excited, and it feels like someone has just given you money.
Whether this is happening in real life or in your dream, it is fun!
When you receive money in your dream, that means you’re feeling abundance. This may be in terms of relationships, power or confidence.
If the money you find in your dream if your own money, you are experiencing lots of self-love and self-worth. You are rediscovering certain aspects of life that make you feel good.
If you find or receive money in your dream, you will wake up most likely feeling satisfied and happy with life. You are grateful for all the things that are currently happening and everything is working out for you.
DepositPhotos.com
When you lose money in a dream, this can create stress. It can be as realistic as losing your wallet, or as sudden as the wind taking away your cash.
The meaning of losing money in your dream can be literal, where you feel something is not right with your finances. It can also be a more general meaning of being out of control or a lack of energy.
What could it mean when you dream about losing money? It can indicate that you are feeling out of control. You don’t have the power to control a certain situation and you may feel hopeless.
If we go back to the basis, money represents energy. If you lose money, it may be the case that you are losing energy and you need to take it slow to recharge. Things are not going the way you wanted them to. You need to rebalance yourself and take good care of yourself.
Appreciate what you have before you go out and get more.
DepositPhotos.com
Stealing money can mean very different things to different people. This highly depends on your values – are you always doing what everyone says? Do you feel that stealing is very wrong? It can mean that you will do whatever it takes to get what you want. Despite certain rules or opinions of others.
Stealing money in your dream can mean that you want to fulfill your own desires and needs at the expense of someone else’s. This is where the feeling and context of the dream becomes very important. You could be feeling selfish or you could be feeling the pressure of having no other choice but to do this.
The person that you are stealing from has a big role in this regard. Do you like this person in real life? How does this person make you feel?
Stealing money in your dream does not necessarily mean it is bad. It could mean that you are taking back what is yours. Whether that is in a relationship, a material way, or other things.
With regards to stealing money, it often occurs when you are seeing no way out and you act like this is your only option.
NeONBRAND / Unsplash
When you dream about money being given to you, that means good things are on its way. Money given to you means that you’re working hard and being rewarded for it. Plus, you’re pretty content about the things you did and the work you delivered.
DepositPhotos.com
What does it mean when you save money in your dream? Mostly it means that you are being responsible with your money, you have more than enough, and you are certain that you can keep that up.
If you are saving extreme amounts of money in your dream, that means that you are afraid to lose what you have. You are so afraid to lose what you have that you don’t want to share with others. The dreamer can resolve that by allowing others to come in, to share with others, and that will resolve the feeling of not having enough.
Saving extreme amounts of money in your dream may mean that you are only taking and not giving anything back. You are not okay with that and you want to change something about that.
If you use the personal wealth that you have for things that matter to, the feeling of hoarding money will pass.
Adene Sanchez/istockphoto
The meaning of spending money in your dream heavily depends on what item you are buying.
If you’re buying something that you like, it can mean that you are going towards your goals and getting what you want. Most of the time this is together with experiencing abundance.
If you are in your dream and buying something you don’t want to spend money on? Do you feel like you are wasting money? This can mean that you are spending your energy on something that is not giving you anything in return. You are wasting your time with this.
When you have the feeling you can’t find the item you need or there is not enough of something, it may mean that there is some feeling of insecurity underneath the dream. Maybe the goals you set for yourself are too overwhelming and you need to take smaller steps every day to get to your ultimate goal. Rome isn’t built in a day. Set your financial goals in a way that feels easy and attainable to you.
DepositPhotos.com
If you win money in your dream, that probably indicates that things are working out for you in the way you wanted them to. You are happy in life and that radiates through your entire life, including your dreams There is abundance everywhere around you and there is absolutely no way that you could believe otherwise.
istockphoto
What could it mean if you lend someone money in your dream? If you are lending the money to a loved one or someone you care about, you may be worried about this person. They are going through a rough time and you want to give them some special attention.
Are you happy when you lend them the money? That means that you really want to support them and want to be there for them. You are experiencing abundance in your life and there is enough for everyone.
Are you feeling uncomfortable about the entire situation? That may mean that you are afraid of losing the abundance in your life.
DepositPhotos.com
If you are borrowing money in a dream, that can indicate that you are spending too much of your energy and you need to ‘borrow’ this from someone else. You’re pushing too hard. Take it easy and recharge.
Borrowing money in your dream can also indicate that you are pushing your self too hard towards your goals. Take small daily steps to get towards where you want to be.
Baby steps will get you towards your ultimate goal.
Deagreez / istockphoto
There are dozens of situations that can occur with you and money. In your dream, you can find money, lose money, steal money, save money, spend money, win money, lend money, borrow money.
All things that occur regularly and have a different meaning.
We have discussed situations that occur most often and that can have a big impact on your dreaming and waking life.
Increase your money mindset by stating money affirmations on a daily basis. It is something that has helped me tremendously in the past.
Related:
This article
originally appeared on RadicalFire.comand was
syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Wavebreakmedia/istockphoto
razihusin / istockphoto
Featured Image Credit: frenky362 / iStock.
