As the new year begins, it seems fitting to write about “baby” as a dream symbol, since one of its symbolic meanings is the new year. More generally, babies are symbolic of new beginnings, fresh starts, and a clean slate. In the past couple of weeks I’ve had several dreams with babies in them, which I understand at one level to be about launching this website–a new project with the potential to grow and change. Babies can also represent innocence and potential. When I dream of a baby I also try to see if there’s any reference to my own infancy, a time when I was first learning about the world and my place in it.The dream might point to a new way I can relate to the world, or a new level of potential. Sometimes, people dream about forgetting a baby somewhere. Jeremy Taylor discusses this theme on his website, pointing out that such dreams are often about forgetting to do one’s inner work, the baby representing some neglected part of the self. It’s hard, sometimes, to look within and really see what part of me feels neglected, but when I do, I am able to tap into even greater joy. I can remember what it’s like to look at the world with innocent joy.
Introductory Dream Workshop
Artists Standing Strong Together presents Monday Night Workshops – The Teacher Within: An Introduction to the Meaning of Dreams, an online workshop conducted by Laura Deal; Monday,
3 thoughts on “Baby as a symbol”
When I was pregnant I had a flurry of dreams where I misplaced the baby, accidentally dropped the baby in a river, couldn’t quite make my way back to care for the baby…My midwives said I was right on schedule to have those dreams so I guess it wasn’t the first batch of those dreams they ran into.
Kim, there’s certainly an element of practice in our dreams! But I would also see those dreams as a reminder to myself as a mother who is about to give birth not to lose the essential parts of myself in the journey of parenthood.
Laura, I agree and think that was where my thinking was at the time. I distinctly remember writing in my morning pages at the time that I needed to/wanted to commit to little practices that would remind me who I am throughout pregnancy and parenthood. Thank goodness they were little practices, because they have all been interrupted about a million times but never enough to entirely lose me.