Interpreting Nightmares About Family Members

We've all had nightmares about someone or something harming a family member. Even if you have precognitive dreams, chances are the dream comes from a fear of that person, or whatever part of you they represent, changing for the worse rather than a prediction that something bad will happen to them. While these nightmares are terrifying, they are just that: nightmares. It is important to address these fears of change so the dreams don't recur. Remember that every person in a dream actually symbolizes different parts of your own personality.

When you dream your child is hurt
While any harm coming to a child remains every parent's worst fear, when you dream that your perfectly healthy child has been hurt the dream's meaning takes a side road from that fear. Children in dreams represent a new beginning and your own child stands for a new beginning for something you have made. A bad dream about a child may mean that you are afraid a project you started will go nowhere, or simply that you fear your creativity will become stilted or even stifled.

If you dream that your daughter has been hurt, you may be afraid that her personality will undergo a drastic change. Your dream may also be a knee jerk reaction to the fact that your innocent young daughter has become or may become a moody, rebellious and inevitably sexualized adolescent. And whether you are a man or a woman, a nightmare about a daughter could mean that you fear losing your ability to nurture or another traditional feminine trait.

While your daughter symbolizes your feminine traits, your son does not necessarily represent more traditionally masculine traits. Rather, nightmares about your son mean you miss your own youth, or that you are afraid that you haven't completed enough of your goals in life. You may also miss your son as he was when he was a small child or worry about the way his life is turning out.

Dreams of harm to a parent
Assuming your parent is still alive, a bad dream about one of them could simply mean you are upset by their aging process or that you fear they will have bad health. What the dream means about you is that you are anxious about losing some power or authority that you have over someone or something else, or maybe even a fear of losing your self control. Your mother's injury or misfortune in a dream is similar to a daughter's in that she represents your nurturing side, but it can also mean that you fear losing your autonomy or individuality. A dream that your father is hurt may mean that you feel that your life has some major problems or that you lack warmth or strength.

If your mother has already passed away, and she appears in your dream, you may be concerned that you have been unkind to someone. If your father has died and he is in a nightmare, you are afraid that a business transaction may go wrong.

Aunts and uncles
Your aunt represents your family's traditions. So if you dream something happens to her, you may feel that your own life has strayed too far from the ways in which you were brought up. Conversely, you may want to break with tradition and the dream is your mind's way of telling you it's okay to do so. A bad dream about an uncle is similar in that it symbolizes fears about the strength of your familial relationships, but can also represent concerns about your own health.