In dream-lore, to pass through a door and enter a house is a decisive and symbolic action as the door represents the passage from one state of being to another. Freud and Jung agreed that the house signified the self and the body, but disagreed about the doors of a house. For Freud, doors are dream images representing the body’s orifices, whilst for Jung, doors express the dreamer’s relationship to their conscious and unconscious world. According to Jungians, a door opening outwards suggests a need to open up to others, whereas a door opening inwards suggests the need for greater reflection or a desire to explore the inner self.
In general, most dream analysts believe that entering through a door signifies new opportunities that will be presented to you. Doors and doorways represent an opportunity for either positive or negative change. You may be entering into a new stage in your life, moving from one level of consciousness to another.
If your dreaming mind portrayed you as stepping through a door, it signals your willingness to embrace change and the unknown, whilst letting someone in through the door indicates your willingness to interact with them.
If you were faced by a confusing number of doors, you may be feeling overwhelmed by choices in life and unsure which opening is right for you.
If you simply can’t find the door to escape through in your dream, then perhaps you feel unable to express yourself in waking life. To dream of locked doors signifies opportunities that are denied, unavailable to you or ones on which you have missed out. Also consider who or what you are shutting out of your life if your dream features a door; perhaps as one dream door closes, another will open…
More specifically, a front door usually symbolizes unfamiliar outside circumstances—if a doormat features in your dream as well, you may be allowing others to walk all over you in real life—while a backdoor stands for the more familiar traffic of people we already know. Unwanted changes in your life are often depicted in dreams as intruders or strangers at the door, and if you are beginning a new relationship and themes of burglary or home invasion appear in your dreams, this does not necessarily mean your partner is dangerous; the dream may be providing an early warning of undercurrents in your relationship that are not nourishing to you. In some instances, the dark stranger at the door represents an aspect of yourself that is selfcritical and self- destructive.
Another dream featuring doors is that of being locked out or being unable to enter your home because you have lost your key. This image reflects a situation in which you are being prevented from accessing your talent, drive and energy. You have been locked out from the best part of yourself but the situation can be easily corrected by remembering your key next time, or finding another way in. In most cases, the key indicates willingness to change and to experiment with alternatives. Keyholes in dreams allow you to view that which is otherwise concealed; if this image appears in your dream, ask yourself whether your privacy is being invaded in some way or whether you are prying into affairs that are no concern of yours. A rusty key may indicate talents that are being neglected. Freud viewed the key as a phallus and saw potent sexual symbolism in the trio of key, door and the door’s subsequent opening. Finally, to dream that you hear or ring a door bell foretells of unexpected news.
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