(1) Excrement may stand for something you need to get rid of; something from your past that has been poisoning your psyche.
It is almost certainly something you have repressed (pushed down from the conscious mind into the unconscious). We repress what we can’t cope with, but the anxiety or guilt-feelings that caused us to resort to repression do not leave us: they linger and fester in the unconscious and, if not given conscious attention, will have destructive consequences. Don’t let yourself be constipated psychologically. Get rid of that store of negative emotion - resentments or whatever.
Anxieties and guilt-feelings often have irrational beginnings in early childhood, though they may remain dormant until some later experience wakens them. An emotionally detached appraisal of the situation that first gave rise to them may dissolve them.
If not, seek help. Alternatively, adopt a Gestalt approach: don’t bother about the origins of the negative feeling; just see what it is doing to you - and others - in the present, and deal with it, expel it like faeces, here and now.
(2) Excrement may be a symbol of something you disapprove of or despise - perhaps mistakenly. Take a good look at the excrement to discover precisely what it represents in yourself.
(3) According to Freud, faeces may be substitutes for either the penis or a baby. This is more applicable to a woman’s dream than to a man’s.
(4) Excrement may symbolize money - ‘filthy lucre’ (‘He’s rolling in it’; ‘She’s stinking rich’).
[1]You may not have progressed on a subconscious level beyond a feeling that anything to do with bodily functions is dirty and self-centred. There could be an element of rebellion in your waking life. Playing with excrement can represent your attitude to money and value, highlighting fear of responsibility, as well as anxiety about money.
If the excrement is transformed into living animals, maybe rats, you are accepting that you are responsible for managing your own impulses. Excrement in its more spiritual meaning belongs to the realm of feelings and you may simply be trying to get rid of bad feelings. Those bad feelings can be turned into something worthwhile. Evacuation of the bowel usually highlights our need to be free of worry and responsibility, or possibly the need to learn how to be uninhibited. It can also signify the sexual act.
[2]Feelings of repulsion; emotions or parts of experience which need to be let go of; infant level of self expression and self giving; physical need to have a healthy bowel. Sometimes personal creativity; being able to let go of what you don’t need—so can link with money and generosity; the primal level of our being; sensuality and infant sexuality. Shitting on someone or something: expressing desire to belittle them or to feel superiority; heaping unjust accusations on someone; bringing something which appeared powerful into perspective. Idioms: in the shit; feeling shitty; talking a lot of shit; being shat on.
See Also: toilet.
[3]Depth Psychology: Dreaming about “playing” with excrement: you have regressed—psychologically—to an anal phase (sexual immaturity). Also, you have gained new insight from past experiences. Passing stool: you will get relief from an actual situation. Feeling dirtied by excrement: a fear of not being accepted (or feeling disgust about yourself). Handling your own excrement: you want to get rid of emotional ballast or unpleasant situations. Seeing or stepping in excrement is a good omen: personal matters are resolved in your favor and to your satisfaction.
See Also: Intestines, Colon. Toilet.
[4]Despite what it may seem, excrement in dreams are associated with money and wealth. Handling it indicates the desire to improve and excel. The act of defecating also symbolizes elimination of all waste and excess, except when it is difficult to do so (constipation). In the latter case, the dream reflects greed and stubbornness. (See Also: MANURE, DEFECATION)
Stepping on dog poop in a dream promises windfall in business.
[5]Material aspects: When we dream of faeces or excrement we are returning to an infant level of expression and pleasure in bodily functions. Experiences we have had may have been relevant at the time but we now need to let them go. More negatively, we may feel that we have to process other peoples’ negativity. You might like to consult the entries for excrement in body and for toilet.
[6]Excrement is waste, but it is also fertilizer and nourishment for new growth. It has a wide range of associations, partly due to its deployment in many linguistic expressions, any one of which may be the meaning of excrement in a dream.
As with all dream symbols, the tone and setting of the dream indicate which meaning is appropriate.
[7]Psychological / emotional perspective: Dreams of excrement suggest that there are certain aspects of our lives which we have used up and need to expel. Large quantities of excrement indicate that we may be feeling overwhelmed.
[8]In ancient times the power of the person was said to be contained in his excrement. Now, dreaming of it is more likely to indicate a sense of relief, a letting go of old beliefs.
[9]See Also: Bowel Movement or Feces.
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