You may have had a dream in which you committed a crime and found yourself being punished for your actions. You may have woken from such a dream feeling extremely relieved that you have not committed a crime or been punished, but lingering feelings of anxiety may stay with you. Try to identify your feelings about such a dream as they will help with the interpretation. Did you feel guilty or angry that an injustice had been done to you? If you can discover how you feel about the punishment, this may hold the key to the interpretation.
If you felt guilty, perhaps there is something in your waking life that you feel is wrong or is destroying your peace of mind.
If you are actually caught in the act in your dream and find yourself awaiting or being sentenced to punishment of some kind, this is a clear message of disapproval from your dreaming mind and a warning that if you don’t change your ways, you will be in danger of being found out in waking life. Try to identify who punished you in your dream.
If it was someone you know, you may be feeling remorseful towards them in waking life, but if it was someone you do not know, you may be feeling guilty about breaking a law or rule in waking life or showing disrespect for authority.
If a lynch mob attacked you, have you committed a crime against society in general by not paying your taxes or dropping litter? If you dreamed of being accused of a crime you did not commit and nobody believed your protestations of innocence, do you feel you are being treated unfairly in your waking life? When the punishment was pronounced in your dream, did you feel that is was out of proportion to the wrongdoing.
If you felt the punishment was far too severe, this suggests that you are feeling extremely guilty about someone thing you have done in waking life.
If you were whipped in your dream, do you feel as if life has dealt you some harsh blows?
If you were arrested in your dream, this suggests the need for some kind of restraint in your waking life, or a fear of authority in general.
If a crime scene or forensic team appears in your dream, your dreaming mind is encouraging you to understand your motives.
If you were chained, imprisoned or sentenced to death in your dream, see NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.
If your dream features the ultimate crime of murder, see NIGHTMARES.
[1]Your dreaming mind may from time to time inflict punishment on you for thoughts and actions of which your waking self disapproves. In most cases, the dream symbols will be disproportionate to the ‘crime’. For example, if you have spoken thoughtlessly about a friend, you may find yourself being executed as you have murdered your friend’s good name. Your dreams may also reflect your belief that someone else deserves to be punished and the criminal being caught in your dream may be some one else, not you.
An angry mob can suggest aspects of your own personality, as well as public opinion.
If you dream of being lynched, ask yourself whether you have been behaving appropriately in waking life. Whatever the instrument of punishment or torture in your dreams, be it the gallows, cane, guillotine, gibbet or birch, you need to identify who is being punished and why they are being punished. Bear in mind, too, that the inflicting of punishment, especially if it is a beating, may reflect a tendency towards masochism. Those dream interpreters that draw on Jung’s theory that nightmares are concerned with the shadow consider scary dreams to be a form of self-punishment for the cravings and desires you suppress during the day.
If you dream that you are back at school and forced to stay after a lesson in detention because you have not worked or listened properly, this may suggest that you are not absorbing information or paying significant attention to something important in your waking life. The ultimate image of punishment in dreams is hell, so if you dream of being condemned to hell, suffering eternal torment or are damned forever, this may be a reference to a mistake you have made in waking life, or something you have said or done and the force with which you are rebuking or warning yourself.
[2]1- When a child recognises that he or she is not conforming to what is expected, the threat of punishment is often present. In later life, when there is fear of retribution from an external source, we will often dream of being punished.
Self-punishment occurs when we have not achieved the standards we expcct of ourselves.
2- When there is conflict in our lives, if we cannot resolve il we will often dream of being punished. This may be the only way out of our particular dilemma. We would rather suffer pain than resolve the difficulty.
3- The concept of Divine Retribution that is, being punished by a force greater than ourselves suggests a judgmental God. Spiritual punishment is much more, however, the idea of self-flagellation for not having achieved what is required of us.
[3]Often, this dream is provoked by feelings of guilt for something that has happened or something you have done. No matter if it is you who is punished or the one who punishes, it always reveals a sense of guilt, defeat, or resentment. You may also be punishing yourself. An individual that had traumatic experiences in childhood may constantly blame herself for her actions. In that case, the dreamer must liberate herself from the social or parental pressure that subjugates her.
Gypsy people believe that dreaming that you are punished reveals the guilt you feel for having neglected your personal relationships.
[4]Punishment in a dream reflects guilt or shame about some actions committed by the dreamer. Even if the punishment is being inflicted upon someone else, the dreamer is most probably “feeling” the punishment as well.
[5]Bad conscience and masochism. Moral problems, similar to Confession.
It is also possible that you will be asked to consider taking responsibility for somebody, or that you need to forgive somebody.
[6]Punishment in a dream is a fairly straight-forward symbol, signifying the dreamer has guilty feelings about something done in real life.
[7]To dream of being punished for a misdeed is a portent of unhappiness.
If you are doing the punishing, the augury is a good one.
[8]To dream of being Punished signifies an unexpected pleasure at hand.
[9][10]See Also: Prison an Jail/Jailer.
[11]See Also: Chastise.
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