Your dreaming mind may often conjure up images of strangers, unknown people or people whose faces are hidden by masks as representations of the shadow, private and sometimes shocking side of your personality. This is especially the case if the strangers are inadequate or sinister in some way, or if they are burglars, intruders or criminals.
If such images appear, it is important not to ignore them as you need to acknowledge these dream figures as reflections of an aspect of yourself in order to face up to your fears.
If you do not do so, you will continually come up against feelings of insecurity and low self- esteem in waking life. The stranger in a dream represents that part of yourself that you do not know. There may be feelings of conflict or tension but you need to deal with these dark images before you can progress in waking life. Jung referred to the shadow as the dark side of a person that you would like to keep hidden—’the thing a person has no wish to be’. The shadow can be thought of as an instinctive and primitive side of your personality that you are trying to repress.
Dream strangers therefore generally represent aspects of your character that you either haven’t consciously acknowledged or that you have neglected. This is why they appear unfamiliar or strange in your dream. How these strangers look and behave will give you an important clue to the nature of the problem area.
If a sinister figure does appear in your dream, try not to avoid confronting it. Notice how it tries to control the action in your dream. Observe what negative aspects of yourself it may be addressing and try to address them in your waking life.
Self-destructive urges are less likely to overwhelm you if you are prepared to confront them.
If dream strangers represent aspects of your personality any spacemen, aliens or extraterrestrials in your dream usually indicate that you are feeling threatened by alien forces or situations. Starting a dialogue with them should help you understand them better and allay your fears of the unknown. The same applies if a foreigner appears in your dream speaking an unfamiliar language.
[1]A person unknown to you is still representing a character aspect of your personality, even if his or her identity is concealed or the person is a stranger. When making an interpretation about a person you don’t know, you must focus on what you actually do know. What the person is doing in your dream and how you feel about that will give you the essence of your interpretation. Whatever message your dream is presenting you with, the fact that it comes from a stranger or a person with a concealed identity indicates that the unconscious is not quite ready to reveal what is being called into action in your current situation. More will be revealed; we learn in stages and increments and often resist change, so be prepared for initial levels of fear to come up around this type of imagery.
The unknown assailant who chases us may simply be trying to give us our forgotten lunch money or an umbrella because it is raining. When there are clear personality traits apparent and the person’s identity is unknown to you, it likely points to an area of development within your own personal makeup. An angry or aggressive stranger may point to an integration of that energy into consciousness.
A more helpful or gentle stranger indicates that softer elements are being called into prominence. Whatever end of the continuum your dream stranger is on, be prepared to consider the necessity and power of the energy he or she is embodying in the dream.
A deliberate concealment of identity can also indicate a matter of the unconscious tricking the conscious into hearing a difficult piece of information; for just as in life, it is sometimes easier to hear impactful news from a stranger than from someone we love.
[2]The interpretation of seeing and interacting with a stranger, or strangers, in your dream depends on the details of your dream and on your personal belief system. Some Eastern cultures believe that the strangers in your dreams are spirits from another dimension. These spirits may be teaching you lessons or giving you specific messages.
The more modern approach to interpreting a dream with strangers in it is that they represent different sides or unfamiliar aspects of our personality.
The best way to tell is to “check inside” of yourself and simply try to understand the message of this dream. Whether the message is coming from your unconscious or from a different reality might be irrelevant.
The lessons gained through a dream are far more important then where they came from. Just remember: The mind that dreamt the dream also knows its source and meaning (and that is YOUR own mind).
See Also: People
[3]The dreams in which unknown individuals are present, playing a role in the oneiric scene, are often messages that the unconscious uses to represent aspects of your personality. Sometimes, it portrays person who behaves as you would like to yourself. In other times, strangers have negative characteristics that are nothing but facets of your personality that displease or disappoint you.
If in dreams you talk to a stranger it means that you will receive news from some distant place. According to some oracles, the interpretation of this dream is reversed, namely, your friends will come to help.
[4]Dreams in which a stranger brings you an important message represent your unconscious mind telling you what you need to hear. This dream can also represent your feelings about someone you love who has died.
If you dream of being in love with a stranger in your dream, especially if the dream is recurring, your heart is longing for a true love to call your own.
[5](1) Meeting a stranger nearly always symbolizes an encounter with some part of your unconscious personality, your shadow.
See Also: aso Alien.
(2) Fear of a stranger may be an expression of neurotic free-floating anxiety, which, says Freud, may be a result of roused but unsatisfied, unused libido. (Repressed emotion of any kind will be transformed into anxiety.)
[6]From a Freudian perspective, a stranger in a dream may symbolize meeting a part of one’s own psyche, or shadow self. According to an ancient Chinese belief, a stranger in one’s dream is another soul from the spirit realm.
[7]The stranger in a dream represents that part of ourselves that we do not yet know. There may be a feeling of awe or of conflict with which we need to deal before we can progress. Also consult shadow in the introduction.
[8]Something new is announced.
The image can also point to the shadow (the stranger within), rejected or unknown characteristics in yourself that you don’t want to see.
See Also: Shadow.
[9]To dream of a stranger represents an aspect or quality that you refuse to show to others. It may also be suggesting a solution or resolution for an issue that is causing you anxiety.
[10]To dream of a stranger symbolizes an aspect of yourself you haven’t met yet. That which is foreign can be judged at first as a threat, bad, or wrong.
See Also: Integration Dreams.
[11]1. An outcast
2. Not belonging;
3. Christ; Exod. 2:22; Ps. 119:19;
[12]Unknown aspect of oneself; pan we avoid meeting’ in everyday life.
[13]If you dream of a stranger dressed in a cloak, it is a desire to die.
[14]An aspect of self you are not yet familiar with.
[15]To see one a dream of honor and success.
[16]See Also: People
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