Have you ever dreamed of getting into a fight with a friend with whom you otherwise get along? Or had a dream about having sex with someone you didn’t even find attractive in real life? If so, then you may be wondering what it means to dream about someone. While the meaning may be obvious, there's often more symbolism than we realize - so dreaming about other people can give us insight into our subconscious.
While it's fun to dream about other people, it's even more fun to consider what it means for someone else to dream about you - because that can tell us a lot about the dreamer and what you mean to them. In dreams, most things (and people) are symbols of certain feelings, relationships, or situations in waking life. That is, appearing in someone's dream may say less about you and more about the feelings or qualities of the dreamer that connect you to you. The same thing applies when you analyze the meaning of dreaming about other people.
"Every dream someone has about you has many layers and can mean a lot of different things, but one thing may mean that the person is processing their subconscious feelings about you and your relationship with each other," occult practitioner Makayla McCree tells Bustle. "It can also represent the characteristics and qualities that a person identifies with you, which can help communicate with those parts of themselves."
The next time someone tells you that you appear in their dream world, learn the details and do some dream interpretation work together. Read on to explore the different possibilities about what it means for you to dream about someone and what it means for someone to dream about you.
Dreaming about someone’s negative emotions
It's always embarrassing to find that we appear in someone's dream in a negative way, or to dream that someone we know has done something cruel or behaved badly. But this does not necessarily mean that the dream bully has secret evil tendencies in real life. "Appearing in someone's dream can [show] that the person is subconsciously trying to process their feelings for you, so if someone dreams that you are mean to them, it usually doesn't mean that the person actually thinks you are being rude. "McRae said. "They may actually be dealing with their own fears — perhaps a fear of rejection from you."
It is important to understand the context of the dream and the relationship between the dreamer and the person in the dream. "For example, if someone has a crush on you, they might dream about you kissing someone and laughing in their face," McCray says. "This is because their hidden fear may be that you won't reciprocate their interest or be interested in someone else."
Dreaming about someone having a positive side
It's always nice to have someone appear in our dreams in a positive way - and it makes me happy to hear that others have good dreams about us too. A good dream about someone may simply be a reflection of our affectionate and positive feelings for them. It may also indicate that the dreamer is dealing with the relationship with the dream person and coming to an optimistic conclusion about things.
"When someone has a positive dream about you, it can represent their ideal view of you — it could mean they have generally happy emotions associated with you in your relationship," McRae says. "It can also mean that the person sees a lot of qualities in you that they can relate to."
Dream about fighting with someone or feeling uneasy
Dreaming about fighting with someone can be stressful, and hearing that someone dreamed that they were upset with you doesn't feel good either. "When someone dreams of fighting with you, it can sometimes represent real-life conflict in your relationship," says McCray. "But more often than not, this frustration is usually between the dreamer and themselves, and [the person they're fighting] represents only a part of their psyche."
Often, disagreements in dreams have more to do with the dreamer's inner turmoil than real-life negative emotions toward the person in the dream who upset them—so it's important to analyze the personal symbolism associated with this particular relationship. "For example, if someone thinks you are a brave person and then starts arguing with you in your dream, this [could indicate] that the person wants to be as adventurous as they think you are," says McCray. “They subconsciously argue with themselves to be brave like you.”
Dream about someone being sexy
The meanings of sex dreams can vary widely, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach when interpreting them. Dreaming about hooking up with someone can be an obvious sign of our feelings or attraction to them, but it can also be more symbolic. Sex is about connection, intimacy, and energetic communication, so dreaming about someone having sex may mean that you are trying to incorporate some of the qualities this person represents into your own life.
The same goes for someone having sex dreams about you. "This dream may simply represent a person's fantasy of having a friendship, relationship, or some form of connection with you and being warmly received by you," says McCrea. While this could certainly indicate that they have an obsession or hidden desire to consummate your relationship, it could also mean that they just want to meaningfully connect with you in a non-sexual way, or more fully in line with what you represent to them quality.
