Phone: A phone is a symbol of the collective consciousness and the ability to connect to other people in the world instantly. The landline is fast becoming something of the past, and if your dream features such a phone, you may be examining ways in which your communication style is a little outdated.
Phosphorescence: This stunning effect comes from luminescent algae that can light up the ocean. This phenomenon in the animal kingdom is relegated to underwater dwellers and the firefly. The unconscious mind is considered a realm of darkness, and this improbable light represents the mysterious ability to shed light on that which normally cannot receive it. In a dream, it relates to a spiritual presence illuminating normally shadowed corners of the psyche.
Piano: Your creative potential is being expressed. The piano is a feminine image of creative expression. By itself, the piano represents your creative potential, because it must receive the attentions of someone to play it in order to achieve this potential. Since the music that emerges from it can vary from “Chopsticks” to Chopin, its symbolic meaning also connects to mastery. Anyone can cause a piano to sing by striking a key, but only a master can make it truly soar. The essence of music is the magic of joy, and a piano represents this potential lying dormant, waiting patiently to be unleashed. To see a piano and want to play it reveals a desire to tap into your inner creative expression. Actually playing one in your dream may indicate a period of blossoming joy.
Picnic: A symbol of relaxation and escape, a picnic combines the idyllic experience of nature with sustenance and self-care in the form of food. Often a romantic gesture, a picnic in a dream suggests a desire for any one or all of these elements to be added to your life.
Picture Frame: This image is connected to memories of the past and can indicate a desire to compartmentalize feelings. The frame around a picture completes it. We display imagery that reflects parts of who we are through pictures of loved ones and moments in time from our past. A picture is not the thing it represents, but a reflection of it, often imbued with our fantasies and projections. What we place around such captured moments has great significance to explain our feelings about them. This can represent how we have framed them in our minds to make sense of them. If a picture frame is a prominent image from a dream, you may be processing issues represented by the picture in the frame. The frame connects to some explanation, justification, or limitation in thinking about the person or circumstance being displayed.
Piercing: A piercing is a form of adornment through what appears to be painful means. The fact that the adornment itself is a reminder of the breaking of the flesh that it took to create it is a part of the message inherent in this particular brand of self-expression and appeals to young people and a fringe of subculture in society. If you are someone with piercings, such an image in a dream may simply be a reflection of your personal worldview. However, if such a look is outside of your milieu, there may be a call toward attending to something that relates to the area of your body that is being pierced. A tongue relates to your voice and things you would like to say. A navel is more connected to gut feelings and your instincts. Your ears indicate a need to pay more attention to the messages that are being presented to you.
Pig: Pigs themselves are actually quite smart and relatively clean animals. However, the media and literature have made the pig synonymous with gluttony and avarice. Your dream may be reflecting overindulgence in some area of your life.
Pills: The ability to alter your mind or mood in an instant is reflected in a dream that features pills or any kind of medication. A pharmaceutical medication is a compound that causes the brain to either create or inhibit the creation of certain chemicals that alter an experience in the body. If you are taking a pill in a dream, there may be some area in your life that you wish would transform or go away with relative ease. An overdose might indicate a more extreme search for an easy way out of a challenge or issues of indulgence. If you have health issues in your life, there may be a more literal relationship between the medication in a dream and the desire to get well. Not knowing what kind of pill you’re taking or what it might do to you is a possible indication of some ignorance or naiveté in the way you are approaching a situation that needs attention. The specific action of a medication also needs to be taken into account. For example, a pain medication might relate to a desire to escape something difficult. An antibiotic might indicate a reaction to dark, unwanted thoughts. An antidepressant might reveal an avoidance of unpleasant emotions. An antipsychotic medication could connect to feeling a loss of control of your emotions or chaotic thought patterns.
Pink: The color pink is created when red and white are mixed. Red is the color of the root chakra and the slowest vibration of the visible light spectrum. Its qualities are security, groundedness, and the desire to have all your needs met at a very fundamental level. White is representative of purity and spiritual ascension. When these qualities are combined, the resulting sensation is the embodiment of love. Pink is also associated with girls and all things feminine; this may be a consideration for interpreting a dream with this color as a prominent image.
Pipe: A pipe is a conduit for liquid beneath the surface and out of sight. As such, it is a symbol of the capacity to experience flow and easy movement of all kinds. Most pipes are associated with the movement of water and therefore connect symbolically to feelings and emotions. The state of a pipe in a dream may reflect your systems of emotional expression and fluidity. A pipe is also an implement for ingesting tobacco or marijuana and can be a symbol of the relaxation and comfort that smoking one can elicit.
Plastic Surgery: Any alteration to the way your body is shaped is akin to exerting some measure of control over the way you are seen in the world. When this alteration is reflected as surgical in nature, the resulting change is manipulated and inorganic. Plastic surgery is usually chosen in an effort to appear more attractive, desirable, or acceptable than one already feels. Ask yourself how authentic you are being in your interactions with others. This dream could point to something out of balance with how you feel and what you project.
Platypus: The platypus is an incongruous creature with the bill of a duck and a mammal’s body, and yet it is the only mammal that lays eggs. In this way, its medicine applies to being a total original. Platypuses are semi-aquatic animals and yet close their eyes underwater and use a complex system of electrical impulses generated by muscular contractions to maneuver. This connects them to the power of intuition and guidance; they are the animal totem of clairvoyants and psychic phenomena. When the platypus appears in a dream, you are being called to rely on your intuition and innate guidance system.
Playground: An environment of childlike playfulness, a playground symbolizes the expression of joy. If your dream takes place in a playground, you may be exploring a need to connect more with this part of your nature. If the playground comes from your own childhood, you may be examining specific patterns from your own life about your capacity to embody a lighthearted approach to certain circumstances.
Playing Cards: Dreams that contain cards are related to working with patterns and all the permutations that are possible when you understand the underlying structure of how life works. Cards are numbered and suited, and through working with these categories, an almost infinite number of possibilities exists. This is an analogy for how life itself works. In this way, playing cards are like a testing ground for becoming more skillful in playing the game of life.
Pointing: When someone points, he or she is indicating an object or direction that wants specific attention. It is ultimately a moment of clarity of where to go next. If a character in a dream is pointing at something, the interpretation will need to connect both to what the person is pointing at and who the person represents as part of your personality. Use the context of the dream to gain a deeper understanding of what you are being asked to pay specific attention to.
Poison: A poison is anything that is taken into your body that creates a dangerous or hazardous reaction, from creating illness to potentially death. As a symbol, poison relates to any thoughts, ideas, words, or actions that do the same. In a dream, this image is suggesting that something has recently entered your consciousness that is ultimately unsafe for you to keep inside of you. This may not necessarily come from outside of you, for it is just as easy to have poisonous ideas from within your own consciousness. Such a dream may be a call to find an antidote to any idea that is contrary to your best interests.
Poker: A game of chance and skill, poker has at the heart of it the concept of a bluff, hence the term “poker face,” where your true intentions are hidden. The game requires a great deal of patience and strategic waiting in order to accomplish something. If a poker game is featured in your dream, look for ways in which you are hiding what you really have to offer in an effort to gain something that you desire.
Police: The police are ultimately part of the warrior archetype that divides the world into two camps: right and wrong. They are the image that connects to your internal sense of authority as it relates to what is socially acceptable behavior. The presence of the police in any dream suggests that you are weighing a decision or an idea as to its harm or benefit. If the police are interacting with you directly, consider what the context of the dream has to offer about your current life choices.
Pond: Any body of water connects with your emotional experience. A pond is a natural setting, so it relates to your personal experience of your feeling nature. A pond is small and manageable, so it is reflecting a connection with your emotions from an idyllic and resourceful sensibility. Look to the state or condition of the pond in your dream for a glimpse into your emotional makeup at the time of such a dream.
Pool: See Swimming Pool.
Pop Quiz: You are being tested on a small amount of knowledge, experience, or wisdom in a very unexpected manner. (See Taking a Test, Exams.)
Porch: The house as a symbol is reflecting your sense of self at the time of a dream. The porch is outside of the house, but is still connected to it. In this way, it relates to the part of your consciousness that can maintain a sense of identity but share that identity with others in a social way. This interdependent sensibility is reflected by a dream that involves the porch of a house, so the state and condition of the porch is reflecting how you are maintaining your sense of self, but still interacting with the world.
Porn: Porn is an exaggerated sense of sexuality. It is not real, but often masquerades as such. In a dream, it represents an overvaluing of the lustful elements of your human sexuality and an avoidance of the intimate elements of this experience.
Posture: Your posture is the foundation for all your movement through life. It is an accurate reflection of your underlying mood and expressions of the unconscious. If your dream reflects particularly good posture and an erect spine, you are expressing a profound sense of well-being. This can also be a compensation for neglecting a holistic approach to how you move through life. Bad posture could be a clue that something outside of your conscious awareness is throwing you off entirely; time to check on the foundations of your lifestyle.
Power Lines: Power lines crisscross most of the civilized world, bringing the force of electricity to just about anywhere. In this way, they mimic the idea of the creative power of manifestation that is available to be tapped into at any given moment. They also connect with that instant connectivity through communication technology. If you have power lines present in your dream scenario, then part of what you are connecting to is this force of power that is always available for you to tap into. If the power lines are down, you may be experiencing a temporary disconnect from your source.
Power Plant: A power plant takes some sort of raw material and converts in into usable power. It is a symbol for your own ability to do this, which is part of the human mastery. In a dream, this image is revealing your current relationship to power, energy, and resources. A power plant is used by the larger community, so one in your dream may be reflecting energy that relies on other people in your life. Such a dream is asking you to consider where you are getting your energy from.
Pregnancy: You are formulating a new idea, project, or direction in your life. A pregnancy represents the appearance of something new on the horizon. All ideas, changes in direction, and physical shifts must first be created in the vat of ideas within the mind. Everything that we create in life is first felt as the spark of a new thought. To dream of pregnancy is to be connecting powerfully to this part of the creative process. Consider that something in you or your life is about to change dramatically. Dreaming of pregnancy is not relegated to women alone—men will often dream of being pregnant. Many men report such dreams when their significant other is literally preparing to give birth, and in the dream world, this represents the dramatic change of life that is about to take place as fatherhood descends upon them. Shame or fear of being exposed as pregnant because it is unwanted connects to uncertainty of how the shift in you may be perceived by others in your life. The closer the pregnancy is to birth, the more imminent the change that is germinating. If the pregnancy is experienced by a character within your dream, then consider that it is an element of your personality as represented by that character aspect that is undergoing the change that is afoot. If the term of the pregnancy is clear in the dream, you might want to consider what was going on in your life at the time conception would have been likely. For example, if you were seven months pregnant in your dream, look back seven months in your life for some new element that could be making itself known at this time.
Present: See Gifts.
Press: The idea of what the press represents is changing in our world. What used to be a force for the objective presentation of unbiased facts is giving way to manipulative invasion of privacy and the dissemination of controlled information. Your age may factor into how you perceive the press as an image based on this slow cultural change. No matter where you stand on this, the press connects to your public rather than private life and the notion that anything you choose to do may have public consequences.
Priest: This is an archetypal character aspect that represents extreme devotion to spiritual principles. The proliferation of this image in the media makes it a universal symbol for spiritual devotion. Also because of the media, this symbol carries with it a great number of potential shades of meaning, from an intense level of respect to humorous irreverence or even intense antipathy. Your personal associations with priests will therefore play a prominent role in how you interpret a dream with a priest in it. On the serious end of the spectrum, the priest is the symbolic representation of Christ on Earth and signifies a level of dedication that is unparalleled in our modern culture. In this light, the character aspect of a priest in a dream connects to a deeply committed spiritual side of your nature that is willing to sacrifice much for the sake of your beliefs. There is no getting around the current perception that the institution of the priesthood is also embroiled in deep controversy over sexual improprieties. The enforced role of celibacy also plays an important role in interpreting this symbol. If a priest should play a prominent role in a dream, issues of sexuality and sexual expression/freedom may be present.
Prison: There are consequences for the choices you make, and some of those choices bind you in a particular way. When you break the law, you go to prison. And while you have to engage in criminal activity to find yourself in prison in real life, the idea of being imprisoned by something can easily apply to any number of circumstances where you feel bound to some person, place, or thing in a way that feels severely constricting. In fact, the phrase “like a jail sentence” is often used in casual conversation to refer to anything that obligates a person beyond his or her comfort level. There is a difference between jail and prison that may be significant, especially if the dream was clearly taking place in one or the other. While the two have very similar sensibilities, a jail is where people are taken when they are suspected of committing a crime or when the crime is of low severity. Prison is where convicted criminals of more serious crimes are sent to pay their debt to society. If this distinction is made clear in your dream, recognize that jail is a more temporary form of bondage. Prison indicates that a more serious matter is being expressed. At the core of the symbolic meaning of prison is what you did to get there. The inciting incident that ends in jail time is always a choice that may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but has consequences resulting in the removal of freedom and comfort in some area of your life. When this environment plays prominently in a dream, examine your life for where you may be feeling that a decision you made in the past is feeling like something you can’t escape in the present.
Prostitute: You may feel as if you are trading on that which is intimate or personal for material gain. They say “money can’t buy you love,” but it can indeed buy you sex, which can be a substitute for love and intimacy. The challenge with prostitution lies in the judgments we place on selling something as intensely personal as one’s body and the act of performing sex for money. This makes prostitution something intensely impersonal. If you dream of being a prostitute, you may be experiencing something in your waking life that is pointing toward a sense of selling out or taking the easier, softer way through some challenge. If you are hiring a prostitute, you may want to look at that part of you that is willing to sell yourself short. If there is prostitution around you in the dream, notice your sense of connection to the concept. If you are in judgment or fear, consider the idea that there is a lack of integrity in the way that you are handling some person or situation. A more open attitude toward prostitution might point to a need for a more careful appraisal of your self-judgment, whether it be too severe or whether you might benefit from utilizing more discretion with your choices. No matter what your belief system, on some level prostitution leaves a legacy of shame, which is really the essence of this symbol in the dream. Is the price you are paying for your freedom worth it?
Public Speaking: This is a dream about communication on a grand scale, the pressure to get your word out into the world in a bigger way. Speaking in public is challenging for most people. For some, that challenge is so intense that even the idea of it can bring on a terrorizing attack of anxiety. Since there is a literal connotation with this symbol to the act of speaking, a dream that involves this activity will naturally point to an area in your life where your communication is being put on the spot. A person speaking in public is usually a figure of authority on some level. In this way, a dream that includes this as an image is probably expressing some area of your life where you are in your authority or where your authority is being put to the test. This is especially so if you were the one doing the speaking. If you were in the audience and someone else was talking, use that person as a character aspect of yourself to figure out what part of your personality has something to say. It could be that your desire for power and authority in your life is speaking to you through your unconscious in your dream.
Pumpkin: A pumpkin is a seasonal fruit that reminds us the harvest is upon us. There is a strong association with the pumpkin and Halloween, and this may be reflected in your dream. The fairy tale of Cinderella connects the pumpkin with a carriage through the magic of wishing for your heart’s desire. Any of these ideas may be expressed by a dream that features a pumpkin.
Puppet: A puppet is usually the figure of a human being that is manipulated by the puppet master to do his or her bidding. In this way, a puppet symbolizes being forced or coerced into choices that may not be authentic or true to you. If you are the puppeteer in your dream, look to where you are using manipulation to get your needs met.
Puppy: A dog represents the masculine principle of unconditional love, loyalty, and unbridled affection. A puppy is this energy in its absolute most exuberant expression. It also represents a less mature approach to love and intimacy, where enthusiasm is greater than the potential authenticity of the love being expressed.
Purple: See Violet.
Purse: This image relates to having access to tools for daily living. The key to this symbol is in what is carried inside of it. Whether it’s a pocketbook, briefcase, or shoulder bag, the personal carrying case has become a fixture of necessity in our fast-paced world. Purses provide mobile access to important items that may be needed when you are out in the world, such as your wallet, driver’s license, credit cards, and all the things that represent your identity. Hence, there is a strong symbolic association with what might be referred to as tools for life on a day-to-day basis. A pocketbook, handbag, or purse is generally carried by women and often contains grooming products. This connects it symbolically to the feminine principle. The items found in a purse will likely be associated with self-care and nurturing. If you have lost your purse and are searching for it, you may be experiencing a momentary obstacle in your life.
Pyramids: A pyramid is a shape found in ancient civilizations that has a great deal of spiritual connotations in today’s world. Pyramids represent a connection to ancient principles of aspirational thoughts and ideas. Dreaming of the pyramids may be a call to consider the more esoteric forms of spiritual exploration.