Climbing Stairs: A staircase allows you to move from one place to a destination that is located above or below you. Stairs are symbolic of your ability to raise your consciousness to a higher plane or explore deeper territory beneath you. Any set of stairs or steps in a dream is an indication of examining a higher or lower level of your psyche, depending on which direction you are moving. If the stairs are in a home, it is your sense of self that is being examined. Social issues and how you operate in the world are connected to a stairway that is located in a building or public place. Moving upward could indicate an increase in awareness and a readiness to elevate your thought process. Moving downward might connect to reexamining your past or considering something more deeply.
Cloaked or Hidden Figure: This is a powerful archetypal character aspect and a messenger from the unconscious, often thought of as the archetype of death. This image has its essence in anonymity and may therefore never be clearly known to you. As a character aspect, it is a figure from your unconscious mind that has the capacity to visit you in the dream state and deliver a message. The context of the dream will tell you what the message is, or at least where to begin looking for it. However, if in your dream the figure closely resembles the commonly held visage of death—the cloaked figure without a visible face that roams the world snatching the living into the world of the hereafter—then you are definitely experiencing an archetypal dream.
Closet: You are attempting to hide something. This is a dream about having a hidden agenda or about some sort of avoidance. A closet is a place used for storage. The items found in a closet usually fall into one of three categories: frequently used items kept out of sight for the sake of organization, things stored for later use, and forgotten objects that we continue to hold on to even though they have lost their purpose. A dream that features a closet as a primary image or location may need to be considered through one of these themes. Many objects found in a dream closet connect to shame. The level of this will correspond to how hidden something is and/or how much fear there is around it. Keep in mind, however, that a closet is also a storage space where we file away things we no longer need on a regular basis. There may be old thoughts, feelings, or ways of being that need to be recognized and discarded in order to make room for new growth that is on the horizon. The phrase “in the closet” has come to be linked almost exclusively to an individual who is hiding their homosexuality. However, in a dream, this can refer to any hidden side of the self. What you discover in a closet should be viewed through the focus of something you are hiding from or not wanting to face.
Clothes: Clothing is very connected to your own personal self-expression and to the principle of the persona. What we choose to wear has enormous implications for how we feel about ourselves and how we would like the world to perceive us. Symbolically, clothing represents creative personal expression. However, clothes can also represent the ways in which we cover up who we really are and alter what the world sees. Additionally, the clothing we wear at any given time can reveal things about our moods and emotional states that might otherwise go unnoticed. The quality and style of clothing in a dream will provide you with different shades of meaning for your interpretation. Old clothes might represent old ways of being that are being stirred up. New clothes could indicate a desire or need to match your inner growth and shifts with your outer presentation. A costume might illuminate roles you are playing in your life that are false, whereas your own clothes indicate that the issue at hand is with your present sense of self. Being inappropriately dressed represents your concern about fitting in with others. Wearing too many clothes can sometimes indicate a lack of comfort with your sexuality or body image. Having to deal with many layers of clothing denotes that there are obstacles between where you are and a deeper level of authentic expression. A desire to take clothes off may mean a need to break out of a stereotypical role you find yourself in, while adding more clothes could mean putting on a few more layers in order to protect yourself from perceived outside harm. No clothes usually reflects feeling very open and, therefore, vulnerable.
Clowns: Clowns are a complex symbol to interpret. They are expressions of playful energy, yet underneath there is a subversive and untrustworthy element to them, possessing an ironic ability to contain enormous contradictions. Clowns are playful and childlike, but also grotesque. There is a subversive quality to the concept of the clown: they are seemingly innocuous, but there is something possibly darker lurking just below the surface. Their expressions are permanently fixed and therefore not to be trusted. However, the entertainment they provide can be masterful and absolutely delightful when done right. A clown in a dream is an aspect of your personality, a thought or a pattern of thoughts. Such a dream may be asking you to explore more deeply to get to the authentic idea underneath the costume.
Coat: See Jacket.
Cobra: All snakes relate to change and transformation due to their ability to shed their skins. The cobra is a particularly venomous snake that is most remarkable for its ability to expand the hood that is just below its head. This neck-like placement connects it to the throat chakra, and when a cobra is present in a dream, issues of communication are being highlighted. (See Snake.)
Cockatoo: All birds relate to the messenger function and also represent our thought process and the movement of ideas. The cockatoo is less colorful than many of its brethren, so it relates to something more subdued, but still vibrant. The traits that are most directly associated with this type of bird are a very strong beak and a loud, shrill voice. This adds the texture of harsh and strong communication to the symbolic meaning if this bird should appear in your dream. (See Birds.)
Coffin: A symbol relating to death, a coffin in a dream indicates that some sort of a change is going on. A coffin is made to hold a person after death. As a dream symbol, it should be interpreted by examining the individual inside the coffin as a character aspect of the dreamer. This applies whether you know who is inside the coffin or not. Any death is symbolic of change. When examined as a character aspect, the death represents sacrificing a portion of the personality that is no longer a useful part of the whole. An effective shift requires clearing out old ways of being in order to make way for new, more evolved functioning. Death is always followed by rebirth, but when a coffin is present, it signifies being at the beginning of the transformation process.
Coin: Coins are a form of currency and so they relate to abundance, prosperity, and the power that comes with possessing the ability to trade for what you desire. A coin, however, has an added dimension as representative of finding luck and good fortune if you should happen to stumble upon one in your travels. The relationship between coins and wishes is evident in the gesture of throwing them into fountains. Coins are also potentially seen as sacred objects of a spiritual nature. (See Money.)
Colors: Dreaming in color is often viewed as a particular phenomenon that sets a dream apart from others you have. There is an implication here that if a memorable dream is thought of as being vibrantly filled with color, other dreams must be in black and white by comparison. However, all dreams are likely to be experienced with various intensities of color, and the memory of vibrant color is just one more way the unconscious is speaking to you. Light is experienced as white, but if it is refracted into separate wavelengths, the naked eye can perceive the seven distinct bands of color that make it up.
Computer: A computer represents highly sophisticated levels of mental organization, thought, and memory. A computer is a symbolic representation of the brain itself. There is an operating system that allows other software programs to run. This is like the network of nerve cells that make up the majority of brain tissue. There is also a hard drive, which stores everything that has ever been inputted into it. This is akin to the neural pathways created by the brain’s recording of sensory data it receives in the form of memory and knowledge. There is RAM, or desktop memory, which is like your conscious mind. This includes your daily production of short-term memory that is processed each night when you dream. The process that occurs during REM sleep is much like backing up your computer files for protection on a daily basis. When a computer features prominently in your dreams, you are considering how your mind is working. The state of affairs in your dream computer may very well be mirroring the state of affairs in your current thought patterns.
Cookies: You may be seeking reward and an extra dose of sweetness in your life. Cookies connect us symbolically to maternalistic nurturance, even if you didn’t come from a home where Mom and cookies were synonymous. We think of these sweet treats as something we get to have after a job well done. This dream may mean that you are seeking such accolades. Cookies can also represent the insidious power of excess; have one and you’re fine, but before you know it, having one can turn into having many. As with anything that is good in moderation, the dream world may be pointing out ways in which you are overdoing it.
Cougar: All cats relate to the power of the feminine principle. The larger the cat, the greater the power of this totem. The cougar is nocturnal and therefore relates more to shadow elements of things hidden and unknown. A stalk and ambush hunter, the cougar is associated with the ability to have your presence remain hidden, but take powerful action at the precise moment that action is necessary. A cougar can also be an older woman who is enjoying her sexual power with younger men, so this may be something to attribute to the appearance of a cougar in a dream.
Cow: The cow is rich with mythological symbolism in many cultures. However, at the heart of a modern interpretation, the power of the cow connects to basic sustenance and nurturance. Between the milk these animals provide as a food staple and the meat that is consumed by billions of people on the planet, the cow relates to having such basic needs met. Through the image of milk, the cow relates to fertility and the power of the feminine principle. In a dream, a cow is offering access to having basic needs met as part of its medicine.
Cowboy: You are dreaming about the part of yourself that is connected to hard work and an individualistic spirit of expansion and freedom. Cowboys represent the rugged individualism that is intrinsically bound up with the mythology of the American tradition of expansion and cultivation. The cowboy is often considered a lone figure, connecting with a sense of isolation and a dedicated work ethic. The media has turned the cowboy into an icon of enormous proportions. Cowboys represent the silent strength of the masculine principle at its absolute best. Any dream that features a cowboy is likely connecting to this spirit of independence. Are there new frontiers in your life that need exploring? Perhaps there is something to be done that must be done on your own. After all, the cowboy is ever riding off into the sunset, propelled by the belief that there is always something new just over the horizon.
Crab: The crab is a water creature and so relates to feelings, emotions, and the feminine principle. A crab’s habitat is connected to the tides, which relates these creatures to the interaction of the conscious and unconscious minds as well as the cycles of the moon. Their medicine can be hard to connect to because of their pinchers, which keep them out of our grasp. When the crab appears in your dream, powerful information is being offered from the depths of the unconscious, and that wisdom is best understood from a place of stillness and receptivity.
Criminal: Some part of your personality is expressing choices with a disregard for consequences. When a criminal appears in a dream, he or she should be considered as a character aspect of your sense of self. While criminal behavior is varied and can cover a wide array of activities, there is one common denominator for all crimes, whether mundane or heinous: there are consequences for breaking the law. From this perspective, any choice that ignores this societal agreement indicates a lack of regard for these consequences. Since crime is essentially antisocial in nature, the character aspect of a criminal in the world of dreams is shadow material. By examining the fundamental nature of the criminal in your dream, you will discover what part of your unconscious is being expressed. The severity of the act or intent reveals the extent of the darkness of your current emotional state.
Crocodile: See Alligator.
Cross: This symbol is most associated with Christianity, but in fact the circle divided into four equal parts is the most ubiquitous of all spiritual symbols found in almost every civilization back through time. The earth is a circle divided into a cross by virtue of the North and South Poles combined with the eastern and western horizons. This makes the cross a truly universal symbol. If you have a personal association with Christianity, then you must use this in your interpretation. If not, still consider this a primal symbol representing the spiritual energy of all beings on Earth. Its presence in a dream may indicate a stirring of a mystical nature.
Cross-Dressing: Clothes relate to our persona and the choices we make about how we want the world to see us. When gender lines are being crossed in a dream, the main theme of your interpretation will be the integration of either the masculine principle or the feminine principle, depending upon the direction of the switch. Taking on the garb of the opposite sex could mean a desire to incorporate more of those traits into the way people see you. A woman in drag could be expressing a desire to be seen as more aggressive or powerful. A man in drag might be considering what it would be like to be more receptive in the world and be perceived as more sensitive.
Crows: All birds are to be considered as messengers of some kind. There is probably no bird that exemplifies this more than the crow or raven. In Norse mythology, the two ravens Huginn and Muninn represent thought and memory; they fly around and report back to Odin every day and create our ability to name things and commit them to memory. They gather where humans do, and so they reflect our numbers directly in proportion to our population. In this way, crows and ravens bring us important messages when they appear in dreams. A group of crows in community is known as a murder, and this twist on words adds an element of shadow to their medicine.
Crying: You are feeling a heightened emotionalism in your life right now, powerful enough to bleed over into your dreams. Water represents emotion, and tears are the fluid expression of our deepest emotions as squeezed out by the body. If you are crying in a dream, then you are likely in some sort of mourning or expression of grief. If someone else is crying, then a character aspect that lives within you is involved in a powerful emotional process. If this is the case, then use the character who is crying to gain a deeper understanding of what part of your personality is undergoing a shift. Tears of sadness connect to loss. Tears of joy connect with gain and could indicate getting to the other side of a challenging transition. The more acutely you can feel the physicality of crying upon waking, the closer to consciousness the wound is. The level of disconsolation you feel may give you an idea of the intensity of the hurt you are cleansing. Remember that in your dreams, just as in life, crying is a healthy and powerful way of processing grief and facilitating transition and transformation.
Crystal: Crystals are mineral formations found buried in the earth. There are many different kinds of crystals, but all of them are thought to have certain vibrational qualities. To dream of any sort of crystal is to awaken your desire to embody your spiritual nature and your ability to connect to energy in an esoteric way. If a particular type of crystal appears in your dream, you may want to research the meaning associated with that crystal. (See Stones, Boulders/Rocks.)
Cup: The purpose of a cup is to contain something, usually a liquid. Therefore, the meaning associated with this symbol connects to your ability to contain something that you desire. Since a cup is most often associated with a beverage, the thing you may need to contain could connect to the principle of self-care. The state of a cup in a dream is a reflection of how well you are attending to this aspect of life. The sharing of a cup is a powerful symbol of connection and unity and may be reflected in a dream as well.
Cupcake: Any sweet food is most often associated with joyful moments in life. Cupcakes imply a celebratory moment that wants to be shared. Often associated with childhood, this mini-cake indicates that a joyful moment is at hand. (See Cake.)
Cut(s): A cut is evidence of wounding; protection that is instinctive. The skin is the largest organ of the human body, comprising three layers. Its primary function is to separate the outside and inside of the body, offering a mildly protective shell for the tissue beneath it. Cuts in the skin hinder the effectiveness of that protection, and the body quickly responds to any injury it may sustain. A cut leaves a mark that is the evidence of the wound. Whether the wound occurs in the dream or appears to have already happened in the past indicates where you are in the process of responding to some hurtful moment in life. (See Wound(s).)
Cutting: The phenomenon of “cutting” is a ritualized addiction where a person deliberately cuts himself or herself as a stress-relief mechanism. People who cut will describe a satisfaction in having an interior experience of emotional pain expressed physically on the body. Being cut in a dream, whether self-inflicted or otherwise, is a similar action by the unconscious mind to express inner pain in an outward manner. (See Wound(s).)