Lesbian Sex: This is symbolic of the integration of character aspects of the feminine principle. Any sexual act in a dream connects symbolically to the process of integration and the joining together of different aspects of the personality. In the case of lesbian sex, elements of the feminine principle such as nurturing, caretaking, and creativity are being highlighted. This symbol is included as a separate term, as it is not uncommon for heterosexual women to have dreams of lesbian sex when life events focus on this energy. Dreaming of sex with another woman is often reported by women during pregnancy. If the dreamer identifies as a lesbian, then such dreams should be explored through the concepts outlined in the terms Sex and Intercourse. Watching lesbian sex is a waking-life fantasy for many heterosexual men. However, this image has more to do with integration of inner aspects of the feminine principle for a man when such a dream appears. It is a natural process of evolution for every man as he matures through life to become more in touch with his feminine nature. A truly integrated man has access to his own creativity, receptivity, nurturing qualities, and sensitivity.

Letter: This almost obsolete form of communication is a symbolic expression of ideas being transported from one area of your consciousness to another. Such a dream may be asking you to consider slower, more restrained ways of expressing yourself.

Levitation: The floating of a body has to do primarily with the break from gravity that it represents. Gravity is symbolic of shame, depression, and any quality that weighs you down and keeps you unable to move freely through life. Levitation has a spiritual connotation that takes the freedom from gravity and adds an element of mysticism to the experience. Such a dream may indicate a moment of heightened spiritual exploration or awareness.

Library: The world of knowledge is calling to you. You have within you the capacity to connect to all the wisdom in the world if you choose to cultivate a relationship with that part of your nature. A dream that takes place in a library is expressing that part of your own consciousness where information is held in high regard. Such a dream may be asking you to seek out more information and do some research to find the answers you are seeking.

Life Jacket: A life jacket keeps you afloat in water in order to save your life. Water is a symbol of emotions, and needing a life jacket in a body of water implies that an overwhelming amount of feelings is causing you great fear and/or discomfort. The life jacket is therefore a symbol of your ability to surrender and not allow the overwhelm you are experiencing to do any damage. If you dream of a life jacket, you are connecting to whatever will keep you safe while you ride out some difficult emotional experience. If someone in your dream is wearing a life jacket, consider what that person represents as a character aspect of yourself, as that may be the quality that is needed right now to keep yourself afloat.

Light: Light in general is a symbol for life itself, for the creative force that some people refer to as God or the Divine. Judeo-Christian doctrine tells us that the very first thing that came about in the creation myth was light. Many dreams will express an aspirational spiritual sensibility through the presence of light as a symbol for your connection to this part of the human experience. If there is a sensation of light in your dream, you may be expressing your own spiritual nature. Light also connects to your ability to see and become consciously aware of things about yourself and in your life. In this way, light may be a symbol of your expanding awareness of things that used to be in the dark and are now coming to light.

Light Bulb: This image is immediately recognized as a symbol for a new, bright idea. It has permeated modern media as such. Therefore, a light bulb in your dreams is a representation of your capacity to be inspired by new thoughts. If the bulb is functioning well and is lit up, you are expressing this efficacy in your thinking. If the bulb is broken, burned out, or otherwise compromised, you are experiencing a moment of being cut off from inspiration and wisdom.

Light Switch: You are dreaming of your access to creative power and the ability to connect to that power at will with the assumption of success. Turning a switch reflects the need to make a change in some situation. Since most switches have only two positions, the desired effect is likely connected to causing something to start or stop. We go through life with an expectation that our light switches are always going to work, barring any unforeseen circumstances. This implies a level of trust and faith in our ability to bring about the desired effect when this symbol appears in a dream. Light connects to the power to create. Being able to access this energy and turn it on and off is the essence of this symbol. Turning a switch on may point to a need to begin unleashing the creative force within you. Turning one off could mean a need to stop and take a break from some ongoing process. Be equally willing to consider that turning off a light can indicate an unwillingness to look at something as it really is. A working switch means your sense of control is intact, whereas one that is ineffectual means some area of your life is no longer responding to your demands. The safety of the switch is also important. Exposed wiring could mean that danger or uncertainty is present when tapping into your creativity.

Lighthouse: You are finally being guided through confusing territory, and while you may not quite know where you are going, you are at least experiencing some emotional safety. A lighthouse is located on a shoreline and provides perspective in an otherwise concealed landscape. During a fog, the lighthouse emits both a visual and an audio clue to allow travelers to navigate through what would otherwise be dangerous territory. To get to the core of this symbol, we begin with where a lighthouse is located. The ocean represents the deep emotional unconscious parts of the human psyche. Land is what is conscious and within our awareness. The shoreline is where these two vastly different landscapes meet. Because they are so very different in nature, the boundary that exists between land and sea can be a strange and sometimes treacherous place. This is true of the shoreline, where the land meets the sea in the real world. In the world of symbolic meaning, these two dichotomous elements of the human condition interact with each other in a dramatic and sometimes violent way. The lighthouse keeps you safe in this dangerous territory.

Lightning: You are being inspired by sudden awareness or enlightenment born of divergent, confronting ideas. Consider how lightning is formed. Thick clouds contain both positive and negative charges. The positive charges gather on the top of the clouds and the negative charges drop to the bottom. When they are thrust together by the right weather conditions, the reaction of opposites explodes in an electrical charge of great violence. Therefore, lightning represents the flashes of brilliant awareness that come when polar-opposite views come crashing together. These contradictory views should actually cancel each other out. However, what actually happens is that they reveal a brand-new viewpoint that would otherwise have not been knowable. How you experience the lightning in your dream is key to your interpretation. If it is harmful or feels dangerous, then your dream is reflecting shadow material. This could be anything that might inspire the kind of fear that comes from gaining knowledge or information; as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. Look to where you are being guided to choose a path that you are resisting even though you may know it is your highest choice. If you are delighted by the beauty of the lightning, then your unconscious may be expressing gratitude for the sudden new awareness that is present or right over the horizon.

Lingerie: Lingerie as an article of clothing falls into the category of self-expression. Since all articles of this nature are undergarments, there is an implication of a hidden agenda associated with them. The last layer of interpretation connects with the erotic nature of lingerie. Wearing lingerie in your dream may be helping you cultivate more intimacy and sensuality in your life. This may be the case for either a man or a woman, but for a man wearing lingerie there may be more fetishistic elements being expressed as well as the possible need to move toward a softer, more feminine approach to sexual expression.

Lion: The king of the jungle is a cat and thus resonates as an embodiment of the feminine principle. Courage, decisiveness, leadership, and strength are all parts of this majestic animal totem. When the lion appears in a dream, you are being blessed with some of the most ferocious power available in the world of animal totems.

Lips: You are dreaming of communication and intimacy and your ability to control these elements of life. The lips are the sensuous guardians of the center of communication and intimate exchange. They are the first mechanism of control over what comes into the body with regard to nurturance, and they are the last mechanism of control over what goes out from us in terms of communication. The color of lips can range from blue to red, with the former associated with a lack of warmth and the latter seen as filled with life-giving blood and therefore passion. When someone’s lips turn blue, he or she is literally freezing to death, making this a potentially high-stakes image. These details should be considered if the color of lips was prominent in the dream imagery. How much control are you exerting over your communication and your willingness to be intimate with others? The color of your dream lips may reveal this. The essence of this symbol is intimate connection, whether that is to the world through words or to another person through a kiss. Just as when lips meet in life, there is a mingling of fluids and all that implies. Lips meeting in a dream can indicate a need or desire to mingle with and absorb another mode of communication. Lips that are too loose can allow communication to flow indiscriminately, whereas those that are pursed too tightly can indicate holding back. It is your job to decide whether this restraint is necessary or is a function of fear and/or resistance.

Lipstick: Anything that is associated with the mouth is going to connect to aspects of communication. Lipstick highlights the mouth in an overt way that also has some sexual overtones. For a woman, lipstick may be indicating a need to pay more attention to the strength and command of your voice. For a man, it may be calling for a need to soften and adopt a more feminine approach to what you feel you need to say. If someone is wearing lipstick in your dream in a way that seems important, that character aspect may have something to communicate to you.

Living Room: A home is a symbol of the self. Each room in a home has a different specific meaning. The living room is the consciousness of shared experiences. It relates to the parts of yourself that are less private and are accessible to the people you connect to in the world.

Lizard: The lizard connects you to the most basic of primitive instincts. The reptilian brain is the part of the human brain that controls our fundamental impulses. The medicine associated with the lizard in the dream world is adaptability and survival.

Lobby: The lobby of any structure is the ante-chamber that precedes your entrance into the main room of that building. In this way, it has some symbolic meaning that indicates a need to prepare for what is about to come. Consider the type of lobby to round out your interpretation, as a theater lobby is not the same as one connected to an office building. No matter what associations you make with the building, any dream that takes place in a lobby indicates that there is another step to potentially take before you can benefit from the consciousness that the building has to offer.

Lobster: A creature of water, the lobster relates to the depths of the unconscious mind. Lobsters continually grow throughout their lifespan and can regenerate a lost limb. In this way, the power of the lobster as a totem connects to spiritual regeneration and the ability to continue growing in wisdom as a result of continual self-exploration. When the lobster appears in a dream, you are being asked to look at things on a very deep level; be willing to explore that which is hovering just below the surface of your unconscious.

Lock: A lock is a mechanism that keeps something impenetrable. Inherent in this as a symbol is the notion that there is someone who has the key. If you come across a lock in your dream, there is something that is being kept from you or is not yet available for you to access. For a well-rounded interpretation, consider what type of lock it is and what it is keeping you from opening. A lock in a dream could indicate a thwarted desire to get something you want. A lock that is broken may leave you feeling unsafe if you are on the other side of what the lock is supposed to be protecting.

Locker Room: The essence of the meaning of a locker room is the event that is being prepared for or returned from, usually a sporting event or some other physical fitness experience. There is nakedness, and therefore vulnerability is associated with this imagery. Consider whether or not your dream suggests that the locker room as a setting is connected to the before or the after of the implied event. If before, then you are preparing for some sort of challenge ahead. If after, then you are coming down off of some measure of exertion or effort. Your own school-age associations with locker rooms should be taken into consideration with your interpretation.

Lollipop: You are searching for more sweetness in your life, perhaps a return to a more innocent sensibility. Since the mouth can be connected to self-expression, your wish may relate to a style of communication that is softer or gentler than what you are currently utilizing.

Lost Objects: Your dream suggests a preoccupation with lack and limitation, for we are usually looking for something that we already have. The feeling of searching for something important and being unable to find it is challenging enough when it happens in life. In the language of symbols, it also taps into a deep fear shared by all people: the elusive search for meaning that all of us have to face from time to time in our lives. On the face of it, a dream of searching for a lost object has a primary purpose of helping us relieve stress so we can wake up the next day and face our day-to-day lives with greater psychic balance. This is the purpose of all recurring dreams of this nature. If you have this dream on a regular basis, it may simply be a convenient way for your unconscious to process the pressures of everyday living. What it is that you are searching for should be your first consideration. Your personal associations with this object will reveal what you sense is currently elusive. When in doubt, ask yourself, “What does this thing do, or what is it for?” Keys represent your access to the various compartments of your life. Your wallet connects you to abundance and the ability to meet your needs in the world. A more personal or specific item should be viewed through whatever meaning you assign to it. If there is no specific thing that you are searching for or you do not know what it is that you have lost, the dream may be pointing to a free-floating sense of being inadequately prepared for some situation in your life. Where you are looking offers the next shade of meaning. Your own home connects to your personal sense of self. Any other environment should be used to guide you; where you feel that something has been lost may be telling you that a certain area of your life has left you feeling incomplete.

Luggage: Luggage is a container used to transport certain desired objects so that you can function in any location. As a symbol, any piece of luggage represents your ability to have access to various tools for living that you may need in any given situation. There is a strong cultural association with the “baggage” that you are carrying in your life as representing unhealed wounds from the past and the difficulties that you unconsciously bring to all of your current relationships. Use the sensations of the dream itself to determine whether your dream is relating to luggage as a tool for effective living or connecting to the work you may still need to do in the realm of intimacy. (See Bag.)

Lynx: All cats relate to the power of the feminine principle. The larger the cat, the greater the power of this totem. This medium-sized cat is actually named for the brightness of its eyes, so the medicine that it carries connects with sight and vision. When the lynx appears in a dream, you are being gifted with the ability to see clearly and navigate stealthily as a result of such vision.