Sacrifice: Many ancient cultures used the ritual sacrifice of a life to show devotion to the Divine. In this way, the essence of sacrifice is the exchange that is buried within it. There is a principle in dream work that when a death occurs, it is like a sacrifice, where the old way of being is released in order to birth something new. There is great power in this practice, so if a sacrifice is the scene in a dream, there is a profound level of change going on within your psyche. Something that no longer serves you is being released in order to create something new.

Safari: A safari is a Western-culture attempt to expose an individual to the energy that the African plain has to offer. In this way, it is a symbol of an attempt to cross over into foreign territory in order to be exposed to what that territory has to offer. Such territory can be a new or exotic approach to your current lifestyle. Since animals are the featured attraction of a safari, such a dream may be attempting to express a connection to your more instinctive nature and the spiritual power that the animal kingdom represents.

Safe: A safe is an impenetrable structure designed to keep that which you value safe and free from theft. As a symbol, it represents the desire to protect something you treasure and heighten your sense of defensiveness. You lock anything in a safe that you feel others might want to steal from you, and this can be anything on the symbolic level from love to your opinions and ideas. What are you afraid others will take from you if you are not extremely guarded?

Salesperson: This is the individual who helps when you are looking to make a purchase. As a character aspect, a salesperson is the part of your own personality that is designed to justify and make a case for a choice you are considering. Allow the context of the dream to inform you of whether the intentions of this aspect are to be trusted, for often a salesperson doesn’t always have the customer’s best interests in mind. Are you trying to convince yourself to make a choice that may not serve you?

Salon: A salon is a gathering of people led by an inspiring host, usually to uplift and inspire those who are in attendance. The concept has been adapted by the beauty industry, where those who gather are uplifting their appearance. As a scene in a dream, a salon connects to the collective ideas of beauty and glamour and the drive to conform to society’s ideas about what you should look like.

Sand: Sand is part of the land and as such relates to the conscious mind. The tiny particles that make up sand have an implication of the many thoughts that occupy the mind at any given time. Since sand is so unable to structurally support anything because of its inherent lack of solidity, the symbolic meaning of it relates to the danger of any shifting foundation. How solid is the ground on which you are currently building the structures of your life? Sand is a staple of the beach, where the symbolic consciousness of land meets the symbolic unconsciousness of the ocean. This is the very malleable structure of this ever-changing landscape, and your dream of sand may relate to this.

Sandals: Shoes relate to how grounded you are, what direction you are moving in, and how you’d like to express yourself about how you are going where you are headed. Sandals are the ultimate in casual effortlessness. Their open structure implies a desire to experience freedom.

Sandstorm: Sand represents tiny ideas in consciousness and a sandstorm is the negative consequence of too many chaotic thoughts. Wind is also a symbol that relates to the intellect, and when these two get together in an out-of-balance fashion, you may feel trapped and unable to move with any clarity. A sandstorm combines the power of wind and the structure of small bits of earth. The wind is symbolic of what happens when thoughts are powerfully directed. Sand in this case represents tiny little ideas that taken by themselves have little meaning, but when they are whipped up in a frenzy of directed thought, they can become blinding and destructive.

Santa Claus: This archetypal character connects to the innocent belief in the magical power of love. Christmas comes with the winter solstice, the time when the days are shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. During this darkest time of the year, we reminisce about the bounty of sunshine with a tree that is decorated with the symbolic fruits of spring. Santa Claus is the icon at the foundation of this mythology. He represents the magical power of love to transcend all darkness. This power is associated with the innocence of childhood, for once the belief in it is abandoned, it can be very difficult for people to fully believe in magic again. Somewhere along the line, parents began to use the promise of what Santa might bring to a child in order to manipulate the child toward good behavior. This was popularized by the famous lyric that indicates that Santa sees everything that children do, good and bad. While on the surface this is a charming notion, Santa’s voyeurism is a falsehood, so the spirit behind instilling this sort of fear into children is manipulative and judgmental. Look to see where in your life you may be overly concerned with whether you’ve been bad or good and what the consequences might be.

Satellite: As the human race has moved outward into space, our consciousness has expanded to include objects that orbit Earth. As symbols, these things are part of the global collective consciousness, and the fact that satellites are used for communication of different kinds supports this interpretation. If your dream features a satellite, you are connecting to this expanding sense of the collective. The context of your dream will help you determine what part of your personal life is being affected by global ideas.

Satellite Dish: This object on the ground connects your home to information that is available through the new global consciousness. The satellite dish as a symbol represents your personal ability to stay connected to the world at large. Because the primary focus of the information that comes to you through the satellite dish is entertainment, there is an added element of escapism associated with one.

Saw: A saw is designed primarily to cut through wood in order to create something of structure. The saw itself represents your ability to change the shape of some form of thought, idea, or consciousness. When put to use, such a tool can be highly constructive but also dangerous. Let your dream indicate which direction to take your interpretation.

Scaffolding: This outer structure is erected alongside a building when repairs are needed. When this exoskeleton appears in a dream, it is an indication that change and transformation are occurring, even though it may be hard to see the direct evidence of that. The change associated with scaffolding is certainly going to be an improvement of some situation in your life.

Scarf: Because a scarf is worn around the neck, as a symbol it relates to issues of communication and having a connection to your voice. One function of a scarf is protection from the cold, and as such, in a dream it may indicate a need to hold back expressions of criticism or disdain. As an adornment, a scarf can also be highlighting a need to become more expressive and free with how you speak. Consider the implications of wrapping the head and face in a scarf as possibly connecting to the religious connotation of humility as part of the interpretation of a dream that features a scarf.

Scars: A scar is evidence of a previous transformation or change that you have already experienced, the pain of which may not yet be healed or forgotten. When a scar is present, it always relates to some previous event that was damaging or otherwise altering. Sometimes the original wound is purposeful and connected to healing, such as with surgery. Other times it can be the result of an attack of some kind. We use the term “emotional scars” to represent memories of things in our past that stand out as particularly painful and worth avoiding in the present. No matter what the backstory is, the presence of a scar today means something powerful and invasive happened yesterday.

School: School is a place of learning and advancement of intellectual pursuits. In a dream, school represents the need and desire to grow and expand in wisdom. One of the most common recurring dream images involves returning to the school of one’s youth, and such a dream relates to anxiety around responsibility and being held accountable for what you know. If your dream does not take you back to your earlier life, a school can be an indication that there are life lessons to be learned.

School Bus: The vehicle that brings people to and from school is the symbol for the access to learning and expansion of consciousness. If you are riding a school bus in your dreams, you may be on your way to learning something new.

Scorpion: The principle of death and rebirth is what is represented by the scorpion. In the astrological zodiac, the scorpion is the only archetype that can kill, so Scorpio relates to death and rebirth, the occult, and the mysterious realms in life. The totem of the scorpion relates to the ability to transform any situation and create great change.

Scrubs: Due to the proliferation of medical dramas in the media, the visual image of scrubs has become part of the modern vernacular. They are the symbol of a character aspect that is connected with healing. If you are wearing scrubs in a dream, you may be taking on a new level of mastery over your health, whether literal physical health or metaphorical health.

Scuba Diving: The ocean represents our deep unconscious mind. Just as with the unconscious, there are realms of the ocean that are available for exploration if you are prepared properly to dive beneath the surface. Scuba diving is the symbolic experience of investigating elements of your own unconscious mind that are generally hidden and out of view, but are accessible through various means of self-investigation.

Sculpture: A sculpture is a three-dimensional piece of art. Part of what is available through such an object is the ability to consider it from all angles. Any work of art is a symbol of your creative expression, and to be able to look at it from all perspectives allows you a greater ability to understand this part of your humanity. If the sculpture in your dream is of a human form, it can also have an additional layer of meaning that relates to the notion of a moment of expression being trapped in one form, revealing a level of limitation and feeling bound.

Sea Lion: The sea lion is a playful and expressive animal and can easily dive in and out of the ocean, the symbolic representation of the unconscious mind. This aquatic mammal reminds us to not take life too seriously and to be willing to go to deeper depths when needed, but remember that the journey is a lighthearted one if we so choose. Sea lions connect us to our emotional life, not with a heavy intensity, but rather with a light and deft ability to move in and out of different emotions with grace and delight.

Sea Monster: Sea monsters are mythical in nature and were created by seafarers of old telling tall tales. Any creature that lives in the deep ocean is a product of the unconscious mind. In the case of a mythological creature that might fall in the category of sea monster, what is being expressed relates to overblown fears of your own creation.

Seagulls: These birds are the guardian messengers of the shoreline, the symbolic realm where the unconscious and the conscious minds meet. As such, seagulls offer a message that important information is about to be revealed to you.

Seatbelt: Cars represent how you are moving down the path of your life. Since a seatbelt is located in a car, there is a direct correlation to this symbolic meaning. This object of restraint increases your safety, which is symbolic of protecting yourself against the challenges and obstacles that you meet on your journey through life.

Security Camera: The essence behind the meaning of the security camera is the discretion with which it captures things that occur; its presence is usually hidden, discreet, or ignored. In this way, security cameras often capture events that people don’t intend to make a permanent record of. In a dream, they connect with a sense of being watched and potentially judged for choices you are making. They loosely relate to a sense of conscience. What would you do or not do if you thought you were being watched? Such a dream may indicate a violation of privacy in some area of your life.

Seeds: This is one of the most potent symbols that represent potential and possibility. From something very small and unremarkable, spectacular expressions of life force can emerge. In and of themselves, seeds are unimpressive. But place them in the right environment and a miracle occurs. One of the most significant things about seeds is their specificity. Each type of seed will transform into one expression only. If you plant a radish seed, you cannot expect a carrot to grow. Every seed has a consciousness about this; as long as it finds itself in the proper conditions, it knows what it is and knows what to do. The essence of the universal meaning of a seed is in its potential, but the less obvious meaning connects to the independence of its development. You could hardly expect your garden to grow if every day you dug up the seeds you had planted to see how they were coming along. Seeds must be left alone to do what is innately inside of them to do. In this way, patience for the possibilities to come is also indicated by this symbol.

Seizure: A dream that features a seizure is an expression of an intense and debilitating confusion about some aspect of life. A seizure is a neurological phenomenon where cells in the brain and the nervous system begin to fire rapidly and out of control. While there are a number of different causes of seizures, the net result is often dangerous. On a symbolic level, anything that involves the brain connects with how we think. The chaotic nature of a seizure represents a kind of thinking that is confounded and confused to an extreme degree. Where in your life are you suffering from confusion, chaos, or anxiety? If you are the one having a seizure in your dream, then look to where confusion may be hurting you on a deep level in your life. If someone else in your dream is the victim, then use that person as a character aspect of the part of your personality that is suffering due to confusion.

Semen: Semen is the fluid that emanates from a man’s body in order for him to pass along his sperm in the act of procreation. At the heart of this as a symbol is this connection to the masculine principle around creativity. However, semen itself has many sexual and erotic connotations as well that link it symbolically to virility and the expression of power. The context of the dream and your waking-life gender must factor into how you interpret this image in a dream.

Seminar: A seminar is a gathering designed to disseminate a particular piece of information or knowledge. In a dream, such a setting may indicate a moment in life when you are expanding your understanding of some aspect of your experience. The type of seminar or the content of it can be helpful in your interpretation, if you know it.

Sentencing: The sentencing portion of a trial experience is about consequences. Your dream may be pointing to some experience from your recent past that is requiring you to take responsibility for choices that you have made.

Sequins: A staple for a certain kind of glamour, the sequin is a shiny and reflective object that creates a vibrant effect that is considered slightly vulgar. Wearing sequins or having them available to be worn or affixed to an article of clothing reflects a desire to be noticed for a superficial presentation and a need for attention.

Serial Killer: The serial killer is driven to commit murder over and over again. Consider that in the world of dreams, a death is an act of sacrifice where something that no longer serves you is being released in order to make room for something new. The element of murder means this transformation is happening because of some measure of choice. The serial killer that lives inside your psyche is a beneficial archetype that, though it lives in the shadow, is ultimately a part of your long-range growth and expansion. Such an image might be very frightening in a dream, but it must be examined through the lens of the universal principles it is expressing.

Seven: After all the work in the external world that brought you to the concept of partnership, you are now prepared for a more elevated experience of human expression. Seven is the number of spirituality and higher thought, which are only possible after the basic human needs are met. You are now free to contemplate your existence in a more esoteric manner. Meditation and any consideration of the interior landscape of our humanity is governed by the number seven. This includes thought, contemplation, mysticism, prayer, faith, psychology, and any endeavor that seeks to understand life from a higher perspective. This is a number we are all familiar with as significant: seven days of the week, seven deadly sins, seven notes in the diatonic scale, etc. The shadow challenge associated with this vibration is to get lost in the ethers and lose contact with life on the ground.

Sewer: A sewer is a subterranean construct designed to take waste away. In this way, it symbolically connects to the desire for unwanted material to be easily removed and kept out of sight. A sewer is primarily under the surface and also connects with elements of life that are generally thought of as repulsive, so this is a shadow symbol. If your dream takes place in a sewer, you are exploring the underbelly of your psyche and considering the more disowned parts of yourself. Such a dream may be reflecting a desire to be free of things you prefer not to look at. There is an added meaning to sewers from the notion that through them, you could move from one area to another without being seen, as long as you were willing to navigate the underbelly of your psyche.