Zebra: One of the most remarkable visual creations in the animal kingdom, the zebra reminds you to stand out from the crowd. The medicine of this animal totem is originality and whimsy. The zebra’s power lies in its unique stripes. When a zebra appears in a dream, you are being called upon to appreciate your individuality without compromise.
Zero: This number symbolizes an absence of information; the beginning before the beginning.
Zip Code: The zip code system is designed to catalog and organize an enormous amount of data. If a dream features this as a prominent image, the need to codify your sense of direction or bring clarity to otherwise chaotic thoughts is being highlighted. The expansion of digital communication is slowly making snail mail all but obsolete, so such a dream may harken back to old ways of establishing boundaries.
Zip Line: A dream with a zip line in it may be expressing a desire for a certain amount of freedom or risk-taking that is safe and contained.
Zipper: Something needs to be either contained or released. A zipper that is broken may point to an inability to control whether you let something be revealed or not. Being unable to open a zipper may point to some level of frustration around feeling confined or controlled.
Zodiac: The zodiac is a system of archetypes that together describe the human experience as a function of twelve different styles or sensibilities. While not everyone believes in the validity of astrology, these archetypes are embedded in the collective consciousness of the Western world. If you dream about any aspect of the zodiac, you are being invited to consider archetypal thinking.
Zombie: You may be lacking passion or life force when a zombie appears in a dream. The definition of a zombie is one who is no longer alive but rises to walk again, seeking human flesh to eat. The walking dead are a symbolic representation for those moments in life when the very process of living is devoid of any joy or vibrant energy. A zombie in a dream may signal a period of very low energy or a depletion of energy by some situation in your life. The real danger of zombies is their ability to transform their victims into zombies as well. In this way, they represent the cumulative effects of depression, fatigue, and a sedentary lifestyle. Additionally, zombies can also be an image inspired by a person or persons in your life who rob you of joy by virtue of their negative disposition.
Zoo: This symbol relates to the repression of deep, primal urges and instincts. No matter how humane the conditions of a zoo are, there is the inescapable fact that the animals are out of their natural environments and on display. Whether done for amusement or educational value, the restraint of an animal is symbolic of the restraint of primal instincts. In a dream, this connects to those urges that our thinking, rational mind keeps beneath the surface of our consciousness. We project onto caged animals qualities that live inside of us and ponder them from a distance through the bars. The more dangerous the animal, the more primal the urge being repressed. A more docile creature on display might connect to lost innocence. Whatever qualities you ascribe to the zoo animal, it is those qualities that live in yourself that are being compartmentalized by your psyche and exhibited in your dream.