Label: A label offers insight and structure to whatever it is identifying. As such, we rely on it to understand what something is. A label in a dream represents your relationship with this level of comprehension—the need for it or the impact of not having it. If a label is featured in your dream, you may be seeking to have a greater understanding of something in your life. A label that cannot be read for some reason indicates that you must operate in the unknown.
Laboratory: The laboratory is a setting of the advancement of knowledge or the clear identification of something of great importance that is initially hidden. Often connected to health and illness, the lab as a setting for a dream indicates a desire to get more information about something in your life. You are approaching things from a scientific and methodical view in order to get to the bottom of something.
Labyrinth: In its essence, a labyrinth is a confusing and mazelike structure found in the underbelly of a building. As a symbol, it represents a journey to the very center of something in which the journeyer can get quite lost and turned around. A labyrinth can be found as a symbol in many spiritual and religious settings as a pattern imbedded into a floor where an individual goes on a symbolic hero’s journey. In a dream, the interpretation is the same, whether it is a freeform hidden and shadowed labyrinth or a beautiful symbol of such an inward journey. You are engaged in a deep exploration of the inner self where confusion can occur and changes of direction are imminent.
Lace: Delicate intricacy is what is being expressed with this symbol. Lace is a beautiful combination of the masculine principle of engineering and the feminine principle of patience and creativity. As a symbol in a dream, it is suggesting that the part of your nature that is being expressed can tap into both of these sides of your nature and come up with something truly beautiful.
Ladder: You are dreaming of risky transitions and the desire to get to a higher vantage point that may feel unsupported. A ladder is an effective but unstable method of getting to a higher vantage point. Anything that helps a person move from one level to another is symbolically connected to transitioning from one realm of operating to another. However, a ladder is a tool used in the construction or fixing of things, so in this way, the symbolic meaning connects to the ability to achieve some sort of goal. The presence of a ladder in a dream suggests that there is a transition afoot that may also connect to achieving some goal or fixing some area of your life that requires attention. If the dream merits the use of a ladder, but the ladder is either ignored or inaccessible in some way, you may be missing the very thing needed for success with some goal in life. A broken ladder may be a warning that you are not following the necessary step-by-step process to achieve your goals. The instability of a ladder requires a slow and centered approach to your climb, signaling a need to take each step in your life with care, grace, and ease.
Ladybug: A symbol of good fortune, the ladybug is connected to renewal and regeneration. When a ladybug appears in a dream, you are being graced with good luck.
Lake: All water in dreams relates to your emotional life. A lake has a measure of depth and plenty that is hidden from the initial view, but is not so deep that it cannot be explored. As a mostly placid body of water, it represents your feelings and the possibility of drawing sustenance and comfort from connecting to that part of your nature. Anything that happens in and around a lake in your dreams is revealing elements of your emotions and emotional issues at the time of such a dream. Consider the size of the lake and the movement or lack thereof of the water within it for clues as to what sort of consciousness is being expressed.
Lamb: As a baby sheep, the lamb adds the quality of innocence to the symbolic meaning. (See Sheep.)
Lamp: Any light is a symbol of ideas and the ability to see things more clearly. A lamp is a small amount of this light designed to illuminate a small area in order to focus on something specific. Since it is portable, it represents your ability to focus the light of consciousness on various areas that need to be explored or highlighted. The state of a lamp in your dreams is revealing your current ability to see clearly in some area of your life.
Land: We are divided into the two realms of the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. The earth is equally bisected into land and ocean, with the land connecting to the conscious mind. Everything we can see and are easily aware of is like the land of our minds. In this way, any land formation in a dreamscape is asking you to consider some area of your self-concept that is part of your conscious domain or that you have the natural human capacity to be aware of. Land represents parts of yourself that are not hidden, but are exposed and available for exploration. Use the terrain of the land in your dream to understand more deeply what the dream is asking you to look at. High terrain and mountains are the areas of consciousness that can only be explored by looking upward, into higher ground of thought and consideration. A deep jungle is still consciousness, but more of your hidden nature. Chasms or land masses separated by water indicate that there are thought processes or patterns that are separate, distinct, or in need of integration.
Languages: This is a symbol of unconscious messages that are not yet decipherable or understood. This interpretation applies only to a language that you do not know or that was created out of the dream world. If you know more than one language, then dreaming in different languages is a reflection of where you are in your life and what the language in question means for you from your past. Words are the basis of all thought and all reality. When words that you do not understand show up in a dream, the unconscious is deliberately masking some information by changing the rules. Use the context of the dream to assess the height of the stakes. This would apply both to the information that is being expressed by the unconscious and to the emotional meaning attached to your reaction to being unable to decipher any literal meaning. If you recognize the language being spoken by virtue of sounds and cadences, then apply whatever associations you have with that culture to the dream interpretation. If the language is made-up and you can remember any specific words, sounds, or phrases, use them in your process to see if you can draw any parallels with words you know. There may be a rhythmic or phonic connection to the nonsense words of your dream. Do not be afraid of being overly literal. If someone else is speaking to you in the dream, then the message is coming from the deep unconscious. If you are speaking the foreign tongue yourself, it may indicate that the new information is already integrated as part of you. More investigation will likely need to be done before you will be able to understand and utilize the information being presented.
Lap: Your lap is both about the body and about a particular posture of making space on which to hold something or someone. It is a sign of intimacy and connection to sit on someone’s lap or allow someone to sit on your lap. In this way, anything that involves a lap in your dreams is asking you to consider your relationship to intimacy and affection. Holding someone or something in your lap indicates your perception of that individual or thing as dear to you. You sitting in someone’s lap expresses a desire to be comforted in some way. Consider the meaning of the other people involved as aspects of your own personality that either are in need of nurturing and care or that can offer those things to you.
Laptop: A laptop offers the power of a computer as a completely self-contained and portable commodity. A computer represents highly sophisticated levels of mental organization, thought, and memory. A computer is a symbolic representation of the brain itself. (See Computer.)
Laryngitis: The voice is central to all expression and communication for human beings. Laryngitis is the losing of one’s voice and is a symbol for the limitations connected to not having the ability to express yourself with power and certainty. A dream that involves laryngitis is exploring the consequences of not being able to find your own voice. If a person in your dream has laryngitis, consider the character aspect that the individual represents; it is that quality that is unable to speak through you. Laryngitis is a temporary condition, so the limitation that such a dream is expressing should be considered to be something that will eventually pass.
Laughter: Joy is one of the most fundamental principles of life at its highest expression. Laughter is the expression of joy itself, so it is the principle of joy in action. A dream that features laughter is expressing a desire for more joy. If someone is laughing in your dream, interpret that character aspect of self as a quality that is needed to connect more deeply to joy. The shadow side of this symbol is the embarrassment that can be associated with feeling that others are laughing at you. If you are suffering from feelings of shame in any area of your life, such a dream may be helping you process this.
Laundry: Laundry is about cleaning and cleansing. Most laundry is made up of clothing, and this relates to protection and self-expression and the periodic need to clean off old energy and things that have happened in the recent past.
Lava: Lava is molten rock that emerges from below the surface of the earth’s crust. As such, it is a symbol of the pure potential associated with land that is completely new. Land represents the conscious mind, and in a way, lava is a sort of pre-consciousness that is beginning to make itself known, but in such a raw form, it is still dangerous to experience. A dream about lava is connecting you to this primal process of reinvention that is sometimes a part of the evolution of a human life.
Lawn: A house is a symbol of the self, and the lawn is the land around a house, representing the public persona and an individual’s relationship to health, growth, abundance, and prosperity. The state that a lawn is in is a reflection of these concepts at the time of the dream. (See Grass.)
Lawyer: A lawyer deals in details, structure, and left-brained organization. As a character aspect, any lawyer in a dream is the part of your personality that can be called forth when there is a need to identify specific distinctions around some issue in your life that might be initially confusing.
Leak: A leak is a breakdown in the structural integrity of something such that its ability to contain a liquid or gas is compromised. As such, there is a barely noticeable diminution of the contained substance. The source of a leak can be difficult to find, and unless it is repaired, the leak will continue to do more and more damage. As a symbol, a leak can relate to anything that is slowly robbing you of passion, life force, energy, substance, or some other valuable essence. Look to your life where some persistently challenging person or circumstance is eroding your sense of power little by little.
Leash: A leash is about connectivity and control. Whoever holds the leash is in charge. If you are holding a leash in a dream, then you are exploring issues of control. Consider to what or whom the leash is attached and add that distinction to your dream. A dog on a leash might be about attempts to control love and loyalty. Another person on a leash is a symbol of attempting to rein in the qualities represented by the character aspects of that person. If you are on a leash, there may be a need to submit or surrender control to another person, institution, or circumstance in your life.
Leaves: Leaves are a plant’s respiratory system and the structure through which they turn sunlight into energy. As such, they are a symbol for the power and abundance associated with the earth’s never-ending supply of life itself. Consider the state and structure of the leaves in your dream. On a plant or a tree, leaves are a symbol of the ability of life to sustain itself and how that lives in you. If the leaves are in the process of falling, turning colors, or decay, they are more connected to the way in which life unfolds as a series of cycles. Leaves that are compromised in some way are reflecting some breakdown in your ability to take energy in and convert it to proper and productive use for personal gain.
Ledge: A narrow shelf-like structure found high above the ground on buildings and in nature, a ledge has the almost contradictory nature of being traversable, but not without some danger of falling. It is this precariousness that holds its symbolic meaning. To be “on the ledge” is synonymous with being highly stressed and in danger of becoming more so. A ledge in your dreams is pointing to this state in some arena of your life. Where are you at the very edge of your ability to hold things together?
Leeches: Leeches are from the family of worms whose primary association is their capacity to feed off the blood of mammals. Even the term “leech” refers to the slow siphoning off of something, and in this way the leech itself is a symbol of a slow, methodical loss of passion, energy, or life force. Since leeches are mostly aquatic, there is an emotional quality to the meaning of them as a symbol.
Legs: The legs primarily function for standing and walking. In this way, they are symbolically linked to all the ways in which you must stand up for yourself, take a stand on something, or stand up for the rights of others. In terms of the mobility function, legs are linked to how you are moving about in your life, your power and efficacy in how you are walking your talk. Consider what is happening with your legs or the legs of a person within your dream and apply the qualities being exhibited to these principal ideas. A broken leg is an indication of something that is inhibiting your powerful movement through life that will eventually heal. Legs that are too weak to support you indicate a moment when you are unable to give yourself the foundation you need.
Leopard: All cats relate to the power of the feminine principle. The larger the cat, the greater the power of this totem. As with the jaguar and the cougar, the spots of the leopard are connected to the beauty and sensuality that this animal totem represents. The leopard is very adept at climbing trees, which extends its symbolic reach into the upper realms of consciousness. When such a cat appears in your dreams, you are being called to your predatory nature.
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.