Machete: A machete is a very large knife-like implement designed for cutting through thick brush and undergrowth. The overgrowth of plant life that a machete is used on is a symbol of tangled thoughts and ideas that are impeding your easy progression through life. The machete then is a symbol for your ability to cut through old habitual thought patterns that block your way. This image often appears in a dream where the character aspect wielding it is a dangerous or scary individual. Remember that all dreams are for your benefit, and such a scary figure with this tool is really capable of helping you face those fears and clear a new path.
Machine Gun: A machine gun’s power rests in its ability to repeat its intention over and over again in rapid succession. The image of a bullet landing on its target is about violent penetration, driving some point home aggressively, or being attacked by the ideas, thoughts, and expressions of someone else. The machine gun takes this entire sensibility to another level through automated repetition. Any association that you make with shooting a gun, such as anger or retribution, could be escalating if a machine gun is featured in your dream.
Magazine: Magazines connect to the pop culture of the day. They reflect the sensibilities of the area of life that their content expresses. Your waking-life relationship to magazines should be considered in any interpretation of a dream that features one. In a general way, a magazine is a symbol of benign escapism.
Maggots: Maggots are flies in the larval stage that feed on decomposing flesh and therefore have a connection to disgust and decay. This is a classic example of a symbol that has a disgusting image but a numinous meaning. There are some implications to the presence of maggots, and the first is that something has recently died. Death is a symbol for transformation and change, so maggots imply that a change has recently taken place. Maggots are instrumental in the process of turning flesh into the nutrients to support future life. If you dream of maggots, you are in the process of coming out of a change that has taken place in the past.
Magic: You are relying on distraction and manipulation to get your needs met. This may or may not be a positive use of your energy; only you can decide that. At the heart of magic tricks is the power to distract and hide the true intentions of the person performing the magic trick or illusion. This has the benefit of getting a need met, but by means that are ultimately inauthentic. The person performing a magic trick in your dream will yield some important distinctions for your interpretation. If it is you, there may be a need to hide your true motivations. If it is someone else, you may be being deceived by a particular choice you are making in your life.
Magic Carpet: A staple of the genie, the magic carpet is about the power of magic, of course, but consider that anything that flies through the air is also working in the realm of the intellect and the mind. Magical thinking can be an uplifting boon or a defense against life’s more practical and difficult circumstances. Consider that a magic carpet in a dream could be an invitation either to put a little uplifting spiritual faith into your thinking, or to look to where you may be avoiding something that is on the ground that needs your attention.
Magician: You are connecting to your own power to manifest the unexplained or unexpected. The magician is one of the primary archetypes that make up the human condition. Magicians represent the part of us that can use magic, divine power, and the forces of will to create anything we desire. However, there is a large distinction between this as an archetypal figure and the popularized image of a stage magician engaged in the act of entertainment. The modern-day entertainer in the world of magic is an illusionist who presents us with the impossible. We know that there is a trick to what he or she is doing, yet we find ourselves awestruck nonetheless. This type of magician relates to the concept of manipulation.
Magnet: At the heart of a magnet’s symbolism is the power of attraction that it possesses. As such, if one appears in your dream, you are exploring the concept of drawing something to you that you desire. Sometimes a magnet may bring something that is unwanted through this power to pull things in. Let the context of the dream indicate whether the magnet in your dream is acting in your highest good or not.
Magnifying Glass: A magnifying glass makes something small appear larger so that it can be examined more closely. It is symbolic of the desire to investigate something at a deeper level.
Maid: A maid is a person who is responsible for cleaning and house chores. As a character aspect of your own personality, the maid is the part of you that is there to keep things clean and straightened up in the world of your thoughts and feelings that sometimes feel as if they are in disarray or need cleansing.
Mail: Your dream includes some sort of communication, perhaps something you anticipate hearing about. Our relationship to postal mail has changed greatly since the advent of e-mail. It is now considered so slow that it is routinely referred to as “snail mail.” While our current perceptions of mail have changed, the essence of this symbol connects to the origins of mail and its impact on the world. Communication between two parties is symbolic of intellect and the inner process of deduction and decision-making. The slow speed and back-and-forth nature of mail add the texture of anticipation. Putting a thought in writing connects to the permanence of a thought expressed. Mail in a dream could connect to communication that is slower than desired. Junk mail is akin to anxiety and the background chatter in the mind, where information like an important letter can get lost in a pile of unwanted catalogs. A dream could connect to the need to ferret through the unimportant to find clarity. Since the majority of mail comprises bills to be paid, this might symbolize being put on notice for the price you will have to pay for some choice in life.
Mail Carrier: You are dreaming about your connection to important communication. This symbol may soon be going out of the collective consciousness. As computers and modern technology become the norm, the delivery of mail to our homes is becoming a less primary way of staying connected to the outside world. While this may be true, we still live in a time where on an almost daily basis there is a human being that comes to our residence and delivers items of interest and importance to one degree or another. As a character aspect in a dream, a mail carrier is the part of your own personality that remains connected to the larger circles of your life but is detached from your core personality. The term “going postal” has become synonymous with violent outbursts connected with overwhelming stress. If the dream has any dark or shadowy elements to it, you may want to explore the mail carrier as a character aspect of an undercurrent of violent feelings that are just waiting for an inciting incident to allow them to explode. What a mail carrier is delivering in a dream offers an important second layer of meaning. What new information is your unconscious trying to send you?
Makeup: Makeup is associated with the public persona and creating the illusion of more beauty than you actually possess. There is an element of inauthenticity being expressed through this as a dream image and a desire to present a face to the world that may conceal the truth beneath the surface. What is happening with the makeup within the context of the dream should enhance your interpretation. Putting on makeup is to cover up something true with a false presentation. Taking makeup off is to desire a more authentic way of being seen in the world.
Mall: This is actually a fairly ubiquitous setting for many dreams. A mall is a location that offers a variety of retail establishments, so on one hand it represents your access to a certain form of abundance, prosperity, and freedom. On the other hand, it has a connotation of a lack of sophistication that must be taken into consideration when interpreting a dream that takes place there. There are many choices at a mall, and this is a strong element of the symbolic meaning associated with such a location. If your dream takes place at a mall, you are exploring your consciousness of choices that you have about abundance and prosperity in your life, but the ideas being expressed may be more connected to the social pressures to experience wealth in a very particular way that is not necessarily aligned with abundance as a spiritual principle.
Mammogram: The breasts connect to the feminine principle of nurturing and the maternal instincts. They are also connected to sexuality and eroticism for many. A mammogram is a symbol of breast health and making sure that all is well in this area, like getting an inside view of how you are aligned with these principles in your life. (See Breasts.)
Manatee: The manatee is a mammal and thus relates to us more directly as beings of consciousness. Manatees are, however, fully aquatic animals and as such connect to the unconscious as represented by the ocean that they call home. Therefore, first and foremost they are a totem that allows for conscious exploration of realms that are ultimately unconscious in nature. Though they are large in size, manatees have a gentle nature and graceful movements. In this way, they vibrate with the principles of peace and surrender. When a manatee visits your dreams, you are experiencing the medicine of serenity.
Mandala: A mandala is one of the oldest symbols in the world, having been discovered by anthropologists in just about every ancient culture on the earth. It is a circle divided into four equal parts, which relates to the sphere of the earth divided into the four hemispheres. A mandala is perhaps the ultimate symbol of unity and totality, and if one appears in your dream, you are having an aspirational experience of a spiritual nature. Such a dream indicates an important moment in your spiritual development when a new level of integration and wholeness is at hand.
Manicure: A manicure highlights the fingertips. The fingers connect to creativity and the things you can do with your gifts and talents. To dream of a manicure is to seek a certain amount of recognition for these abilities and to be recognized as someone who can be productive. There is also an association with a manicure to prosperity and the relief of stress, so a dream that features one could be indicating a need to relax in this way.
Map: A map is a detailed description of an area so that navigation of that area is possible. As a symbol, a map represents the guidance you need to go where you desire. Since most maps deal with land, the focus here is on traversing areas of your conscious mind. There is an implication, however, that you may be going to places as yet unexplored. The map shows up in your dreams when you are about to go on a trek of self-investigation and is an indication that you are being guided by forces beyond your comprehension to help you do so.
Marching: Marching is about keeping time and aggregating what might otherwise be separate entities and coming together in unison. If you think of the people marching in your dreams as thoughts and ideas, the image of marching is a symbol of agreement and aligning what might otherwise be chaotic and random thoughts into one focused idea. Think about who is marching and the setting in which this is occurring for details to round out your interpretation.
Market: The market is a place where you can obtain many things you need and desire with an emphasis on daily living wares and especially food items. In this way, it is a symbol of the sustenance and self-care associated with feeding yourself and the principle of abundance as it relates to the bounty of the earth. In a dream, the market is the place in your own consciousness that represents what is available and what you are ready to receive in this arena. Such a dream will have this concept as an overall theme, and you must use the things that occur and the characters that appear in this setting to gauge your current relationship to these principles.
Marriage: You need to integrate some aspects of your character. Marriage is a joining of two energies into a third entity of cooperation and harmony. Symbolically, it relates to habits, patterns, thought processes, or belief systems that at one time were experienced as separate but now are either integrating or need to. If you are one of the marriage partners, consider the spouse in the dream as representing the quality of personality that is being called forth at this time.
Mask: A mask covers the true face and presents a particular version of one’s persona to the world. This is a symbol for the way in which human beings never quite reveal all of who they are, but there are masks that are presented to the world. This occurs in degrees of authenticity, and a mask in a dream indicates a stronger separation between what is being presented and the true identity that is hidden below. Consider the mask itself from the dream; if you know what it looks like, you will have a better idea of what you are trying to portray at the time of the dream. If the mask is being removed, you are stepping into a more genuine version of your self-expression.
Massacre(s): You are dreaming of an enormous transformation in personal ideology. A massacre is an event of great magnitude by virtue of the number of deaths caused by a single force. Any death is a powerful symbol of transformation and change, as it always portends a rebirth of some kind. A mass death can be interpreted as any death would be—change so great that it can only be understood as the passing of something old to make way for the rebirth of something new. Look to your life for evidence of some change or shift that feels inordinately large in scale and you will probably find the stimulus for this dream. Since people in your dreams represent parts of your personality, the loss of large numbers could indicate that many old thoughts or patterns are being left behind.
Massage: A massage can be a relief from stress as well as a tool for healing certain muscular injuries. At the heart of this image is the connection to the essence of relaxing and in a dream may point to a need to dig deep in order to let go of stress. There is a sensual element to having a person touching your naked body, and this may factor in the interpretation as a need to stimulate your own sensual nature.
Mastectomy: The breasts connect to the feminine principle of nurturing and the maternal instincts. They are also connected to sexuality and eroticism for many. A mastectomy is a radical response to the presence of cancer in the form of complete surgical removal of one or both breasts. As a symbol, such an act is reflecting a deep loss of connection to these powerful feminine forces. There may be a literal connotation to the dream if you or someone you know is going through a waking-life experience of facing breast cancer. (See Breasts.)
Masturbation: You are looking to stimulate some sort of self-expression, from power to creativity or even sexuality. Any image that involves sexuality is going to be complex and is best interpreted by starting with the symbolic meaning first, by breaking down the image into its basic parts. Masturbation has a specific purpose, which is to induce orgasm. There are two functions that might be assigned to orgasm. One is the pleasurable relief from stress that it provides and the other serves to remind the person of his or her sexuality. Also of importance is the current state of your sex life and your relationship to your sexuality in general. If there is another person involved, consider that individual as a character aspect of your own personality. If you are watching someone masturbate (or you are masturbating someone), then the qualities you assign to this individual may be the part of you that has access to elements of your sexuality at the time of this dream. The same is true if the person is masturbating you; however, this distinction connects more to an aspect of your personality that may be trying to stimulate a sexual response in you. The gender of this other person should be considered as well, no matter what your sexual preference. A man connects to the masculine principle of taking action, whereas a woman embodies the feminine principle of being receptive. The human sex drive contains the same power as the creative instinct. Masturbation in a dream may not necessarily be expressing the need to be sexual as much as the need to be creatively expressive. Look to where your life might be calling you to wake up your sense of passion.
Matches: Matches hold the potential for fire and therein lies the symbolic meaning. The presence of matches represents the desire and possibly also the intention to light a fire. Fire is a symbol of change and transformation. When matches appear in a dream, you are considering making a change in the near future.
Math: Math is the language of the entire universe. Every single element of what we know life to be can be expressed by mathematical equations. Math is very analytical and left-brained and thus represents this aspect of thinking. In a dream, the interpretation of math can be as mundane as expressing a need to call upon your logical mind to help you through a life circumstance. It can be as profound as a dream of sacred geometry, where you are considering existence itself. The context of the dream will illuminate which way to go with your interpretation.
Measurements: Taking measurements is usually about planning to do something with exactness and precision. There are times when being well prepared is very important, and the presence of this activity in a dream is an indication that this is the case. “Measure twice, cut once” is the saying.
Meat: Meat is a staple of most protein-based diets. Its symbolic meaning connects to sustenance at a fundamental level. If you have a dream that features meat in it, there is something that needs to be fed in order to be strengthened; this could be an idea, a project, or a new direction in your life. The state of the meat in your dream has significance. Raw meat indicates that there is still some work to be done in order to strengthen your objectives. Meat that is rotten means an opportunity may have passed you by. If you have a waking-life relationship with meat that generates strong feelings against the eating of it, this personal association must be considered as an interpretation.
Mechanic: Any person in a dream is a character aspect of your own personality. A mechanic is responsible for keeping your car maintained and running properly. A car is a symbol for how you move effectively through your life’s journey. Therefore, the mechanic in your dream is the part of yourself that can be relied upon to handle the breakdowns and challenges that happen along the way.
Medicine Man/Woman: The medicine man or woman is an archetypal character aspect; they are part of your personality, but at a much higher, aspirational level. The medicine man or woman has two functions. The primary one is that they are the keepers of wisdom and healing power. You turn toward this archetype when you need to face great change or heal something at a profound level. They are also the part of you that perceives change before it happens, as these shamanic figures possess a heightened level of intuition and energetic sensitivity. If such a figure appears in a dream, you are having an aspirational experience at a very high spiritual level. In the case of a male figure, you are connecting to the masculine principle of taking action. In the case of a female figure, you are connecting to the feminine principle of stillness and receptivity.
Meeting: A meeting is a staple of the world of business. It is a symbolic gathering of consciousness or different ideas in order to create some sort of unified direction. All of the people who attend a meeting in your dream are to be understood as aspects of yourself whose qualities are needed collectively in order to accomplish some current goal or objective in your life. This is more of a rational mind symbol and calls into being the part of your nature that can plan, schedule, organize, and carry out movement.
Menstruation: The power of the feminine principle is represented by menstrual blood, as the force for the creation of life is at the heart of the feminine side of human nature. In this way, menstrual blood is a symbol of the power to create at the most fundamental level. However, there is grief present with menstruation, as the periodic bleeding that all young women experience is evidence of fertility that is not going to materialize. As such, you may be dreaming about regrets around accomplishments not realized and creativity that has not been expressed.
Mermaid: The mermaid is a mythological creature with the torso of a woman and the lower half of a fish. In this way, she is an archetypal figure that embodies the feminine principle coupled with the capacity to connect to the unconscious mind and the emotional realms. In modern media, the mermaid has been transformed into something lovely and beguiling; however, her origins are dark and are associated with peril, death, and seduction. A dream that features a mermaid should be considered aspirational, and you must keep in mind all of her qualities, light and dark, when formulating an interpretation. In any case, such a dream is connecting you to the spiritual side of your nature.
Microphone: The primary use of a microphone is to amplify the voice. The voice is the center of your power as an expressive human being. A microphone in a dream connects to a need or desire to increase the power of your convictions, your ability to declare what it is that you desire, and the authority you wield in your life through knowing how to command your words. If the microphone in your dream is not working properly, you need to make some adjustments in order to get your voice heard.
Microwave: The principle behind a microwave is its ability to speed up molecules such that heat is created. Heat is symbolic of energetic increase, passion, change, and power. A microwave in a dream relates to a desire to make things happen at a much faster pace than is natural. This may or may not be beneficial, and you must take into consideration the potential consequences for overriding the natural flow of things if a microwave is featured in a dream.
Military: Anything associated with the military falls under the auspices of the warrior archetype. The warrior’s job is to divide the world into right and wrong, black or white. He then defends this distinction with his life. This is a powerful aspect of human consciousness, and anything that relates to the military that appears in a dream is connected to this profound power. There are more pedestrian elements to this symbol that include regimentation, rigidity, and inflexibility.
Milk: This mammal-made drink is considered a fundamental food source, especially for infants and children. As a symbol, it is the ultimate source of nutrition and care from the feminine principle. There is a harkening to the maternal instincts with milk; hence the term “mother’s milk” to connote the very essence of that which will comfort and sustain us.
Mine: A mine is essentially a tunnel dug very deep underground for the purpose of cultivating some raw material. Since land is associated with consciousness, a mine represents what is possible to gain when digging beneath the surface. If you know what the product of the mine is, you can add that distinction to your interpretation. There is a great deal of danger associated with mining, and a mine is a place where tragedy can occur in an instant. The same could be said of the fear that is sometimes associated with self-investigation.
Mine Shaft: A mine is a place beneath the surface of the earth where raw materials are found and cultivated. The shaft is the portal through which you get to the place below. From the surface, it is the evidence that an excavation has already taken place and that access to what is available has already been established. This is a fairly common dream image and indicates that there may be a need to revisit the dark and scary places below the surface of your consciousness in order to reap the benefit that is hidden in those realms. If the mine shaft seems abandoned, you are revisiting some insight or awareness that you have already mined, so look to past wisdom for your answers to today’s questions.
Minister: A minister is a religious leader, and as a person who appears in your dream, he or she is a character aspect of your own personality. From a purely archetypal perspective, a minister represents your access to the structure of a spiritual practice. However, your personal association with religion and your life experience with it must be taken into account when you interpret such a figure in a dream.
Mirror: A dream with a mirror in it is asking you to consider what you see in your life. What we experience in our consciousness is reflected back to us based on our inner beliefs, and if a mirror features prominently in a dream, you are contemplating this paradigm. Mirrors can be confounding and confusing. Not only do they reverse everything that they reflect, but their images can give a sense of reality that they do not actually possess. They accurately reflect an image, but are not the image itself. A mirror is comparable to the basic principle of cause and effect. You can use it effectively as a tool to examine the current state of things. However, in order to change what you don’t like in the reflection, you must work on the object being reflected rather than alter the mirror itself. Who or what one sees in a mirror in a dream represents that which the unconscious mind is seeing. Consider whether the mirror image is accurate to your self-perspective. Looking straight into the mirror and being comfortable with what you see says that your self-appraisal is honest and real. If what you see seems off-kilter in some way, it could be an invitation to look at where you may be being inauthentic. This could indicate something that you are deliberately hiding from others or something more mundane, such as being more concerned with how others see. The condition of a mirror should also be taken into account. For instance, a cracked mirror may be helping you process a feeling of ominous bad luck due to the old wives’ tale common in Western culture that breaking a mirror brings dire consequences to the one who breaks it. A handheld mirror might be offering an intimate glimpse of the self, one that is designed to privately monitor the image you project to the world. A full-length mirror could be pointing toward the need to see more of the whole picture of your current life situations. Someone else’s mirror might mean your individual sense of self is being determined at this time based on someone else’s values or perceptions. A mirror can possess the magical property of showing the truth about a situation when called upon, such as the Evil Queen’s Magic Mirror in Snow White. Explore the theme of the dream for its profound truth.
Miscarriage: A pregnancy is a symbolic expression of a new idea, project, direction, or choice to create something that is still in its gestational stage. A miscarriage is simply a change in direction such that you will need to begin again. While such a dream may have emotional connotations to it, the actual meaning connects more to making space for something new to be created.
Mistress: The “other woman” is a staple in many cultures where a man goes outside of his marriage vows in order to have his sexual needs met. At the heart of this structure from an interpretive perspective is the circuitous route that’s being used to generate a fundamental human experience that partnership is designed to provide. If someone appears in your dream and is indeed identified as either your or someone else’s mistress, that person is a character aspect of your own personality. The representation here is about the desire to connect to intimacy without emotional risk.
Model: A model embodies a certain aesthetic of beauty and is therefore a symbolic ideal to which many people aspire. The challenge with this image is that there is a great deal of false identification associated with this ideal, and your interpretation must include your personal relationship to beauty and your sense of personal attractiveness. A model as a character aspect in a dream may represent ideals of beauty to which you aspire, but may just as easily connect to the impossibility of such aspirations.
Mold: Mold is a mostly invisible fungus that makes itself known when certain conditions are present, often on food that has been left for long periods of time at certain temperatures. Other molds present a level of toxicity in homes and other buildings. Since molds are essentially unwanted, they have a symbolic meaning associated with disgust and decay. There is a secondary meaning when mold is present that connects with long periods of disregard to matters of cleanliness. If mold appears in a dream, you are being called to take a look at the impact of ignoring certain matters for long periods of time.
Monastery: A monastery is a place of both retreat and extreme spiritual devotion. In a dream, this setting is asking you for a particular increase in your spiritual devotion and self-reflection.
Money: Any dream that involves money is connecting to the principles of abundance, power, and freedom. In a dream, money often represents your inner resources. Your sense of personal value, power, or the ability to make something happen can be expressed by the symbol of money. As a symbol, large amounts of money can represent any sort of achievement or sense of fulfillment as an unconscious expression of desires met. No matter what the financial situation in your waking life, your dream state can find you available for limitless abundance or attached to absolute lack. Since money in life is symbolic in nature, in the dream world it can represent any form of abundance. The appearance of this in a dream could connect to the acquisition of any desire, from a new sense of inner riches to outward expressions of expansion such as a new relationship, job, or other appearance of a heart’s desire. On the opposite side of the spectrum, money in a dream could be pointing out feelings of lack that you are experiencing in life. As a wish fulfillment or compensatory dream, connecting to money could be balancing out feelings of limitation. Money that is counterfeit is revealing a relationship to abundance that is false or inauthentic. Though it may look real, it has been manufactured with dubious intentions. In a dream, this might point to ways in which you are (or someone in your life is) trying to get away with presenting yourself as bigger than you really are. Also be willing to look at the various aspects of your current situation; are there circumstances in your life that are costing you more than you can afford? This can apply to both material and emotional conditions. Look at the amount of money or lack of money in the dream as connoting how much or little of some needed commodity appears in your life. This can be spiritual, emotional, or physical. How abundant do you feel?
Monkey: Whenever an animal is present in a dream, it is pointing to a more instinctual approach to life. You may be obsessed with a pervasive thought pattern that won’t let your mind rest. The proverbial “monkey on your back” or the agitation of the “monkey mind” may be what this dream is calling forth. A monkey may also be indicative of the ability to mimic behavior by rote, but without a heartfelt understanding of the deeper meaning associated with the choices you are making. From an aboriginal perspective, the medicine available through the totem of the monkey relates to curiosity and playful energy.
Monuments: This symbol connects to collective expressions of cultural greatness. Structures such as the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, and the Great Pyramids are all examples of cultures erecting monuments to their own importance. This has been happening since the beginning of civilization. These enormous expressions of power and technology are designed to celebrate the accomplishments of a society and provide a collective projection of greatness that helps the masses feel safe and protected as well as proud of their accomplishments and feel a connection to their history. Such a dream may be calling you to leave your mark on the world in a very big way.
Moon (Moonlight): Any dream with the moon or moonlight in it relates to the feminine aspect of the life force energy. The moon is a very powerful symbol, just as it is an enormous energetic force in our daily life on Earth. As the heavenly counterpart to the masculine energy of the sun, the moon represents the feminine aspects of life. The primary essence of the moon is its constant changeability. In this regard, the moon symbolizes the ephemeral quality of life and all of the different cycles that human beings experience. If the moon plays a prominent role in your dream, your interpretation should begin with the notion that change is afoot. A distinction should be made about how the moon appears in your dream. If the moon itself is visible to you in the skyscape of your dream, then you are looking at the source of emotional power. If your dream illuminates the light of the moon itself as it falls upon Earth, then you are dreaming of the effect or impact of the moon’s magic. If your dream actually takes place on the moon, then you are literally visiting the seat of your unconscious directly; such a dream should be considered as a very deliberate snapshot of your current experience of how the invisible side of life is impacting the visible. The emotional side of life is represented by the moon. This includes all that is changeable and all that responds to the ebb and flow of life. Because of its unquestionable universality to the human race, the moon in dreams should be considered with very broad strokes of interpretation.
Moose: Stately and powerful, the moose is a study in understatement. We rarely see moose in any other posture but stillness, but the amount of brutal strength they possess is astronomical. They are a symbol of restrained power and aggression. They are enormous in size, yet graceful in movement. These contradictions are at the very heart of their medicine as an animal totem. When the moose appears in a dream, you are being introduced to a level of great power that is best understood as a function of that power’s potential rather than of actual expressions of violence.
Morning: Daytime represents that which you are conscious of. In the twenty-four-hour cycle, the daylight hours relate to the masculine principle of taking action. Morning is the very beginning of the day and in this way relates to the initial movement in any project or new direction in your waking life. You may have a dream that takes place in the morning when some new cycle is beginning or when you are approaching a new project, relationship, or course of action.
Mosque: You are dreaming of connecting to your spiritual nature in a more conventional way. Churches, temples, and mosques are the center of spiritual life for any community. Just like a house in a dream, any building can be interpreted as representing one’s current sense of self. In this way, any place of worship ultimately points to your relationship with spirituality and religion. Because this element of life can be particularly controversial, it is very important that you make a clear distinction between the universal meaning of a mosque as connecting to matters of spirituality and whatever personal feelings you harbor about organized religion. If a mosque is not your typical house of worship, your dream may be asking you to consider the similarities between religious beliefs rather than the differences.
Mosquito: Any flying insect relates to the world of thoughts and the intellect. As a pest, the mosquito connects to patterns of thought that can be both annoying and ultimately harmful. In life, mosquitos carry diseases, and in this way they symbolize the capacity for undesirable thought patterns to cause a great deal of harm if you allow them to land and infect you with their negativity. (See Insects.)
Moth: The moth has the same meaning as the butterfly, but it relates to the shadow side of the equation, as it is a nocturnal creature. (See Butterfly.)
Mother: See Parents.
Mother Mary, Quan Yin: This is an archetypal character aspect that represents the healing that occurs through the principles of love and compassion. While there are many other archetypal representations of the power of love, this entry will limit itself to these two, as they are perhaps the most widely recognized symbols of divine forgiveness in the history of the human race. In dream work, they should be treated symbolically as archetypes, and their appearance in a dream indicates that you are experiencing a high level of self-discovery and integration. Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Quan Yin, Buddhist goddess of mercy and compassion, embody the feminine principle in its highest evolution. The feminine principle connects to the power of love and receptivity. Both of these figures are revered by millions as the purveyors of forgiveness and unconditional love. Though the traditions that created each of them could not be more different, what they offer to those who turn to them in their hour of need is exactly the same. One of the most difficult challenges that all human beings face is the process of forgiveness, and the ability to forgive one’s self is particularly elusive. The human mind is not built for unconditional love, even though it is a concept that many who travel the path of service continually strive to achieve. No matter how she may appear to you, the archetype of the divine mother can help you inch your way out of shame and resentment and move toward the healing that can only come through love and mercy. The appearance of one of these great figures in a dream is to put you on notice that you are in a moment of elevating consciousness and self-integration. It is not uncommon for any archetypal figure to be silent in a dream; it is their mere presence that embodies the impact of the dream. If words and messages are present in the dream, take them to heart and do so literally. However, if this is not the case, your best use of such a dream is silent gratitude for the gift of such a powerful experience of elevated consciousness. (See Quan Yin.)
Motorcycle: All vehicles are symbols of how you move about in your life. A motorcycle is very similar to a car in terms of the day-to-day movement through your social and communal experience. However, a motorcycle adds an element of speed, power, and excitement to the interpretation. You may dream of a motorcycle when you crave these elements in your journey.
Mountain: You are dreaming of challenges or obstacles that you must surmount in your life, especially as they might relate to new ideas, constructs, or choices. Mountains are formed when two opposing vectors of movement in the earth’s crust push against each other and rise upward to form a new land mass. Therefore, the mountain is symbolic of the newly formed, high vantage place that rises up out of conflict and confrontation. Remember that changes on our planet’s surface first begin in the combustible core below. This relates them to the passion, aggression, and other friction-causing emotional states that occur in the lower depths of the unconscious that, in the long run, build new, higher terrain upon which you can see more of your life.
Mountain Lion: All cats relate to the power of the feminine principle. The larger the cat, the greater the power of this totem. The mountain lion is one of the smaller of the great cats, and the association with the terrain on which it is found connects to the ability to traverse higher levels of consciousness.
Mouse: A mouse is a very small animal and thus symbolizes a sense of timidity through phrases such as “timid as a mouse.” Mice remain mostly hidden behind walls, and in this way they represent ideas that are mostly hidden but that can be heard, figuratively speaking, scratching away underneath the surface or behind the scenes.
Movies: The creation of your own version of life is featured in this dream. Movies as a symbol connect to our memories and desires as well as a need to control our reality. Movies are so ingrained in Western culture that it is difficult to separate them out from the human experience as something distinct from how we live life day to day. This is especially so with regard to the way in which a film can capture historical events and present altered versions of moments in time that may be seen by future viewers as actual facts. Research has shown that the areas of the brain that are stimulated by the images we see on film are the same as those activated by real events. This blurs the line between fantasy and reality in an alarming way. Movies and dreams are not very different from each other. What is captured on film has a way of becoming real in the imagination of the human race. Even the most unbelievable storyline is made possible through the magic of film. In this way, the symbolic meaning of the movies is the incredible drive the human race has to make our most passionate desires come to life. A common dream that many people report is to have the sense that the dream itself is a movie. The first distinction that should be made when considering the symbolic meaning of a movie in a dream is which side of desire the film is addressing. One connects to manifesting a fantasy into reality and the other embodies rewriting history as you perhaps wish it was. In either case, the presence of a movie in a dream is likely expressing a wish to have more control over how life is being perceived. Ask yourself what area of your life is feeling unreal or that you wish were different.
Moving: A shift in identity or consciousness is at hand. Your home is the strongest symbol connected to your sense of self, and the process of moving indicates that great change is at hand. There is chaos in this transformation, so the dream may be expressing some area in your life where change is happening at such a fast or intense rate that things feel all taken apart. Trust that this is only a process and eventually everything will feel in alignment once again.
Mug: Any container of liquid to be consumed is symbolic of your ability to have immediate access to take in some form of sustenance. A mug is usually associated with a warm beverage, which has connotations of comfort. A mug in your dreams may be expressing a desire to feel nurtured. Many people might associate a mug with drinking coffee, and in this way this image could relate to the need for stimulation.
Muscles: Muscles are a predominantly male image that is symbolically connected to strength, power, and sexual masculinity. Muscles are often hyper-exaggerated and in this way are representative of what can happen when there is too much emphasis put on these qualities. If you have obvious musculature in the dream, you are seeing the evidence of a great deal of effort being put in the doing of some aspect of your life. If someone in the dream is very muscular, use the character-aspect technique and assign that part of your personality an extra dose of strength and power.
Music: Music is the most exalted form of expression and universal communication that the human race has. Any dream that features music is connecting both to a deep passion to express as well as the fundamental structure of life itself. Music is mathematical in nature. This is what makes it perfectly universal. Music might be considered the highest form of creative expression available to the human race. This is evidenced by the importance our society places on music and musicians and the powerful influence that music exerts over people. In all cultures throughout history, the presence of music has created the possibility of people being connected through joy. Not only does music have the capacity to bring human beings together in a shared sense of ecstasy, but it has been shown to exert a powerful influence over animals and plant life as well. When music appears in a dream, your first consideration should be to examine areas in your waking life where you are allowing yourself (or not allowing yourself) to connect to spontaneous self-expression. If you are hearing music in your dream, you may be receiving messages from your unconscious to open yourself to a deeper, more joyful sense of life. The degree of pleasantness of the music in your dream may represent your current relationship to your intuitive and emotional nature that goes beyond intellectual understanding. If you are making the music in the dream, you may want to examine areas of your life where creative endeavors are ready to thrive. If background music plays a pivotal role in your dream, you may want to consider this as an underscoring to subtle emotional issues that may be getting ready to emerge into your conscious awareness. In the same way that music deepens the emotional meaning in a film, music may serve to highlight the importance of a dream. If this seems to be the case, remember the manipulative nature of this use of music’s power. You may want to examine ways in which your emotions may be influencing your view of some area of your life in ways that may not be authentic. This could show up in the form of drama in a current situation that might be more effectively dealt with using a more pragmatic and less emotional approach.