Psychological / emotional perspective: Psychologically, we sometimes need to be aware of our feelings about death.
The obvious image of the skeleton appearing in our dreams forces us to be aware of this. It can also suggest feelings or talents that we have forgotten and that, therefore, seem to have died.
To be conscious of our own skull in dreams is to appreciate the intellectual structure that we have given our lives.
To perceive a skull where there should be a head suggests that we are not using our intellectual abilities as well we might. When a skull is talking to us, a part of us that we have rejected or denied is beginning to ‘come back to life’.
To be talking to a skull is recognizing the need to communicate with those who are lost to us in any way; if we believe in life after death, we may feel that spirit is talking through the skull.
[1]Material aspects: A skeleton in a dream suggests the ‘bare bones’ of something, perhaps an idea or concept.
A skeleton in a cupboard represents a past action or shame, both in dreams and waking life, we wish to hide.
A dancing skeleton is an awareness of the life we have lived or are living.
To dig up a skeleton is to resurrect something – perhaps a talent – we have buried or hidden away.
The skull and crossbones in dreams could represent either a somewhat romantic appreciation of a pirate or freedom-lover, or perhaps is a symbol of danger. Since the skull is a representation of the head it can also symbolize intellectual ability, or rather lack of it.
[2]A skeleton in dreams alerts us to our attitude to the macabre. We are aware that the physical must ‘die’ or change, but that there is still a framework left.
The skull in dreams can sometimes represent major changes such as death and all the adjustments necessary. Also consult the entry for death and the information on the head in the body entry as well as the information on tramp in archetypes and spirits in spiritual imagery in the introduction.
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