Many people may have dreamt about houses multiple times in their dreams, but they may not know what this signifies. In this regard, psychologists who specialize in dream research have provided detailed analyses.
American religious psychologist, author, and director of the Sleep and Dream Database, Kelly Bulkeley, stated in an article on Psychology Today that houses and homes are one of the most common elements in dreams, holding both literal and symbolic meanings.
Data from the Sleep and Dream Database shows that 47% of women’s dreams and 42% of men’s dreams contain at least one building, with houses, rooms, and homes being the most frequently dreamt about elements. Their occurrence far surpasses that of food and drinks (women 14%, men 12%), clothing (women 14%, men 11%), and sex (women 4%, men 6%).
Bulkeley wrote that among life essentials, the need for housing seems to have the greatest impact on our dreaming experiences.
The frequency of houses appearing in dreams certainly reflects the substantial amount of time many people spend at home. Literally, houses provide individuals with safety, privacy, comfort, and warmth, separating families and strangers, and the private from the public through walls.
For many homeowners, their house is their most valuable asset and a place where they store their financial resources. This is why dreaming about one’s house being threatened by fire or flood can be so unsettling. Particularly in an era of rapid climate change, dreams of dangerous and worrisome situations involving houses may increase.
The appearance of houses in dreams also holds significant symbolic meanings, which can be seen from at least two perspectives. One is that houses symbolize family relationships and childhood experiences. Dreams often bring us back to the houses we lived in during our childhood, reminding us of experiences that still shape and influence us today. Houses can embody profound memories and growth events, both happy and frightening.
Bulkeley points out that when you dream about a house from your childhood, there may be a symbolic connection between a significant event that occurred in that house and a challenge you are currently facing.
Furthermore, houses appearing in dreams also symbolize both your physical and mental aspects. For example, Swiss psychologist Carl Jung once dreamt that he was exploring a multi-story house. As he descended from one floor to another, the decor changed from modern to ancient, then to the Stone Age.
Jung interpreted this dream as a symbolic representation of the human psyche. Modern consciousness resides at the “top” of this structure, while the depths of the collective unconscious lie at the “bottom.” Other psychologists view dreams involving houses as metaphors for the human body, including various openings, appearances, secret internal spaces, pipes, and wires.
If you dream of a house, you can consider how the condition of the house in your dream compares to your physical and mental state in real life. Such dreams can help you better understand your subtle and easily overlooked aspects through the familiar features of the house.
In conclusion, Bulkeley states that houses in dreams carry both literal and symbolic meanings, and these two facets often overlap. In American society, many people aspire to own their own house to meet their practical housing needs while also symbolizing the achievement of the “American Dream.”
The widespread connection between owning a house and the American Dream reflects people’s pursuit of a good, stable, and independent life. However, narrowly defining the ideal of the American Dream as owning a private residence can lead individuals to excessively focus on material gain and social status.