Symbols / An octopus
A reading for meaning, not prophecy
An octopus is read as entanglement and the many-armed grip — in the East a complex, tangled matter (章鱼), in the West the grasping unconscious or a smothering hold, in Ibn Sirin's tradition an entangling difficulty.
Three readings
周公解梦 reads the octopus as a matter of many arms — a complex, tangled situation, or a person whose reach extends in many directions at once. To free yourself from its grip is read as untangling a knotted affair; to be held, as a complication still wrapped around you.
Chinese dream interpretation (周公解梦), explained →In the Jungian reading the octopus is the grasping unconscious — entanglement, a hold that will not release, at times the smothering or devouring aspect of a bond or the mother. Its many arms picture how a single fear or attachment can reach into everything at once, gripping from all sides.
Jungian dream interpretation, explained →A strange creature of the deep, read in the spirit of Ibn Sirin as an entangling force or a many-handed difficulty in one's affairs. Framed as meaning: what has you in a many-armed grip, and which arm might you loosen first?
Islamic dream interpretation, explained →Read as entanglement and a many-armed grip — a complex, tangled situation, or a hold that reaches into everything at once. It asks what has you gripped from all sides.
Usually read as feeling seized by a complicated situation or relationship — one attachment or fear whose arms reach into every part of your life. It asks which arm you might loosen first.
Spiritually the octopus is the grasping unconscious — what will not let go, sometimes the smothering aspect of a bond. It pictures how a single deep fear can entangle the whole of you.
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