- A dream about the moon is traditionally read as fortune in love and business, with the moon's appearance deciding whether the news is good or bad.
- Miller (1901) reads a normal moon as success, a weird moon as domestic trouble, a new moon as wealth and a good marriage, two moons as losing a lover through greed, and a blood-red moon as war and strife.
- Psychology follows Jung in reading the moon as the feminine principle, the unconscious and the rhythm of cycles.
- Sleep research has found small, inconsistent effects of the full moon on sleep and none on dream content.
- Dream interpretation is a tradition of reading symbols; it does not predict events.
What does it mean to dream about the moon?
Miller (1901) gives the moon a long entry. A moon in a normal sky prognosticates success in love and business. A weird, uncanny moon denotes unpropitious lovemaking, domestic troubles and disappointing business ventures. A moon in eclipse means contagion ravaging the community. A new moon means an increase in wealth and a congenial marriage partner. For a young woman, appealing to the moon to learn her fate means marriage to the one of her choice; seeing two moons means losing her lover through being mercenary; a moon growing dim means letting the great happiness of her life slip for want of tact; a blood-red moon indicates war and strife and her lover marching away. Folk dream books add that a full moon is fulfilment and money, and the moon reflected in water is a deceptive hope.
Three ways to read a dream about moon
| Reading | Who says it | What the dream is taken to mean | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dream books | Folk tradition, Miller (1901) | Miller (1901) gives the moon a long entry. A moon in a normal sky prognosticates success in love and business. A weird, uncanny moon denotes unpropitious lovemaking, domestic troubles and disappointing business ventures. A moon in eclipse means contagion ravaging the community. A new moon means an increase in wealth and a congenial marriage partner. For a young woman, appealing to the moon to learn her fate means marriage to the one of her choice; seeing two moons means losing her lover through being mercenary; a moon growing dim means letting the great happiness of her life slip for want of tact; a blood-red moon indicates war and strife and her lover marching away. Folk dream books add that a full moon is fulfilment and money, and the moon reflected in water is a deceptive hope. | Custom |
| Psychology | Freud, Jung and later authors | Jung read the moon as the counterpart of the sun: where the sun is consciousness, reason and the masculine principle, the moon is the unconscious, feeling, intuition and the feminine, the anima in a man's dreams and the deep self in a woman's. Its light is reflected and changing, so it stands for knowledge that comes indirectly, through mood and image rather than argument. The moon's phases make it the natural image of cycles: fertility, menstruation, the rise and fall of emotion. A full moon in a dream suggests a feeling or insight at its height; a new or dark moon a period of inward gestation; two moons a split in the dreamer's emotional life; a falling moon the fear that the intuitive, nourishing side of life is collapsing. | Clinical interpretation |
| Sleep research | Sleep laboratories, surveys | The moon has been studied more than most dream symbols because of the old belief that it disturbs sleep. A few small studies have reported slightly shorter or lighter sleep around the full moon, but larger analyses have failed to replicate the effect consistently, and no study has found that lunar phase changes what people dream about. Content analysis places celestial objects among the rarer dream elements, usually appearing in visually striking, emotionally calm dreams. A dramatic moon seen recently, in the sky or on screen, is the likeliest source of the image, in line with memory consolidation research. There is no evidence that a red or double moon foretells anything. | Measurements and surveys |
Moon in the dream books
What each source says, in its own terms. Dream books are quoted as tradition, not as fact.
A moon in a normal sky brings success in love and business; a weird moon brings domestic trouble; a new moon brings wealth and a good marriage; two moons mean losing a lover through greed; a blood-red moon means war and strife.
A full moon is fulfilment and money; the moon reflected in water is a deceptive hope; the moon growing dark is a matter fading away.
The moon is the image of the unconscious and the feminine principle, its reflected and changing light standing for knowledge that arrives through feeling and intuition.
Moon dream meaning, by variation
The details change the reading.
| In the dream | Traditional reading | Psychological reading |
|---|---|---|
| Full moon | Fulfilment in love; money coming. | A feeling or insight at its height. |
| Red or blood moon | In Miller, war and strife; in folk books, passion or a quarrel. | Emotion charged with anger or desire. |
| Two moons | Losing a lover through greed; a divided choice. | A split in your emotional life; two loyalties. |
| Huge moon close to the earth | A great event; a strong influence entering your life. | The unconscious pressing close; feelings that feel enormous. |
| Moon falling or crashing | A sudden upheaval. | Fear that the intuitive, nourishing side of life is collapsing. |
| New moon or crescent | Increase in wealth; a good partner. | A beginning still hidden; inward gestation. |
| Moon in eclipse | In Miller, contagion in the community. | Feeling temporarily cut off from your own intuition. |
| Moon reflected in water | A deceptive hope. | Longing for something that is only an image. |
When in the night do such dreams happen?
Vivid, story-like dreams happen mostly in REM sleep. REM periods are short early in the night and get longer toward morning, which is why a dream like this is often the last thing before waking.
Spiritual meaning of moon in a dream
Spiritual writers read the moon as the great teacher of cycles: it waxes, wanes, disappears and returns, and so reassures the dreamer that dark phases pass. A full moon is read as illumination and the peak of intuitive power, a new moon as the right time to set intentions, a red moon as a time of intense transformation. Many traditions link the moon to the divine feminine, and a moon dream is taken as contact with that principle. Two moons are read as a choice between two paths of the soul.
Which phase of a cycle am I in right now: growing, full, fading or dark?
What do I know by feeling that I have not admitted by reasoning?
Was there a striking moon in the sky or on a screen recently?
Questions people ask
What does it mean to dream about the moon?
Miller reads a normal moon as success in love and business and a strange one as trouble. Folk books read the full moon as fulfilment. Jung read the moon as the unconscious and the feminine. Research finds no link between the moon and dream content.
What does a red or blood moon mean in a dream?
Miller reads it as war and strife; folk books as passion or a quarrel. Psychology reads the red as emotion charged with anger or desire. A recent lunar eclipse or news image is the plainest explanation for the colour.
Is a moon dream a good or bad sign?
The old books make it depend on the moon's appearance, but there is no evidence that dreams predict events. Moon dreams are usually calm, visually striking dreams that reflect mood and recent sights rather than fortune.
What do two moons mean?
Miller reads two moons as a young woman losing her lover through greed. Psychology reads them as a split in your emotional life, two loyalties or two paths pulling at once. Spiritual writers read a choice between two ways for the soul.
What does a huge moon or the moon falling mean?
Folk books read a huge moon as a great event or a strong influence, and a falling moon as upheaval. Psychology reads the enormous moon as the unconscious pressing close and the falling moon as fear that your intuitive, nourishing side is collapsing.
Does the full moon really affect dreams?
Small studies have reported slightly lighter sleep around the full moon, but larger analyses do not reproduce it consistently, and no study has shown that lunar phase changes what people dream about. Belief in the effect is far stronger than the evidence.
- Miller G. H. Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, 1901
- Jung C. G. Man and His Symbols, 1964
- Hall C. S., Van de Castle R. L. The Content Analysis of Dreams, 1966
- Schredl M. Dream content analysis: basic principles. International Journal of Dream Research, 2010
- Folk dream books
Each symbol page sets three readings side by side and names where each one comes from. Dream books are quoted as tradition. Last reviewed on the date in the header.