- A dream about war is traditionally read as strife in business and at home, or as victory and activity if the dreamer's side prevails.
- Miller's dream book of 1901 reads war as unfortunate business and domestic disorder, and dreaming of victory as brisk activity and harmony.
- Folk dream books read war as discord, psychology as a conflict that exceeds the dreamer, research as a dream that follows the news and rises in populations exposed to war.
- Studies during real wars and after major attacks recorded a clear rise in war and threat dreams in the general population.
- Dream interpretation is a tradition of reading symbols; it does not predict events.
What does it mean to dream about war?
Folk dream books read war as discord at the scale of the whole household. Miller, in 1901, read a dream of war as unfortunate conditions in business and much disorder and strife at home; for a young woman, her lover going to war meant hearing something detrimental to his character; one's country defeated meant a revolution of a business and political kind; and a dream of victory meant brisk activity in business and a harmonious home. Other folk readings add that being a soldier means hard duty ahead, that hiding from war means avoiding a quarrel, and that hearing of a war without seeing it means bad news from afar.
Three ways to read a dream about war
| Reading | Who says it | What the dream is taken to mean | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dream books | Folk tradition, Miller (1901) | Folk dream books read war as discord at the scale of the whole household. Miller, in 1901, read a dream of war as unfortunate conditions in business and much disorder and strife at home; for a young woman, her lover going to war meant hearing something detrimental to his character; one's country defeated meant a revolution of a business and political kind; and a dream of victory meant brisk activity in business and a harmonious home. Other folk readings add that being a soldier means hard duty ahead, that hiding from war means avoiding a quarrel, and that hearing of a war without seeing it means bad news from afar. | Custom |
| Psychology | Freud, Jung and later authors | Psychology reads war as conflict too large for the dreamer to fight alone: a family at odds, a workplace divided, or an inner struggle between what one wants and what one must do. The dream places the dreamer in a role, soldier, civilian, hiding, fleeing, and that role shows how they meet the conflict awake. Freud read the aggression of war dreams as the mind's censored hostility given a scene that permits it. Jung read collective images such as war as the dreamer's psyche taking part in the mood of the time, so that a war dream in peacetime may be an inner civil war between parts of the personality. | Clinical interpretation |
| Sleep research | Sleep laboratories, surveys | Research gives the clearest evidence here. Studies of dream reports during and after wars, and after major terrorist attacks, recorded a marked rise in war, attack and threat dreams among people not directly involved, following the continuity between the news and dream content. The threat simulation theory reads such dreams as rehearsals of collective danger. Among people who lived through war, war dreams can persist for decades and are a recognised part of post-traumatic stress; in those cases the dream repeats the event rather than symbolising it. For most dreamers, a war dream follows exposure to images of war. | Measurements and surveys |
War in the dream books
What each source says, in its own terms. Dream books are quoted as tradition, not as fact.
To dream of war foretells unfortunate conditions in business and much disorder and strife at home. For a young woman to dream that her lover goes to war means hearing something detrimental to his character. If your country is defeated, it will suffer a revolution of a business and political nature. A dream of victory brings brisk business and a harmonious home.
War in a dream is discord in the whole household. Being a soldier is hard duty ahead; hiding from war is avoiding a quarrel; hearing of a war unseen is bad news from afar.
Jung read collective images such as war as the dreamer's psyche sharing in the mood of the time, or as an inner war between parts of the personality.
War dream meaning, by variation
The details change the reading.
| In the dream | Traditional reading | Psychological reading |
|---|---|---|
| Being a soldier in a war | Hard duty ahead. | You have taken a side and must fight for it. |
| Hiding from war | Avoiding a quarrel. | Withdrawing from a conflict you cannot win. |
| War in your city | Discord close to home. | Conflict has reached your private life. |
| Winning a war | Brisk business; a harmonious home. | Confidence that a large conflict can be resolved. |
| Losing a war | A revolution in business or politics. | Fear of being on the losing side of a change. |
| Bombs and explosions | Sudden bad news. | Anger or fear breaking out without warning. |
| A loved one going to war | Hearing something detrimental about them. | Fear of losing them to a struggle you cannot join. |
| War you only hear about | Bad news from afar. | The news has entered your sleep. |
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 war in a dream
Spiritual writers read war in a dream as the great conflict between the forces in the dreamer's own soul: fear against trust, control against surrender, the old self against the new. In their reading the dreamer's role shows their stance, and hiding, fighting or making peace in the dream is a rehearsal of the choice being asked of them. They read the end of the war in a dream, a ceasefire or a return home, as the soul's readiness for peace, and a war without end as a call to stop taking sides.
Which two sides in my life cannot both win?
What role did I have in the war, and is it the role I have awake?
Have I been watching war in the news before sleep?
Questions people ask
What does it mean to dream about war?
Miller in 1901 read war as strife in business and at home, and victory as activity and harmony. Psychology reads it as conflict larger than one person, or an inner war. Research shows war dreams rise sharply when war is in the news.
Is dreaming of war a bad sign?
Dream books read it as discord, but there is no evidence that dreams predict events. The dream most often follows images of war seen the day before, or a conflict at home or work that feels too big.
Why do I dream of war when I have never been in one?
Because dreams follow the news and the mood of the time; studies during wars and after attacks found war dreams rising in the general population. The images come from screens, not from memory.
What does hiding from war in a dream mean?
Folk books read it as avoiding a quarrel. Psychology reads it as withdrawing from a conflict you cannot win, which is sometimes wise and sometimes a habit worth noticing.
What does being a soldier in a dream mean?
Dream books read it as hard duty ahead. Psychology reads it as having taken a side in a conflict and feeling obliged to fight for it.
Why do war dreams repeat for people who were in a war?
Recurring war dreams are a recognised part of post-traumatic stress; they repeat the event rather than symbolising it. If they persist, help from a trauma specialist changes them more reliably than interpretation.
- Miller G. H. Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, 1901
- Jung C. G. Man and His Symbols, 1964
- Freud S. The Interpretation of Dreams, 1899
- Revonsuo A. The reinterpretation of dreams: an evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000
- Hall C. S., Van de Castle R. L. The Content Analysis of Dreams, 1966
- Folk dream books, war as discord in the house
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.