120 symbols beginning with R. Each one is read four ways, and every source is named so you can check it.
- Rescuing someoneRescue dreams are reported less often than being rescued, and they tend to be exhausting rather than heroic: the effort is the content, and it freq...
- Returning to an old house or schoolReturning to an old house or school usually pictures revisiting the past, often for unfinished business or to weigh who you were against who you are.
- ReunitingDreaming of reuniting with someone often reflects a longing for connection, or a wish to recover something a parting took from you.
- RunningRunning in a dream commonly tracks effort and urgency, whether you are chasing something you want or trying to get away from something you dread.
- RabbitA rabbit usually carries fertility, luck, and gentleness, but its quickness and timidity can also picture anxiety or running from something.
- RaccoonA raccoon often points to cleverness, curiosity, and a masked or hidden quality, something resourceful that works best out of sight.
- RaceThis entry is the contest, the kind with a start and a finish. Dreams of racing are reported for the position rather than the result, and dreamers...
- RadishThe radish is reported for the sharpness and the colour together, and dreamers frequently mention pulling one out of the ground.
- RaffleThe raffle in a dream stops at the drawing, and dreamers frequently report holding a ticket whose number they cannot read.
- RaftA raft often pictures a fragile, makeshift crossing, staying afloat on open water with only what you could lash together.
- RagsRags in a dream are reported as being worn rather than seen, and dreamers frequently say nobody in the dream remarked on them.
- RailingA railing is reported for whether it held, and dreamers frequently describe leaning on one that gave.
- RailroadTrack in a dream is reported without a train on it, and dreamers frequently describe walking along it.
- RainRain often pictures release and renewal, or sadness washing through, the same water that cleanses in one mood and drowns the spirits in another.
- RainbowA rainbow often points to hope, promise, or a bridge between states, a bright sign appearing after the storm.
- RakeA rake usually stands for tidying, gathering, or clearing away what has fallen, so it helps to ask whether the work brought order or only scattered...
- RamThe ram is reported for the horns and the stance, and dreamers usually describe it as unafraid of them.
- RansomA ransom in a dream is reported as a demand rather than a payment, and dreamers frequently cannot say who was being held.
- RapeDreams of assault are reported by people who have been assaulted and by people who have not, and the dream on its own tells you nothing about which...
- RashA rash often points to irritation breaking out where you cannot hide it, an inner distress shown on the skin, and sometimes to something that has g...
- RatA rat tends to point to something gnawing at you, a worry, a betrayal, or a feeling of being unclean, though it can also mean sheer resourcefulness.
- RattlesnakeThe rattle is the report, and dreamers frequently say they heard it before they saw anything.
- RazorThe razor is reported at the moment before use, and dreamers frequently describe an unsteady hand.
- ReadingReading in a dream is one of the few things dreams are reliably bad at, and text that will not hold still is among the most consistently reported e...
- RealtorThe estate agent in a dream is showing the dreamer around their own house, and dreamers frequently report not correcting them.
- ReceptionA reception in a dream is reported for the waiting rather than the event, and dreamers frequently say they were early.
- RedRed often carries strong feeling, passion, anger, or danger, though your own sense of the colour matters most.
- Red carpetThe red carpet is reported from the wrong side, and dreamers frequently say they were on it without knowing why.
- ReefA reef often pictures a hidden structure under the surface, rich with life yet able to wreck the unwary, marking both shelter and unseen risk.
- RefrigeratorThe fridge in a dream is opened and found wrong, and dreamers frequently report standing in the light from it.
- RegretRegret in a dream often holds a wish that something had gone otherwise, and what you would undo is usually the part worth weighing against waking l...
- ReincarnationDreaming of reincarnation or a past life often reflects a sense of beginning again, an unfinished theme returning, or a search for who you were bef...
- RejectionRejection in a dream often carries the sting of being turned away, and who refused you, or what you were refused, is usually the thread worth follo...
- ReliefRelief in a dream usually follows the lifting of a strain or fear, and what fell away is often as telling as the ease that came after.
- ReptileA reptile in a dream is reported for its stillness and its temperature, and dreamers frequently mention that it did not blink.
- RescueBeing rescued is reported less often than rescuing, and dreamers who are rescued frequently say they had not asked.
- ResentmentResentment in a dream often holds a grievance that has not been let go, and who or what it settled on is usually worth weighing against waking life.
- RestaurantA restaurant often points to nourishment shared with others, choice, and how you are fed in company rather than alone.
- ResurrectionResurrection in a dream usually points to renewal, a fresh start, or something you thought was finished returning to life.
- ReunionA reunion in a dream often reflects a wish to reconnect, to look back, or to weigh how you have changed alongside others from your past.
- RevengeRevenge dreams are reported with unusual clarity, and dreamers frequently wake pleased and then uneasy about being pleased.
- RhinocerosA rhinoceros often stands for blunt force, a thick-skinned defensiveness, or a charge toward something you have decided to meet head on.
- RibsRibs often point to protection and what you shelter within, the cage around the heart, and sometimes to vulnerability when that guard feels exposed.
- RiceRice often points to plenty, fertility, and the steady staple that feeds many, the quiet sufficiency of the everyday.
- RickshawA rickshaw often pictures travel powered by another's labour, being carried through busy streets by someone else's effort.
- RingA ring usually means commitment, wholeness, or a bond, a promise made or broken, depending on whether it is given, worn, or lost.
- RiverA river often stands for the flow of life or feeling and the passage of time, carrying you onward whether you steer or drift.
- RoadA road pictures your life's direction and the choices along it, with crossroads marking decisions and a blocked way marking uncertainty.
- RoadblockA barrier across a route makes a plain dream image, and the reported feeling is usually irritation rather than fear: the way is shut and somebody d...
- RobinA robin often stands for hope, fresh beginnings, or a small comforting visit that lifts the spirits, sometimes tied to thoughts of those we have lost.
- RobotA robot in a dream is reported for how it moved, and dreamers frequently say they could not tell whether it was aware.
- RockA rock often stands for stability and endurance, something solid and unmoving, though a boulder in the path can also mean an obstacle.
- RocketA rocket often pictures launch and ambition, a sudden powerful rise toward something far beyond ordinary reach.
- Roller CoasterA roller coaster often pictures highs and lows you cannot steer, a ride of steep climbs and sudden drops fixed to a track.
- Roller SkatesRoller skates often picture playful, gliding movement and the balance between freedom and the risk of a fall.
- RoofA roof often pictures shelter and the higher edge of the self, what protects you and the vantage from which you look out.
- RootsRoots usually point to your foundations, family, and origins, the hidden support that holds a life steady out of sight.
- RopeA rope often pictures connection or constraint, a lifeline or a binding, so it helps to ask whether it held you, saved you, or tied you down.
- RosaryThe rosary is reported through the hands, and dreamers frequently describe counting without knowing the count.
- RoseA rose tends to mean love and beauty with a cost, the bloom and the thorn together, whether passion, secrecy, or a tender thing that can wound.
- RowboatThe rowing boat is reported for the fact that the dreamer is facing backwards, and several report noticing that only on waking.
- RubbishWhat a household throws away makes an unglamorous dream subject, and the reported detail is usually that it will not go, or that something is in it...
- RubyThe ruby is reported for the colour rather than the stone, and dreamers frequently describe light coming through it.
- RuinsRuins in a dream are reported as familiar, and dreamers frequently say they knew what the building had been.
- RulesDreams about rules are usually dreams about not knowing them, and the reported feeling is being at fault without being told how.
- RumRum in a dream is reported for the smell and the associations rather than the drinking, and the setting is usually somebody else's.
- ReporterSomebody paid to arrive where something has happened and ask people about it, which is a job most people only meet on their worst day.
- RaisinA grape dried so it will keep, which is one of the oldest methods of making food survive a winter.
- RapidsWater moving too fast to negotiate, where the only decisions available are made before you enter.
- RaspberryA fruit that comes off the plant hollow, leaving its core behind, which is why it collapses if you hold it too firmly.
- Rat trapA larger and more serious version of a familiar object, built for an animal that learns.
- Rocking chairA chair that moves so the sitter does not have to, and the only furniture that keeps time.
- Rose bushA plant whose thorns are not thorns, and which needs cutting back hard every year by somebody prepared to be brutal.
- RudderA small flat thing at the back that turns an enormous one, and which does nothing at all unless the vessel is already moving.
- RyeA grain that grows where wheat will not, which made it the bread of poor and cold places and gave it a reputation it never shook.
- RevolverA pistol that carries its next shot in a rotating cylinder, so the person holding it can see how many are left and so can everybody watching.
- RhinestoneCut glass sold as a jewel, named after a river where the original stones were gathered, and honest about itself in a way most imitations are not.
- RhubarbA vegetable eaten as a fruit, whose leaves will poison you and whose stalks are grown in the dark by candlelight in one small corner of Yorkshire.
- RosetteA pleated ribbon awarded for coming somewhere in particular, and the only prize whose colour tells a stranger the result from across a field.
- RougeColour put on a face to imitate a feeling, which means the wearer is performing a blush they are not having.
- RubberSap from a tree that was named for rubbing out pencil marks, and which has probably caused more human misery than any other plant product.
- RadioThe only medium people still use while doing something else, which is why it is spoken to as company rather than watched as content.
- RadioactiveA danger with no smell, taste, sound or feel, which is why it produces a specific kind of dread that no other hazard manages.
- RodentAn order of animals defined by teeth that never stop growing, which means every one of them must gnaw or die.
- Russian rouletteA dream that frightens people badly and is worth taking seriously rather than interpreting, because the subject is deliberate risk of death.
- RustIron returning to the state it was found in, which makes rusting a homecoming rather than a decay.
- RibbonA strip of cloth whose entire purpose is to be tied, and which carries more meaning per inch than almost any other material.
- RowanThe tree planted at doorways against harm, still standing beside farmhouses whose owners will not say why it is there.
- ReverenceTreating something as more important than yourself, which shows in behaviour long before anyone can say what is believed.
- RavineA narrow cut in the ground too steep to cross, which turns a short distance into a long one.
- RiggingThe whole system of rope holding masts up and sails in place, where every line is under tension and slackening one moves all of them.
- RaspA coarse file that shapes by tearing rather than cutting, leaving a surface that always needs something finer afterwards.
- ReluctanceDoing something while making the unwillingness visible, so the act is performed and the objection is registered at once.
- RookA crow that will not live alone, nesting in colonies at the tops of the same trees year after year, in full view of the village.
- RopemakerA trade needing a walk a quarter of a mile long, because rope was laid out at full length and twisted backwards along it.
- RehearsingDoing a thing repeatedly in conditions that do not count, so that it can be done once in conditions that do.
- ReputationWhat other people believe about you, which you cannot see, cannot correct directly, and do not own.
- ResilienceReturning to shape after a load is taken off, which is a property of springs and was applied to people fairly recently.
- RestraintNot doing something you could do, which leaves no trace and is therefore almost never noticed by anyone.
- RocA bird large enough to carry an elephant, reported by travellers who had probably seen a very large egg and worked backwards.
- RidgeA long raised line of ground, which stays dry and gives a view, and which is why the oldest roads run along them.
- RedstartA bird whose name is old English for red tail, and which shivers that tail constantly whether or not anything is happening.
- RelicA physical remnant of a saint, which an altar was for centuries required to contain before mass could be said on it.
- ReliquaryA container for a relic, frequently made in the shape of whatever body part is inside it, so the box announces its contents.
- RoodA great cross set above the entrance to the chancel, almost all of which were destroyed, leaving the stairs that led to them.
- ReredosThe screen behind an altar, which exists to give the eye somewhere to stop, so the wall does not simply continue.
- ReceiptProof that money changed hands, issued by the party who took it and kept by the party who gave it.
- RentA payment for using something owned by somebody else, and also a tear, since the same spelling covers both.
- RebateMoney given back after it has been taken, so the payer is out of pocket first and refunded afterwards.
- Rolling pinA cylinder for flattening pastry, and the standing comic image of a domestic weapon in a hundred cartoons.
- RivetA fastener that works by being deformed, so it cannot be removed without destroying it and was never meant to come out.
- RequiemThe mass for the dead, named from its opening words asking for rest, and one of the largest forms in music.
- RapierA long thin civilian sword for duelling, which was carried in streets rather than battlefields and was useless in a war.
- RiddleA question asked in order to be beaten, where the asker already has the answer and the whole point is the withholding.
- RouletteA spun wheel with numbered pockets, where the whole business rests on the pockets that belong to neither colour.
- RingingA sound with no source, which is the only kind of noise you cannot walk away from.
- Rocking horseA horse that moves constantly and arrives nowhere, which is a great deal of motion in exchange for staying in the nursery.
- RattleThe first toy, given before a child can hold anything, whose whole function is proving that moving your arm changes the world.
- RustleThe sound of something moving that you cannot see, made by whatever it is moving through rather than by the thing itself.
- ReverberationSound continuing after its source has stopped, bounced off enough surfaces that it arrives late and cannot be traced back.