What does it mean to dream about cave?
A cave often pictures the inner self, the unconscious, or a place of retreat, a dark interior holding both fear and hidden treasure.
Four ways to read it
Each reading below comes from a named tradition and a cited source, so you can see where it came from and decide what fits your dream.
Freud
Freud would read a return to the womb and the sheltered interior, the wish to withdraw to a safe, enclosed place.
After Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams (Brill trans., 1913), public domain.Jung
Jung would see the unconscious itself and a place of initiation, where the hero descends to face the dark and bring something back.
Jungian concept (our summary).Modern
Continuity ties caves to waking needs for retreat and introspection, or to fear of what is hidden within.
Continuity hypothesis (our summary).Mythological
Caves are the mouths of the underworld and the birthplaces of gods, from the cave of Zeus's infancy to the oracles that spoke from the earth's dark.
Rosmerta Publishing editorial synthesis (after Bulfinch; Frazer).