Dream meanings
These pages take the dreams people report most often and set out what research says about them. This is not a dream dictionary: no image has one fixed meaning, and the context that decides is your own life.
Dreams of teeth falling out: what the research says
How common teeth dreams are, what two studies found about their causes, and how to work with one.
Dreams of falling: what sleep research says
Why falling dreams so often end in a jolt, how common they really are, and how to work with one.
Dreams of being chased: what research has found
How common chase dreams are, who does the chasing, why the brain may stage them, and what helps when they repeat.
Dreams about snakes: what psychology and biology say
Why snakes are such a common dream figure, what research on snake fear shows, and how to work with a snake dream.
Exam dreams: being unprepared, arriving late, failing
Why the unprepared exam is one of the commonest dreams, why it outlives school, and what a study of 719 students found.
Flying dreams: what research says
How common they are, how they feel, why lucid dreamers fly so often, and what studies of thousands of dreams found.
Dreaming about your ex: what research says
How often former partners appear in dreams, what those dreams contain, and what studies of divorce and break-ups found.
Dreams about death and dying: what research shows
Your own death, someone else's, and the people we have lost: how common these dreams are and what grief research has found.
Pregnancy dreams: what research shows
Dreaming you are pregnant when you are not, and the vivid, often anxious dreams of real pregnancy.
Dreams about being cheated on: what research shows
A partner's infidelity in a dream is not evidence of infidelity. What it tends to go with, and why the next day can feel strange.