5 Types of Dreams You Shouldn’t Interpret
People say dreams are a dialogue between humans and the divine, but not every dream can be interpreted. In antiquity, there was a well-known rule in dream lore called the "five dreams not to interpret."
The first is: If the spirit is unsettled when dreaming, do not interpret.
This is because dreams arise from the movements of a person's spirit. According to Daoist theory, that spirit consists of the soul (hun) and the corporeal spirit (po). The common saying "lost soul and spirit" reflects this idea. The hun represents the yang aspect—light and clear—while the po represents the yin aspect—heavy and dense—forming the basis of the body. Dreams occur when a person's yang energy interacts with the yang energy of the cosmos, and the symbols in dreams stand in for different facets of that exchange.
In traditional thought, dreams had when the spirit is unsettled do not reflect true perceptions of the spirit but are merely fleeting thoughts that arise in such a state. These are not considered "true dreams" and therefore cannot signal good or bad omens.
The second is: If the dream arises from delusional thoughts, do not interpret.
Dreams driven by delusional thoughts come from the day's distractions. In Buddhist theory, such dreams generally do not go beyond the six senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thought. Triggered by external stimuli, they are transient and superficial—usually meaningless and devoid of real omens. Only at the level of the seventh consciousness (manas), where a deeper sense of self appears, can a vivid and genuine essence emerge in profound dreams. The eighth consciousness (alaya-vijnana) represents the true self, where everything is one and one is everything, with no dream images present. What counts as a dream born of delusional thoughts? For example, if someone sees a beautiful woman during the day, like a celestial being, then dreams of being intimate with her and wakes in a state of arousal, that is merely the product of visual perception and fantasy, containing no "heavenly secrets."
The third is: If one dreams of misfortune or calamity, do not interpret.
This refers to dreams whose ominous signs are so obvious that no further interpretation is needed. Some people, hoping to escape their "fate," still press for explanations, but the validity of such readings is doubtful. In the Ming dynasty, Chen Shiyuan's "Dream Interpretation Essentials" cites an example from the "Zuo Zhuan": A man named Ti Sheng Bo dreamed of crossing the Huan River and eating exquisite food, and, curiously, both cried and sang in the dream. Versed in dream lore, he recognized it as inauspicious and dared not interpret it. Later, accepting that fate cannot be avoided, he sought a favorable reading for peace of mind, only to meet his death the very next day. By standard principles, the actions in the dream were funeral rites, clearly signaling death.
The fourth is: If the dream is interrupted before completion, do not interpret.
In ancient thought, a dream that carries good or bad omens must have a clear beginning and end. Since dreams are a symbolic language—messages from the divine, according to old interpreters—an interrupted dream, especially if one is jolted awake, indicates an unclear message and should not be read hastily. If the dream has concluded and its ideas are relatively complete, this exception does not apply.
Finally, if the dream has a beginning and end but is mostly forgotten upon waking, do not interpret.
This is straightforward. Many people dream every night but, upon waking, forget most of it or recall only scattered fragments. Such incomplete dreams cannot be interpreted, as their "true essence" has been lost.