- Dream Dictionary; Kiss Dreams Meaning - Wikimedia Commons
Kissing dreams symbolize everything from intimacy to death. Looking at who is doing the kissing and the feelings the dream kiss evokes is a major way to find the correct interpretation.
The Dream Kiss as an Intimacy Symbol
Analysis of what kisses mean in waking life provides parallels that can be applied to kiss dream interpretation. Kissing equals intimacy. In fact, kissing is often considered a more intimate form of bonding than the bond that sexual intercourse creates.
Lovers bestow kisses on their beloved. A mother kisses a boo-boos and makes it all better. Cheek kiss are friendly greetings and playful pecks of affections.
Kissing dreams can symbolize a desire for intimacy. If the dreamer has suffered periods of isolation, a dream about a kiss can mean the desire for any form of human contact.
If the dreamer is in a period of celibacy, then the dream kiss can symbolize a need for not only sexual contact, but also a need for love from the opposite sex.
If the dreamer has experienced some form of injury, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, the dream kiss can be an acknowledgment of that pain and a desire for healing, a desire for someone to take the pain and “kiss it away.”
If the dreamer is happy and content, dreams of kissing may be expressions of that joy and the feeling of being intimately connected with life.
Dreams Kissing as Symbols of Betrayal
The kiss with Judas is arguably the most well-known of the treacherous kisses. And since the Judas kiss is so ingrained in the collective unconscious, it is likely to show up as a prominent dream symbol.
Since dreams can be reinforcements of waking life intuitive impressions, one sign that betrayal is an appropriate interpretation of a kissing dream is a dream of a trusted friend kissing the dreamer, but leaving her with disquieting emotions can meaning a waking life betrayal.
Other times when betrayal can be a kissing dream’s interpretation is when some inappropriate figure, such as a boss, a priest, a best friend’s spouse, etc., is kissing the dreamer.
In all the above cases, the people in the dreams must be symbolically interpreted. That treacherous friend need not be the one in the dream; the dream figure may simply symbolize any breach of friendship. The boss may not literally be the boss, but she may, rather, symbolize a betrayal at work. Similarly, a priest kissing the dreamer could point to feelings that the dreamer feels she has been betrayed spiritually.
Dream Kisses and Kissing in Fairy Tales
When attention is turned to the manifestation and meaning of fairy tales kisses, the kiss as a dream symbol takes on a far more archetypal meaning.
Whereas the Judas kiss embodies the kiss of death, kissing in fairy tales usually symbolizes the kiss of life. In fairy tales, kisses free princes from frog form, awaken a princess from her trance, and even breath life into the lifeless.
As archetypal symbols dream kisses symbolize complete transformation, the release from the curse of repeated negative actions such as self-sabotage, rebirth, reclamation of some lost part of the self, even resurrection.
Archetypal dream kisses may take the form of dreams of fairy tale figures themselves or may simply be those dreams of kissing some unknown person whose kiss bestows elation.
Dreams of Kissing Someone of the Same Sex
Dreams of kissing persons of the same sex are far from uncommon occurrences in the dreams of heterosexuals.
If the dreamer does not self-identify as homosexual, dreams of kissing someone of the same sex can have the surprising interpretation of symbolizing either a new found love of one’s self and life, or alternatively, same sex kissing may indicate a need for more self-love.
Dreams of Kissing a Crush or Ex
Oftentimes dreamers jump to the erroneous conclusion that dreams of kissing someone he desires in waking life is a prophecy of a relationship manifesting. When dreams about kissing an ex occur and the dreamer is mourning a break-up, many hope that kissing the ex in a dream foretells of waking life reconciliation.
Sadly though, these types of dreams are usually not prophecies at all, but wish-fulfillment dreams, those dreams that console the psyche by providing nocturnal fulfillment of unrealized waking life desires.
Kissing Dreams and the Word Play Symbolism
"Kiss off." "Kiss and tell." "Kiss of death." "Kissing something goodbye." All of the aforementioned phrases are a few of the many waking life kissing expressions.
Dreams utilize all tools at their disposal, including word play. If a kissing dream truly has the dreamer stumped, approaching the dream from an idiomatic viewpoint can be helpful. There may indeed be someone to whom the dreamer wants to say, “Kiss off!”
Kissing dreams contain valuable information about the psyche's needs, desires, as well as revealing archetypal information. A kiss may still be a kiss, but dream kissing usually symbolizes much more than two pairs of puckered lips.
Sources:
The Portable Jung by C. G. Jung.
Mysterium Coniunctionis: An Inquiry into the Separation and Synthesis of Psychic Opposites in Alchemy by C. G. Jung.
Psychology and Alchemy (Collected Works of C.G. Jung Vol.12) by C. G. Jung.
Aisling Ireland - Aisling Ireland has studied Jungian psychology for the past two decades, has a B.S. in Psychology, and has written extensively on the ...
