Dream Of Hugging Someone (Find Out What It Means!)
Hugging dreams are one of the more pleasant dreams to experience.
Still, the true meaning depends on the unique symbols and emotions involved.
Of course, dreams of hugging someone often symbolize an affectionate nature…
While embracing someone in a dream may sound pleasant, sometimes this affectionate act gets flipped!
Instead of cuddling your crush or an old friend, you may be holding a dead person, an ex, a stranger, or an enemy!
So to understand what these mean, we’ll consider different interpretations.
What Does It Mean To Dream Of Hugging Someone?
Hugging someone in a dream – whether they are a stranger or someone you recognize – indicates that you care deeply for them. It is representative of your warmth and affection for others. However, they may also mean you need to open up and heal emotionally.
Dreams are deeply personal and most representative of your feelings and desires.
Sometimes they serve as warnings, as your subconscious has picked up on things your waking brain has missed.
Mostly, dreams will be related to whatever has been uppermost on your mind or events of the previous week. Remember this as you analyze the possible meanings of a dream where you hug someone.
Consider the following questions as you note down everything you remember of your dream:
- Who were you hugging?
- Did you hug them first, or did they hug you?
- What emotions did you experience?
You must consider what is happening in your waking life, as this will provide the context for the dream. The details of your dream symbolism can only be understood in relation to your physical experiences and needs.
Let’s have a look at some examples…
You Care Deeply About Someone or Something
While familiar people sometimes appear in the dream, you can also hug a figure representing someone else.
Major archetypes in dreams are common cultural symbols and can express:
- actual people,
- desires,
- or an aspect of your personality.
Consider whether your dream is symbolic of one of these things.
You Need to Allow Yourself to be More Affectionate
A converse reading of this dream is that you are repressing yourself and your emotions. It may help if you allow yourself to be more open and accept affection from others.
This dream could be a gentle push reminding you to be kind and loving to those around you.
Not only does it make them feel good, but you do too 🙂
You Should Let Your Guard Down
Sometimes you avoid taking a chance and trusting people with your heart because you have been hurt too often. As a result, you have closed off your heart and don’t let people in.
If you have isolated yourself and are scared to let your guard down and let others into your life, this dream may be a cry to lower your defenses and show your true feelings.
You Need to Heal
Do you remember being a child and hurting yourself or feeling sad, and how a hug from a parent could make everything better?
While a hug won’t heal a broken heart, this dream gently reminds you to let yourself heal emotionally.
This interpretation could mean:
- being kinder to yourself
- or allowing those around you to help when you feel hurt and down.
You Want to Be Close to Someone
Dreaming of hugging your crush has a reasonably obvious interpretation—this is someone you’ve been thinking about, and they’re always on your mind.
You’re craving a romantic and physical connection with this person.
Suppose you dream of a celebrity and not someone you know in real life. In that case, this may indicate that you’re craving what they represent (not the actual person – remember, this is a symbol).
Perhaps you wish you were more like them in talent, looks, wit, etc.
You Have Feelings You Are Scared to Act on
Sometimes we experience sexual dreams, and hugging may be more romantic or erotic than friendly. Carl Jung had much to say about the sexuality of dreams. While this dream may merely reflect that this is an essential factor in your waking life and you have a healthy sexual appetite.
In other cases, you may not act sexually; dreams like this could result from frustrated urges.
You may want a more sexual experience but be afraid to act out your desires, and your dreams are a side—effect of your secret desire for closer contact.
You Want to Forgive and Move On
Dreaming of hugging an ex or someone you dislike doesn’t mean you suddenly want to be in a relationship with them!
It’s more likely that you know that until you forgive them, you can’t move on.
Your subconscious fixates on them and can’t let you forget their existence because you have an unresolved issue. You don’t have to excuse the hurt they did, but forgiving them allows you to improve your life, physically and emotionally.
further reading: Why we dream about people
Dream Of Hugging An Old Friend
When people from your past appear in your dream, it might indicate that you are neglecting something that was once important to you.
Your friend might be someone you have lost contact with because life is so busy, or they could symbolize something you once enjoyed but no longer make time for.
Something or someone once brought you great comfort, but for whatever reason, you have slowly spent less time with them or it.
Your subconscious reminds you how good it felt to be around that person or do that activity.
You may feel nostalgic for an earlier time, and the comforting nature of the dream is a call back to when you may have felt that life was simpler and more carefree.
Look at the burdens you have in your life now, and consider how you could let go of some of them.
What Does It Mean if You Dream About Hugging A Dead Person
Hugging someone important in your life, who has since passed, shows how much they meant to you and how much you miss them. You wish they were still in your life, and if they have recently passed, you are still in the early stages of grieving.
If the dead person is not someone you know, this could symbolize accepting coming changes.
Death in dreams can represent change and the cycle of endings and beginnings. To be embraced by this dead figure shows that the change will benefit you emotionally.
If the person died long ago, they might represent something you associate with that person. For example, you may wish for the love or affection of someone in your waking life who reminds you of the dead person.
Sometimes the thing you associate with the dead person could be a quality you wish to emulate or regain. For example, if they were an artist, your subconscious may want you to allow yourself to embrace the artistic side of yourself.
Another aspect to consider is that the dead person is a medical warning. For example, suppose you are embraced by a family member who died of cancer, and they reference their illness. In that case, you may want to consider getting a health check-up.
Dream Of A Child Hugging Me
A child in a dream may represent your childlike aspects—curiosity, innocence, and playfulness—and your subconscious need to nurture those parts of yourself.
You may have been repressing or neglecting those aspects of your personality and should treat them more affectionately.
When the child is hugging you, this could remind you that those ‘childlike’ parts of you improve your life and will always be there when you need them.
