“Oh! But, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood.
“All the better to eat you with,” says the big, bad wolf.
Are you familiar with these Iines? You’ve probably read these lines or they were read to you as a child.
The Little Red Riding Hood is one of the most famous fairy tales in the world, depicting wolves as dangerous, manipulative, and cunning predators.
Other stories that show wolves to be vicious include The Three Little Pigs, The Wolf and the Fox, and so many others.
Unsurprisingly, dreaming about wolves can give us an unsettling feeling as soon as we wake up. Seeing a wolf’s piercing eyes, sharp, solid teeth, and deadly glare in your dreams can cause anyone to feel alarmed and fearful.
But should you? Is a wolf dream a premonition of bad things to come? Will a real wolf appear in your home?
Dreams are rarely signs of the future but they are symbols of repressed feelings and your subconscious wanting to manifest in your thoughts.
This article discusses the possible meanings of the most common dreams about wolves, what your wolf dream could tell you, and what you should do with these messages.
General Symbolism of Dreams About Wolves
Wolves are one of the most misunderstood animals in the wild. They are often known to be dangerous, sly, and vicious predators, killing their prey without mercy. But dreams are never to be taken literally, and to understand a dream about wolves, we first need to comprehend the nature of this animal.
Wolves are intelligent, protective, strong, loyal, and fierce. When trying to understand your dream with wolves involved, you need to look at these characteristics and relate them to your current life to understand the meanings behind this dream.
Here are different ways to interpret a dream about wolves:
1. Spiritual Interpretations of Wolf Dreams
- Native Americans and Wolves
It’s impossible to talk about wolf dreams without discussing the symbolism of this animal in Native American culture. As a spirit animal, wolves are not considered feared, but Native Americans regard them as spirit guides.
They believe that wolves provide guidance, fierce protection, and help you navigate your spirituality. So if you see a wolf in your dream, don’t fear. You may be going through something in your life where you need protection and guidance, and dreaming of a wolf confirms this subconscious need.
- Tribes of North America
Tribes of North America regard wolves as symbols of death, creation, and rebirth. A dream of wolves could signify you are about to begin something new, or you need to end something toxic in your life, or it is a message of support for your new endeavor.
- Tribes of California
Native American tribes in California believe wolves are teachers, instructing humans to overcome challenges, and providing us wisdom, and guidance.
2. Biblical Interpretations of Wolf Dreams
Wolves are not portrayed in a good light in the Bible. In fact, wolves are deemed to be evil beings, false prophets, and devourers of all things good and holy.
In the Book of Isaiah, God’s people are instructed to be wary of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” who is an evil person who may tempt Christians to go astray.
Some scriptures also compare corrupt leaders to ravenous wolves who bring chaos, destruction, and irreparable damage to people’s faith and lives.
3. General Interpretations of Wolf Dreams
Based on a wolf’s general characteristics, here are the general symbolisms of a dream about wolves:
- Social Support and Belongingness
Wolves do almost everything together as a pack. A lone wolf hardly survives in the wild for long since belonging to a wolf pack is better at protecting each other from harm, hunting together, and raising and defending their young.
Communication and cooperation among the pack are keys to their survival.
Dreaming about wolves can signify your longing for social support and belongingness. Maybe you just moved to a new city or a new job and you feel lonely and isolated. You want to reach out to belong and feel accepted.
Or you already have this social support and need to be more grateful for the people around you. It could also signify that you need to reach out more or nurture the relationships you have right now.
- Resilience and Determination
Wolves go through a lot to survive in the wild. Despite challenges in their natural habitat, they continue to adapt, persevere, and thrive. They have strong intuition, sharply sense danger, and use their strength to dominate the animal kingdom.
Dreaming about wolves could signify you’re also facing obstacles in your life right now, and your subconscious is reminding you to use your abilities to persevere. Or, you may feel like a problem will arise, but you know you have the strength and courage to overcome it, just like wolves in the wild.
- Freedom
Wolves live freely in their natural habitat and do as they please. Being predators, they dominate the animal kingdom and are feared. Their strong presence allows them to roam freely and unleash their rage in the wild.
Dreaming of wolves reminds you to live life more freely, have more passion, be more assertive, and keep your fighting spirit alive no matter what happens.
If you’re repressing yourself, this dream about wolves is a reminder to let go and be free to be yourself.
- Protection
As mentioned earlier, wolves are highly protective of their young and the whole pack. You dream of wolves because you may feel insecure and look for something or someone to protect you from danger.
- Strength and Power
And lastly, wolves are symbolic of strength and power. Due to their stealth, agility, fierceness, and courage, they hold a fearsome reputation that gives them power in their natural habitat.
Dreaming about wolves could mean you must assert your strength and power over your problems or troublesome people in your life.
While these are wolves’ general, Biblical, and spiritual meanings, it’s important to note that dream interpretation is highly subjective. These may be the available symbolism, but the ultimate purpose of these dreams rests on you.
The following section will discuss the most common dreams about wolves and their possible interpretations.
Common Dreams About Wolves
Here are the most common dreams about wolves and what they could mean:
1. A Wolf Attacking You
If you dream about a wolf attacking you and you find yourself defenseless, it could mean there are situations in your life right now that are out of your control.
This type of dream can be scary, but don’t worry; it merely symbolizes your fears and emotions.
It could also signify an influential person out to get you, or you’re fearful of this person.
2. A Wolf Attacking a Stranger
A dream of a wolf attacking a stranger could mean you have invested too much time and energy in something that doesn’t involve you. It could be a problem or issue with nothing to do with you, but you insert yourself anyway.
This dream could mean you must stop putting your nose in other people’s business.
3. A Wolf Chasing You
When you dream of a wolf chasing you, you need to ask yourself how you felt in the dream. Were you scared of getting hurt, or did you want to hide and cower?
Remember that a wolf symbolizes strength and power; this dream could mean you are running away from your abilities. You may face a problem where you need to use your strengths. The wolf symbolizes your power, and it’s chasing you because you’re hiding from it.
If you feared the wolf was going to hurt you, it could mean you are running away from a problem you should be facing. Did you do something wrong at work, but you’re not being accountable?
Or you may have debt and haven’t been paying it, so a debt collector has been calling you nonstop.
A wolf can be a symbol of danger if it causes you stress in your dream; or it could be a symbol of your own strength chasing after you.
4. A Wolf Biting You
A wolf biting you in your dream typically symbolizes a conflict with a person in your life. This could be a loved one, a colleague, or a stranger.
However, the location of the bite can also mean different things. Here are some interpretations of a dream about a wolf bite, depending on which part of your body is bitten:
- Hand
A wolf bite in the hand could mean a disagreement with someone and you can’t handle it.
- Back
A bite on the back could mean trouble in your romantic relationship, and you must resolve it before it’s too late.
- Neck
Dreaming of a wolf bite on the neck could mean you are not speaking out because of the fear of being judged.
- Face
A facial bite could signify a fear of being judged by appearance.
- Leg
A dream of a wolf bite on the leg signifies a possible falling out with a loved one.
- Arm
A wolf biting you in the arm could mean you are losing autonomy over your waking life.
5. Different Colors of Wolves
The specific colors of wolves also hold specific dream meanings. Here are some of them:
- Black Wolf
A black wolf in your dream signifies hidden parts of yourself you don’t want to reveal. It could be your primal or predatory instincts you’re trying to hide, but the fact you’re dreaming about a black wolf could mean you need to embrace and show it.
- White Wolf
A white wolf being a symbol of purity and innocence could be contradictory to what a wolf symbolizes but it simply means you need to embrace both sides of your personality.
You have both good and bad sides, and it’s completely okay to reveal them.
- Brown Wolf
Brown wolves in a dream typically represent toxic habits or people in your life that you need to get rid of.
6. You are Surrounded by a Pack of Wolves
If you dream of being surrounded by a pack of wolves, it could mean you have a robust support system. We mentioned earlier that wolves move in packs, where they help each other to survive in the wild.
This dream could be a reminder you should appreciate your support system more, or that you are fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who love and protect you.
7. A Wolf Staring at You
A dream of a wolf staring at you can be terrifying, but this dream could mean you need to trust your intuition when it comes to making decisions in your life.
8. A Wolf Protecting You
A wolf has strong protective instincts, especially regarding their young. But if you dream about a wolf protecting you, it could mean that danger is on the horizon and you need to be protected.
This could signify a subconscious desire to be protected by something solid and powerful.
9. You’re Fighting Off Wolves
Fighting off wolves in your dream could signify that you want to eliminate certain people or situations in your life. It could also mean you want to be left alone, fighting and cutting people off from your life.
10. You Kill a Wolf
If you dreamed of killing a wolf, this could mean you’ve overcome a significant problem in your life. This problem may have been substantial and mighty, but you’ve fought it off, and now you’ve won. So you have a strong sense of courage and strength in your waking life.
11. A Wolf as a Pet
Wolves can’t be pets. They belong in the wild and are apex predators that rule the food chain in their territories. As such, taming a powerful animal in your dream and turning it into your own pet could mean you long to be tamed and comforted yourself
You may have these toxic traits such as a bad temper and you want to be more gentle and docile.
12. Werewolves
Werewolves symbolize transformation. To dream of a werewolf could mean you have a strong desire to transform yourself into something bigger than yourself, or maybe you fear the person you are becoming.
A Word of Advice
The mere image of a wolf can cause your fight or flight response to activate. This response can send your blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration through the roof, causing you to tremble in fear.
When you dream of wolves, the images can have similar effects. You wake up in fear, with your heart pounding and your thoughts scrambling to find meaning in the pictures that filled your sleep.
To dream about a wolf, no matter what scenario, can be jarring. But is there cause for worry? The answer is no. This is because dreams are never literal in meaning (except for some sporadic cases), so you shouldn’t worry about a possible wolf breaking into your home any minute.
But, these dreams do carry messages that you should pay attention to. A wolf dream symbolizes a lot of things: power, strength, courage, but also danger, viciousness, and fear.
You need to analyze your current life to help you understand what your dreams are telling you.
What is making you experience the very same emotions as the ones you felt in your dream?
If you dream of a wolf chasing you, what are you running from in real life?
If you dream of a wolf staring at you, what are you focusing on in real life?
Dreams about wolves are signs from your subconscious telling you it’s time to let your inner wolf reveal itself. Embrace your strength, power, and dominance, and never allow yourself to be minimized or made small.
Unleash your passion, listen to your intuition, and let the wolf guide you to survive and thrive in real life’s wild and natural habitat.
FAQ
1. What do wolves represent in dreams?
The common symbolism of wolves is dominance, power, strength, courage, and resilience. A wolf dream could mean you need to tap into your strengths to face circumstances in your current life, or you’re desperately trying to find these characteristics in yourself.
2. What do wolves represent spiritually?
Native Americans regard the wolf as a spiritual guide. Wolves can help you find your own strength, offer you protection, give you wisdom, as well as symbolizing the significance of your family.
3. What does it mean when you dream about wolves attacking you?
A wolf attacking you in your dream could mean facing a problem in waking life and feeling defenseless. Thus, you are dreaming about a vicious wolf attacking you because this is precisely how you feel in real life – like your problems are devouring you.
4. What does it mean when you dream about a wolf chasing you?
A wolf chasing you in your dream means you are running away from your strength and power. You fear your abilities, so you run away from them. But your abilities are so powerful that you can’t outrun it. The only thing to do is embrace your strengths and weaknesses, such as toxic habits.
