What this dream usually points to (and what it does not)
Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.
Dreaming about a knot does not predict trouble or imprisonment. A knot is an image of something that holds or joins, and it tends to appear when a person feels tangled up in a situation: a decision that will not come, a complicated relationship, a conversation that never happens. It can also be an image of a bond, of commitment and of union.
What usually weighs most in the reading is whether you try to untie it, whether the knot keeps tightening or whether it shows up in the body, like a knot in the throat, the "lump" that makes it hard to speak. A knot that comes loose easily and one that only gets worse tell two very different stories.
Read also: Dreaming about a rope, Dreaming about a belt and Dreaming about a spider web.
Why a knot shows up in the dream
What happens at night tends to follow what we live and feel while awake, the continuity hypothesis. Periods of deadlock, indecision and things left unsaid go well with the image of a knot. When the knot is in the throat, the dream may join the image to a real feeling of tightness, which is common with anxiety; see the signs of anxiety in the body.
In nightmares, images of being stuck, tied up or unable to move are among the typical scenes of threat, and they join other dreams of helplessness.
That is why the same knot can be a light image on a calm night and an oppressive one in a tense week: the setting and the feeling around it matter more than the rope itself.
Sources: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003; Schredl and Göritz, Nightmare Themes, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.
Versions of the knot dream and what they usually go with
| Scene | What usually goes with it |
|---|---|
| A knot in a rope or a thread | Usually goes with a sense of something hard to solve or of a tangled situation |
| Untying the knot | Shows up with relief and a sense of solving something; in traditions, untying is setting free |
| A knot that keeps getting tighter | Usually goes with anxiety and deadlock |
| A knot in the throat | Linked to things left unsaid or to swallowing emotion; it may join a real feeling of tightness |
| A knot in your hair | Usually a light reading of self-care and of everyday tangles |
| A tie knot or a bow | Linked to commitment, formality or an important event |
If the rope itself caught your eye, see dreaming about a rope; if the knot was in your hair, see dreaming about hair.
See also: Dreaming about being trapped and Dreaming about a belt.
When dreaming about a knot calls for attention
Dreaming about a knot is hardly ever a cause for concern. It deserves attention when the dream comes along with constant anxiety, tightness in the chest or throat during the day, or when it keeps coming back to the point of disturbing your sleep. In those cases, talk to a doctor or a psychologist. And if you notice real hoarseness or a lump in your neck, get it checked, regardless of the dream. See also dreams that keep repeating.
Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.
Science and belief: Freud, Jung and traditions
In Freud's psychoanalysis. Freud asked dreamers to talk freely about each part of the dream, without censoring themselves, and to note down the ideas that came up. A knot may recall a stalled conversation, a commitment or something that got stuck in the throat, and only the person who dreamed knows which. Here it is the method, more than a fixed meaning, that Freud has to offer.
In symbols and faith. A Dictionary of Symbols describes several knots: the knot of Isis, linked to the conditions of immortality; a Tibetan Buddhist book whose title speaks of the unraveling of knots, in which undoing knots is a path to liberation; and the story of sailors who buy from a sorcerer a rope with three knots that holds the winds, where each knot undone releases a stronger wind, until the storm. In traditions, a knot is a tie that both joins and binds, and untying it is setting free or setting loose.
Bringing both readings together. Tradition sees in the knot a tie that binds and unites; science sees a dream of deadlock that follows what we are living. The useful question is: what is stuck in your life, and which is the first thread to pull?
Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols.
What dream books say
In O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book, L. P. Baçan links a knot to social success in life and to many obstacles in love: a mixed traditional reading, with no proof behind it. Freud described dream books as a kind of dictionary that translates each image into another with a fixed meaning. Artemidorus of Daldis, author of the oldest complete Greek dream book that has survived, advised looking at the dreamer's life before interpreting anything. If you see the dream as a message, both paths make the same suggestion: ask what this image recalls in your life right now. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.
Sources: L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014; Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900.
Read also: dreaming about being trapped; dreaming about bridges; why we dream.
Folk beliefs about this dream
In folk reading, dreaming about a knot is linked to "tangled" problems, to commitments and to emotions held in. People who untie it in a dream tend to see a sign of a solution. These are cultural interpretations, with no scientific proof. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.
Sources
- Schredl M, Hofmann F. Continuity between waking activities and dream activities. Consciousness and Cognition, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8100(02)00072-7
- Schredl M, Göritz AS. Nightmare Themes: An Online Study of Most Recent Nightmares and Childhood Nightmares. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7002
- Morgenthaler TI et al. Position Paper for the Treatment of Nightmare Disorder in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Paper. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7178
- Freud S. The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung), 1900. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66048
- Chevalier J, Gheerbrant A. A Dictionary of Symbols (Dictionnaire des symboles). Portuguese edition consulted: Dicionário de símbolos, José Olympio/Record. https://www.record.com.br/products/dicionario-de-simbolos
- Baçan LP. O Livro dos Sonhos (Brazilian dream book). Self-published, 2014.
Frequently asked questions
Is dreaming about a knot a sign of trouble?
No. It does not predict any trouble. It usually reflects a sense of deadlock or of commitment, and the tone of the dream says more than the knot.
What does it mean to dream about a knot in your throat?
It is usually tied to things left unsaid or to swallowed emotions, and it may join a real feeling of tightness that comes with anxiety.
Does dreaming that I untie a knot mean anything?
It usually comes with relief and a sense of solving something, but it has no fixed meaning.
When does this dream deserve attention?
When it comes with constant anxiety, tightness in the chest or throat during the day, or when it keeps repeating and disturbs your sleep.
What is the spiritual meaning of dreaming about a knot?
In traditions, a knot is a tie that joins and binds, and untying it is setting free: there is a Tibetan Buddhist book devoted to the unraveling of knots. That is a reading of faith; science links the dream to deadlocks and emotions from the day.
