What it means to dream about an enemy (and what it does not)

The short answer

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 an enemy does not mean that someone is plotting against you, or that a betrayal is about to happen. What research observes is simpler: people we are in conflict with take up a lot of room in our thoughts, and that is why they appear in dreams. An unresolved fight, a coworker who harmed you, an ex, a difficult neighbor: the more the grudge weighs on the day, the greater the chance it will come back at night.

What the enemy does in the dream matters a lot. Attack and pursuit usually go with tension and a sense of threat. The enemy who asks for forgiveness, hugs you or becomes a friend, on the other hand, appears often when the anger is fading, or when there is a wish, even a hidden one, to end the fight.

Read also: Dreaming about a fight or argument and Dreaming about being cheated on.

What sleep research has already observed

The continuity hypothesis, studied by Michael Schredl, shows that dreams follow the worries of waking life. A conflict at work or in the family does not disappear when the light goes out: the day's characters and emotions return, often mixed up. That is why the enemy can turn up in places they have never been, such as your kitchen or your childhood home.

When the dream involves an attack, a threat or someone trying to hurt you, the threat simulation hypothesis, by Antti Revonsuo (2000), comes in. According to it, the brain uses sleep to rehearse dangerous situations in a safe environment. A rival or adversary is the perfect character for that training: familiar, emotionally charged and associated with risk.

Sources: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003; Revonsuo, The reinterpretation of dreams, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000.

Science and belief: Freud, Jung and the traditions

In Freud's psychoanalysis. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud analyzes a dream of his own and arrives at a memory from the age of three: his relationship with a boy a year older, sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile. For him, the deeper the analysis goes, the more childhood experiences appear behind the content of the dream. Today's enemy may bring along much older rivalries.

In Jung's psychology. The central concept here is the shadow: the traits we do not want to see in ourselves and see clearly in others. The book calls this projection and writes that it will depend very much on ourselves whether the shadow becomes a friend or an enemy. It usually appears as a person of the same sex and only turns hostile when it is ignored. One case in the book shows a patient who dreamed, as if of a friendly sister, about a woman she found shallow and scheming in real life.

In symbols and faith. In A Dictionary of Symbols, Chevalier and Gheerbrant recall that Satan means the Adversary, a term taken from legal language before it became a proper name. In the Bible, Genesis 33:4 tells of the reunion of Esau and Jacob: the betrayed brother runs, embraces and weeps. And Ephesians 4:26 advises: do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Bringing both readings together. Science explains why the adversary comes back; faith invites you to think about forgiveness. It is worth writing down what the enemy was doing and what you felt.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols.

The most common versions of this dream

If the dream ended in an argument, it is worth reading dreaming about a fight or argument too.

See also: Dreaming about Jesus and Dreaming about a saint statue.

When the dream deserves professional attention

If the enemy comes back almost every night, if the dreams involve attacks and you wake up in panic, or if the real conflict involves threats or aggression, it is worth seeking support. A health professional can help with sleep and with the distress, and frequent nightmares have treatment. See how to have fewer nightmares.

Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.

What dream dictionaries record

In O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book, L. P. Baçan gives a curious reading for the enemy: in life, slander; in love, reconciliation. In other words, the same entry points to gossip on one side and peace on the other.

Man and His Symbols distrusts these catalogues: in Jung's view, dreams are individual phenomena and their symbols cannot be catalogued. One person's adversary may be the boss who humiliated them; another's, a brother they still want to make peace with. No fixed code accounts for that difference.

Sources: Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014.

What folk tradition associates with this dream

In folk reading, defeating the enemy in a dream is usually read as overcoming obstacles; running from them, as a postponed problem; and the enemy asking for forgiveness, as a chance of reconciliation. In some religious circles, there is also talk of a battle in the spiritual world. These are cultural and faith readings, good for reflection, not warnings about what another person will do. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.