Dreaming about an octopus: what it suggests and what it does not

Dreaming about an octopus: what usually lies behind it

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 octopus is not a warning of a hidden enemy or of the evil eye. The scene tends to show up when life seems to have too many arms: lots of tasks pulling at once, a relationship that squeezes, a situation that tangles up every time you try to get out. When the octopus grabs, the dream usually comes with a sense of lost control; when it flees and squirts ink, with something slipping away.

There are also dreams in which the octopus just watches or changes color, and then the scene speaks more of adaptation than of threat. In no case does the dream predict events.

Read also: Dreaming about sharks and Sleep paralysis.

Where the octopus that shows up at night comes from

Under the continuity hypothesis, tested by Michael Schredl and Friedrich Hofmann in 2003, dreams work with what filled waking life. The octopus arrives by simple routes: the documentary My Octopus Teacher, which won the Oscar in 2021, a video of an octopus opening a jar, the aquarium you visited on vacation, octopus rice at a family lunch.

The body and the bedroom also play a part. In 1958, William Dement and Edward Wolpert showed in the lab that outside stimuli, such as drops of water sprayed on the skin of sleepers, can be woven into the plot of a dream. A sheet wrapped around your legs can become, in the scene, arms with suckers.

Sources: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003; Dement and Wolpert, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1958.

Freud, Jung and tradition on the octopus

In Freud's psychoanalysis. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud notes that the sensation of being unable to move, so common in dreams, often expresses a conflict of will: one part wants to go, another holds back. The octopus gripping your legs gives shape to that deadlock, like a commitment accepted against your will.

In Jung's psychology. For Jung, water and the depths are frequent images of the unconscious, and what rises from there tends to bring contents that call for attention. Man and His Symbols recalls the myths of heroes who face monsters in order to move on. The octopus, in this reading, may be the part of your life you have not yet looked at squarely.

In symbols and faith. In A Dictionary of Symbols, Chevalier and Gheerbrant treat the octopus as a creature of the depths and recall the spirals its arms trace in the ancient art of the Mediterranean. Victor Hugo gave the animal a famous scene in Toilers of the Sea, with Gilliatt fighting an octopus in a sea cave. In the Bible, Jonah's prayer from the belly of the great fish speaks of the waters closing around him and the seaweed wrapped around his head (Jonah 2), and Psalm 69 cries out for help from someone who feels the waters rising up to the neck.

Bringing both readings together. Science shows how a bedsheet or a documentary reaches the dream. Traditions ask what is holding you and what is hidden at the bottom.

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

How the octopus usually appears in the dream

If the sea was rough, read also dreaming about the ocean and giant waves and dreaming about crabs.

See also: Dreaming about a dragon and Dreaming about a caterpillar.

When an octopus dream calls for attention

Almost always, it is just a strange dream. It deserves attention when the scene repeats along with the sensation of waking up unable to move, or short of breath. The first may be sleep paralysis, which usually passes on its own but is worth discussing with a professional if it is frequent. Waking up gasping often should be taken to a doctor, because it may have a physical cause, such as sleep apnea. Repeated nightmares can also be treated. See how to have fewer nightmares.

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

The octopus in dream books

In O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book, L. P. Baçan sums up themes in two lines, life and love. For the octopus, the entry follows what the animal suggests: in life, situations that are hard to get out of; in love, jealousy and possessiveness. Breaking free of the octopus's arms appears as freedom regained.

Jung recalled, in Man and His Symbols, that dream symbols do not fit into lists, because each image is born from the dreamer's life. The octopus of someone who just watched a documentary and that of someone who feels smothered at work have only their arms in common.

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

Folk readings of dreaming about an octopus

In Brazilian folk reading, an octopus grabbing you is a sign of a controlling person nearby or of a commitment that weighs on you; a small octopus, minor worries; a giant octopus, a problem that will call for calm. An octopus squirting ink is a secret about to come out, and a dead octopus or one out of the water, a problem losing strength. As for colors, a red octopus speaks of intense passion, and a white one, of peace. These are traditional readings, good for reflection, not predictions. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.