Dreaming about an elevator: what that dream says

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.

Dreaming about an elevator does not announce a promotion or a fall in life. Elevators combine a closed space and vertical movement, two situations the dream often uses to represent ascent, pressure or loss of control.

Read also: Dream meanings: what science and culture actually say | Dreams about falling and the jolt as you fall asleep.

Why elevators appear in dreams

The dream reuses everyday scenes, and the elevator is a daily presence for many people.

Source: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003.

Closed spaces with no clear exit can trigger threat scenes, which the threat simulation hypothesis describes as rehearsal of dangers in safety.

Source: Revonsuo, The reinterpretation of dreams, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000.

The most common versions of this dream

• Elevator going up: a feeling of progress or expectation.
• Elevator falling: like falling dreams, may wake you with a start.
• Stuck elevator: an impression of being trapped in a situation.
• Crowded elevator: too many stimuli or too many people.
• Empty elevator: a pause or loneliness.

See also: Dreaming about a bathroom and Dreaming about a city.

When the fear gets in the way

If fear of elevators or closed spaces limits waking-life activities, such as work or medical exams, it is worth seeking professional assessment, since there is well-supported treatment. Frequent nightmares can also be treated.

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

Falling dreams often come with a jolt while falling asleep, a known phenomenon of sleep onset that does not indicate a health problem on its own.

Psychoanalysis, symbols and faith: another look at dreaming about an elevator

In Freud's psychoanalysis. A plunging elevator is a close relative of falling dreams, which Freud counted among typical dreams. In his view, these sensations echo childhood games: the adult who spun a child around, tossed them in the air, or pretended to let them drop. In the dream, the hands that held on disappear, and only the drop in the stomach remains. A car that sinks too fast captures that emptiness well.

In Jung's psychology. In Man and His Symbols, the general function of dreams is to restore psychological balance, and people with grandiose plans or unrealistic ideas tend to dream of flying or falling. From a Jungian angle, an elevator that shoots to the top floor, or suddenly loses its cables, may be read as compensation: a reminder that rising without solid ground can be frightening too.

In symbols and faith. Elevators have no entry in A Dictionary of Symbols, but Chevalier and Gheerbrant say that the staircase, their ancient cousin, sums up "the whole drama of verticality": it serves ascent as much as regression. In ancient Egypt, artworks show the souls of the dead climbing a staircase of seven or nine steps to the throne of Osiris. In the Bible, Jacob dreams of a ladder with angels going up and down (Genesis 28:12), and Psalm 37:24 comforts those who fall: they "shall not be utterly cast down".

Bringing both views together. Going up and down are old images of seeking, falling, and starting over, and the elevator button is their modern version. To compare, see also dreams about stairs. Whatever reading you prefer, it helps to recall which floor you were trying to reach and who was in the car with you.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014.

What dream dictionaries record

Livro do Sonho, a popular Brazilian dream dictionary, sees the elevator as a symbol of good moments: going up, a favorable change; going down, achievements through hard work; full of people, business profits. It is an optimistic reading even for going down. The Brazilian dream book O Livro dos Sonhos, by L. P. Baçan, is more restrained: elevators would point to new initiatives in life and to disappointment in love.

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. If you see the dream as a message, both paths suggest the same thing: ask what this image brings to mind in your life right now. See dream meanings according to science and culture.

Source: Livro do Sonho, Brazilian dream dictionary; Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014.

Dreaming about an elevator in popular interpretation

In folk reading, an elevator going up stands for progress, and falling or stuck, fear of losing position. These are cultural readings with no proof and no predictive value.

Read also: dreaming about a car accident; dreaming about stairs; being trapped in a dream; Dreaming about a desert; dreaming about a building.