Last Updated on October 9, 2022 by theworldofsleepstaff
When we look at dreams where we are getting shot at or actually being shot there’s plenty to consider. Including what else happens in the dream and the feelings attached to it.
But in general, dreams where you are getting shot at could represent a form of punishment you are forcing upon yourself subconsciously. This could be from unresolved shame from a past or current event. This could be something that has happened that has left your pride injured or your sense of pride is feeling riddled with guilt. This is one of the main meanings, however as we’ll show you here there’s many potential meanings these dreams may have.
We also have different associations with the types of guns we generally know about too. And often these associations are the very same traits these weapons represent in our dreams. So if we see a type of gun or an aspect of guns used in our dreams to shoot us we can use that to further interpret what the dream may mean.
Here, we’ll look at all of that and more. All so you have an in-depth analysis of what it could means when you get shot at in a dream.
CONTENTS:
- Guns & Shootings: The Meanings They Hold
- Emotional Responses to Gun Types and Aspects of Them
- Emotional Responses to a Dream That Involves Shooting
- How Someone Could Be Shot or Shot At in a Dream
- Shame and Pride: How They Relate to Dreams of Guns
- The Final Shot: Dreams of Shootings & What They Mean
Guns & Shootings: The Meanings They Hold
If a gun appears in our dreams it is usually a metaphor for anger or aggression from the person holding it. It tends to be a signifier of the potential danger our minds perceive to exist in our waking lives.
To be shot at or shot in a dream often indicates a sense of feeling aggression from the person who is holding the gun. You may feel that they are turning their anger onto you or perhaps blaming you for something. The blame could be unjust, but we are still subconsciously affected by being blamed, even for something we did not do.
If the dream centres around actively experiencing a shooting it could be indicative of some conflict or confrontation in your waking life. You may feel you are being under attack in a sense for some situation that is occurring. Perhaps someone is making you feel like a victim, because of actions that may have occurred in a waking life situation.
It could also be about a currently developing situation in which you are being made to feel victimised by another. This could apply to a large variety of situations, some of them mild in their seriousness and others severe.
In dreams where we are a witness to a shooting, we may feel conflicting emotions. In a positive light, it could represent your mind trying to tell you that you may be hitting targets you have set for yourself.
However, more often witnessing a shooting in our dreams evokes a strong negative emotional response. In this case, it may be that you feel the goals and targets you have set for yourself are under fire. You may be feeling that those aims in your waking life are impossible to attain or perhaps would lead to harm or ruin of yourself. In a sense, it represents the self-doubt we have about our aims in life.
Emotional Responses to Gun Types and Aspects of Them
In addition to the meanings behind guns and various shootings, we should also note if we recall what type of gun may have been used in the dream.
Usually, the meanings below would apply to how you feels about your own aspects or situations. However, when we dream we are getting shot or shot at, this becomes more of a situation in which we can view how we feel about the wielder of the weapon.
Alternatively, it could also represent what we believe the person holding the weapon feels or believes of us. This belief we hold of their view of us may at times be a skewed perception or it may be what you know for sure. However, we cannot always trust that we are seeing how others view us clearly. It is never an easy task to attempt to decipher that.
If we see a pistol in our dreams being used to commit the act of shooting we can look at it as potentially relating to our goals. It may feel subconsciously in our waking lives that someone is targeting our goals in an attempt to shoot them down. The severity of the shooting would be indicative of how severe the mind feels this person is as an obstacle to our goals.
Pistols, however, can also be symbolic of our fears. It may be that we fear the person holding the pistol and feel we need to defend ourselves against them. In some cases, it may evoke a strong feeling of anger, but it also warns you to not allow yourself to be overcome by your temper.
In regards to temper and being overcome by it, it could also indicate that you feel within your psyche you should not allow this person’s uncontrolled rage to overcome you. That you may need to defend yourself at all costs and in some cases that would mean shutting down our emotional responses to the reactions of those who act without a sense of control.
A shotgun being the weapon used against you in your dreams usually speaks of a need to focus your energy on healthier outlets. The person using the shotgun against you in your dreams may be acting as an obstacle to you. They may perhaps be making it difficult for you to find your focus and redirect your energy to where you feel it needs to be in your waking life.
Machine guns being seen in dreams would most often relate to anger being completely out of control. It could imply that a large amount of aggression is being focused on you. Where the pistol is more of a targeted weapon of anger at times in dreams, the machine gun would be furious uncontrolled anger or rage.
Gunpowder or shells can also appear in dreams related to shootings. When we see these objects it may be our mind’s way of warning us against losing our tempers over some waking life situation. It suggests that a cautious approach may be the best way to approach the matter at hand.
If someone were to use a stun gun or a taser to shoot you in your dreams it could be that you feel this person is taking away your vital energy. It may be that your mind feels they are attempting to keep you from being able to come to your senses and see what they are doing to you.
With all these scenarios it is also a good idea to keep in mind that we may be the one that is blocking our own way. It could be that you are wielding the gun against yourself. This would be different from dreaming of shooting yourself in the sense of suicide.
If you look at your waking life, are you your own obstacle or is there a person or perhaps many that are blocking your way?
Emotional Responses to a Dream That Involves Shooting
To see another living-being being shot or shot at or even shooting ourselves in a dream could have quite a significant impact on our emotional state in our waking lives.
Whilst these types of dreams can be disturbing in nature, they can also give us insight into the struggles within our subconscious.
A dream of suicide is rarely one that leaves one with a pleasant experience afterwards. While this type of dream could be a form of punishing ourselves and wanting to rid ourselves of some aspect of occurrence, there is also another meaning to it.
When we end our lives within our dreams, it could be a way of our psyche letting us know we are in the process of removing our old self and we may be born anew. Especially if you come back to life after trying to end your life in your dream. Consider whether or not it may be perhaps a representation of a new you and the dream a way of your mind ridding you of an old version of yourself. Perhaps this previous version of yourself is someone you no longer want to be, or perhaps it is someone you wish you still were. If it is the latter, it may be a way of the psyche alerting us that we have moved away too far from who we truly are.
Seeing another person shoot themselves in a dream usually represents how we feel that the person we used to know is now someone else. In a sense, in our dream, we experience the loss of this person perhaps. We can grieve for people who are still living in our waking lives. At times a change in someone is so radical that it may feel who you used to know is no longer here. Our psyche may be attempting to let us know we could be grieving and in its own way attempt to lay this person to rest within our minds.
Seeing a woman being shot or shot at in our dreams could be a representation of the killing off of a feminine aspect. This aspect could be one within ourselves or in the life of someone we know. It is how our subconscious attempts to let us know that our mind believes this aspect is now no longer there.
While seeing a man getting shot has a similar meaning to that of seeing a woman shot. To see a man being shot or shot at in one’s dreams may be indicative of a belief that a masculine aspect is being killed off. As with dreams of women being shot at or shot, this could relate to us or others we may know.
We all hold both feminine and masculine aspects to ourselves in varying degrees and at times in our waking lives, it could feel that we may need to rid ourselves of some of those aspects. Alternatively, it could feel like another person may be forcing us to kill off those parts within ourselves
Seeing an animal getting shot in a dream by someone other than you could be how your subconscious is attempting to communicate to you that you may feel hunted in your waking life. It may be that within your mind you feel there is someone or even yourself chasing you in a way, never allowing you to rest. It could be that you are in desperate need to take that rest, but refuse or cannot and so in your dreams you may see an animal being shot, representing this feeling of being hunted.
How Someone Could Be Shot or Shot At in a dream
When we look at shooting dreams further, we also need to look at how one could be shot or when even. A dream may have multiple scenarios mentioned and we need to look at the whole picture to understand the dream fully.
So below are some of the more common scenarios of how and when we are shot or shot at in a dream and their meanings.
To dream you are is being shot at through an object represents the mental walls we have put up in order to protect ourselves. In such a dream the object would indicate the strength of our mental walls and the damage to them done by the shooting could indicate how vulnerable we feel. In this case, the vulnerability would be related to how easily we feel our walls are being broken down.
A good example of this would be if we were to dream of getting shot through a wall, such as one made of plywood. It would represent the barrier we’ve built to protect ourselves as well as the breakdown of that barrier.
To be shot at night in a dream, we need to look at what night-time generally means in a dream. Usually, the night would be indicative of obstacles in the way of achieving one’s aims, but the obstacles tend to be ones we cannot clearly identify.
So, when we dream of being shot at night it may be how our mind is presenting us with an issue it feels needs resolving, but is unsure of what may be acting as a blockage to this resolution.
Alternatively, it could also represent an ending to a chapter in our lives, as night is often related to death. Death in our dreams usually signifies a new beginning.
To dream of getting shot during the day, we need to look at the meaning of daytime in relation to this type of dream. In a dream where we may have been shot during the day, the day could be a metaphor for time passing and clarity.
Thus being shot in a dream during the day could represent how we feel about how we are spending our time, and that we have perhaps found some clarity to this.
Another dream of being shot could be one where you are shot and survive. A dream of this nature usually means one is fighting for survival in the sense of issues in the subconscious. It is a dream of a self-confrontational nature.
Shame and Pride: How They Relate to Dreams of Guns
Taking a look at dreams of getting shot at or shot, we can say that most have some aspect of shame and pride involved with them. While these two often go hand in hand, they are also regularly triggered by other emotions.
One being anger, another fear or even guilt. It could be that our subconscious is choosing to respond in anger, fear or any other emotion rather than being willing to take on shame we may feel or injury to our pride. Anger is often an easier emotion to allow oneself to feel than that of shame.
So during these dreams, we may experience a wide variety of emotions, especially negative ones. These dreams however require us to look further than our initial response and find the root of our problem.
Perhaps it is not anger, but damaged pride? Perhaps it is not fear, but shame?
These are things you will need to look at for yourself and find what may be the root cause of the emotion you experienced during such a dream.
The Final Shot: Dreams of Shootings & What They Mean
It’s safe to say that when we dream of shootings, especially the kind where we are the target, it can be a terrifying experience. While it can teach us more about ourselves, it can also leave us feeling bothered the next morning.
However, these dreams have their meanings too and their reasons for haunting our sleep. Sometimes it is ourselves in need of a helping hand, other times it is a realisation or acknowledgement that there may be someone in our lives we need to walk away from.
It is not all bad though, because as stated above, death in dreams is often a sign of new beginnings. At times we all need a fresh start.