Last Updated on October 9, 2022 by theworldofsleepstaff
So here you are having awoken from a dream about a skunk, wondering what all that smell may be about!
Well in short, a dream about a skunk often relates to feelings of suppression, rejection or expression. While each of these three could be a possible scenario, we will need to look at how the dream played out to get a full interpretation.
Below we will take a closer look at what your dream may have been trying to tell you.
CONTENTS:
- Skunks and Their Meanings in our Dreams
- The Duality of the Colour of Skunks
- Dream Scenarios Involving Skunks
- What the Behaviour of a Skunk in Our Dream May Tell Us
- Skunks and How They Are Seen as Pests
- Cleansing a Skunk Smell
- Conclusion: How Do We Interpret a Dream About a Skunk
Skunks and Their Meanings in our Dreams
Skunks in dreams tend to relate to how we express ourselves, the rejection we may be feeling, or the suppression of our more volatile emotions.
As they are commonly seen as a pest, most associations with skunks may be of a more negative nature, but we can also see them in a different light.
1. An Expression of Anger
One of the more common meanings behind dreams about skunks is a representation of feeling that we may be on the edge of overflowing in regards to our waking life’s emotions.
Most often this relates to anger, and the way that anger is being dealt with becomes relevant here. If you are bottling up anger in your waking life, it may be that your mind has decided to attempt to get your attention and tell you that you are on the verge of losing control of this anger.
Perhaps it could be seen as a warning to try and release pent up frustration in a more healthy way before it causes havoc.
2. Feelings of Rejection of Self and Others
Another way to interpret a dream about a skunk would be to look at the dream through the lens of how we see skunks as a society. Usually, they are seen as pests or dangers that need to be avoided.
When it comes to having a dream where a skunk is present it could be indicative of how your waking self may be feeling rejected by society, friends or family. We may be feeling like we are being avoided and treated as if we are a pest or a threat where distance is needed.
Alternatively, it could also represent the above-mentioned feelings, but rather than it stemming from others, it could be stemming from the self. We may be experiencing a time where we are rejecting ourselves in our waking lives.
3. Repression of Anger and Feelings of Fear
Lastly, another common association with skunk dreams is that of repression. This repression is usually related to anger, and it could relate back to not healthily expressing the anger. Often we may find that the anger we are repressing relates back to a decision making process in our waking lives that may not be going according to plan.
In this we also see the feeling of fear, usually fear we as the dreamer may be trying to suppress or have not yet realised is in the undercurrent of our thoughts. It may be that we have a big decision we have made, are making, or will need to make soon, and we are experiencing fear towards this decision.
This fear often stems from anger felt towards the decision in the sense that we may feel it is beyond our control. The fear however could also be unrelated to any waking life decisions.
The Duality of the Colour of Skunks
Skunks carry a duality about them when it comes to what they may mean in our dreams. This duality is represented by the colour of their coats.
That’s because often we associate darker colours and lighter colours with different aspects of the world.
Associations with the Colour Black
Most often the colour black is associated with night-time, death and endings. While this may seem like a negative association at face value it has a duality to it just like the colour of the skunk.
Night-time is often seen as a time of peace, so while it may indicate a dark world it could also refer to a time of peace.
While death and endings are often seen as things to fear, in this case, they could also be representative of a new beginning and thus a rebirth of sorts.
Associations with the Colour White
The colour white is usually associated with daytime, purity and nothingness. The nothingness refers to a sense of peace by having found tranquillity rather than that of the nothingness of the void.
However, in the case of dreams about skunks we need to look at the fact that these two colours appear together. While they may seem opposites at first glance, they are intertwined.
You cannot have the dark without the light. They represent a balance of sorts. Whilst the colors may not necessarily have a big impact on the meaning of a skunk dream, they could be related depending on how we experience our dream.
Dream Scenarios Involving Skunks
1. Getting Sprayed
When we dream of being sprayed by a skunk it could mean one of two things.
Firstly, we may be feeling fear towards a person in our waking lives and a strong need to defend ourselves before we are harmed.
Or, secondly, it could be that we may be feeling someone in our waking life sees us as a threat and feels they need to defend themselves from us.
2. Trapping a Skunk
If you dream that you are trapping a skunk or have trapped one, that usually indicates that you are trying to hold onto something emotion wise.
As mentioned above, skunks usually represent fear and anger. Therefore we could think of a dream of trapping a skunk as being a way of our subconscious expressing our attempt to hold in some emotion and prevent it from escaping.
3. Hunting a Skunk
A dream about hunting an animal of any kind could be seen in a few ways. When it comes to dreams of hunting skunks we could interpret these dreams as our subconscious attempting to chase or hunt down an emotion we may feel is evading us and that we need to subdue.
This could relate back to the feeling of anger or fear and how we may perhaps be feeling that we need to contain these emotions. The hunt in the dream could be an indication that we may be feeling subconsciously that we have to chase these emotions down. Either for fear of them escaping into the world or for a need to attempt to shut them down.
4. Killing a Skunk
Normally a dream that involves killing a living creature can be seen as being representative of a fear that one may lose control of the self and our emotions.
However, when we dream about killing a skunk it could be that we are actively working on ridding ourselves of these negative emotions a skunk could represent.
Killing a skunk in our dreams can be seen as a positive sign in regards to what we may believe about our ability to regulate our anger or process our fears.
5. Using Scents
If you have had a dream where a skunk has sprayed you and you attempt to cover the smell using a form of scent, it is usually symbolic of recalling the past.
In a dream such as this, it may be that we feel in our waking lives that some memory from the past has been marred by an event or belief and we are attempting to cover the damage.
What the Behaviour of a Skunk in Our Dream May Tell Us
In dreams of skunks, we need to look at not only what happens to us and the actions of the skunk but also their behaviour and how we interpret the way they are acting toward us
Passivity
Passivity in a skunk in our dreams could be suggestive of an awareness of our negative emotions.
However, if you don’t have negative associations with skunks it could be a representation of the above-mentioned duality of their coat colours.
In such a case we might be able to say that it could be that we may be feeling we are passing through a cycle of sorts. We may feel that in our waking lives we are going through a phase of death and rebirth.
Aggression
Aggression in a skunk in our dreams could be indicative of a belief we may have towards our negative emotions. This could be the way our mind is attempting to tell us that these negative emotions are getting to a point where they may be causing us to feel overwhelmed. In a sense, this would be a metaphorical fight between the emotion causing strife within the self and what the self feels it can handle.
Look at how the aggression of the skunk in the dream appears. The more it escalates the more it usually shows how severe our feeling of being overwhelmed may be.
Friendly
Friendliness in a skunk in our dreams could be about the duality in their colour again and the meaning thereof. We may be in a transitional phase, but fully accepting of it and this dream could be the way our mind attempts to acknowledge how it feels in regards to the transition.
Alternatively, it could be a dream that may mean we have resolved our negative emotions often associated with skunks. We may perhaps have gone through a period in our waking lives where we experienced fear or anger, but have now managed to overcome it.
Rabid
A skunk being rabid in our dreams often means that we may be feeling the negative emotions they represent are emotions beyond our control. In this case, it could be that we feel we are having these emotions thrust upon us and that we cannot change or stop them.
It may be that we are experiencing the emotions ourselves in such a dream or that it is representative of our belief of how another person may be feeling or acting in our waking lives.
Skunks and How They Are Seen as Pests
Looking at a dream about a skunk, it is important to remember our common societal views on them. While individual views may vary, we need to take that into account when we dream. In this case, we will just look at the most common association of the skunk, that it is a pest that people need to avoid.
While the skunk has a bad reputation, remember that it stems from our perception of their way to defend themselves. Their defence mechanism can be seen as something to be fearful of by us and thus to be avoided or even interpreted as an aggressive move.
Whilst it comes across as aggression, it tends to be in defence. Just as with anger, we need to look past the initial aggression, in this case, anger, and see what it may be covering up.
Often times it is easier to follow the path to anger than to admit fear. As humans, we have a tendency to rather call something an anger response than admit to ourselves it was a defence mechanism we used to avoid our fear.
Cleansing a Skunk Smell
When we think of skunks a common association is that of being sprayed by one, so a dream about a skunk very often involve this scenario. In such dreams, we could dream of attempting to cleanse ourselves of the smell.
Being sprayed in a dream about a skunk usually represents fear, but in some cases, it can also represent damage being done to past memories when we attempt to cleanse ourselves of the smell.
Below we will look at various ways of cleansing yourself of skunk spray and what they could mean in a dream.
Bathing
If in your dream you are taking a bath to rid yourself of the smell it could be a sign that your mind is attempting to rid yourself of a difficult time. This would refer to the whole self, as both the inner and the outer self is usually represented by taking a bath. It is symbolic of letting go.
When you wash away the skunk spray in a bath in your dream it may mean that you are letting go of the fear you have been carrying around or attempting to let go of it.
Showering
When we dream of showering it tends to symbolise renewal and forgiving others, as well as ourselves. Showering in a dream could also represent our belief in our ability to remove our burdens, or alternatively be an indication of feeling exposed.
We could take this to mean that such a dream could mean either we may feel we are moving past some transgression of another that could have caused fear, or that we feel even more exposed to the fear now.
If the shower is a successful cleansing in the dream we could take this to possibly mean that we may be feeling we have removed the burden of fear we may have been carrying with us in our waking lives.
Using the Good Old Tomato
A common way many of use to remove the smell of skunk spray is tomato juice, and we may experience doing this in our dreams as well.
In such a case we need to look at what the tomato represents and how it relates to using it as a way to cleanse ourselves.
The tomato in most of its shapes and forms in our dreams tends to be symbolic of the home. It tends to lean towards representations of harmony and joy within the home.
A dream of using tomato juice to clean after being sprayed by a skunk, could therefore possibly indicate our belief in the success of attempting to rid our home of negative emotions, especially fear. It may be that we feel we are replacing the fear in our home with joy and harmony.
Conclusion: How Do We Interpret a Dream About a Skunk
So how can we interpret a dream about a skunk?
Well, mainly we need to remember the associations we have with them. Usually, these are viewing them as pests. So they tend to represent rejection and not being able to allow contained emotions out.
The main emotional associations with skunks in a dream scenario are usually anger and fear. Therefore we need to look at the rest of the dream and any other factors contributing to it to find our answer.
After all, being sprayed by a skunk in your dream could be a dream that sticks in our minds until we find a way to understand it.