Dreams about arrows

Dreams about arrows belongs to the category of weapons-related dreams. A more modern version of dreams about arrows is about dreaming of shooting with a gun or a rifle. The symbolism behind these dreams, albeit with due differences, is similar.

Another type of dreams concerns dreams with sharp weapons (read here!).

Tarot and dreams: a practical example of dreams about arrows

In this article I report the dream of a 32-year-old boy named Andrea. I will try to decode it according to the OniroTarology technique, that is, combining a sequence of Tarot cards with the dream.

This is the description of the dream:

“I was on the edge of a lake inside a tower and I tried to shoot arrows with a bow towards another tower across the lake, but I couldn’t because the shot was short and the arrows all ended in water. I was disappointed because I couldn’t succeed…”

Dreams about arrows and the World Tarot card

Usually when you dream of “shooting an arrow” comes to mind the Cupid of the Love of the Tarot. But in this case the focus of the dream regards the target of the arrow. The target symbol is present in Arcanum XXI, the World, which in the OniroTarology approach alludes to the center of the Self, the goal to be achieved.

The “mandorla” resembles the circle of the target and in the center we find the androgynous perfection, where masculine and feminine energies are brought together in full harmony.

The Moon Tarot card and the psyche

But before unleashing the World symbolism, the ultimate goal of Self, let’s approach the dream in its entirety, which seems to fit within the scenario of the Moon (Arcanum XVIII):

In this Arcanum we find all the important elements of the dream: the two towers and the “lake”. The Moon symbolizes the journey within one’s own psyche, and could reflect Andrea’s difficult and frustrating journey. In fact the arrows seem absorbed, dragged down by the “lunar crab” that is in the waters of the unconscious. It seems that in this journey Andrea will have to go and stir in the not very friendly waters of the unconscious!

It is precisely this that seems to frighten Andrea, “to get his hands dirty”, to come down from his ivory tower to measure himself against the Shadows and the darkness of the Moon. But facing the “monster” of the abysses is a necessary step to reach the illumination of the Sun. It would be presumptuous on Andrea’s part to think that these arrows will reach the target challenging the law of gravity and the deep lunar abyss!

The Tower symbols

Holding the World Tarot card in the background, as the ultimate goal of the journey, let’s imagine “zooming” on the tower of the Moon that seems to be the target of Andrea’s arrows. Consider Arcanum XVI: the Maison Dieu.

The “tower” represents the jungian mask. This is precisely the intermediate goal for Andrea: the arrow must aim to bring down the reassuring tower that imprisons him. This is the only way to start from the bottom, from the vital energies that are at the level of the earth: getting your hands dirty with everyday life and nature (the characters that come out of the tower actually touch the plants and the earth).

Explanation of the dream of shooting an arrow with Tarot

The OniroTarology spread that best describes the dream is given by the XVIII and XVI Tarot:

As we see it is a “disordered” sequence, not following the right numerical order of the Major Arcana. The correct sequence would be XVI – XVIII. In other words, the dreamer must first get his hands dirty (come down from the Tower) and then have a nice purifying bath in the waters of the Moon.

The purifying path of the Moon cannot be trodden if its Tower is not knocked down.