Hyena in Dreams

Lugus says:

This is almost certainly a very positive dream.

In many of the dreams that I interpret – probably most, I use the theories of the late Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. See http://n2.nabble.com/Dream-Discussion-f4289868.html for various posts about Jung and his ideas. Some of these ideas are addressed in this interpretation. And, many of the dreams that I look at have more of a spiritual meaning. This dream is a combination of both.

Assuming that you are a guy, the old man sounds like he is mana personality. http://www.mythsdreamssymbols.com/mana.html In men the mana personality is seen in our dreams as the Great Father or Wise Old Man. His appearance is a good sign.

He introduced the dreamer to a hyena. However, this was not your average, everyday hyena. This was like a super-hyena.

To understand the significance of the hyena, we need to find out a little more about this animal. The hyena is undoubtedly an unpleasant animal to many readers. Although the hyena is a hunter, it is best know for being a scavenger. “Part of their bad reputation may stem from the hyena’s tendency to scavenge graves for food. They are one of the few creatures naturally suited for this, due to their ability to devour and digest every part of a carcass, including bone.” Like many other mammals, hyenas often live in extended families. A lesser known tidbit about hyenas is that some species live in matriarchal families with a dominant female who rules the clan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyena From all this, we now have a good idea of the meaning of the hyena in this dream.

I believe that this hyena is meant to be a helper – a very special helper. This hyena is a guide and a protector in the exploration of the land of the dead. This sounds terrible but it actually very positive. The ability and opportunity to make these journeys of exploration are only found in those who have reached a certain level of spiritual and psychological maturity.

The ability to make these types of journeys to the lower world is found among the shamans. BTW – as many dreamers are well aware, a person’s conscious beliefs have little to do what goes on in our dreams.

However, there are other parts to this dream that we should also look at.

The dreamer has become hyena-like. In mythology, there is a term for this. You became a werehyena. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werehyena This is a form of shape-shifting.

Shape-shifting is not only associated with shamanism but is also experienced in those undergoing a spiritual/kundalini awakening. The Shared Transformation site gives one woman’s experience. “Later I learned that it is not uncommon for those with an awakening Kundalini to feel themselves morphed into powerful astral animals like bears, wolves, lions… or tigers. But it was not until I was studying shamanism several years later that I more fully understood this phenomena, which is called “shape-shifting.” Especially for those of us who have a Shamanic calling, helper spirits often come to us in the guise of animals. This can be in meditation, in dreams, or through a paranormal or ordinary world experience.” http://www.elcollie.com/st/chap8.html

As mentioned above, some hyena groups are matriarchal. Thus, it may be that this dream hyena is a female. If the dreamer is male, you can probably see where I am going with this.

There is a very good chance that this hyena is more than a guide or a protector. She may also be the dreamer’s spirit/dream wife. This may sound bizarre or even a little disgusting. But, it is actually fairly common for the shaman to have an other worldly spouse.

Hope this helps and is not too confusing.