Sheep dream meaning

Dreaming about
sheep

The complete overview of what science, psychology, and spirituality say about this dream. Drawn from Oniri data and the classic works of dream psychology.

Popularity

34/100

Appears in 1 in 1,492 dreams

Nightmares

Below average

10%

of dreams about sheep are nightmares

Lucid dreams

1.6× the average

13%

of dreams about sheep are lucid

Sheep stick together. A flock moves as one, follows whichever animal goes first and panics when one of them is cut off, and that's the habit English has turned into an insult. Dreaming about sheep usually points to the group you belong to and how much you go along with it, or to gentleness and who protects it, since a sheep is about the most defenceless animal on a farm.

What the sheep did and where you stood decide the reading. Being one of the flock is a different dream from watching it, herding it, or standing apart from it. A lamb, a black sheep and a sheep lost on a hillside each send the dream somewhere else.

The dream dictionary

Dreaming about sheep usually points to the group you belong to and how much you go along with it, or to gentleness, yours or someone else's, and who looks after it. A lamb leans toward innocence and care, a black sheep toward feeling like the odd one out.

Emotional profile

The emotions usually associated with dreaming about sheep.

Emotion families

Compared with the average dream

Joy+18%

Love+12%

Peace+35%

Unease+8%

Fear+20%

Anger+35%

Sadness+10%

Emotions that stand out

Concentration2.0×Horror1.7×Determination1.6×

Related dream symbols

Other symbols that often appear together with sheep in dreams.

AnimalsDogsDreaming about dogs usually points to loyalty: a friend you trust, someone who protects you, or a fear that a person close to you will turn on you.

PeopleChildDreaming about a child usually points to something in your life that's growing and still needs guiding, or to the child you once were.

ThemesDeathDreaming about death usually means something in your life is ending or changing, like a role, a relationship or an old idea of yourself.

ThemesFamilyDreaming about your family is usually about where you come from, the support you feel or miss, and the old roles you slip back into around them.

AnimalsWolvesDreaming about wolves usually points to where you belong: your family, your group, or the loneliness of standing outside one.

AnimalsCowsDreaming about cows usually points to nourishment and care, often a mother or someone who looks after you, or to your own steady, patient side.

What dreaming about sheep means

Calling someone a sheep means they follow without thinking, but sheep also stand for innocence and care in an older tradition, and most dreams lean toward one of the two.

Following the crowd

If the sheep moved together and you moved with them, look at where you're going along with a group, at work, in a friendship circle or online. It may be comfortable, or you may be agreeing to things you don't believe because it's easier. Feeling sheepish, embarrassed and a bit foolish, is the related idiom, and some sheep dreams come after a moment like that.

Gentleness that needs protecting

Sheep can't do much to defend themselves, which is why they need a shepherd and a dog. A dream about caring for sheep is often about someone vulnerable in your life, a child or an aging parent, or about the soft side of you that you protect from others. If wolves were near, the dream is about a threat to that gentleness, and if a sheep in your dream felt wrong somehow, the old phrase about a wolf in sheep's clothing may fit.

Dreaming about a flock of sheep

A big flock is the dream of the group, and your place in it is the whole reading. In the middle, you may feel safe or swallowed up. Herding them, you're the one keeping a team or family in line, and it may be wearing you out. Watching from a fence, you may be deciding whether to join a group at all, a new job or a crowd of friends you're not sure about.

Dreaming about a lamb

A lamb is innocence and new life, and it's often about a child, a new beginning or something fragile you've been trusted with. Carrying a lamb is a dream of care. A lamb in danger points to a worry about someone young or new, and a lamb you were asked to give up can be about a sacrifice you're being asked to make.

Dreaming about a black sheep

The black sheep of the family is the one who doesn't fit, and a black sheep in a dream is very often you, or the relative everyone talks about. If the black sheep was fine on its own, the dream may be about accepting that you're different. If the flock pushed it away, it's about feeling judged.

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Dreaming about a lost sheep

A single sheep stranded on a hillside or stuck in a ditch is about feeling cut off from your group, or about someone you've lost touch with. If you were the one searching for it, the dream may be about someone you want to bring back.

Dreaming about counting sheep

Counting sheep is the oldest joke about insomnia, and dreaming that you're doing it usually means sleep has been on your mind. It can come during a bad patch of nights, or when you're tired in a way sleep doesn't fix. If you've been lying awake, these habits for better sleep help more than counting does.

Dreaming about sheep according to Jung and Freud

A flock is a group and a lamb is a child, and each man's ideas fit one of those.

Jung: the black sheep and the flock

Jung's shadow holds the traits you've disowned so the rest of you can fit in, and the black sheep is its farm version, the animal the flock turns away from.^[2] Read his way (our application, he didn't write about sheep), a black sheep in your dream may be a trait or a wish you've kept out of the family picture. The flock matches his persona, the face you wear to belong, so how easily you moved with it shows how much of you was on display.

Freud: the lamb as a small child

In Freud's symbol list, small animals stand for small children, often a younger brother or sister.^[3] A lamb isn't on it by name, but it's as small and helpless as the creatures he meant, so a lamb you carried, fed or couldn't save may be a child, or the child you were.

The biblical and spiritual meaning of sheep in dreams

Sheep in the Bible

Sheep fill the Bible, almost always standing for people in someone's care. Psalm 23 opens with "The Lord is my shepherd",^[5] and Christian tradition calls Jesus both the good shepherd and the Lamb of God. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus tells of a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to go after the one that wandered off,^[6] and in Matthew he warns of false prophets who come "in sheep's clothing" and are wolves underneath.^[7] If your sheep dream felt spiritual, it's likely to be about being cared for, or about who you're responsible for.

Questions to ask about your sheep dream

Your place in relation to the flock is the thing to settle first. These questions help.

Were you one of the sheep, the shepherd, or watching?
Did the sheep follow you, ignore you, or run from you?
Was one sheep different, lost, or in danger?
Which group in your life asks you to go along with it?

A drive past fields or a farm visit can bring sheep into a dream on its own.^[1] Oniri asks where you stood and which group came to mind before it reads a dream like this one.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to dream of sheep?

Usually it's about the group you belong to and how far you go along with it, or about gentleness and who protects it. A flock moving together points to fitting in, sometimes too well. A lamb is about innocence or someone in your care, and a lone or lost sheep about feeling apart.

Do androids dream of electric sheep?

That's the title of Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel, the book the film Blade Runner was based on. In the story, real animals are rare and owning one is a status symbol, so people keep electric copies. The title asks whether a machine could have an inner life, which is what the book is about. A My Little Pony episode later borrowed the shape of it, and Kate Bush's song And Dream of Sheep is a separate thing, about a woman drifting at sea.

What does a sheep mean in a dream in the Bible?

Sheep are everywhere in the Bible, almost always as people in someone's care. Psalm 23 begins 'The Lord is my shepherd', Jesus tells the parable of the shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to look for one that's lost, and John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God. In that tradition, a sheep dream is about being looked after, or lost.

Quick Analysis

Your dream seems to reflect feelings of fear, paranoia, and trust issues, particularly around friends and social situations. Running around the restaurant could symbolise an attempt to escape or avoid situations where you feel threatened or uncomfortable. The presence of your family and boyfriend may point to how much their support and protection matter to you.

The moment you confronted the girl who took your money and found common ground in the same bands suggests a desire for resolution, and a hope that conflict can give way to understanding.

Questions

In the dream you were constantly moving, running through the restaurant, never quite settling anywhere. When you woke up, did that restlessness feel familiar to anything happening in your life right now?

Yeah, I’ve been job-hunting for two months and it feels like I can never switch off or relax.

93/1000

You confronted the girl who took your money, and yet you discovered you liked the same bands. Is there someone you’re in conflict with who you also feel an unexpected closeness to?

My older sister. We argue about everything, but she’s also the only one who really gets me.

91/1000

Your family and your boyfriend appeared as protectors in the dream. Right now, do you feel able to lean on them, or is their support something you find yourself missing?

Mostly yes, though I haven’t actually told them how stressed I’ve been lately.

78/1000