Rats are one of those animals that people either love or hate. The thought of a rat can bring great joy to a pet owner or great fear to someone who has been traumatized in the past. Have you ever had a dream with a rat in it? I know I have. Rats are one of the most common dream symbols to date. Scientists have discovered that a rat's psyche actually mirrors that of mankind very similarly.
With every symbol, it is important to remember that every symbolic meaning is based on the context that was used in the dream. What I mean by this is if the rat was something that created a negative emotion in you, or was doing something bad, destroying something or so forth, then it was a negative context. On the contrary, if it was something that was helpful or brought you joy then it was a positive contextual meaning in the dream.
Let's begin by talking about the positive connotations of rats in dreams. From a biblical standpoint, there is not much that is good about rats. However, when you are trying to find the meaning of something you may also lookup interesting facts about the symbol and learn what the purpose of a rat might be. Before the fall of mankind, all the animals had good positive meanings. It wasn't until after the fall that animals took on negative connotations and characteristics. Therefore, everything has a positive redemptive value in some form.
Here are a few facts that I discovered about rats that will help you discern the positive meaning of a dream. Rats can represent healing and nursing the sick because they nurture and help heal injured rats in their family or group. Rats laugh when they are having fun playing so they can represent the joy that is coming from acting in a childlike and joyful manner.
A rat can also represent the ability to remember something. Studies have shown that rats are very adaptable and learn quickly because they can remember and comprehend what they did so that they will not make the same mistake over and over again.
Rat's teeth never stop growing. From a biblical perspective, this can represent a never-ending ability to discern spiritual things or constant growth in your ability to process information and discern what is good and bad.
Teeth often represent the ability to chew on and think over something so that you can make a good decision. You can compare it to the modern saying, chew the fat, or chew on that.
In a negative context, we find in the bible that rats can represent idol worship. You see this in Isaiah 66:17 and 1 Samuel 6:18. The Hebrew that is translated as a rat is Akbar. Upon deeper inspection of this word, we find that this word means spider. Spiders, in a biblical sense, typically represent witchcraft, therefore, we can conclude that rats can represent demonic activity or witchcraft that is targeting a person.
When identifying the symbolic meaning of the rat is also important to recognize the nature and characteristics of the rat. They almost always operate in groups. It has been found that rats suffer from depression when they are alone. You could use this to identify that rats can represent depression and sorrow in dreams.
Another Characteristic of rats is that they devour things and cause unseen damage. Rats are notorious for causing fires because they have chewed on electrical wires. In a dream, this would be showing that there is an attack of some sort that is attacking the power in your house or business and attempting to destroy things unseen and hidden from plain sight.
A natural trait of rats is that they succumb easily to peer pressure. Rats have a very strong desire to fit in and thus they succumb to the behavior of those around them. In this instance, a rat in a dream could represent that you are succumbing to peer pressure in some form and giving up your identity to fit in.
The last thing that I will point out is that when determining the meaning of a symbol you must also look for plays on words and cultural euphemisms that could give a clue as to what the symbol would mean. in America, being called a rat is a derogatory term. To be called a rat can mean that you are doing something that is 'dirty' or offensive to a person. It can also mean that you are ratting out or snitching on someone. In some cases, it can mean to double-cross a person or to abandon your peers in hard times or times of need.
Dreams are interesting, for sure.
These are just a few potential meanings of rats can mean in dreams. If you enjoyed this and you found it informative and educational please consider taking our dream course that begins December 1, 2019. You can sign up by clicking the picture to the left. We also recommend downloading our dream dictionary e-book online. Thank you for your support, and thank for allowing us to teach you! Be blessed friends. We look forward to seeing you in our dream course and teaching you in the future.
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