▲ Leans unlucky (a warning) Traditionally a warning — read it as pointing to what to watch, not as doom
Fear of wounded pride or harsh criticism; also a wake-up call from your own mind.
Category: Actions & events (how to read this category)
Psychology
Being slapped reflects fear of humiliating treatment, or memory of it. It may also be your mind jolting you awake: something must change. Whether you felt anger or agreement toward the slapper is the key.
Folklore and history
Japanese has idioms for slapping someone across the face as a sharp shock. Stories and dramas often show a distraught person slapped back to their senses, so being struck on the face can stand for pain and awakening together.
Five 100% cotton face towels vacuum-compressed to palm size for disaster prep — they stay clean for a long time unopened, so keeping a pack in the car is handy for wiping off sweat and grime in a dusty ruin, and doubles as an emergency bandage, blindfold, or makeshift ground sheet for warmth.
Hayashi Compressed Face Towels, Set of 5, Approx. 34x80cm, Disaster-Prep Compressed Towels FO496900
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This site's view
In this site's view, notice whether the slapper's face was clear. Someone you know means their words weigh on you; a faceless figure may be your past self or inner critic. Tears afterwards suggest something long held back is loosening.
Going deeper: our reading
Japanese has many phrases that treat the face as one's standing: to smear mud on someone's face, to let a face stand, to crush a face. A slap therefore strikes reputation as much as skin. Yet athletes often slap their own cheeks before a match to fire themselves up, so the same gesture can mean humiliation or resolve. In this site's reading, the setting changes everything. Slapped in front of a crowd, you fear losing face; slapped alone in a room, you are holding back words meant for that person. Hitting back signals that your patience is nearly spent. This is our speculation, but if the blow caused no pain at all, what is truly hurting may not be your face but the part of you that keeps insisting you must never be angry.
What to do on waking
Rest a hand on your cheek and breathe deeply three times. When self-blame arises, rephrase it as you would for a friend.
In this scene
- ◎Good It works out, you escape: you can overcome a real challenge (good)
- ▲Warn It fails, you are caught: feeling cornered — rest or ask for help (warning)
- Doing it again and again: an unsolved problem is still on your mind
- It felt good: the lucky reading gets stronger
- ▲Warn It felt frightening or painful: the warning reading gets stronger — rest first
- The same dream again and again: something your mind has not settled yet
Turning a bad dream
In Japan, people once tried to turn a worrying dream for the better: a baku charm under the pillow, telling the dream to a nandina bush, or reciting an old dream-turning poem. Read the column on dream trading and dream-turning
A study of the Shinano miko who channeled the words of the dead and the gods through kuchiyose (spirit-calling) — a reference for our mediumship articles.
The Shinano Miko: Traveling Spirit-Channeling Shamanesses (Yohei Nakano / Showado)
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FAQ
Q. Is dreaming of being Slapped in the Face a good or bad sign?
A. Traditionally a warning — read it as pointing to what to watch, not as doom. Fear of wounded pride or harsh criticism; also a wake-up call from your own mind.
Q. Why do I keep dreaming of being Slapped in the Face?
A. A recurring dream usually points to something your mind has not settled yet. Research suggests such dreams tend to stop once the underlying worry is resolved. Keeping a dream diary helps you notice what triggers it.
Q. What should I do after dreaming of being Slapped in the Face?
A. Rest a hand on your cheek and breathe deeply three times. When self-blame arises, rephrase it as you would for a friend.
Related dream essays
- True Dreams and Reverse Dreams: Why We Read Dreams Backwards
- Buying Dreams, Turning Dreams: A Japanese History of Dream Trading and Dream Charms
Read this dream with your own scene in the Dream Dictionary →
More dreams in "Actions & events"
- A Packed Crowd
- Evacuating
- Calling an Ambulance
- Calling the Police
- Donating Blood
- Washing Your Feet
- Shoveling Snow
- A Snowball Fight
- Escaping a Fire
- Watching a Distant Fire
- The Workplace on Fire
- Committing Arson
※ Dream interpretation here is entertainment drawing on psychology and folklore — it is not scientifically proven. "This site's view" is our own interpretation.
