▲ Leans unlucky (a warning) Traditionally a warning — read it as pointing to what to watch, not as doom
A symbol of love and passion. A red rose means rising romance; a thorn prick, heartache.
Category: Nature & weather (how to read this category)
Psychology
Roses reflect love, passion and longing for beauty. Their thorns add a fear of being hurt by what attracts you. Colour, bloom or wilt, and who gave it reveal which side of love or relationships is on your mind.
Folklore and history
In the West the rose has long symbolised love and beauty and is linked to the Virgin Mary. Latin 'sub rosa', under the rose, came to mean in secret, said to derive from roses hung over confidential meetings. Wild roses have long grown in Japan too.
A collection of true ghost stories by Tanishi Matsubara — a reference for our reading-feature and analysis articles.
Scary Ghost Stories (Tanishi Matsubara / Futami Shobo)
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This site's view
In this site's view, ask when you noticed the thorns. Before picking means you proceed aware of love's risks; after being pricked suggests pain you have ignored in a relationship. Talking with someone beneath a rose means a secret you cannot yet share.
Going deeper: our reading
Roses are known as flowers that take effort to bloom well: pruning in winter, then watering, feeding and watching for pests and disease from spring to autumn. Rose scent is used in perfume and soap, and for some a passing whiff brings back a person or place. In this site's reading, people who dream of roses often wish someone would notice the effort and care they have poured into an important relationship. Pruning rose stems suggests a time to boldly cut something away to improve a relationship; walking through a rose garden with someone, longing for bright time together; smelling roses without seeing them, feelings for someone you cannot meet; receiving a bouquet, care about to be repaid. This is our speculation, but the dream may teach that beauty blooms after care that continues.
What to do on waking
Tell someone dear a small word of thanks. Placing a single flower in your room carries the dream's warmth into the day.
In this scene
- ◎Good Calm and clear: things flow smoothly (good)
- ▲Warn Stormy or swallowing you: feelings overflowing or being swept by change (warning)
- Only watching: you see change from a distance — a time to prepare
- 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
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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FAQ
Q. Is dreaming of a Rose a good or bad sign?
A. Traditionally a warning — read it as pointing to what to watch, not as doom. A symbol of love and passion. A red rose means rising romance; a thorn prick, heartache.
Q. Why do I keep dreaming of a Rose?
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 a Rose?
A. Tell someone dear a small word of thanks. Placing a single flower in your room carries the dream's warmth into the day.
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 "Nature & weather"
- A Spring
- An Eclipse
- A Beach
- A Cliff
- A Valley
- Bamboo
- A Sunflower
- Acorns & Nuts
- Mushrooms
- Moss
- A Meteor Shower
- Hail
※ Dream interpretation here is entertainment drawing on psychology and folklore — it is not scientifically proven. "This site's view" is our own interpretation.
