Dreams about killing, murder, shooting others – what do they mean? (dream interpretation killing, murder)
Dream interpretation killing, to kill, murder. Dreaming that you are killing other people might mean many things. Those you kill could symbolize something in yourself that you can’t or won’t approve of (realise about yourself) or something you’d like to get rid of. Most will tell you however, that this simply isn’t possible. At best, you can be aware of these sides of yourself and work on accepting them in order to control them better.
It might also be the case that there’s an internal battle between different sides of you. For example, the “nice” man/woman is battling a more rough/straight forward/shameless side of yourself. In this way you might see another person (representing the “nice” version of you), hitting another person (representing the more rough or shameless side of you).
You might also dream about killing your parents. To a lot of people this will seem very intense and very difficult to understand at first. Why would I want to kill my own parents? In this case, you might ask yourself if you have any reason to be angry or upset with them. Maybe there is something in your relationship with your parents that has yet to be dealt with – something you haven’t spotted that would give you a reason to be (unconsciously) angry with them even though you normally think your parents have been nothing but “good”.
Similarly, you might dream that you are killing your children. Of course, this is out of proportion to real life, but again, you might ask yourself, hypothetically, is there any reason you’d somehow wish your children weren’t here right now? I’ve coached several people with this exact dream. They felt angry about having had children too early in life with the result of a “ruined” youth. In daily life, this translated into being excessively strict with their children (often telling them off for example, where this is not appropriate), and in the language of dreams this translated into killing the children.
In an internal interpretation, the dream might also symbolize killing your own “inner child”. In other words, you are not accommodating this (vital) part of yourself – the ability to let go, to let your hair down, to be curious and open. If you are killing another (maybe unknown) child, this may illustrate the same, but it might also symbolize that you are suppressing a part of yourself. This part could be anything: your musicality, your inner geek, or your inner square dancer – whatever the child could symbolize!
If you are dreaming that you are killing other people, this may symbolize that something in you does not want you as you are or that you would like you to see yourself differently – for better or for worse! Perhaps it is better that you “die” (that your current personality dies) in order for something else – something better – to appear (see also the blog post on Death). The dream might also be an image of a very self-destructive side of yourself that is making life difficult for you. Finally and as a further external interpretation, the dream might also be a real person in your life who wishes bad things for you.
Also read: Why I no longer interpret dreams for free
Best, Michael
NOTE: Dream interpretation isn’t always easy, and when you are dreaming about killing other people, it will most likely mean something different for you than for others with the same dream. For instance the people in your dream will be different from other people’s dreams. A good indicator of your interpretation being correct is if you strongly feel it applies to you – deep inside of yourself.
I’m not sure if you could help me , but I literally cannot sleep because of the dream I just had.
I just dozed off and I dreamt that someone was strangling me from behind ( oddly , in the exact spot I am sleeping , so I woke up very startled ) I think it scared me the most because I am sleeping on the couch in this spot for the first time ( I just rearranged my living room yesterday ) so for me to dream of this exact spot terrified me. I got up and checked all my doors and windows to make sure they’re locked because of this dream.
Hi Dee Faun,
thank you for your highly interesting dream! Unfortunately I no longer offer help for free, as I get very many requests every day. Instead I offer the following (interpretation of your dream, with payment): http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I’ve recently been having repeated dreams of being chased. In my dreams I am either a serial killer being chased by the police, or I am being chased by a serial killer. It alternates. Regardless of who I am in the dream and who is chasing me, it is always through woods. There’s nothing in my life that I can think of that has changed recently. These dreams are frightening and leave me feeling tired the next day and almost scared to go to sleep again.
Hi Monica,
And thank you for your comment. Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
The same happens with me..but in my case either i chases someone or someone chases me..
I saw that mother is killing children’s what does means..
I just dreamed I killed the neighborhood children and was being hunted down, in the past I’ve dreamt of killing babies. I’m scared.
I had the same dream !!! Was he blonde? Sheffield?
I can’t find an interpretation to my dream because it had nothing to do with me in terms of the dream were complete strangers and unfamiliar settings, a bit like watching a film. In my dream a mother was murdering her son (a little boy, maybe about 4 or 5) in the kitchen, she was stabbing a fork in his throat and at the same time stuffing something down his throat and the dad sat and watched. They hid the body under sofa seats. After that in my dream the mother kept going to this house where other people lived and they were a bit suspicious of her and didn’t like her but she’d put the water works on and make out she’s just lost her son. She was hiding his things, a lunchbag with crayons and little toys and things in the bottom of her bag and when she was looking through her bag you could hear the items moving about, people got suspicious to why she was hiding his stuff. In my dream I could feel she was terrified of being found out. The murdering mother had a daughter with her who she was looking after.
I just feel this was a really strange dream but it could mean something… or it could just be the left over cheese and onion rolls and slice of cake I ate from my daughters birthday party the night before.
My boyfriend dreamt he caught me sleeping with three men, so he shot and killed is all. He told me he’s never woken up feeling so invigorated. Only thing I can imagine is that in his last relationship, he caught his ex girlfriend cheating and now he’s insecure. But I’m also afraid he might feel trapped or want to end the relationship hence getting rid of me?
My mum and stepdad beat me up for years and verbally abused me too. Over the course of 5 years (since i was 13) they have both non stop back and forwards kicked me out and then took me back in when i told people what they did. I suffered burst lips, black eyes, a swollen face, nearly broken jaw and nose amd god knows what else. And ive been having reoccurring dreams lately that i murder both of them. In my dream i tied them up to chairs in our kitchen, and made them listen to me telling them everything they did to me and then went on to murdering both of them , with a baseball bat. Just beaten to death. And the scary part is. The dream doesnt even scare me. Im not phased by it. I just want to know what it means. Am i a psycho? what is happening?? I would never DO that in real life, ultimately because i dont want to spend the rest of my life in prison. But when i think about my parents. I wouldnt even be effected if they died. In fact i wish they would more often than not. They treated me like shit for years just for breathing. And I actually wish they would stop. Breathing permanently. But im no murderer. Or will i be? What does it fucking mean.
Lord help me then.
Dear Unknown,
you’re not a psycho. To me you are simply trying to heal yourself “inside out”. Your dreams are working hard to help to deal with what you’ve been through. And this dream I think is WONDERFUL in that you are having an inner dialogue helping yourself overcome your experiences. That you kill them could simply be the anger you feel coming out right there (in your dreams), which is a very good thing! Killing them might simply also mean, that you are breaking with your parents (also in real life), or again, only in your inner life – breaking free from whatever wounds they’ve caused you.
Best – Michael