Dreams of being chased/pursued/persecuted – what do they mean? (dream interpretation, persecution)
Persecution in dreams – to be chased (/being a fugitive) in dreams naturally falls in the category of nightmares, as such dreams often involve great amounts of anxiety. You’ve probably also tried waking up with your heart practically pounding its way out of your chest, with cold sweat pouring all over your body – as as you woke up you realized that it was “just” a dream, and that everything is OK. But why do we dream of being persecuted? It can be about several things – these are all reviewed in the following.
Something inside yourself is chasing you. When you dream of persecution, it is often about being chased by something inside yourself (thoughts, experiences, emotions). If another person, more people or even animals are chasing you, these can all be illustrations of sides or elements of yourself, something you either will not acknowledge, or simply hasn’t yet realized you contain.
As a man you might dream of being chased by a crude biker type person – as an illustration of a yet unintegrated, rather primitive masculinity. Or that you as a woman dream of being followed by another woman, and as you in the dream turn around to see who’s following you, it turns out to be a not at all frightening street musician! She might be a symbol of a more loose or free, potentially creative/musical side of you, that you currently are hiding in waking life.
Both examples illustrate how persecution dreams – despite being scary – are often dreams that has a positive meaning, as they tell about unused resources inside ourselves. There can be more reasons for why we don’t want to acknowledge these sides of our personality. It might be that we are embarrased about them (what if you dream of being persecuted by a very dominating, maybe even lying type of person? It is hard to accept that you are also that type of person!)
Or maybe our upbringing has taught us, that is is not okay to be “creative”, “wild” or play music. It often turns out – as we realize we dream of sides of ourselves we are not too aware of, or hasn’t yet integrated – that the best strategy is to start having a “dialogue” with these sides of ourselves.
This by either in the dream stop as we are being chased, turn around to see who’s following us (being conscious while dreaming is something we can all learn – it’s called lucid dreaming), or by in waking life starting to experiment with these unintegrated sides. If – as a man – you are a bit too much of a pretty boy or mama’s boy, you might benefit from being more of a crude biker sometimes.
If you’ve prevented yourself from playing music, painting or in other ways being creative simply because it didn’t “fit” into who your parents or your immediate friends wanted you to be, well then it’s about time to let your inner street musician come out! Dream work is all bout becoming who you are.
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When trying to understand your dreams it is important to know that your dreams are… your dreams. As such, you are the best person to figure out the true meaning of your dreams.
However, it is important to learn how to generally approach your dreams. Dream dictionaries like this one are only a supplement, and if you want to fully utilize the potential of your dreams, you should start at a different place.
My online course “Unlock your DREAMlife” gives you a great foundation for understanding (and recalling) your dreams.
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Haunted by experiences, thoughts, or emotions. It could also be that what is really chasing you (potentially symbolized as people in your dreams), are a lot of thoughts/emotions that are nagging you unconsciously, but in waking life you are trying to hide from them. It could be actual traumatic experiences you’ve had, or it could be the enormous demands put on you from the outside world (your job – illustrated by being chased by your boss?), demands you feel you have a very hard time living up to. In this last situation it is crucial that you somehow respond to this in your waking life by making changes at the workplace, or there’s a great danger you’ve might burn out.
Persecution dream as a symbol a needed change / personal development. It is not uncommon for a teenager to repeatedly dream about being chased by an adult of the same sex. This could be your dreams telling you that it is about time to “grow up” – the persecutor is simply a symbol of a more adult personality, trying to break through in waking life behaviour and thinking. But growing up can be a very scary thing – hence it is perceived as a nightmare.
A woman kan also – after maybe having been on maternal leave for a longer period – start having dreams of being stalked by unknown men as an illustration of her more performance-focused sides (career, status, power), and hence a longing to get back to work and do something more “productive” (while others would argue that being a loving and caring mum is highly productive, this is where people are different!).
Finally – in persecution dreams it is important to understand what is haunting you – as this most likely is something you have inside yourself, making your life more difficult right now. Or something outside you, making your life difficult. No matter what – you need to confront and accept it – or you will continue dreaming about it.
PLEASE NOTE: I have decided to no longer help out / interpret dreams in the comments below – I simply get too many requests every day (on this blogpost and the many other blogposts).
Read: Why I no longer interpret dreams for free for a more in-depth explanation.
Also note; Dreams are a 100% individual, and if you dream of being persecuted by a tiger, it most likely means something else for you, than for someone else having dreams of being chased by a tiger. It might also be that none of the above is relevant for what is happening for you. A given interpretation of a dream is only correct if you truly feel it is correct, if you feel struck by the interpretation.
Dream dictionaries are a very helpful tool when interpreting dreams. However, generally learning how to approach your dreams, will give you a better foundation for understanding them. My online course “Unlock your DREAMlife” teaches you how to much better utilize – recall and understand – your dreams.
Return to the index of dream themes and symbols:
I had a ‘dream’ that I was drugged or spiked and I was also drunk so I couldn’t see at some parts..
People were trying to kidnap me and kill me and they were in a secret religious worshipping cult I feel so sick after waking up.. I felt awake in my dream. I’m not even religious so idk why I dreamt of that I’m petrified.
I had a dream where I was being wanted by the police, I was hiding to avoid being caught by them.
I later realized that I was not guilty of the crime they were chasing me for and tried to prove my innocence
I keep dreaming about government people, like the Trump and Melania dream. I hung out with her in a big hall type place, where it ended up they had nice digs in another area of the place. So like at the White House, but it was not apparent.
A dream about Obama and Putin as well as other high up people sitting at an outdoor tables. Other tables were connected, it was like a lunch hall out doors. Nice day. There was a test we were going to take. I was going to sit at one place, but it was unavailable, so I walked on. I sat down at an empty place, looked up saw Ibana and Putin across from me and asked “do you want me to sit somewhere else?” Obama said “yes please,” and putin parroted him. I moved on. As I walked I saw a sign, about the food there. I decided I wanted egg drop soup. I also realized the test was unnecessary because someone knew the answers already and it just wasn’t necessary for me to take it. I woke up and ate egg drop soup. Lol. Kast night I dreamed that I was serving in a mansion, with other servers. We were lined up getting our instructions and I asked about the men we were to serve, if they touched us inappropriately what were we to do. Basically I was told to buck up. I cant remember what happened, but I felt unsafe.
Another dream about being attacked like football tackle, by my dad, after a seminar about how to avoid such attacks.
I keep having this about being wanted by the police they chased me but I’m never caught. This time last night I ran all the way to Canada I caught a train to get there but I had to run through a massive crowd to get to the train once I got to Canada the police couldn’t chase me anymore.. I’ve never done any real crime other than run a red light so its weird because now I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something and I dont know how to read what the dream is trying to tell me so now I feel paranoid
I recently had a dream about seeing an alligator. I turned away to run and was surrounded. They looked almost cartoonish and fake. They closed in to attack and I saw a third person view of the attack but everything went black. In my dream, I woke up with a weird sense of understanding. I don’t know what it was I understood, but something made complete sense to me.
I had a dream about being chased by the police while becoming a flaming horse! I really am confused, any help?
I just woke up from a horrible dream where I was in a genocide type of persecution. I don’t know why i was trying to be killed but i was home alone at first but then the killers (I dont know who they were either) kept driving people down my street and they ran into my hose for protection. Usually these people were kids my age (14-16) so nautrally we became friends, like really close friends. As my dream goes on I see my father and sister get killed and my mother is no where to be found. Then it’s just this group of about 12 friends trying to escape for safety. As we are walking to the end of my street this huge pick up turns around and three enormous dogs start chasing us. I hid in my neighbors yard but that wasn’t even the end of It! Right before i wake up I heard gun shots and screams, which I assume means that all my friends died. I’m having a very hard time deciphering this vivid dream. IS there any explanation?? Or do i just have to like with it.
I had a dream where all of my family members got kid napped one by one in youngest to oldest order, then I tried to find them but as it turned out someone had brainwashed them to believing that it was ok and my family tried to take me back with them but my grandparents stopped them and I tried to leave but I also got stopped, then I wake up sweating and sometimes balling my eyes out.
P.S.: this is a repeated dream
I dreamt that a person (who was not specified neither were their reasons) was persecuting me for revenge. However, the most disturbing part was that this person wasn’t only “coming for me” but they began to “make their point” by first murdering my family in very sinister ways. At first, I had thought that they were just trying to scare me but when i figured out that I was indeed seeing my dead relatives and that I was being persecuted for real. I fell into a paranoic and extremely anxious state to the point where I could no longer go to the bathroom alone (in my own home). The person persecuting me was always near me or just sending messages that they were and I knew it. Also, after finding the bodies of my relatives, I was obviousl grieving though I could not cry no matter how hard I tried. My parents and siblings had to run away with me but they definitel weren’t as paraboic as I were. They took the situation calmly even though they would be affected at some point too. This has been the second time this week that I dream of being persecuted though the first dream was completely different.
I forgot to mention that there was no specified reason of why my persecutor seeked revenge and I had no memory of harming anyone.
Hi , I had dreams of being charged with false murder case in which I clearly remembered that I hadn’t done anything wrong ,sometimes I had been saved by a freind and sometimes I got free on my own .. And sometimes chased by cops .. I had dreams like this many times .. I don’t. Know how it is related to me either with my past life or something deep inside My mind . please help dear .. Regards .. Oh by the way I m 24 .
Hi Rahul –
and thank you for your comment and your dream! Unfortunately I have decided to no longer help via these comments – I simply get too many requests every day (on this post and the many others posts). Best regards – Michael
I dreamt that I was bieng chased whith my sister the guy who was chasing us captured us but I would escape but my sister would stay where she was
Hi Madonna,
and thank you for your comment. As I get many comments every day, I simply cannot keep up with answering all of them. That is also the reason 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
Hey I had a dream that me and my friend had to escape from a prison camp because they believed that we had murdered someone and we were just walking for miles through the woods hoping to put enough distance between ourselves and the persecutors however we never actually saw them but in my dream I just knew they were tracking us. I have ones with a similar theme to this all the time so I was just wondering what your thoughts are ? Thank you !
Hi Vicky,
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
It started out at a party at my friends house, we were all having a great time about to go out somewhere, my dream never actually mentioned where, but everyone else was planning on using a longboard, but I couldn’t, I didn’t know how. So I’m walking around with my friend “Zach” and trying to find something for me to ride, but he won’t let me ride the bikes on the wall because they wernt “his”. And a few more things happen but they’re irrelevant to the actual scary part of the dream, so skipping ahead, all of my friends and I are in a big mall, in a store which I don’t know the name of but I know the person working in the dream, I never actually saw who it was. So as the dream progresses, I’m not sure what I did but now I have police and law enforcement officials after me. The person working tells me to run downstairs into the basement (mind, in my last few dreams I’ve seen this exact room, never knowing where it lead to or why I was there, I hid in the same basement, with a closet in the back corner). So in the basement I immediately hear the officials upstairs yelling asking where I am, they say they’re going to check the place and i hear them come downstairs, and my friend telling them I’m not here and they can’t do this. So not stopping them they ask him to open the closet door and without even looking in they ok it and declare me not in there. This same even happens multiple times and I never actually see the officials. They next few times are random customers. But the last time, a stranger opens the door, for some reason no matter how hard I tried i could not keep it closed, and this stranger is drliffrent, I can tell he is a bad guy and after that he says something to the officers and they all leave. I run for my life up the stairs and through the store and in the distance I hear some one yell people to “burn the store”, so instead of getting out I need to get new clothes to wear So I can run from them easier. I run into my friend “Kellsy” and she helps me find clothes, but by the time that find something a little girl is screaming in terror at the wall behind me that was in flames, so I finish find a shirt.
That’s where my dream ended this morning and it was just unsettling. I was a fugitive and had no clue as to why. The entire dream I only knew those two friends, everyone else was a stranger.
Hi ELizabeth,
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
Hi! I had two dreams at the same day both of them being wanted by someone else. At first, i dreamt of these couples who were mutual to me. They asked me to meet them at school, so i did & they looked worried sick. So they finally spilled the beans and said when they were both travelling outside school, they met this man. Well i supposed it was an ‘accidental’ meeting, so this man took out a picture of me when i was a kid & said “i am looking for this girl”, i don’t what these couples answered because it was blurry. But in the end, they both told me to be careful. He was described as an bald man, in his 30’s with power & mafia aura. I saw their flashbacks of that man, i couldn’t pin point who it was because he was wearing sunglasses.
The second occurence was when i had my nap in the afternoon. I was sitting in the tv room with a group of friends, then an unknown girl came along. After she left, my group of friends told me to be careful around her. So im like “hey she looks harmless” , then i went to my bedroom, leaving my friends in the tv room. As i looked outside of my window, this girl was trying to get my attention by standing outside and doing normal actions, like reading & glancing up into my window once a while. Then i fell asleep in my dreams, next thing i woke up to was her desperately trying to open my window, i tried to screamed, then i realized i couldn’t, i ran to my door & everyone in the living room was gone. So i tried opening my sister’s room, but it was locked & screamed but only a little came out, thank god she heard me. But what creeped me out was the fact that a cat was meowing & looking for me. Everything about this cat was eerie & it somehow belonged to this girl. It ended, i found that this girl was strangely obssessed with me.
Hi Azasa,
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
I dreamt that i became the scapegoat of some superhero who is like robin hood after i took in a girl who ran to my village from the woods. Apparently i was able to see from the perspective of different characters in my dream. One moment i was the girl who got chased around so badly that i had no choice but to seek refuge at a young woodcutter’s house. Another moment i was the evil chief who wanted the bounty from capturing whoever was involved with the superhero. But the most troublesome one was being the young guy who suddenly had to be persecuted for reasons he could not understand and discovering the girl he took in was pregnant …
Hi Dan,
and thank for your comment and very interesting dream! Unfortunately I no longer have the opportunity to help out for free, as I get very many requests every day. Instead I offer help via e-mail, telephone or Skype – please read more here: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best – Michael
I have the same dream of being chased by by a man driving a car but in different locations. Sometimes I can see his face but usually I cant. Before the chase begins, I’m surrounded by people I love and care for but then they start making fun of me or get really angry with me. And then I find myself in a parking lot, or walking down the street, or leaving a building and I’m being chased by an older man in an old car. Twice I’ve been alone and ran towards my house. The other times I’ve been in unfamiliar places and running towards a stranger or a crowded place, as if the pursuer would stop if there were more witnesses, and these strangers are usually very calm men who just seem really safe to me. And in the most recent nightmare, before I make it to the crowd or other person, I’m suddenly in a set of stairs made of chairs with another person who is being chased by the same man, I don’t know her, but we try to help each other and find a crowd of people. We finally get to the surface and its an art museum and we are surrounded by people and a blonde lady asks why we are out of breathe but no matter how much I try I can’t tell her what happened and I look to find the other girl and she’s gone and I’m alone and afraid again in the museum surrounded by a crowd. Sometimes the man wears glasses, sometimes he wears a hat. one time there were two men and they turned into my childhood friend and her mother. One time it was my own mother who caught me and tried to strangle me. Another time it was father. I write down most of dreams, I didn’t realize they could be interpreted
Hi Bree,
and thank you for your interesting dream! I have realized that I have no chance (not enough time) in terms of getting back on all the comments I now get, so I have decided not to offer free interpretation any longer. est regards – Michael R Olsen.
I had a dream that my school was persecuting Christians. I was running away cause I still needed to teach the bible around! And they tried to find me, and when they did, it was time for home time. I couldn’t tell my parents cause they were too busy, so I told my sister about it, and we planned to run away from home. In the middle of packing, I woke up. Plz help me, cause I. Scared.
Hi Joy,
and thank you for your interesting dream! I am sorry to hear about your frightful dream! Is this how you feel in real life? Persecuted somehow – not being able to be who you are, and express yourself freely? Best regards – Michael R Olsen.
I had a terrible dream of my usually loving and close sister persecuting me: finding my faults, reminding me of things I forgot, looking at me in bewilderment.
I dread losing my mind. This thought haunts me in dreams and in daytime.
Hi Beth – thank you for your comment and highly frustrating dream!I interpret your last sentense as you understanding what the dream means? How a side of yourself (in your dreams portrayed as your sister – do you compete with her in real life?) is critizing you. Like you apparantly do yourself. Best regards – Michael