Dreaming of Eyes

What does it mean to dream about eyes?

Eyes in a dream speak of how clearly you see a situation, of your intuition, and of how you appear in other people’s eyes. The eye is a door that faces both ways. We see the world through it, yet our feelings are read most easily in our eyes, which is why so many languages call them the mirror of the soul.

Eye dreams are usually built around seeing, or not seeing. They come when you are on the verge of noticing a truth, beginning to look at a relationship differently, or feeling watched. To read the dream, ask two things: whose eyes were they, and what were they looking at? Your own eyes speak of your point of view; someone else’s speak of your worry about how you look to them.

Going blind, something in your eye and other common eye dreams

Going blind

Losing your sight in a dream shows you cannot, or will not, see a situation. You may be overlooking a sign in a relationship or a risk at work. Sudden blindness means a truth has caught you off guard. If you began to see again by the end of the dream, you are ready to accept it.

Not being able to open your eyes

Trying to open your eyes and failing is one of the most common eye dreams. It shows you are not yet ready to face something. Heavy eyelids, when you want to look, mean tiredness or fear is holding you back. If you finally got your eyes open, the dream says looking at that matter is easier than you expect.

Something in your eye

Dust, grit or an eyelash in your eye describes a small but irritating matter clouding your view. A comment, a piece of gossip or a minor hurt may be keeping you from seeing the whole picture. If you got it out, you have found the source of the irritation. Turkish folk reading takes something caught in the eye as a little gossip.

Bloodshot eyes

Red or bloodshot eyes describe a view clouded by anger or exhaustion. You are so upset about something that you cannot see it clearly. In a dream, red eyes are the sign of a mind that needs rest and calm.

Blue eyes

Bright blue eyes describe openness and intuition, and sometimes fear of the evil eye. If a blue-eyed person was watching you closely, someone in your life is trying to read you. In Anatolia, the blue eye, together with the evil-eye bead, is the symbol both of a harmful gaze and of protection against it.

Eyes watching you

Many eyes watching you from the dark or from the walls describe a fear of being judged and a preoccupation with what others think of you. A community, a family or a workplace seems to have its eyes on you. If you tried to hide, you fear a mistake or a secret coming out. If the eyes did not frighten you, you want to be seen and noticed.

A third eye

A third eye opening on your forehead, or someone else’s, means your intuition is getting stronger and you want to see past appearances. In esoteric traditions the third eye is the symbol of inner sight. If it frightened you, you are in a time when you would rather not know what you sense; if you looked with curiosity, you are ready to listen to your inner voice.

A one-eyed person

A one-eyed figure describes looking at something from one side only, or someone who sees you one-sidedly. The dream asks you to see the other half of the picture. If you were the one with one eye, you may be acting on a prejudice.

Wearing glasses

Putting on glasses shows you are looking for help to see something more clearly. If everything sharpened, a new piece of information or advice is enough to correct your view. If the glasses broke or the blur did not clear, someone else’s perspective cannot give you your answer; you need to look with your own eyes.

Tears in your eyes

Tears running from the eyes describe a sadness that was ignored, or a built-up feeling, coming out. If they were your tears, your feelings want to be seen. If they ran from someone else’s eyes, you feel tenderness or worry toward that person.

The emotional and psychological meaning

The eye is one of the oldest symbols of awareness. In dreams, seeing stands for understanding: when we say “now I see”, we mean “now I understand”. That is why eye dreams show how close your unconscious is to noticing something. Closed or blind eyes point to a truth not yet faced; open, bright eyes point to understanding coming into focus.

If you felt curious, you are open to a new perspective. Fear points to something you do not want to see, or do not want others to see. Shame carries the sense of being watched and assessed. If one gaze in the dream put you at ease, notice whose it was: that is someone who makes you feel safe.

Write a sentence that begins “What I have been avoiding looking at lately is…” and finish it. Then spend five minutes this week looking at that thing, without judging it.

Eyes in folk tradition and myth

Turkish folk reading interprets the eye as a person’s most precious possession: their child, their loved ones or their wealth. The expression “the light of my eyes” is used most of all for children. Healthy, shining eyes are read as the protection of those precious things and a bright season; something caught in the eye as a little gossip or a passing trouble.

The eye’s best-known story in Anatolia is the evil eye, nazar: the belief that an envious or even admiring gaze can do harm. The blue glass bead hung on homes, babies and cars is meant to turn that gaze back. In ancient Egypt the Eye of Horus, torn out by Set and later restored, became a sign of protection and of wholeness regained. In Greek myth Argus Panoptes, the hundred-eyed watchman, guarded for Hera, and his eyes were later set in the peacock’s tail.

Tarot and Katina cards linked to eye dreams

The Two of Swords is the tarot picture of not seeing. On the Rider–Waite–Smith card a blindfolded woman sits with her arms crossed over her chest, balancing two swords, with the sea behind her and a crescent moon in the sky. The card speaks of shutting your eyes to avoid a decision, keeping the balance at the cost of not looking at the truth. After a dream where you could not open your eyes or went blind, the Two of Swords says it is time to take off the blindfold.

In Katina the Owl is a card of attention more than of sight: a calm gaze that can make things out in the dark. In a dream of eyes shining in the dark or a third eye opening, the Owl asks you to keep looking at what you sense.

A single scene that stays with you from an eye dream is note enough for the Divinations › Dream path in the Larisa app; drawing the card of the day beside it is a good way to start thinking about the side you were not looking at.