According to Lebanese folklore, my informant said, bad dreams should be interpreted as signs of good fortune. (This would be reassuring to me, as I have had my share of them!). The superstition says that once a scenario is played out in a dream, it will not be repeated in reality. Thus, it is also reflexive: a pleasant dream should not be received as a sign of good fortune to come.
My informant was not aware of the origin of this sign-superstition. He learned it from his family, none of whom he says actually believe it. I would most likely postulate monogenesis as a model for the origin of this superstition, as it is unique and counterintuitive.
This is indeed a unique perspective on dreams, one I have never encountered before hearing the superstition from my informant. As with many superstitions, odds are that there is some element of belief somewhere back in my informant’s family. Otherwise, it would be unlikely that the superstition would have been passed down and remembered by succeeding generations.
Tag Archives: dreams
Korean Dream Superstition
“When you have a dream about teeth falling out, that is a very bad omen that brings death.”
My informant first heard this superstition from her mother when she was ten years old, living in the city of Pusan in South Korea. Her mother had a dream that one of her bottom teeth fell out, so she told all her children to be careful. Her mother was afraid that since her bottom teeth fell out in her dream that would mean someone younger than she would meet his or her death. In Korea the people are anxious about having dreams of teeth being knocked out because they take that as a sign of death. The upper row of teeth would mean death for someone older and the lower row of teeth would mean death for someone younger. She believes that teeth falling out signifies death because once you reach a certain age, your teeth would start to deteriorate. Teeth were vital in consuming food, so the absence of them were a great discomfort. Therefore, when someone lost his or her teeth, it was common to believe death was near, especially without the technology of dentures then.
I can see how death and teeth falling out can be linked together. The sign of youth can be when a baby first grows his or her teeth. Hence, when someone becomes old enough to lose his or her teeth, that symbolizes a life coming to an end rather than a beginning.
Korean Dream Superstition – Pigs
“A dream about a pig is a very good sign promising riches.”
My informant first heard about this superstition from her mother when she was about eight years old, living in Pusan, Korea. Her mother told her that pigs were a welcoming sign because it would mean the household would flourish with wealth. That is why dreams with pigs in it were always a delight in Korea. Her mother was discussing that if she married a man with the Chinese sign of a pig, she would most likely live in riches. My informant also told me that many people are carefully strategizing to become pregnant in the year 2007 because this is the year of the Golden Pig in the Chinese calendar. The Golden Pig is unique to the ordinary pig sign because it only comes once in a thousand years. People believe that if they are to bear a child in the year of the Golden Pig, that child will bring propitious results.
I am not surprised pigs are considered the signs of wealth in Korea because of the nature of the animal. Pigs are stereotypically obese, food-grubbing, and filthily self-indulgent. Having a dream about a pig reminds the dreamer about his or her self-indulgences or greed. Since most people are in a great desire for more money, the pig’s self-indulgence for food would mean indulgence in money for people. Pigs also provide very good meat, pork. Therefore pigs can conjure the image of meatiness, sufficiency, and fullness.