But thieves in dreams can echo childhood memories and the sense of invasion and oppression by the adult world, or aspects of sexuality experienced as a violation or aggression.
It is rather rare that the thieves in dreams are caught with their hands in the bag intent on stealing something, their symbolic presence and what follows on the level of sensations and emotions is already enough to stop the attention, to induce reflections and hypotheses, but it can happen that the dreamer sees the thieves in dreams steal and see the objects that have been stolen.
This will enrich the analysis of the dream by giving it different directions that can touch more precise and exclusive areas, since the symbolism of the stolen object will influence the general meaning of the dream.
Dreams about Someone Stealing From You – Meaning
Dreaming of thieves entering your home is a very distressing and also very common dream.
According to popular tradition, dreaming of thieves who steal at home involves gains and honor. But let’s see what meaning thieves have in their dreams from a psychological point of view.
A repressed desire, a thought that you don’t allow yourself, an aspect of yourself that you find it hard to admit. What is stolen represents your inner peace, or a possibility of development that is denied.
A loss or injustice that you have suffered: perhaps someone has taken the credit for the work you did, and therefore you feel cheated of what is rightfully yours.
This dream can also happen in times of existential crisis.
Being attacked by a thief for a woman can be a dream that originates from a denied or repressed sexual desire; the thief who enters the house at night, who breaks through doors, who attacks the woman (especially if armed with a knife, pistol, etc., all phallic symbols) is an image of the force of Eros and serves to satisfy the forbidden sexual desire.
This distressing dream is typical of women who cannot satisfy their sexual needs.
Finally, it can happen to a woman to dream of a thief when she is pregnant: in fact, the dream is a concern that her body (home) was “invaded” by the fetus (thief).
Try to think if there was an episode in your life where you stole something; even petty little ‘thefts’, perhaps in childhood or adolescence; even small items.
Or if there were episodes in which you reproached yourself for “little honesty”: maybe you failed to return an excessive rest, or an object that was given to you by mistake.
It may be that the dream was born from the re-emergence of these memories.
The place where you are carrying out the theft can help you in the interpretation: perhaps the place is a symbol of activities or situations in which you felt you lacked something, and for this in the dream you stole right there.
Probably what you steal is a symbol of something you know you can’t have.
Dreams about Someone Stealing From You – Symbolism
Dream of a thief hidden in your home – as already explained above, it may indicate an invasion.
The behavior of the dreamer and the thief who can remain immobile in the dark, or attack the dreamer, will better clarify the image and meaning of the dream.
But the indication to reflect on what has been lived and felt in the days preceding the dream remains valid.
Dreaming of being attacked by a thief – in a public environment (school, work, church, train, etc.) it may indicate that the dreamer felt defrauded of something, or he felt his role, his power, challenged.
The environment in which this occurs is indicative, contextualizes the symbol of thieves in dreams and gives a more precise trace.
Dreaming of thieves with stolen things – that does not belong to the dreamer can bring attention to an aspect of himself that makes use of others, which scrape together, “steal”, takes from the resources of others what is needed for one’s own advantage.
The same image can alert the dreamer in an environment in which the skills of others are exploited without due recognition, in which others are used.
Dreaming of chasing a thief – it is a positive image that indicates one’s ability to cope with a stressful, incomprehensible, unfair and negative situation.
It can also represent confrontation and recognition with a part of oneself that takes advantage of others, who steals (time for attention, ideas), which invades.
Dreaming of killing a thief – is an evolution of the previous image, the dreamer implements strategies that change the objective situation, or an internal transformation is already underway and it is the dreamer himself who is changing.
Dreaming of forcing a thief to return the stolen goods – is linked to a strong primary system that reacts promptly even in the presence of potentially destabilizing external aspects, or it can represent a real situation in which the dreamer has defended his ideas and his territory from the interference of others, which has “arrested” something threatening bringing back a sort of “victory” that is positively recorded by the unconscious.
Dreaming of becoming a thief – is a fairly common image that can coexist with those already listed. It can be linked to the dreamer’s behaviors that are not in line with his own inner rules, behaviors that are therefore judged as “outlawed” and harmful to the self-image. The dreamer’s primary selves enter into alarm and brand him as a “thief”.
Dreaming of being a thief – and stealing can be the reflection of a need, of a lack that is neglected on a conscious level (love, ability, resources) that the dream ego of the dream tries to fill through theft.
Dreaming of stealing – it can also be linked to the inability to reach the set goals and to the need to accelerate some events according to one’s own desires.
Behaving like a thief in dreams can also be a sign of low self-esteem: the unconscious shows that the dreamer can achieve something only by “stealing”.
In this we can see either the judgment of a critical inner Self, or the sense of guilt towards real phagocyting or invasive attitudes held towards other people.
Dreaming of being accused of stealing – reflects the feeling of not being accepted, of not being considered or “seen” for what one is.
It can bring attention to a reality in which one is not really appreciated, or bring out a certain victimhood, but above all it has the purpose of making the dreamer reflect on his own way of being among others.
Perhaps at times too confident, too aggressive or less inclined to mediate.
Conclusion
Thieves in dreams as in reality represent an intrusion that the psychological system of the dreamer records as potentially harmful and destabilizing.
Thieves in dreams lurking behind a house door or in a dark corner are linked to a real or feared threat, or to frustration, a narcissistic injury, the fear of losing someone or something.
Thieves in dreams cause very strong feelings in the dreamer, they have the same anxiety-provoking charge as nightmares and scary characters that populate them: murderers, black men, monsters, rapists.
They are obscure representations hidden in the shadow and, often, from the individual psychic shadow emerge as aspects of oneself that have the power to absorb the time and energy of the dreamer, therefore perceived as harmful and outlawed.
The feeling of the presence of thieves in dreams causes such tension that it often leads to a sudden awakening.