Auspicious Dream
Category: Dream Interpretation
Dreams Said to Herald Good Fortune
Kichiyume, or auspicious dream, is a collective term for dreams interpreted as omens of good fortune in dream divination. Japan's most famous auspicious dreams are the first dreams of the new year: Mount Fuji, a hawk, and an eggplant, a tradition said to have been passed down since the Edo period. Several explanations survive side by side. One reads the three as wordplay: Fuji for immortality and safety, the hawk for height, the eggplant for achievement. Another holds that they simply list the celebrated things of Suruga province (Shizuoka), the region closely tied to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Snakes are also linked with financial fortune, babies with new beginnings, and fish with abundance, and the list of motifs read as good omens runs long.
Where the Line Between Auspicious and Inauspicious Falls
The boundary between auspicious and inauspicious dreams cannot be determined by motif alone. A white snake appearing peacefully is considered a financial blessing, while being chased by a black snake may be interpreted as a warning. The emotions felt in the dream, the snake's color and size, and the overall atmosphere all influence the judgment. Fortune, in other words, lives in the context of the dream rather than in a table of motifs. Settle for a one-line formula like "snake equals good luck" and you lose whatever the dream was actually saying.
Should You Keep Auspicious Dreams Secret?
Japanese folklore advises keeping auspicious dreams to yourself to preserve their power. The saying itself cannot be traced to a source, but there is adjacent research. Participants who told others about a goal tied to the kind of person they wanted to become, and whose disclosure was acknowledged, followed through less than those who kept quiet. Four experiments reporting this appeared in Psychological Science in 2009. An auspicious dream tends to reflect the direction you hope to grow in. That is reason enough to hold it as a private signal rather than settle for the satisfaction of telling someone, and to let your own actions make it real.
Turning Auspicious Dreams into Action
Passively waiting for good fortune after an auspicious dream misses the point of dream divination. Auspicious dreams are best understood as unconscious encouragement that your current direction is right or that opportunity is approaching. A financial luck dream might prompt you to take stock of household spending or trim a fixed monthly cost. A relationship dream might inspire reconnecting with someone you have lost touch with. Translating dream messages into concrete actions is how the possibility hinted at by an auspicious dream becomes real-world results.
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