Dreaming Lens: Was the criminal in your dream a stranger to you? Was it someone you know in waking life? Were there more than one? Were they male or female? How dangerous or menacing did they feel in your dream? What criminal act was being perpetrated? Were you the criminal in your dream?
Personal Focus: When a criminal appears in a dream, he or she should be considered as a Character Aspect of your sense of Self. While criminal behavior is varied and can cover a wide array of activities, there is one common denominator for all crimes whether mundane or heinous: there are consequences for breaking the law. From this perspective, any choice that ignores this societal agreement indicates a lack of regard for these consequences.
Since crime is essentially antisocial in nature, the Character Aspect of a criminal in the world of dreams is Shadow material. By examining the fundamental nature of the criminal in your dream, you will discover what part of your unconscious is being expressed. The severity of the act or intent reveals the extent of the darkness of your current emotional state.
Theft of any kind connects with feelings of a limitation of resources. The thief is the part of your psyche that embodies this sense of lack and the need to rob another to compensate. Violence from one human being toward another is acting out underlying aggression that might indicate serious levels of frustration or anger over some life circumstance. If murder is the theme in your dream, then some aspect of your personality may be undergoing a sacrifice in the process of transformation. If this is the case, closely examine the Character Aspect of who is doing the killing and who is being killed. If the victim is you, it is more important to focus on the killer as the aspect that is revealing something unconscious. If the victim is someone else, look to them for answers about what part of your psyche is being impacted by a disregard of consequences in your current state of affairs.
A dream that involves elements of organized crime could point to a structured way of thinking or feeling that is not supporting your higher nature. This may involve a lack of awareness on your part of negative thoughts that are just below the surface and seemingly innocuous. When examined more closely, they may actually be insidious and dangerous to your well-being. [1]
The severity of the act or intent reveals the extent of the darkness of your current emotional state. [2]
Perceived “right or wrong.” Blame or accusation.
A criminal attacking you could represent a feeling or fear of victimization somehow in your life.
A criminal in jail could represent justice or punishment for misconduct (or a desire for that or fear of that).
A criminal on trial could represent feeling judged or evaluated.
Being a criminal could represent feeling guilty, angry, deprived, or powerless.
See also: Catching Someone, Dishonest, Attacked, Being, Attacking, Menacing, Thief, Cheating, Crime, Evil, Weapon [3]
To see a criminal fleeing from justice, denotes that you will come into the possession of the secrets of others, and will therefore be in danger, for they will fear that you will betray them, and consequently will seek your removal. [4]
If you, the dreamer, are the criminal it denotes that you have infringed upon the rights of others. [6]
2. One is engaged in activities which are wrong in some way. [8]
abetting a: are cheating yourself of your potential.
being a: feel guilt at breaking your own moral code.
being arrested: annoyed by friends who use your influence for their personal gain.
executed: triumph over enemies who have committed wrongs against you.
being chased by a: may come into areas that wil jeopardize your freedom.
with chains rattling: make the information public and let credit lie where it may.
harboring a: an unscrupulous gang wil treat you as their partner.
of a: cunning friend wants to use your influence.
murderer: unexpected help from an al y you deemed mediocre. [10]