If you have sex with other people in your dream, this doesn’t mean you are dissatisfied with your partner; we all have secret longings and it is healthy to express them as you sleep.
If you had a dream in which you were having sex and you are a teenager or young adult, this is perfectly normal. Adolescents frequently dream of sex, partly because the onset of puberty causes sex hormones to flood the body awakening sexual curiosity.
Such dreams are caused by these natural physiological stimuli, combined with feelings of anxiety or excitement about what making love is like. Sexual frustration is another reason why you may have erotic dreams. The sexual drive is extremely powerful and if you are not in a sexual relationship or have not had sex for a long time with your partner, your unconscious may find release in your dreams.
Similarly, if you are having unsatisfying or boring sex in real life, you may have a dream in which you have passionate and exciting sex, giving you an insight into your true sexual yearnings.
If you have low self-esteem, your unconscious may also try to boost your sense of self-worth by depicting you making love to a sexy stranger.
If you dreamed of making love to someone you know in waking life, you may be unconsciously or consciously attracted to that person or your unconscious may again be boosting your self-esteem by conjuring up such images. This is particularly the case if your dream lover is a celebrity or a person countless people have a crush on in waking life.
If none of the above applies to you, dreams in which you are making love to someone you know or don’t know could, according to a Jungian interpretation, depict your union with the anima or feminine aspects of your character if you are a man, or the animus or masculine traits within you if you are a woman. Your dream may have symbolized the complete integration of your masculine and feminine qualities or a longing for a part of yourself that has been lost. The other character in your dream—the sexual partner—represents the closest you can get to that part and helps you understand what your deepest needs are. Another interpretation suggests that dreams in which sex is the theme are referring to your creative powers, although not necessarily fertility, and the use you could be making of them in waking life.
Because semen is a symbol of masculinity and of physical and sexual maturity, dreams of ejaculation or emission can suggest the nature of your attitude to sex and the conflicts which arise in you.
If you dream of seducing someone or being seduced yourself, this suggests that you make compromises too easily in both business and love, and you should not commit yourself so cheaply. To dream of undressing in front of your dream partner suggests confidence, but to be shy or reticent to reveal yourself naked suggests body- image concerns. Having sex fully dressed in a dream suggests feelings of guilt; to dream of being naked or your genitals being exposed in public suggests feelings of sexual insecurity. It can also suggest indiscretion in your waking life, whilst deformed genitals warn against over-indulgence.
Dreaming Lens: Were you having sex? Were you watching sex? How many people were involved in the sex act? Were there multiple acts and/or partners? Were you having sex with someone you knew? Was it someone you have sex with in life? Was it someone you want to have sex with in life? Were you shocked at who you were having sex with? How did you feel about the sex?
Personal Focus: The essence of sexual intercourse is the joining of two individuals in a process that allows them to be as close to each other as the human body will allow. This translates into the concept of integration as the symbolic meaning of sex. Additionally, the potential for this act to result in the creation of a third entity reinforces this definition. If you remove all sense of eroticism, embarrassment, shame, or titillation, the purity of this symbol is profound. Any characters that appear in a dream engaged in sexual intercourse are expressing an unconscious desire to merge the Character Aspects of of the individuals involved.
If you are participating in sex in a dream, the focus of your investigation will be on your dream partner. The Character Aspects they represent are the qualities that your unconscious is expressing a need to be integrated into your present level of functioning. This will be easier to identify when you know the person from your waking life; however, this can also be the very element that makes examining such a dream uncomfortable. It is common to dream of having sex with people who you would never ordinarily do so, or even think of doing so, such as coworkers, family members, or acquaintances.
When using the Character Aspect technique in relation to sex dreams, you must add an element of transformation of the qualities that you identify. The process is not literal or concrete. For example, an authoritative boss might feel like an overbearing personality to deal with in life, but integrating such a person as a Character Aspect transforms that quality to an appropriate level of personal power. A harshly critical and negative personality may actually provide you with a much-needed sense of discernment or objectivity when incorporated into your life. A person who is so childish in their behavior as to be annoying in your waking world can be transformed into a new relationship with your inner sense of playfulness and joy. That arrogant and insufferable person you know may be providing you with new levels of confidence. Such is the power of the symbol of integration as represented by the act of sex.
If you witness others having sex in your dream, the same approach should be taken, but the process that is occurring is less about integrating new aspects as it is about exploring what existing skills you have that may be necessary for you to call upon to face some situation in your current life. [2]
It is complex and complicated, and the interpretations vary with each dreamer and with the situations in the dream.
A sexual dream may be about physical pleasure but it may also be about power, control, manipulation, virility, and effectiveness. It may be a form of wish-fulfillment or a memory. In most cases it is not a prediction of things to come in the near future. Freud believed that experiencing sexual pleasure in your dreams is always desire or wish-fulfillment.
If you are watching other people having sex it may be a reflection on your emotional and mental concerns about sexual performance or interaction.
The meaning depends on your emotional reactions to what is going on and on the general mood in the dream. [3]
Vision: Dreaming about having intercourse with a lover: the prospects are good for a love relationship. Having intercourse with several people: your way of life may be lax or your sexual desires extreme and this could harm you!
Depth Psychology: Intercourse indicates sexual desires that you sometimes don’t want to acknowledge, even to yourself.
The dream might also symbolize a new beginning, a new project.
The image of one’s own personal physical sexuality that often points to sex as an end in itself. What is addressed here is not only sexual lust, vitality, and depth, but also a challenge to find your “self,” which is only possible through intense communication with the Other. Symbolic meaning of sexual climax reveals (not only in dreams) how we can become centered and engage our personal strength and passions. Other interpretations, as in alchemy and analytical psychology, include a sign of contradictions acknowledged and overcome. [5]
If you were personally involved and you enjoyed the experi- ence, it is, obviously, an omen of happy adjustment to your circumstances.
If your dream featured others having intercourse, the meaning relates to whether or not your reactions were unpleasant.
If they were, it is likely you are repress- ing an emotional problem and some psychological counseling might prove beneficial; if they were not, contentment and success will soon be yours.
If you are watching other people having sex, you may be holding back an emotional difficulty. [7]
A new job; see “baby” and “sex” [8]