If food on plate: what one has a sense of ownership about; what one has received or hopes to receive from others, or from one’s own efforts, what you have created and now face. Communal plate: what is available to you but you may have to compete for or share—in work, relationship, life. Empty plate: one’s needs, appetites; receptivity; perhaps status, as in the past only the rich had plates. Idioms: handed to one on a plate; on one’s plate.
A simple plate will indicate a need for simplicity within our lives, whereas a more ornate one may suggest the need for celebration.
If we are holding the plate, we are aware of what we have received from other people.
If someone else is giving us the plate they are offering us something which belongs to them, but which we can now share.
2- The plate as a container is an important image.
If it is more bowl-shaped, it will represent what belongs to the feminine; if flat it will suggest some kind of group ownership.
An empty plate signifies one’s self-involved needs and appetites, whereas a communal plate highlights what there is to share.
The pattern and colour of the plate may be important (See also: Pattern in Shapes, Colour).
3- Formerly, plates were often only owned by the rich. Spiritually, to own a plate suggests that we have achieved a certain level of awareness. [2]
If the dish is full of foods, it represents the food that is within you (tenderness, solidarity, etc.); however, if the plate is empty, you must find a way to fill it.
If you are washing a stack of dishes, the dream may suggest certain boredom and monotony. Dreaming that you break plates is, however, a mechanism of the unconscious to discharge accumulated tension and provide some peace and quiet.
Dreaming of plates is an excellent omen of health and wealth. You will never fail to have a plate on the table. [3]
A plate full of food: you can count on the successful completion of your plans and project.
An empty plate: misfortune. Breaking a plate: difficult days and worries are ahead.
A silver plate means that you will take part in a formal, sophisticated event or receive an invitation to one.
Depth Psychology: A plate represents your responsibilities and your desires and needs. What do you have on your plate? Is the plate full or empty? Are you eating from the plate? See Cup. [4]
3. Domestic disharmony, arguments (to break a plate or see broken plates).
4. A period of “famine”—likely social, sometimes emotional (an empty plate). [5]
If the plate is overly full, it could be alluding to the expression about being overly busy, having a “full plate.” [6]
If the plates are empty but very beautiful, they predict luck in love affairs.
If they are empty and dull, they symbolize a boring period of your life. Broken, damaged, or dirty plates foretell family quarrels or domestic problems. [7]
If already married, she will retain her husband’s love and respect by the wise ordering of his household.
2. Word play I have enough on my plate; Ps. 73:25-26 [12]
A plate in a woman’s dream represents the best man in her circles.
If a man sees a plate in his dream, it represents the most respected woman in his circles.
If one sees a covered plate being taken out of the room of a sick person, the contents represent the cause of his illness. [13]