If you felt guilty, perhaps there is something in your waking life that you feel is wrong or is destroying your peace of mind.
If you are actually caught in the act in your dream and find yourself awaiting or being sentenced to punishment of some kind, this is a clear message of disapproval from your dreaming mind and a warning that if you don’t change your ways, you will be in danger of being found out in waking life. Try to identify who punished you in your dream.
If it was someone you know, you may be feeling remorseful towards them in waking life, but if it was someone you do not know, you may be feeling guilty about breaking a law or rule in waking life or showing disrespect for authority.
If a lynch mob attacked you, have you committed a crime against society in general by not paying your taxes or dropping litter? If you dreamed of being accused of a crime you did not commit and nobody believed your protestations of innocence, do you feel you are being treated unfairly in your waking life? When the punishment was pronounced in your dream, did you feel that is was out of proportion to the wrongdoing.
If you felt the punishment was far too severe, this suggests that you are feeling extremely guilty about someone thing you have done in waking life.
If you were whipped in your dream, do you feel as if life has dealt you some harsh blows?
If you were arrested in your dream, this suggests the need for some kind of restraint in your waking life, or a fear of authority in general.
If a crime scene or forensic team appears in your dream, your dreaming mind is encouraging you to understand your motives.
If you were chained, imprisoned or sentenced to death in your dream, see NEGATIVE EMOTIONS.
If your dream features the ultimate crime of murder, see NIGHTMARES. [1]
An angry mob can suggest aspects of your own personality, as well as public opinion.
If you dream of being lynched, ask yourself whether you have been behaving appropriately in waking life. Whatever the instrument of punishment or torture in your dreams, be it the gallows, cane, guillotine, gibbet or birch, you need to identify who is being punished and why they are being punished. Bear in mind, too, that the inflicting of punishment, especially if it is a beating, may reflect a tendency towards masochism. Those dream interpreters that draw on Jung’s theory that nightmares are concerned with the shadow consider scary dreams to be a form of self-punishment for the cravings and desires you suppress during the day.
If you dream that you are back at school and forced to stay after a lesson in detention because you have not worked or listened properly, this may suggest that you are not absorbing information or paying significant attention to something important in your waking life. The ultimate image of punishment in dreams is hell, so if you dream of being condemned to hell, suffering eternal torment or are damned forever, this may be a reference to a mistake you have made in waking life, or something you have said or done and the force with which you are rebuking or warning yourself. [2]
Self-punishment occurs when we have not achieved the standards we expcct of ourselves.
2- When there is conflict in our lives, if we cannot resolve il we will often dream of being punished. This may be the only way out of our particular dilemma. We would rather suffer pain than resolve the difficulty.
3- The concept of Divine Retribution that is, being punished by a force greater than ourselves suggests a judgmental God. Spiritual punishment is much more, however, the idea of self-flagellation for not having achieved what is required of us. [3]
Gypsy people believe that dreaming that you are punished reveals the guilt you feel for having neglected your personal relationships. [4]
It is also possible that you will be asked to consider taking responsibility for somebody, or that you need to forgive somebody. [6]
If you are doing the punishing, the augury is a good one. [8]