Gallows
The gallows in a dream often speaks to moral anxiety or the fear of public judgment — a sense of being exposed, or witnessing someone else face consequence. Yet some older readings suggest it can mark a threshold, a moment when decisiveness or letting something die away opens unexpected ground.
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See what’s rising tonight →What the old dream-books say
These are the entries the historical dream-books record for gallows, in their own words. They are period voices, not predictions, and they do not always agree with one another.
Gustavus Hindman Miller, 1901
To dream of seeing a friend on the gallows of execution, foretells that desperate emergencies must be met with decision, or a great calamity will befall you.
To dream that you are on a gallows, denotes that you will suffer from the maliciousness of false friends.
For a young woman to dream that she sees her lover executed by this means, denotes that she will marry an unscrupulous and designing man.
If you rescue any one from the gallows, it portends desirable acquisitions.
To dream that you hang an enemy, denotes victory in all spheres.
Fontaine, 1862
(See Execution and Hanged.) To dream of a gallows is a good omen, as it denotes that you will have a chance to make money, and if you are smart enough to avail yourself of the opportunity, it will be all right. To those embarking in new enterprises, such a dream foretells success.