Ladder
A ladder often appears when ambition stirs, or when the way forward feels steep but climbable—though the climb itself may carry both hope and hesitation. Going up can feel like triumph or vertigo; going down, like retreat or deliberate descent—sometimes wisdom lies in knowing which direction your heart truly seeks.
A live archive of what the world is dreaming tonight: which symbols are rising, the collective mood, and where the dreams are coming from. Free, always.
See what’s rising tonight →What the old dream-books say
These are the entries the historical dream-books record for ladder, 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 a ladder being raised for you to ascend to some height, your energetic and nervy qualifications will raise you into prominence in business affairs.
To ascend a ladder, means prosperity and unstinted happiness.
To fall from one, denotes despondency and unsuccessful transactions to the tradesman, and blasted crops to the farmer.
To see a broken ladder, betokens failure in every instance.
To descend a ladder, is disappointment in business, and unrequited desires.
To escape from captivity, or confinement, by means of a ladder, you will be successful, though many perilous paths may intervene.
To grow dizzy as you ascend a ladder, denotes that you will not wear new honors serenely. You are likely to become haughty and domineering in your newly acquired position.
[107] See Hill, Ascend, or Fall.
Fontaine, 1862
To dream of going up a ladder signifies that you will be a person of some consequence, yet poor: if you imagine you are in danger of falling, it shows that a person who envies your position will attempt to injure you; if you dream of going down a ladder it particularly denotes poverty, though it may allude to some misfortune that will overtake you.