Lantern
A lantern often represents the small light you carry forward when certainty feels distant—hope held deliberately, rather than confidence arriving unbidden. Whether it flickers, steadies, or goes dark may matter less than the fact that you thought to carry one at all.
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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 lantern, 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 lantern going before you in the darkness, signifies unexpected affluence. If the lantern is suddenly lost to view, then your success will take an unfavorable turn.
To carry a lantern in your dreams, denotes that your benevolence will win you many friends. If it goes out, you fail to gain the prominence you wish. If you stumble and break it, you will seek to aid others, and in so doing lose your own station, or be disappointed in some undertaking.
To clean a lantern, signifies great possibilities are open to you.
To lose a lantern, means business depression, and disquiet in the home.
If you buy a lantern, it signifies fortunate deals.
For a young woman to dream that she lights her lover's lantern, foretells for her a worthy man, and a comfortable home. If she blows it out, by her own imprudence she will lose a chance of getting married.
Fontaine, 1862
To dream of carrying a lantern in a dark night is a good sign, provided you have no difficulty in finding your way, for it shows that you will easily accomplish some fortunate object you may have in view; if you stumble, or have difficulty in finding your way with the lantern, it denotes trouble and vexation, though success will be achieved at last.