What Do Dreams About Numbers Mean?

You wake up, stretch your arms and check the clock – it’s exactly 7.07am.

Looking at your calendar you notice that it’s also the 7th day of the 7th month.

Then while driving to work (in your Audi A7), you glance up at the sky and see a cloud shaped perfectly as the figure 7.

Arriving at the office, you pull into in space number 7 in the car park. You log onto your computer and discover you have 777 new emails!

Then you wake up, for real this time. It was all just a dream. But wait a minute. What’s that playing on your radio alarm clock? It’s 7 Nation Army by the White Stripes. Just a coincidence?

It’s quite common for numbers to appear in our dreams that symbolise people we know or events in our life. So you might dream of the number 18, for example, and that just so happens to be your birthday, or that of one of your close friends or family members. Likewise, numbers that appear in your dreams could be the year of an important event. For example, if you see an 85 in a dream, this could reference an event that happened in 1985. According to checkmydream, if you dream of the date of your birthday, it’s an encouraging sign which predicts successful circumstances and good luck.

If you dream about seeing numbers in the sky, similar to that described in The Dream section, above, it highlights a need for enjoyment or a distraction. According to Dreams Directory, if you have this dream it’s a message about the sacrifices you are making in your waking life and it could be time to take a break.

If you can remember the exact digits of the phone number in your dream it may signify that you’ve allowed some unfinished business to pass you by. However, it’s a positive dream to have, according to A Little Spark of Joy, and could indicate future growth and success. Their dream experts state that your subconscious will reveal what the unfinished business is, so you can “gain clarity and close the book on whatever was unfinished before.”

Dreaming of winning the lottery in a dream is said to symbolise freedom and happiness. Indeed, it’s a hugely positive dream that predicts material gain will soon be yours, according to Aunty Flo. “Hearing or seeing numbers flicking through our dream mind can indicate that you will increase your ability to attract success in waking life,” says Flo.

Dreaming of repeated numbers like the 777 which appeared in The Dream section, above, is said to have an especially significant meaning. According to A Little Spark of Joy these dreams are a sign, “the universe believes you have something in your past that you have been ignoring for a long time.”

They warn that dreams of repeated numbers shouldn’t be ignored, and you should spend time analysing each and every aspect of your life, “Face these situations with courage so that they can be resolved and you can continue your journey of growth.”

The use of numbers goes back deep into the mists of time. The first ciphered numeral system was invented by the Egyptians, before the Greeks mapped their counting numbers onto Ionian and Doric alphabets. Later on, Roman numerals used combinations of letters from the Roman alphabet and were used in Europe until the spread of the superior Hindu–Arabic numeral system in the late 14th century.

This system is still the most common system for representing numbers in the world and the key to the its effectiveness is the symbol for zero, which was developed by ancient Indian mathematicians around 500 AD.

In addition to their practical uses, numbers have a massive cultural significance. For example, in Western society, the number 13 is often regarded as unlucky. Belief in a mystical significance of numbers, known as numerology, pervaded ancient and medieval thinking. Numerology heavily influenced the development of Greek mathematics, inspiring the analysis of many problems in number theory which are still of interest today.

Find out more about dreams that evoke strong emotions by reading our articles on being chased in your dream, why your teeth fall out in your dream and what it means to be late in your dream.