All things that flow and grow were regarded in early religions as a symbol
of life: fire represented the vital craving for nourishment, water was chosen for its
fertilizing powers, plants because of their verdure in spring-time. Now, all—or
very nearly all—symbols of life are also symbolic of death. Media vita in morte
sumus, observed the mediaeval monk, to which modern science has replied La vie
c’est la mort (Claude Bernard). Thus, fire is the destroyer, while water in its
various forms signifies dissolution, as suggested in the Psalms. In legend and
folklore, the Origin of life—or the source of the renewal of the life forces—takes
the form of caves and caverns where wondrous torrents and springs well up (38).

To see your body appearing tattooed, foretells that some difficulty will cause you to make a long and tedious absence from your home.

To see tattooes on others, foretells that strange loves will make you an object of jealousy.

To dream you are a tattooist, is a sign that you will estrange yourself from friends because of your fancy for some strange experience.

To dream that you have tattoos, represent your sense of individuality and the desire to stand out in a crowd. You want to be unique and different from everybody else, particularly if you do not have any tattoos in real life. Consider also what the tattoo is and what significance it has in your life. It may represent something that has left a lasting impression on you. Alternatively, to dream that you have a tattoo, suggests that a waking situation or decision is having a much longer lasting effect that you had expected.

To dream that you are a tattoo artist, suggests that your exotic tastes and strange experiences may turn off those around you. If you are a tattooist in real life, then the dream is just a reflection of who you are.

Dreaming that you have tattoos means that some urgent and difficult business will call you away from your home for an extended period of time. It may also signal a new stage in your life. Seeing tattoos on others in your dream indicates that you will be the object of jealousy. Dreaming that you are getting a tattoo with a friend, represents your deep bond and long-lasting, solid friendship. Dreaming that you are a tattoo artist means that your strange life style will alienate your friends and family.

Tattoos may represent those things in our lives that seem only skin deep, but may be interesting and fun. They could represent our thinking, our playful ways, and our seemingly unimportant habits. As time progresses, we may realise that our passing fads have become permanent. Thus, a tattoo may be symbolic of something that we inflict on ourselves, is permanent if not deep, and generally carries with it some negativity.

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, the sign of the arm stands for activity in
general. Other signs derived from this primary sign stand for special kinds of
activity, such as working, offering, protecting, donating, etc. The hieroglyph
depicting two raised arms is a symbol of invocation and of self-defence (19), a
meaning which is universally recognized. A frequent motif in heraldic and emblematic devices is that of a weapon held by an arm emerging from a cloud, or
from the surround of a picture. This is the avenging arm of the Lord of Hosts, or
a call from the heavens for vengeance (39).

To dream of seeing an arm amputated, means separation or divorce.
Mutual dissatisfaction will occur between husband and wife.
It is a dream of sinister import. Beware of deceitfulness and fraud.

To see your arms as the emphasis in your dream, indicate your nurturance side and your ability to reach out and care for people. Alternatively, it may represent the struggles and challenges in your life. Consider the pun "arm yourself" which implies that you need to protect yourself, be more aggressive and take a firmer stance on things or the pun "up in arms", representing anger and your readiness to argue.

To dream that your arm has been injured, signifies your inability to care for yourself or your helplessness in reaching out to others. You may have been feeling limited and restricted in terms of your freedom or activities. The right arm signifies your outgoing nature and is associated with masculine energy, while your left arm signifies your supportive or nurturing nature and is associated with feminine qualities. Losing either arm may suggest that you are failing to recognize its respective characteristics.

To dream that you rip someone else's arms out, indicates that you are extremely upset with something that this person has done, but you have not been able to fully express your anger. Because you tend to keep your emotions inside, it is finding expression in your dreams in a violent way.

Spreading your arm towards people, could show your generous and caring nature. Your left side being associated to feminine qualities,like nurturing and support, and your right arm being more daring and outgoing and reflecting masculine characteristics. Showing your arms agressivly means that you feel the need to protect your interests and show more assertiveness. When you dream that you have lost your arms, it reflects your feeling of failure, inability to take care of yourself and of others.

To dream that you are drawing, represents an expression of your latent artistic abilities. You need to show more of your creativity in your waking life. Alternatively, the dream may be a pun on a "draw" to mean a tie or some undecided decision or argument. "It's a draw."

Dreaming that you are drawing, may be an expression of your latent creative and artistic abilities.

A dream that you are drawing something can be a sign that you need to pay more attention to the irrational, creative and intuitive aspects of your personality.

The meaning of the dream will depend on what is being drawn.

There's an old legend that says that if a woman dreams that she is drawing something with a pencil and then erases it, it is a sign that her lover is going to cheat on her.