KATHY—Symbols many times have a general or universal or common or typical meaning, and you can find such meanings in books, internet, etc.  The Bible is a good starting place.  Here’s an example, in general, snakes are not a good thing and basically symbolize a threat against the future, as did the serpent in the garden of Eden.  That being established, then we pursue the specifics to know if the snake represents a person, a particular plot or plan, a deception, a devil, etc.  Often, when you discover the meaning of a symbol in your own dream, it will likely have that meaning if it shows up in another dream.  This is one way we learn the language of our dreams. There is no closed list on symbols because people have unique experiences in life to pull from.  A rainbow could represent a promise in general but mean something dark to people of certain cultures.  When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, God had spoken about the future in symbolic pictures.  The skinny cows pointed to a famine that was coming and the seven cows in his dream indicated it was coming in seven years.  However, if a farmer or rancher dreams of skinny cows, it may be a warning to re-vaccinate because Hoof and Mouth disease is in the area.  The number “7″ is not always going to be about years either.  If you are on a search about meanings in numbers, one good resource is E.W. Bullinger’s book Numbers in Scripture.  The number “7″ in his book indicates a God-completed thing.  Since symbols can be specific to the setting or the message of a dream, you see why we need to develop an ear to hear the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, so we learn that Holy Spirit “click” that confirms an insight.