Lying down (on the ground)

Lying on the ground or floor is the opposite of being (too) high up. It can suggest a certain intimacy with the ground level.

The earth, the ground, or perhaps the floor can hint at the actual state of things; one is drawn by gravity to reality.

The English word "humble" comes from the Latin humilis, meaning "on the ground." The symbol can suggest the necessity of humility. The Swedish word ödmjuk etymologically means "one who easily becomes soft," which in this context can be understood as pliable. The symbol is connected to yin in contrast to yang.

Lying (or sometimes sitting) on the ground in a dream indicates being close to reality, yielding to gravity, and not striving upwards from the earth. The symbol is associated with the alchemists' coagulatio, with the feminine, with the concrete everyday, and with accepting things as they are, which once again calls to mind the idea of humbling oneself. When praying, one often goes down in some way to the ground, bowing before the spiritual authority and admitting that one is not the center of the world.

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