Dream symbols: The colour black and what it means

Biblical and spiritual meaning of the colour black in dreams, what that means in practice, with real dream examples.

What does black symbolize?

What does the colour black mean in a dream or vision?

And what does black mean in the bible?

This article examines the biblical and spiritual meaning of the colour black, what it could mean to dream of black, with real dreams and life application examples.

I approach dream interpretation from a biblical perspective. My belief is that our dreams can come from God, and understanding them is best understood within the context of an ongoing relationship with Him.

Contents

• Meaning of the colour black
• Positive biblical meaning of black: Mystery
  • Real dream examples: Black as mystery
  • Other positive meanings of black
• Negative biblical meaning of black: Darkness
  • Real dream examples: Black as darkness
  • Black as a background colour in dreams
  • More negative meanings of black
• Meaning of black: The dark night of the soul
  • The purpose of a dark night season
  • Real dream examples: Black as a dark night season
• Conclusion: Meaning of colour black

Firstly, if you have just come across this post and are new to dream interpretation, it is worth mentioning that dreams are symbolic in nature. You might find it helpful to read the following article: Understand your dreams: A bible-based introduction to dream language. Plus, see my FREE ultimate guide to Interpreting Dreams from God.

Secondly, remember that dreams are personal, so the meanings that I suggest may not apply to your specific dream. But please feel free to use my ideas as a springboard to thinking and praying about dreams yourself. Don’t take my ideas as gospel, but rather let them help you start to think metaphorically.

Meaning of the colour black

Black is a wonderful colour. In decorating, it is the darkest colour in the palette – due to its total absorption of light. It carries an air of elegance and sophistication. Over the ages it has had many different cultural associations.

The colour black sometimes gets given a negative context in films and media (think of the Black Riders in The Lord of the Rings, for example). However, when I dream of black, the colour frequently appears in a positive context – which I will unpack in this article.

What does the colour black mean in a dream?

As a lifelong follower of Jesus and bible teacher, I have reviewed thousands of my own dreams with hindsight to see how God was using them and what happened in real life afterwards.

This article is a result of researching the biblical meaning of the colour black, plus reviewing my own dreams with hindsight to see why God used black in those dreams.

What does black symbolize?

As with any dream symbol, black can potentially have both positive and negative meanings in dreams. The context, feeling and atmosphere of a dream will give us clues to help us determine whether to interpret it in a positive or negative way.

Positive biblical meaning of black: Mystery

Most commonly, when the context is positive, the colour black in dreams represents mystery, in the biblical sense of the word.  This is how God most often uses it in my dreams – and I love it!.

Our modern idea of mystery suggests something unknown that cannot be understood or explained. It appears ‘black’ because you can’t see it. However, that doesn’t adequately describe what we are talking about.

Mystery has a deeper meaning in the bible. There is a sense that it means something secret and hidden, but it also carries the hope that God has hidden it for us to find. It tells us that there is something to be sought and discovered. It carries the excitement of a treasure hunt!

Mystery is black because you can’t see it now, but it carries a promise that you will see and understand in due time.

Examples of mystery in the bible

Here are a few examples from the bible that illustrate this:

• Daniel 2:47, NASB The king answered Daniel and said, “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.”
• Mark 4:11, NASB And He (Jesus) was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God.
• Colossians 1:26, NASB ..the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints.
• 1 Corinthians 15:51, NASB Behold, I tell you a mystery…
• Revelation 17:7, NASB And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery…”

In each of these examples, we can see that something was not understood initially, but at the right time it was revealed! There is a sense of comprehending something that was not understood before – which is exciting!

Real dream examples: Black as mystery

I have included some examples from my own dreams in the table below, with the benefit of hindsight, so you can see how this works in practice:

DREAM	INTERPRETATION
I dreamed I was walking through some woods, looking for a black bear and then suddenly I spotted one on the path right in front of me.	I had recently been on holiday in the US and I really wanted to see a black bear, so I knew this was a positive dream symbol for me. At that time when I was seeking God about something and felt like giving up. The dream told me I should not give up, because in due time the answer would be right in front of me.
I dreamed I served up black bean chilli to me and my friend. She had too much to eat on her plate. At first, I said no to taking some back, but then I saw how much she had, so I took come off her plate.	At the time I really wanted to understand everything God was saying to me. This dream told me that I couldn’t take everything in at once, so I would have to be patient and only understand partly for now. (The black beans were lots of things God was going to show me over time).
I dreamed a huge black dog was coming to meet me. I said the dog would have to wait a minute.	The dog was positive. With hindsight I can see God was going to bring a new friend across my path who would eventually have a big impact on my life. But I would not realise until later that God had brought them across my path.

Other positive meanings of black

The colour black as youth and vitality

In this quote, black hair is a symbol of youth, attractiveness and vitality. There are no grey hairs here!

• Song of Songs 5:11, NIV  His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven.

Black cloud representing the presence of God

• Psalm 97:2, NIV says of God that, “Clouds and thick darkness surround Him”.

This shows that sometimes darkness can be positive and represent God’s presence.

For example, although a black cloud in a dream could be a storm or a difficult time, alternatively it could be God!

Negative meaning of black: Darkness

Sometimes the word ‘black’ is used when we actually mean darkness.

For example, we use it to describe stormy conditions (as in black clouds), or to refer to nighttime. This colour black symbolism is certainly true in the bible.

This meaning of black correlates with the idea of the absence of light rather than the colour itself. Consider the following verses:

• 1 Kings 18:45, NASB In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower
• Proverbs 7:9, YLT In the twilight — in the evening of day, In the darkness of night and blackness.
• Jeremiah 4:28, YLT For this doth the land mourn, And black have been the heavens above.

From a dream perspective, in this context, black can also be used to represent something that is not of God. This could be true of a black object, or the dream being set in a dark place or at night.

As we have just seen, this is more to do with a lack of light rather than the colour black itself, as in the bible light can represent God’s presence. So, in a dream or vision, a black object can symbolise the lack of God’s presence in that particular element.

This could be depicting a situation where we find ourselves acting independently from God, or it could be something from ‘the enemy’ in Christian language.  

Real dream examples: Black as darkness

Here are some more examples from my own dreams, where the context or atmosphere of the dream indicated to me that the colour black was being used in a negative context.

However, please note that the interpretation was still positive, and God used the dreams to give me courage, and hope.

DREAM	INTERPRETATION
I dreamed I was wearing a dark or black coloured costume in a dodgy feeling place. The whole dream was dark.	The place felt ‘dodgy’, which indicated that this was a negative context, and that God wasn’t in what I was doing. It turned out I was doing something which was my idea, not God’s. The dream gave me the opportunity to change direction.
A number of years ago, I dreamed that a church leader rushed in and told me a storm was coming past, then I saw it pass by. It was pitch black.	This dream was warning me that our church was about to go through a difficult time, but it would pass. Here black is being used to mean darkness, again indicating difficult or stormy times. But it gave me courage to know that we would get through it.
I dreamed I was in a house with others. I suddenly felt horrible and slowly walked out. I could see there was something huge and spider-like over the house, dropping black stuff.	This was a negative context of black. A spider usually indicates enemy activity. The dream was showing me that the enemy was releasing false information into the spiritual atmosphere, and I would eventually realise with hindsight what was going on.

Black as a background colour in dreams

Background colour and atmosphere in dreams are very important.

Dark dreams, black and white dreams, and monochrome dreams are helpful for discernment – because the colour indicates that the dream is showing us the enemy’s perspective and schemes. (This is different from normal nighttime dreams, see article below).

More negative meanings of black

In the bible the colour black is also sometimes used to represent things such famine or difficult times.

• The black horses in Revelation 6 and Zechariah 6 represented famine (horses usually symbolise something powerful, or a move of God/the enemy).
• A black cat sometimes has cultural associations with witchcraft.
• Black clothes can culturally symbolise a time of mourning.
• Nighttime in dreams can symbolise a difficult time or ‘dark night’ season, as explained below.

Meaning of black: The dark night of the soul

Sometimes God takes us into a season called a dark night, or the dark night of the soul. Sometimes this is called a wilderness season, going through the desert or a valley.

It can be described as dark, black, or night, because we cannot ‘see’ any light, clarity, or revelation in a spiritual sense.

This is a time where God seems silent, and we can’t hear his voice. It may feel like God is hiding himself from us. Those with a prophetic or revelatory gift may find that the gift does not seem to be working!

• Psalm 13:1, NIV How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
• Isaiah 45:15, NIV Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel.

This is both positive and negative at the same time!

• It is positive because God is in it (like he can be in the dark cloud) and is using it to work a purpose in our lives.
• It is negative because it is usually a difficult experience to go through!

Biblically, the 400 years leading up to the birth of Jesus was a dark night period for Israel. No prophetic words were recorded during that time.

The purpose of a dark night season

The dark night season can have many purposes:

• To teach us to trust God in the waiting.
• To teach us to hold on to the promises and hope he has given us.
• To teach us patience.
• To draw us to seek after God.
• To draw us into relationship rather than relying on a revelatory gift.

Dreams about a dark night period

We could dream about a dark night season in some of the following ways:

• Dreams set at normal nighttime (not monochrome).
• Dreams where it looks dark/black and we cannot see.
• Black clothes can also be about going through a dark night period.
• Specifically, black skirt, black trousers/pants, or black shorts can be about walking through a dark night season. The longer the clothes, the longer the time it will probably be.

These dreams can give us clues about why God is taking us through (or will be taking us through) the dark night period, and what the reward and fruit will be for us as a result.

• Isaiah 8:17, NIV I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face… I will put my trust in him.
• Isaiah 45:3, NASB I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, So that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

Real dream examples: Black as a dark night season

DREAM	INTERPRETATION
I dreamed I was taken to a hotel and given a long black skirt to replace my old long blue one.	The dream was advising me of a coming dark night season which would be for a long time, and I would no longer be able to rely on old revelation (blue). This did happen, and the fruit of it was that I learned to hear God through dreams and signs. But it would not be forever (a hotel is a temporary place) – and I am still trusting to come out of this period.
I dreamed I was given a necklace made of alternating deep pink and black coloured beads.	This dream was telling me the purpose of the above dark night season: The deep pink colour indicated that through the journey I would develop a deep personal intimacy with God. I would start to reflect God’s heart (a necklace is over our heart). Certainly the experience has driven me to seek and get to know God.

Conclusion: Meaning of colour black

We have seen that in a positive context, black usually represents mystery – which is something good that we can’t understand right now, but God will reveal in the future – ready to be discovered or understood at the right time.

In a negative context, the colour black generally symbolises darkness, things that are not of God (due to the lack of light aspect), or difficult times.

Black can also be about a dark night period, which is when God seems to be hiding his face – and these dreams give insight into God’s purpose for those times.

Here are a few closing thoughts:

• The colour black in a dream could represent any number of things. The above ideas should give you a good starting point.
• I believe that only God can tell us what the colour black means in a specific dream, so I recommend asking Him!
• Consider the atmosphere and context of the dream to see whether the colour is being used in a positive or negative sense.
• In additional to the biblical meanings that I have shared, remember that it could mean something personal or culturally significant to you, that isn’t mentioned here.

Of course, dreams are an excellent way for God to reveal heavenly mysteries to us. And now that you understand the biblical meaning of black – you can go and seek out those treasures in your dreams!

And finally… enjoy interpreting those dreams of black! If this article has helped you interpret a dream, please do like and share this post!