People have been trying to make sense of their dreams since the earliest days of humanity, but our modern practice has its roots with early 20th century psychologists like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. While dreams were often interpreted as omens of things to come in the ancient world, Freud and Jung cast them as clues to our deeper subconscious thoughts and desires. It would be putting it mildly to say that not everyone agrees with Freudian and Jungian analysis, but their ideas do offer important insight into the field of dream interpretation.

In his essay “Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria, Dora” Freud wrote that fire is linked to “symbolic meaning to thoughts of love,” but also ascribed a connection to childhood discipline stemming from one of the earliest lessons we’re taught as children: don’t play with fire. Meanwhile, in his popular bookMan and His Symbols Jung echos Freud’s interpretation of fire as symbolic of passion and love. He writes that “Fire and flame symbolize warmth and love, feeling and passion; they are qualities of the heart found wherever human beings exist.”

Dream analysis is never straightforward, but the old and new experts seem to agree that if you’re dreaming about fire there’s a good chance your mind is hung up on a burning passion in your life.