Dream meaning Dreaming of coal

Coal in a dream is black and heavy, and it holds a fire that is still asleep. It is hidden energy, what burns slowly and long, and the cost of holding something hot. Cold or glowing, in your hand or in a hearth, gathered or thrown away: each changes the reading. A live coal appears at decisive moments in scripture.

In the Book of Isaiah, a seraph touches the prophet's lips with a burning coal from the altar, and his guilt is taken away before he is sent to speak. Muslim storytellers tell how the infant Moses, tested at Pharaoh's court, took a glowing ember and put it to his mouth, which is why, the commentators say, he later prayed to God to loosen the knot from his tongue.

The Prophet spoke of a time when holding on to one's faith would be like holding a live coal in the hand. And Proverbs counsels feeding a hungry enemy, for kindness heaps coals of fire on his head. Cold coal is a matter or a strength waiting for its spark, and it will come; glowing embers are warmth and benefit that remain after a great blaze has passed.

A live coal held in the hand is a faith or a loyalty kept at a cost, and the Prophet's saying promises its reward. A coal touched to the lips, as with Isaiah and the infant Moses, is a trial of speech, and after it the tongue is loosened. Coal dust on your face or hands is hard work that leaves its mark, or a stain on your name to be cleaned; coal turning to ash is a strength spent.

Coal heaped on an enemy's head, as Proverbs has it, is kindness that shames hostility.