Miller wrote: “To dream of a ladder being raised for you to ascend to some height, your energetic and nervy…” Compare 5 historical dream books.
Compare the historical accounts
These are the authors’ historical interpretations. Their forecasts and period judgments are preserved as source material, not as predictions or established meanings for your dream.
Gustavus Hindman Miller
Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted; Or, What’s in a Dream · Gutenberg #926; bibliography identifies the 1901 original and subsequent reprints
Ladder · Heading 1139; source lines 13112–13137 · Text transcription
Original source (English)
To dream of a ladder being raised for you to ascend to some height, your energetic and nervy qualifications will raise you into prominence in business affairs.
To ascend a ladder, means prosperity and unstinted happiness.
To fall from one, denotes despondency and unsuccessful transactions to the tradesman, and blasted crops to the farmer.
To see a broken ladder, betokens failure in every instance.
To descend a ladder, is disappointment in business, and unrequited desires.
To escape from captivity, or confinement, by means of a ladder, you will be successful, though many perilous paths may intervene.
To grow dizzy as you ascend a ladder, denotes that you will not wear new honors serenely. You are likely to become haughty and domineering in your newly acquired position. See Hill, Ascend, or Fall.
Felix Fontaine
The Golden Wheel Dream-book and Fortune-teller · 1862
Ladder · Heading 405; source line 2845 · Text transcription
Original source (English)
To dream of going up a ladder signifies that you will be a person of some consequence, yet poor: if you imagine you are in danger of falling, it shows that a person who envies your position will attempt to injure you; if you dream of going down a ladder it particularly denotes poverty, though it may allude to some misfortune that will overtake you.
A. H. Noe
The Witches' Dream Book; and Fortune Teller · New York, Henry J. Wehman, 1885
Ladder · Dream section, heading 283; source lines 1164–1165 · Text transcription
Original source (English)
To dream you ascend a ladder, signifies honor. But to dream you descend a ladder, betokens damage.
Astra Cielo
Fortunes and Dreams · New York, George Sully, 1917
Ladder · Dream section, heading 244; source lines 4445–4449 · Text transcription
Original source (English)
To go up a ladder means success; to go down, humiliation.
Katherine Taylor Craig
The Fabric of Dreams: Dream Lore and Dream Interpretation, Ancient and Modern · New York, E. P. Dutton & Company, 1918; original US edition
Ladder · Printed p. 228; NLM OCR lines 10586–10588 · OCR transcription
Original source (English)
A dream of advancement; to ascend denotes elevation; to descend augurs a downfall (Artemidorus).
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Attributed historical writing. Historical claims are not established predictions or universal psychological meanings. Updated 2026-10-12. Read our approach and sources.