The Wise Old Man is a part of ourselves, which is not always consciously available to us. An old man appearing in our dreams puts us in touch with this part of ourselves. He can also represent our feelings about time and death. Old people in dreams tend to suggest traditional thought or wisdom arising from experience. We may also need to consider our attitude to death. Old buildings can signify a past way of life, which we thought we had left behind. Antiques will often represent elements of our past experience, which might be worth keeping. If something seems particularly ancient, the meaning may be ambiguous; either it has outlived its usefulness or has been imbued with special significance because of its antiquity. When we dream of old things, we are touching into the past and perhaps need to bring some kind of knowledge forward, so that we can make use of it in the present day. Dreaming of historical figures usually means we are aware of the qualities that those people possessed. Perhaps we need to develop those qualities within ourselves. Also consult the entries for Death, Museum and People as well as Wise Old Man in Archetypes in the Introduction.