As our spiritual senses develop, the ability to sense and recognize smells from the past on a clairvoyant level can be rather alarming. In dreams, provided this ability is recognized merely as a means of identifying a time, place or person, we need not be afraid. Childhood is a time when smell is very significant. Many smells that are associated with that time, e.g. baking bread, burning oil, flowers, school dinners, can still be very evocative for us as adults. A pleasant smell could represent happy times or memories, whereas a bad smell can hold memories of particularly traumatic times. To be conscious of a smell in a dream usually means that we are trying to identify an object or its source. Most other senses are sharpened in dreams, but the sense of smell is made available only if a specific interpretation is needed. Also consult the entry for Odour.