Shepherdess
A woman who tends sheep — patient outdoor watching of a vulnerable group under her care.
A shepherdess in a dream is the dream's image of patient outdoor watching of a vulnerable group under her care. The shepherdess does not drive the flock; she keeps it together against the things that would scatter or take it. The dream brings the shepherdess when something in your life — a small team, a class, a household of dependents — is being held together by a calm watchful figure whose work is mostly invisible until something tries to happen. A shepherdess with all the sheep accounted for at sundown is the dream affirming the kept watch. A shepherdess who has fallen asleep, with the flock now wandering, is the dream noting that the watching role was real and was let go of, and the group is now exposed to whatever comes down off the hill.