distorted silhouette of person placing hand against translucent barrier
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
October 4, 2023 ·  4 min read

The First Thing You Notice When Looking at These Illustrations Will Speak to Your Subconscious Fear

Fear is a natural reaction that is intended to keep us safe. Whenever our brain recognizes a situation that poses some sort of threat to our well-being, we feel afraid. However, we may sometimes not understand why our brain identifies something as dangerous. This is usually the case when we are talking about subconscious fear. Sometimes, our subconscious connects real-time objects and events with past unpleasant experiences, triggering a fearful response.

As such, many attempts and methods have been devised to figure out a pattern that will help identify subconscious fears. Today, we bring three illustrations that are known to be effective in discovering the fears lying deep within. So here they are:

What Is Your Subconscious Fear?

The first image is going to be “Butterfly Apple”. Vladimir Kush, a surrealist artist, created this painting. Be sure to remember the first thing you notice in the painting:

Illusions of a butterfly and apple.
Image Credits: Vladimir Kush

So, what did you notice first? Here are the explanations:

The Apple: In this case, your subconscious fear is losing loved ones to death. Usually, people who have experienced losing close people to death already have this fear. The reason is a reluctance to endure the excruciating pain again.

The Butterfly: If you notice the insect first, you fear being betrayed the most subconsciously. You have probably experienced getting crossed by people you trust in the past. As such, you are afraid of being the victim again.

The Caterpillar: In this case, anything related to the paranormal instills fear in your subconscious. Phasmophobia, or being afraid of ghosts, is usually present in people believing that supernatural existences have a malevolent nature if they do exist.

The Knife: If you saw the tool first, you fear terminal illness. Most subjects who noticed the knife beforehand reveal an identical fear of worrying and suffering about the possibility of passing away at any moment.

Karl Kwasny’s Illustration

Take a look at this picture:

Karl Kwansky's illustration
Image Credits: Karl Kwansky

What do you see first? Here are the explanations:

Background Figure: Some people will see the figure standing at a distance in the background. As such, your subconscious fear may be about being exposed. Privacy matters the most for such people along with being afraid of being watched without them knowing.

The Trees: If you noticed either of the trees before anything else (we mean either the ones in the distance or the ones bordering the skull), then you are afraid of the uncertain and unpredictable nature of the future.

The Girl: Seeing the little girl first would indicate that you unknowingly fear a state of helplessness the most. This can be caused by a past trauma when you were not able to help a troubling situation that took place in your or in a close one’s life.

The Skull: Contrary to what it might seem like, the skull in the illustration does not signify a subconscious fear of death. Rather, it means that you may have a suppressed secret or a vehement conscious rejection of a truth. As such, the subconscious is afraid that somehow this information can get exposed.

Subconscious Fear Indicate By Trevor Brown

Here is the final test for today:

Trevor Brown's Illustration
Image Credits: Trevor Brown

So, what is the first thing that catches your eye? Here are the explanations:

The Skull: The skull is not very clear in this one, unlike the previous ones. Regardless, if you did notice this first, then you might be subconsciously afraid to let others down. At the same time, it can also signify the fear of death.

The Trees: If the trees caught your attention first, then you probably have a conflict inside you that have constantly avoided. As such, your subconscious fear is regarding that inner conflict. The conflict can be regarding depression or even guilt.

The Butterfly: In this case, the insect signifies an opportunity that you have missed due to some reason. So you are probably subconsciously afraid that you will never have a second chance to replace an opportunity if you lose it.

The Strawberry: Usually, the sweet and sour fruit signify love. However, in this picture, it is upturned. So, noticing it first can mean that you are presently involved in a romantic relationship that is quite complex. As such, you subconsciously fear that the relationship is wrong for you, or you fear that true love will forever elude you.

The Girl: The belief is that noticing the young girl first means that your subconscious fear is related to making significant decisions and the associated stress. The less amount of time you took to notice the girl means a higher likelihood that you have childhood trauma hidden away. This has affected your decision-making abilities and has created the anxiety-well regarding them.

So, did you learn anything from these pictures? Let us know in the comments below! Also, here are a few more tests that you may enjoy: