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Dream guide and fafi numbers
Dream guide: the fafi number for what you dreamed
A dream guide maps what you dreamed to a number, and in South Africa that number is a fafi number, played on the Lucky Numbers draws. This page holds three things: our recorded list for 11 common dreams, the fafi chart from 1 to 49, and beside every number a count of how often it has actually come up in the UK49s lunchtime and teatime draws.
The associations are tradition, not a system, and they change nothing about the odds. Where the published charts disagree with each other, both readings are printed.
Fafi numbers are an oral tradition with regional variation, and published lists disagree. In the dream list a number is shown only where our source records one. Every 49s draw is independent. What follows is a record of past draws, and a record cannot tell you what comes next.
Dreams with a recorded number
- Dreaming of being pregnantukuphupha ukhulelwe · recorded number 9, the baby
- Dreaming of a snakeukuphupha inyoka · recorded number 32, the snake
- Dreaming of paper moneyukuphupha imali yamaphepha · recorded number 2 or 16, money
- Dreaming of policeukuphupha amaphoyisa · recorded number 27, the policeman
- Dreaming of driving a carukuphupha ushayela imoto · recorded number 22, the motor car
- Dreaming of eggsukuphupha amaqanda · recorded number 10, the egg
- Dreaming of teeth falling outukuphupha uphuma amazinyo · recorded number 21, the mouth
- Dreaming of a funeralukuphupha umngcwabo · recorded number 26, the funeral
- Dreaming of being bitten by a dogukuphupha ulunywa inja · recorded number 27, the dog
- Dreaming of the seaukuphupha ulwandle · recorded number 3, the water
- Dreaming of a lionukuphupha ibhubesi · recorded number 7, the lion
- Dreaming of a small childukuphupha ingane encane · recorded number 9, the baby
Recorded in the SA Dream Guide build kit held in this workspace (2026-05-20). That document names no upstream source, so the mapping is published here as a recorded tradition, not as a verified fact.
The fafi chart, 1 to 49
The bookmaker chart as printed by the South African operators, cleaned of the copy-paste errors listed below, with the classical 36-number wheel beside it where a symbol is documented outside the bookmaker guides. The last two columns are real counts: how many times that ball has come out in 2 652 lunchtime and 2 809 teatime draws.
| No. | On the chart | Classical wheel | Lunchtime | Teatime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | King, Human blood, White man, Left eye | king | 327 | 316 |
| 2 | Monkey, A spirit, Chief, Copper, Money, Jockey | monkey | 340 | 365 |
| 3 | Sea water, Accident, Frog, Sailor, Sex | sea / water | 349 | 398 |
| 4 | Dead man, Turkey, Small fortune, Bed | dead man | 306 | 332 |
| 5 | Tiger, Fight, Strong man | tiger | 320 | 334 |
| 6 | Ox blood, Gentleman, Milk | ox | 341 | 355 |
| 7 | Lion, Thief, Big stick, Chickens | skelm (thief) | 306 | 333 |
| 8 | Pig, Drunken man, Loafer, Fat man, Chinese king | pig | 310 | 328 |
| 9 | Moon, Baby, Hole, Owl, Devil, Pumpkin, Anything round | moon | 314 | 364 |
| 10 | Eggs, Train, Boat, Grave, Anything oval | eggs | 327 | 305 |
| 11 | Carriage, Wood, Tree, Furniture, Bicycle, Flowers | carriage | 321 | 371 |
| 12 | Dead woman, Ducks, Small fire, Chinese queen | dead woman | 342 | 353 |
| 13 | Big fish, Ghosts, Spirits | big fish | 322 | 328 |
| 14 | Old woman, Fox, Detective, Nurse | old woman | 317 | 348 |
| 15 | Bad woman, Prostitute, Canary, White horse, Small knife | bad woman | 306 | 346 |
| 16 | Small house, Coffin, Pigeon, Young woman, Paper money, Letter | pigeons | 330 | 324 |
| 17 | Diamond woman, Queen, Pearls, Diamond, Stars, White woman | diamond lady | 348 | 343 |
| 18 | Silver money, Servant girl, Right eye, Butterfly, Hook, Rain | small change | 333 | 334 |
| 19 | Little girl, Smoke, Bread, Big bird, Left hand | little girl | 358 | 361 |
| 20 | Cat, Sky, Handkerchief, Body, Music, Minister, Naked woman | cat | 348 | 367 |
| 21 | Old man, Stranger, Fisherman, Elephant, Knife, Nose, Teeth | ship | 300 | 330 |
| 22 | Rats, Motor car, Big ship, Left foot, Shoes | elephant | 335 | 342 |
| 23 | Horse, Doctor, Head, Hair, Crown | horse | 337 | 334 |
| 24 | Mouth, Wild cat, Vixen, Lioness, Purse | mouth | 347 | 355 |
| 25 | Big house, Church, Boxer, Hospital | jail / big house | 300 | 358 |
| 26 | Bees, Bad man, Bush, General, Funeral, Madman | bees | 336 | 322 |
| 27 | Dog, Policeman, Newborn baby, Medicine, Sad news | dog | 315 | 321 |
| 28 | Sardines, Small fish, Thief, Right foot, Surprise, Small child | herrings | 312 | 313 |
| 29 | Small water, Coffin, Rain, Tears, Big knife, Right hand | small water | 310 | 325 |
| 30 | Fowl, Graveyard, Sun, Throat, Forest | fowl | 318 | 330 |
| 31 | Big fire, Bishop, Big spirit, Feathers, Fight, Woman | fire | 313 | 361 |
| 32 | Gold money, Snake | gold / money | 329 | 322 |
| 33 | Little boy, Spider | little boy | 293 | 360 |
| 34 | Meat, Human dung, Anything dirty, Cripple, Tramp | dung | 311 | 351 |
| 35 | Clothes, Sheep, Big hole, Big grave | (adult symbol in some historical lists) | 314 | 358 |
| 36 | Shrimp, Stick, Admiral, Cigars, Gum | lobster | 303 | 321 |
| 37 | Arrow, Lawyer, Treasure, Cooking, Stream | 340 | 353 | |
| 38 | Crocodile, Balloons, Sjambok, Fireworks, Stadium | 321 | 340 | |
| 39 | Sangoma, Soccer team, Tattoos, Bloodshed, Teacher | 340 | 357 | |
| 40 | Birth, Clock, Snail, Dwarf, River, Traditional healer | 350 | 363 | |
| 41 | Cattle, Planets, Cave, Desert, Monster | 333 | 339 | |
| 42 | Tornado, Spear, Umbrella, Camel, Door | 317 | 343 | |
| 43 | Army, Thunder, Astronaut, Rabbit, Turtle | 342 | 319 | |
| 44 | Shark, Stud farm, Body builder, Injury, Mud | 331 | 373 | |
| 45 | Football, Computers, Jewellery, Wrestler, Storm | 336 | 348 | |
| 46 | Ambulance, Beard, Sea sand, Scissors, Key | 323 | 367 | |
| 47 | Stallion, Kite, TV, Lightning, Carnival, Hut | 342 | 343 | |
| 48 | Clown, Rainbow, Nightmare, Whale, Wealth | 309 | 345 | |
| 49 | Shebeen, Circus, Chocolate, Space ship | 290 | 356 |
Beyond the 49s board the bookmaker charts continue: 50 bathroom, magic, revolution, trap, wheat; 51 car, carrot, orange, vulture, wasp; 52 brush, eagle, salon, shower, trumpet. Those numbers cannot be played on a 49-ball draw.
Where the charts disagree
Every South African operator's dream guide descends from the same list, errors included. These are the ones found when the chart above was built, each checked on the day given.
- "Sea and Scissors" at 46: corruption of "Sea sand; Scissors". Found on central.bet.co.za and blog.hollywoodbets.net (identical string); checked live 2026-07-02.
- "Stun" at 30: corruption of "Sun". Found on insights.betfred.co.za (live) and sunbet.co.za (archived); Betfred checked live 2026-07-02; Sunbet via Internet Archive snapshots 2025-12-13 and 2026-01-14 (sunbet.co.za blocks non-SA access).
- Water listed at both 15 and 3 on one page: internal contradiction. Found on central.bet.co.za A-Z guide; checked live 2026-07-02.
- Big house at both 25 and 29 on one page: internal contradiction. Found on sunbet.co.za lucky-number guide; Internet Archive snapshot 2025-12-13 (site blocks non-SA access).
- Cow at 18 in one guide, 41 in its sister guide: same operator, two conflicting charts. Found on sunbet.co.za fafi guide vs lucky-number guide; Internet Archive snapshots 2026-01-14 and 2025-12-13 (site blocks non-SA access).
- Template junk shipped live ("Name 2 | 36"): unfilled placeholder row. Found on sportsnews.worldsportsbetting.co.za dream guide; checked live 2026-07-02.
Our own dream list and the chart also part company 2 times: paper money is recorded as 2 or 16 under the name "money", while the chart puts money at 2; teeth falling out is recorded as 21 under the name "the mouth", while the chart puts mouth at 24. Both are printed, because that disagreement is the tradition as it actually is.
Two numbers on the source charts carry colonial-era descriptors for people. They are not reproduced here; the numbers keep their other symbols.
Dreams with no recorded number
Our source records no number for these, so none is invented. The chart above is the place to look for them.
Questions
What is a fafi dream guide?
A list that maps what you dreamed to a number, from fafi, the numbers game that has run in South Africa since at least the 1950s. Bookmakers reuse the same chart for Lucky Numbers betting. The classical game has 36 numbers; the bookmaker charts stretch it to 49 or 52 so it covers the modern draws.
What number is a snake in fafi?
32 on every chart we hold, listed beside gold money. Our own dream list records 32 for a snake as well, and the table on this page shows how often 32 has come up.
What number is money in a dream?
The chart spreads it out: 2 for money, 18 for silver money, 32 for gold money and 16 for paper money. Pick by the detail of the dream rather than the word.
Does a dream number change my chances?
No. A number tied to a dream has exactly the same chance as any other, and the counts beside each number are there so that can be checked rather than believed.
My dream is not on the list. What then?
Read the chart column. Most things people dream about sit on it somewhere, and where a symbol appears on two numbers both are printed rather than one picked for you.
Ukuphupha, the same guide in isiZulu → Star-sign lucky numbers → UK49s predictions →
Sources for the fafi tradition
- Longmore, L. "A study of Fah-Fee." South African Journal of Science 52(12), July 1956, pp. 275-282.
- Louw, S. "African numbers games and gambler motivation: ‘Fahfee’ in contemporary South Africa." African Affairs 117(466), 2018, pp. 109-129.
- Birberick, B. "Seeing numbers: Interpretations of dream images and urban uncertainty." HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 10(2), 2020, pp. 455-472.
- Birberick, B. "For players of fafi, dream interpretation is a vital skill." Psyche, 3 May 2022.
- Ho, U. Paper Sons and Daughters: Growing up Chinese in South Africa. Picador Africa, 2011.
- Scholtz, A.H.M. A Place Called Vatmaar (extract, trans. C. van Wyk), Mail & Guardian, 2 June 2000 - the fullest classical 36-symbol list in a non-bookmaker source.
- Mabote, R. "No Mo-China. Not now, not ever." Mail & Guardian, 17 Sept 2008 - first-person Dobsonville account.
- National Lotteries Commission (SA). Impact of Illegal Lotteries Research Report, 2019.