My dream began with a scenario which escapes my mind currently, though I remember it involving some people I know in life and a fairly real, sobering, situation. The part I do remember is what follows...
I was in a distorted version of where I'm currently living, a town on a peninsula. I was down towards the southern tip where things get more explicitly "old school" suburban. I see a friend who actually lives down in that part of the real town, ride by on a bike. We exchange some words and he goes off for something apparently school related. There is some sort of school in the area and some people I know seem to be coming to and from the institution. The area of focus seems to be primarily flat, almost on level with the water. There aren't many buildings, and those that are residential are short small houses. Looking down towards the southern tip of the peninsula, one sees the water clearly to the left, with a sort of sparse park housing only tennis courts and some small bathroom houses; all the way at the end is the supposed school. The sky is overcast and the weather misty.
I'm apparently attending this school as I remember walking out of it and speaking with some friends in the departing crowd. There's plans for an event of sorts, a party and an art show. There is also word of something pressing and ominous but I'm not sure what it is exactly; everyone else in the dream, however, seems to be well aware of whatever it is. I proceed to gather some things necessary for it to take place later, while finding some people who are connected to the event. I fly over from the school building to various tennis courts in the water-front park, pleasantly greeting the people I knew and reminding them about their duties to the event or inviting them. Flying this time around required a little effort and I initially thought this would be one of those dreams where I couldn't do much more than just hover a foot or two over the floor- but that didn't turn out the be the case and I did just fine taking off, gaining altitude, and landing down to various parts of this water-front park. I suppose I could have walked around the area since I didn't really have to leave it, but flying was faster, helped me find people more easily, and was just more fun :)
Eventually all the people and pieces are gathered and various small pieces of art work arranged in this gallery that's actually also in a small building in the water-front park. I act as gallery host to the main exhibition, which is also where one enters the building, and great and guide people to the reception hall which is a dark, suave lounge of sorts, the only light being that of a dim indigo. The same lighting seemed to be employed to the gallery space, but not nearly as dark . The framed artwork also seemed to have similar color schemes as well.
Shortly after the beginning of this reception, that ominous thing that was perceived earlier seems to have begun taking place. People are alarmed and hurry about, and tell me I have to do something, now's the time. I leave the building and start flying out over the park towards the school area. The sky and sea are tumultuous, churning with a storm, and it begins to rain. I reach my destination which is a sort of square swimming pool under a concrete or metal roof of sorts, supported by concrete pillars in each corner. The pool itself is dissected into 4 quadrants by concrete dividers one could walk along; however, that wasn't necessary. Everyone I had met earlier in the dream had congregated there in a somewhat hectic, though party-going manner, and were standing on top of the water in each of the four quadrants. I floated over to what was the upper right quadrant from my perspective and touched my feet down to the blue, undulating surface of the water, amongst the crowd. I felt as if I were to gather people from there and try to take them somewhere else, but once I touched down upon the water, all fades and the dream ends.
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, the symbol for water is a wavy line with
small sharp crests, representing the water’s surface. The same sign, when tripled,
symbolizes a volume of water, that is, the primaeval ocean and prime matter.
According to hermetic tradition, the god Nu was the substance from which the
gods of the first ennead emerged (19). The Chinese consider water as the specific
abode of the dragon, because all life comes from the waters (13). In the Vedas,
water is referred to as mâtritamâh (the most maternal) because, in the beginning,
everything was like a sea without light. In India, this element is generally regarded
as the preserver of life, circulating throughout the whole of nature, in the form of
rain, sap, milk and blood. Limitless and immortal, the waters are the beginning and
the end of all things on earth (60). Although water is, in appearance, formless,
ancient cultures made a distinction between ‘upper waters’ and ‘lower waters’.
The former correspond to the potential or what is still possible, the latter to what
is actual or already created (26). In a general sense, the concept of ‘water’ stands,
of course, for all liquid matter. Moreover, the primaeval waters, the image of
prime matter, also contained all solid bodies before they acquired form and rigidity. For this reason, the alchemists gave the name of ‘water’ to quicksilver in its
first stage of transmutation and, by analogy, also to the ‘fluid body’ of Man (57).
This ‘fluid body’ is interpreted by modern psychology as a symbol of the unconscious, that is, of the non-formal, dynamic, motivating, female side of the personality. The projection of the mother-imago into the waters endows them with
various numinous properties characteristic of the mother (31). A secondary meaning of this symbolism is found in the identification of water with intuitive wisdom. In the cosmogony of the Mesopotamian peoples, the abyss of water was
regarded as a symbol of the unfathomable, impersonal Wisdom. An ancient Irish
god was called Domnu, which means ‘marine depth’. In prehistoric times the
word for abyss seems to have been used exclusively to denote that which was
unfathomable and mysterious (4). The waters, in short, symbolize the universal
congress of potentialities, the fons et origo, which precedes all form and all
creation. Immersion in water signifies a return to the preformal state, with a sense
of death and annihilation on the one hand, but of rebirth and regeneration on the
other, since immersion intensifies the life-force. The symbolism of baptism,
which is closely linked to that of water, has been expounded by St. John
Chrysostom (Homil. in Joh., XXV, 2): ‘It represents death and interment, life and
resurrection. . . . When we plunge our head beneath water, as in a sepulchre, the
old man becomes completely immersed and buried. When we leave the water, the
new man suddenly appears’ (18). The ambiguity of this quotation is only on the
surface: in this particular aspect of the general symbolism of water, death affects
only Man-in-nature while the rebirth is that of spiritual man. On the cosmic level,
the equivalent of immersion is the flood, which causes all forms to dissolve and
return to a fluid state, thus liberating the elements which will later be recombined
in new cosmic patterns. The qualities of transparency and depth, often associated with water, go far towards explaining the veneration of the ancients for this
element which, like earth, was a female principle. The Babylonians called it ‘the
home of wisdom’. Oannes, the mythical being who brings culture to mankind, is
portrayed as half man and half fish (17). Moreover, in dreams, birth is usually
expressed through water-imagery (v. Freud, Introduction to Psycho-Analysis).
The expressions ‘risen from the waves’ and ‘saved from the waters’ symbolize
fertility, and are metaphorical images of childbirth. On the other hand, water is, of
all the elements, the most clearly transitional, between fire and air (the ethereal
elements) and earth (the solid element). By analogy, water stands as a mediator
between life and death, with a two-way positive and negative flow of creation and
destruction. The Charon and Ophelia myths symbolize the last voyage. Death
was the first mariner. ‘Transparent depth’, apart from other meanings, stands in
particular for the communicating link between the surface and the abyss. It can
therefore be said that water conjoins these two images (2). Gaston Bachelard
points to many different characteristics of water, and derives from them many
secondary symbolic meanings which enrich the fundamental meaning we have described. These secondary meanings are not so much a set of strict symbols, as
a kind of language expressing the transmutations of this ever-flowing element.
Bachelard enumerates clear water, spring water, running water, stagnant water,
dead water, fresh and salt water, reflecting water, purifying water, deep water,
stormy water. Whether we take water as a symbol of the collective or of the
personal unconscious, or else as an element of mediation and dissolution, it is
obvious that this symbolism is an expression of the vital potential of the psyche,
of the struggles of the psychic depths to find a way of formulating a clear message
comprehensible to the consciousness. On the other hand, secondary symbolisms
are derived from associated objects such as water-containers, and also from the
ways in which water is used: ablutions, baths, holy water, etc. There is also a
very important spatial symbolism connected with the ‘level’ of the waters, denoting a correlation between actual physical level and absolute moral level. It is
for this reason that the Buddha, in his Assapuram sermon, was able to regard the
mountain-lake—whose transparent waters reveal, at the bottom, sand, shells,
snails and fishes—as the path of redemption. This lake obviously corresponds to
a fundamental aspect of the ‘Upper Waters’. Clouds are another aspect of the
‘Upper Waters’. In Le Transformationi of Ludovico Dolce, we find a mystic
figure looking into the unruffled surface of a pond, in contrast with the accursed
hunter, always in restless pursuit of his prey, implying the symbolic contrast
between contemplative activity—the sattva state of Yoga—and blind outward
activity—the rajas state. Finally, the upper and lower waters communicate reciprocally through the process of rain (involution) and evaporation (evolution).
Here, fire intervenes to modify water: the sun (spirit) causes sea water to evaporate (i.e. it sublimates life). Water is condensed in clouds and returns to earth in
the form of life-giving rain, which is invested with twofold virtues: it is water, and
it comes from heaven (15). Lao-Tse paid considerable attention to this cyclic
process of meteorology, which is at one and the same time physical and spiritual,
observing that: ‘Water never rests, neither by day nor by night. When flowing
above, it causes rain and dew. When flowing below, it forms streams and rivers.
Water is outstanding in doing good. If a dam is raised against it, it stops. If way is
made for it, it flows along that path. Hence it is said that it does not struggle. And
yet it has no equal in destroying that which is strong and hard’ (13). When water
stands revealed in its destructive aspects, in the course of cataclysmic events, its
symbolism does not change, but is merely subordinated to the dominant symbolism of the storm. Similarly, in those contexts where the flowing nature of water is
emphasized, as in the contention of Heraclitus that ‘You cannot step twice into
the same river; for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you.’ Here the reference is not to water-symbolism as such, but to the idea of the irreversible flow along a
given path. To quote Evola, in La tradizione ermetica: ‘Without divine water,
nothing exists, according to Zosimus. On the other hand, among the symbols of
the female principle are included those which figure as origins of the waters
(mother, life), such as: Mother Earth, Mother of the Waters, Stone, Cave, House
of the Mother, Night, House of Depth, House of Force, House of Wisdom,
Forest, etc. One should not be misled by the word “divine”. Water symbolizes
terrestrial and natural life, never metaphysical life.’
This indicates birth (of some person).
To dream of clear water, foretells that you will joyfully realize prosperity and pleasure.
If the water is muddy, you will be in danger and gloom will occupy Pleasure's seat.
If you see it rise up in your house, denotes that you will struggle to resist evil, but unless you see it subside, you will succumb to dangerous influences.
If you find yourself baling it out, but with feet growing wet, foreshadows trouble, sickness, and misery will work you a hard task, but you will forestall them by your watchfulness. The same may be applied to muddy water rising in vessels.
To fall into muddy water, is a sign that you will make many bitter mistakes, and will suffer poignant grief therefrom.
To drink muddy water, portends sickness, but drinking it clear and refreshing brings favorable consummation of fair hopes.
To sport with water, denotes a sudden awakening to love and passion.
To have it sprayed on your head, denotes that your passionate awakening to love will meet reciprocal consummation.
The following dream and its allegorical occurrence in actual life is related by a young woman student of dreams:
``Without knowing how, I was (in my dream) on a boat, I waded through clear blue water to a wharfboat, which I found to be snow white, but rough and splintry. The next evening I had a delightful male caller, but he remained beyond the time prescribed by mothers and I was severely censured for it.'' The blue water and fairy white boat were the disappointing prospects in the symbol.
To see water in your dream, symbolizes your unconscious and your emotional state of mind. Water is the living essence of the psyche and the flow of life energy. It is also symbolic of spirituality, knowledge, healing and refreshment. To dream that water is boiling, suggests that you are expressing some emotional turmoil. Feelings from your unconscious are surfacing and ready to be acknowledged. You need to let out some steam.
To see calm, clear water in your dream, means that you are in tune with your spirituality. It denotes serenity, peace of mind, and rejuvenation.
To see muddy or dirty water in your dream, indicates that you are wallowing in your negative emotions. You may need to take some time to cleanse your mind and find internal peace. Alternatively, the dream suggests that your thinking/judgment is unclear and clouded. If you are immersed in muddy water, then it indicates that you are in over your head in a situation and are overwhelmed by your emotions.
To dream that water is rising up in your house, suggests that you are becoming overwhelmed by your emotions.
To hear running water in your dream, denotes meditation and reflection. You are reflecting on your thoughts and emotions.
To dream that you are walking on water, indicates that you have total control over your emotions. It also suggests that you need to "stay on top" of your emotions and not let them explode out of hand. Alternatively, the dream is symbolic of faith in yourself.
Seeing water in your dream, symbolizes your unconscious and your emotional state of mind. Water is the living essence of the psyche and the flow of life energy. It is also symbolic of spirituality, knowledge, healing and refreshment. Seeing calm, clear water in your dream means that you are in tune with your spirituality. It indicates serenity, peace of mind, and rejuvenation. Seeing muddy or dirty water in your dream indicates that you are wallowing in your negative emotions. You may need to devote some time to clarify your mind and find internal peace. Alternatively, it suggests that your thinking/judgment is unclear and clouded. If you are immersed in muddy water, then it indicates that you are in over your head in a situation and are overwhelmed by your emotions. Dreaming that water is rising up in your house means your struggles and overwhelming emotions. Hearing running water in your dream indicates meditation, reflection and pondering of your thoughts and emotions. Dreaming that you are walking on water, suggests that you have supreme and ultimate control over your emotions. It may also suggest that you need to "stay on top" of your emotions and not let them explode out of hand. Alternatively, it is symbolic of faith in yourself.
To dream that you are in school, signifies feelings of inadequacy and childhood insecurities that have never been resolved. It may relate to anxieties about your performance and abilities. If you are still in school and dream about school, then the dream may just be a reflection of your daily life and has no special significance.
Alternatively, a dream that takes place in school may be a metaphor for the lessons that you are learning from your waking life. You may be going through a "spiritual learning" experience.
To dream that you are looking for a school, suggests that you need to expand your knowledge and learning. To dream that you are at a new school, means that you are feeling out of place in some situation. Or perhaps there is a new lesson that you need to learn.
To dream that your childhood school is in ruins, suggests that you are dwelling on some unresolved childhood issue. Alternatively, the dream represents the passage of time. You need to look toward the future instead of reliving the past.
To dream of attending school, indicates distinction in literary work. If you think you are young and at school as in your youth, you will find that sorrow and reverses will make you sincerely long for the simple trusts and pleasures of days of yore.
To dream of teaching a school, foretells that you will strive for literary attainments, but the bare necessities of life must first be forthcoming.
To visit the schoolhouse of your childhood days, portends that discontent and discouraging incidents overshadows the present.
Dreaming that you are in school means feelings of inadequacy and childhood insecurities that have never been resolved. It may relate to anxieties about performance and abilities. You may also be going through a "spiritual learning" experience. If you are still in school and dream about school, then it will naturally serve as a backdrop to your dream world. Alternatively, a dream that takes place in school may be a metaphor for the lessons that you are learning from your waking life.
This dream may be interpreted on several different levels. If you are the student you may be feeling inadequate or lack self-confidence. Either way, going to school or attending class in a dream is your unconscious reminder that there is a need for new learning and that you may have not learned an important lesson. School may not always be a positive experience, but it is always necessary. Ask yourself what do you need to learn more about? If you were a teacher in your dream, you may be dealing with issues of authority. From a spiritual point of view, some believe that in the dream state an individual may travel to an inner plane or the spiritual realm, where they can attend classes that assist in spiritual growth and development.
To dream that you are flying, signifies a sense of freedom where you had initially felt restricted and limited.
To dream that you are flying with black wings, signifies bitter disappointments.
To dream of flying high through a space, denotes marital calamities.
To fly low, almost to the ground, indicates sickness and uneasy states from which the dreamer will recover.
To fly over muddy water, warns you to keep close with your private affairs, as enemies are watching to enthrall you.
To fly over broken places, signifies ill luck and gloomy surroundings. If you notice green trees and vegetation below you in flying, you will suffer temporary embarrassment, but will have a flood of prosperity upon you.
To dream of seeing the sun while flying, signifies useless worries, as your affairs will succeed despite your fears of evil.
To dream of flying through the firmament passing the moon and other planets; foretells famine, wars, and troubles of all kinds.
To dream that you fly with black wings, portends bitter disappointments. To fall while flying, signifies your downfall. If you wake while falling, you will succeed in reinstating yourself.
For a young man to dream that he is flying with white wings above green foliage, foretells advancement in business, and he will also be successful in love. If he dreams this often it is a sign of increasing prosperity and the fulfilment of desires. If the trees appear barren or dead, there will be obstacles to combat in obtaining desires. He will get along, but his work will bring small results.
For a woman to dream of flying from one city to another, and alighting on church spires, foretells she will have much to contend against in the way of false persuasions and declarations of love. She will be threatened with a disastrous season of ill health, and the death of some one near to her may follow.
For a young woman to dream that she is shot at while flying, denotes enemies will endeavor to restrain her advancement into higher spheres of usefulness and prosperity.
Dreaming that you are flying means a sense of freedom where you had initially felt restricted and limited. Dreaming that you are flying with black wings means bitter disappointments.
Dreams of flying are common and most people can recall having flown in a dream or two. There are many ideas as to what this means. Some people believe that flying in our dreams can be an actual out of body experience, that we go to places on this physical plane as well as into the inner planes (mostly the Astral). We have a desire to be free and above all difficulties! The details of your dream will give you clues as to what it symbolizes, if your dream was a spiritual experience or ego based; enjoy it, flying is great!
You first start dreaming of flying when you are 3 to 5 years old. It is a very common dream, though less prevalent in adults. More than one third of the dreaming population has dreamed of flying one time or the other.
* Flying dreams are known to have a positive relationship with relief from tension and nightmares.
* Lucid dreamers tend to have twice as much of flying dreams.
* An intense emotional condition can also trigger off a flying dream
* The dreams are not exclusive to the post flying machines era. They have occurred in ancient times too, as records in dream books
of Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations reveal.
* People with an imaginative personality and creative thinkers have more flying dreams
* Those who fly planes have these dreams, though they rather fly like Superman in their dreams, not in aeroplanes.
What triggers off a flying dream? The reasons offered for these dreams are
* Psychological - The dreamer has had an intense emotional experience
* Physiological - There is a change in the breathing pattern of the dreamer
* Physical - There is an actual physical movement of the bed.
* Precognitive - In preparation of a flying trip
* Consciousness - Awareness of movement around you
To dream that you are floating on air, indicates satisfaction, contentment and acceptance of some situation. You are letting go of your problems and rising above obstacles. You are experiencing new-found freedom and gaining a new perspective on things. Nothing seems overwhelming or too difficult to handle. Alternatively, floating in your dream suggests that you are wandering through life aimlessly with no goals. You are just going with the flow.
To dream that you are floating in water, suggests that you have a handle on your emotions.
To dream that you are floating, but are afraid to move, suggests that you are questioning your own abilities. You are experiencing doubts in yourself.
To dream of floating, denotes that you will victoriously overcome obstacles which are seemingly overwhelming you. If the water is muddy your victories will not be gratifying.
Floating in water can be symbolic of floating on top of your emotions and being in harmony with the unconscious. It an also represent overcoming obstacles. Floating through the air has the same symbolism as flying. In fact, when people dream of flying, they usually dream of floating in the air, rather than moving forward purposefully. Floating usually represents your current feelings of peacefulness and general freedom. On a more negative note, floating could also be symbolic of your aloofness, lack of connection or a need to become more grounded.
To see old classmates in your dream, indicate that you need to draw on your old associations with your former classmates to gain insight in some current relationship. It represents a past lesson that you have learned and is applicable in some aspect of your waking life now.
Seeing old classmates in your dream indicates that you need to draw on your old associations with your former classmates to gain insight in some current relationship. It represents a past lesson that you have learned and is applicable in some aspect of your waking life now.
To dream that you are attending a reception, represents togetherness and social gatherings. The dream may parallel your social calendar. Alternatively, the dream could be a pun that you need to be more "receptive" to some new idea, situation, relationship or person.
To dream of attending a reception, denotes that you will have pleasant engagements. Confusion at a reception will work you disquietude.
Dreaming that you are attending a reception means many pleasant engagements and social gatherings.
To see people you know in your dream, signifies qualities and feelings of them that you desire for yourself. If these people are from your past, then the dream refers to your shadow and other unacknowledged aspects of yourself. It may represent a waking situation that is bringing out similar feelings from your past relationships.
To see people you don't know in your dream, denotes hidden aspects of yourself that you need to confront or acknowledge.
Seeing people you know in your dream means qualities and feelings of those people that you desire for yourself. Seeing people you don't know in your dream indicates hidden aspects of yourself that you need to confront. Seeing people from your past in your dream, refers to your shadow and other unacknowledged aspects of yourself. It can represent a waking situation that is bringing out similar feelings as your past relationships.
To dream that you are at a park, represents a temporary escape from reality. It indicates renewal, meditation, and spirituality. You may be undergoing a readjustment period after experiencing some serious personal conflict or an end to a passionate affair.
To dream that you are lost in a park, indicates your struggles with your career, relationship, or other problem. You may feel alienated by society.
To dream that you are parking your car, represents your desire to settle down. Alternatively, it means that you feel accomplished in your goals and satisfied with your life. If you have difficulty parking the car, then it means that you are in some sort of a rut. You are feeling restless. Perhaps you wished you had taken a different path in your life.
To dream that you parked your car in a non-parking zone, suggests that you are poking your head in places where you do not belong. If you forgot where you parked, then it indicates that you have lost your direction in life. You are going off track.
To dream of walking through a well-kept park, denotes enjoyable leisure.
If you walk with your lover, you will be comfortably and happily married.
Ill-kept parks, devoid of green grasses and foliage, is ominous
of unexpected reverses.
Dreaming that you are at a park, represents a temporary escape from reality. It indicates renewal, meditation, and spirituality. It is also an indication of a readjustment period after a serious personal conflict or an ending of a passionate affair. Dreaming that you are lost in a park indicates your struggles with your career, relationship, or other problem. You may feel alienated by society. Dreaming that you parked your car in a non-parking zone,
Dreaming that someone or something is smaller than usual, represents feelings of insignificance, helplessness and unworthiness. Alternatively, you may be literally trying to "knock" this person down to size. Perhaps it suggests that you or someone in your life has an inflated ego and need to be taught a lesson. Dreaming that you are small and everyone is normal sized, suggests that you are suffering from low self-esteem and/or a sense of helplessness. Perhaps you are being overlooked.
To see a building in your dream, represents the self and the body. How high you are in the building indicates a rising level of understanding, awareness or success. If you are in the lower levels of the building, then it refers to more primal attitudes and/or sexuality.
To see a building in ruins or damaged, indicates that your approach toward a situation or relationship is all wrong. You need to change. Your own self-image may have suffered and taken some blow.
To dream that a building collapses, indicates that you are losing sight of your ambitions and goals. Your pursuit for material gains is failing.
To dream that you or someone fall off a building, suggests that you are descending into the realm of unconscious. You are learning about and acknowledging aspects of your unconscious. Alternatively, it symbolizes your fear of not being able to complete or succeeding in a task.
To dream that you are scaling or climbing a building, indicates that you are getting carried away by your ambitions.
Dreaming of a building, represents the self and the body. How high you are in the building indicates a rising level of understanding or awareness. If you are in the lower levels of the building, then it refers to more primal attitudes and/or sexuality. Dreaming of a building in ruins or damaged indicates that your approach toward a situation or relationship is all wrong. You need to change. Your own self-image may have suffered and taken some blow. Dreaming that you or someone fall off a building, suggests that you are descending into the realm of unconscious. You are learning about and acknowledging aspects of your unconscious. Alternatively, it symbolizes your fear of not being able to complete or succeeding in a task. See also Falling in our Common Dream Themes section.
To see concrete in your dream, represents your solid and clear understanding of some situation. The dream may also mean that you are too unyielding and inflexible.
To see wet concrete in your dream, suggests that some issue or some aspect of your life still remains unresolved.
Seeing concrete in your dream, represents your solid and clear understanding of some situation. The dream may also mean that you are unyielding and inflexible. Seeing wet concrete in your dream, suggests that some issue or some aspect of your life still remains unresolved.
To remember something in your dream, indicates that you have learned something significant from your past mistakes or previous experiences. The dream may also serve as a reminder of something important that is occurring in your waking life. You are so worried that you will forget something that the preoccupation has made its way into your dream.
To dream that you are playing tennis, represents changes or challenges in your life. You need to actively assert yourself and prove yourself time and time again. Alternatively, playing or watching tennis indicates that you are unable to commit to a situation or decision. You are literally going back and forth between two choices. Perhaps the dream is trying to tell you that "the ball is in your court." It is your turn to make the next move.
Since one of the score in tennis is denoted as "love", then the game of tennis may be a metaphor for a romantic relationship or a courtship
Dreaming that you are playing tennis, represents changes and the need to actively assert yourself. You may be feeling the need to prove yourself time and time again. Alternatively, you may be unable to commit to a situation or decision. You are literally going back and forth between two choices. Since one of the score in tennis is denoted as "love", then the game of tennis may be a metaphor for a romantic relationship or a courtship.