Dream meaning Dreaming of water

Water in a dream is read first by its state, and the interpreters give it one of the richest readings in the whole science. Clear, sweet water is a good life, lawful provision and knowledge, for the Qur'an says, "We made from water every living thing." Drinking cool, clear water is relief after hardship, faith renewed, or a need met.

Troubled, salty or foul-smelling water is hardship, doubtful earnings or a worry that muddies the days. A river is a powerful man or a ruler, according to its size: crossing it safely is getting past his power, and drinking from it is benefit from him.

The sea is a great ruler or a great matter: sailing it calmly is entering that matter and coming through, and drowning is being overwhelmed by a worldly affair or an authority. A destroying flood is a trial, an enemy or fitna spreading among people. Rain that falls gently is mercy and blessing, and the Qur'an calls rain a mercy sent down after despair. Walking on water is strong certainty of heart.

Washing in clear water is repentance and worry lifted, and a spring bursting from dry ground is relief from an unexpected quarter. Water that frightened you sharpens the warning; water you drank or bathed in without fear confirms the blessing.

The spiritual meaning of water in dreams

Water is life, cleansing and feeling, and in dreams it is the element that shows the state of the soul most faithfully. Still, clear water is a heart at peace and a mind that sees; churning, dark water is emotion stirred up and things not yet understood. Water also moves: it fills whatever shape holds it, it wears down stone, it carries you or pulls you under. How you stand toward the water in the dream, drinking it, bathing in it, crossing it or fleeing from it, is how you stand toward the life and the feeling now pouring into your days.

Biblical meaning of water in dreams

Water runs through the whole of scripture. In the beginning the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; in Noah's day the flood was judgement and the dove's return was mercy; at the Red Sea the waters parted for the people of God and closed over their pursuers. Water in a dream, read biblically, is God's power to cleanse, to judge and to deliver.

The Psalm promises still waters beside which the Shepherd leads, and Isaiah 43:2 gives the word every frightened dreamer needs: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee." Jesus offered the Samaritan woman living water and spoke of rivers of living water flowing from the believer, and Ezekiel saw a river from the temple that brought life wherever it went. Peter walked on the water while he looked at Christ and began to sink when he looked at the wind: so a dream of sinking is fear, and a dream of walking on water is faith.

Water in Islamic dream interpretation: Ibn Sirin

In the dream book that carries Ibn Sirin's name, water is Islam, knowledge and life, and its taste and warmth decide the reading: cool, sweet water is the good of that life, and warm or bitter water drunk in a dream is worry and grief. Giving water to the thirsty is charity and good deeds that last. A well is read in the classical books as a household or a marriage, and drawing sweet water from it is provision coming through that bond.

Water rising into a house until it floods the rooms is a trial or a calamity reaching its people, and water that falls back and leaves the house dry is that trial lifted. Carrying water in a sieve or a torn bag is effort spent on what will not stay.

Jung and Freud on water dreams

Carl Jung called water the commonest symbol of the unconscious. A lake, a sea or a deep well in a Jungian dream is the depth of the psyche, and going down into the water is descending to meet what lives below awareness. Fear of the water is fear of what you will find; swimming easily is a healthy relationship with your inner life.

Sigmund Freud, in The Interpretation of Dreams, observed that birth is regularly represented in dreams by water, by plunging into it or emerging from it, and read many water dreams as images of birth and of the first life in the womb. The two readings meet in one place: water is where life comes from.

Clear, muddy, black and blue water: what the colours mean

Clear water you can see through is truth, purity and a situation you understand. Muddy or brown water is confusion, doubtful earnings or a relationship clouded by suspicion, and it clears when the matter is brought into the open. Black water is a heavy grief or a hidden harm, and when it fills the house night after night it is read alongside the eye and sihr. Deep blue water is calm strength and faith; green water, in a garden pool or a spring, is growth and blessing. Water that changes from muddy to clear in the dream is a confusion resolving.

Floods and rising water

A flood is a force larger than you: a crisis at work, a family upheaval, an emotion that has been held back too long. Watching it from high ground is being spared; being swept away is being overwhelmed for a time; reaching dry land is coming through. A huge wave or a tsunami rising toward you is a change you see coming and cannot stop, and the dream asks you to find your high ground: faith, family and a clear plan. Floodwater entering a city is a trial spreading among people.

Drowning, and being saved from water

Drowning is a matter closing over your head: a debt, a passion or a pressure that leaves no room to breathe. Struggling and reaching the surface is escaping it; being pulled out by someone else is help that arrives in time from that person. Seeing someone else drown is that person in difficulty, and saving them is the help you will give. Drowning and then breathing easily under the water is a sign of surrender to God's decree and finding that it carries you.

Swimming in a dream

Swimming with ease is handling your affairs with skill and moving through feeling without being swamped by it. Swimming against the current is working against the flow of events, and the dream counsels patience; swimming with it is ease. Swimming in clear water is a clean undertaking, and swimming in dirty water is getting involved in a matter that will soil your name. Swimming in the sea, far from land, is entering a large affair, a business or a public role, and the shore you reach is its end.

Water leaking in the house

A leak in the ceiling, a burst pipe or water seeping through the walls is something slipping into the household unnoticed: money draining away, a worry spreading, a secret getting out. Clean water dripping is provision that comes in small steady amounts; dirty water is trouble seeping in. Fixing the leak is closing the gap in time. Water pouring through the roof in a storm is a trial reaching the home from outside, met with patience and protection.

Drinking water and washing in a dream

Drinking cool water to the full is a need met and faith renewed, and it is one of the best things the dream can show. Drinking and still being thirsty is a desire the world will not satisfy. Washing your face is worry lifted and honour restored; washing your whole body is repentance and a fresh start; making ablution is preparation for a matter that will go well. Being given water by a stranger is help from an unexpected quarter.

Water dreams for a woman and a pregnant woman

For a woman, clear water in her house is a peaceful home and lawful provision, and drinking from a clean glass is a happy marriage or one approaching. Muddy water in her kitchen is strain in the household that needs calm and honesty. For a pregnant woman, water dreams are common and full of the image of birth itself: clear, calm water is an easy passage and a safe arrival, and swimming peacefully is the months ahead going well.

Water dreams for a man and a single person

For a man, a river he crosses is a powerful person or a hard obstacle he will get past, and drinking from it is gain drawn from that person's power. A well he draws from is provision through his work or his marriage. For a single person, clear water poured for them is a marriage or a new love approaching, swimming together is a relationship moving freely, and a stormy sea is a choice to be taken slowly.

What does water mean in a dream?

Water is life, provision and feeling. Clear, sweet water is a good life and lawful provision, while muddy or bitter water is hardship, doubtful earnings or worry.

What is the biblical meaning of water in dreams?

Biblically, water is God's power to cleanse, judge and deliver, from the flood to the Red Sea. Isaiah 43:2 promises that when you pass through the waters, God is with you.

What does it mean to dream of a flood?

A flood is a force larger than you, a crisis or an emotion held back too long. Reaching dry land is coming through, and watching from high ground is being spared.

What does it mean to dream of drowning?

Drowning is a matter closing over your head, a debt or a pressure that leaves no room to breathe. Reaching the surface or being pulled out is escape and help that comes in time.

What does dirty water mean in a dream?

Muddy or dirty water is confusion, suspicion or doubtful earnings. It clears when the matter is brought into the open.

What does water mean in a dream in Islam?

Following Ibn Sirin, water is Islam, knowledge and life. Sweet, clear water is lawful provision and a good life, and warm or bitter water is worry and grief.