Dreaming about Iansã: meaning, variations and what science says

What this dream usually points to (and what it does not)

Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.

Dreaming about Iansã is not a punishment, a demand or a warning that something bad is going to happen. In Brazilian religions of African origin, such as Umbanda and Candomblé, Iansã (also called Oyá) is the orixá of winds, storms and lightning, and the dream usually brings exactly those elements: movement, strength and sudden change. It often appears in restless phases, times of quick decisions, or after a night of real thunderstorms.

Read also: Dreaming about storms or lightning and What it means to dream about Iemanjá (and what it does not).

How night and day get into this dream

A classic experiment by William Dement and Edward Wolpert, from 1958, showed that outside stimuli, such as drops of water sprayed on the skin of sleepers, could appear woven into the dream. Thunder, wind rattling the window or rain on the roof enter the scene the same way, and for someone who knows Iansã, the storm outside can take the form of the orixá.

The continuity between waking life and dreaming (Schredl and Hofmann, 2003) completes the explanation: a celebration at the terreiro (a house of worship), a song, an image seen in a procession or a conversation about religion the day before feed the images of the night. See also dreaming about wind.

Sources: Dement and Wolpert, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1958; Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003.

The scenes that show up most in this dream

If what struck you most was the whirlwind, it is worth reading dreaming about a tornado or hurricane too.

See also: Dreaming about a man and Dreaming about a saint statue.

When the dream deserves professional attention

Most of the time, this dream does not point to any problem. If the storm turns into a recurring nightmare, if you wake up in a panic or afraid to sleep, or if a dream of possession leaves a distress that lasts all day, talk to a health professional: frequent nightmares have treatment. See how to have fewer nightmares.

Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.

What dream books say

O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book by L. P. Baçan, has no entry for Iansã, but it does record the wind, the element tradition links to the orixá: in life, difficulties; in love, embarrassments. It is a popular-book reading that keeps only the hard side of the gale.

Freud called this procedure "decoding": each image swapped for a fixed meaning, as in a code. For him, the method fell short because it ignores the dreamer. A devotee who dreams of Iansã on the eve of a festival and someone who has never set foot in a terreiro may have dreams that look alike on the outside and are very different on the inside.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014.

Freud, Jung and faith on this dream

In Freud's psychoanalysis. In the first chapter of The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud gathers accounts of noises and discomforts in the bedroom that get into the dream, like the alarm clock that turns into a bell. A real thunderclap can become the arrival of Iansã. But he would also ask about the rest of the scene: whom she seemed to be fighting with, what change was in the air, what went unsaid the day before.

In Jung's psychology. In Man and His Symbols, Joseph Henderson analyzes the dream of a man watching a drama about a young sailor exposed to the wind and to beatings; the wind there stands for the natural element, and the blows for the adversity created by people themselves. The book also recalls that the hero Red Horn, of the Winnebago people, had as his companion a thunderbird called "storms-as-he-walks", whose strength made up for his weaknesses. In Jung's key, the figure who commands the wind can be read as an image of energy and courage in the face of trials.

In symbols and faith. Chevalier and Gheerbrant, in A Dictionary of Symbols, show that lightning is seen in many cultures as a force at once creative and destructive: Thor's hammer splits the earth, and the club of the Dagda, in Ireland, kills with one end and brings back to life with the other. According to the mythology of the orixás gathered by Reginaldo Prandi, Iansã reigns over winds, storms and lightning, and Xangô over thunder. In popular syncretism, Iansã is associated with Saint Barbara, remembered on December 4.

Bringing both readings together. Science shows how a thunderstorm or a celebration gets into the dream; faith gives meaning to the force that appears there. Writing down the date, the weather that night and the emotion on waking helps you see both things clearly.

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols.

What folk tradition associates with this dream

In popular interpretation, dreaming about Iansã is usually read as a sign of quick change, of courage to face a situation or of a cleansing of heavy energies; seeing her angry, as a call for attention; and her sword, as the cutting away of what no longer serves. Her name also christens a common houseplant, the espada de Iansã or espada de Santa Bárbara (a snake plant), with leaves edged in yellow. These are cultural readings, which vary from terreiro to terreiro and family to family, not guarantees. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.