Dreaming about water: what is usually behind it

The short answer

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

Water shows up often in dreams because it is part of daily life and because water scenes carry strong emotion, from relief to panic. The kind of water and the feeling that came with it say far more than any table of meanings.

Read also: Dreams about flying: what happens in the brain and Dreaming about death: why it happens and what it does not mean, Dreaming about a swimming pool, Dreaming about a river.

What sleep research has observed

Under the continuity hypothesis, what fills your waking life comes back at night. Heat, thirst, a beach trip, news about a flood or a scare in a pool all feed this content.

Source: Schredl and Hofmann, Continuity between waking activities and dream activities, Consciousness and Cognition, 2003.

When water appears as a threat, with drowning or a huge wave, the dream falls into the threat group, which Revonsuo links to a safe rehearsal of danger.

Source: Revonsuo, The reinterpretation of dreams, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000.

Freud, Jung and faith on this dream

In Freud's psychoanalysis. Freud used water for the simplest example of his theory. Whenever he ate anchovies or olives at dinner, he dreamed before dawn that he was gulping down water: thirst turned into a dream of drinking, and the dream fulfilled the wish so he could stay asleep. He called it a dream of convenience. Chapter I also records an experiment in which a drop of water fell on a sleeping man's forehead, and he dreamed he was in Italy, sweating and drinking wine.

In Jung's psychology. In Man and His Symbols, crossing a river is described as an almost constant image of a fundamental change of attitude. In one dream analyzed in the book, a river of still water showed that the dreamer's flow of life had slowed down. In another, a young man was forbidden to look at the water, where he might discover hidden forces. From Jung's angle, water often speaks of what runs beneath the conscious surface.

In symbols and faith. Chevalier and Gheerbrant boil water down to three themes in A Dictionary of Symbols: source of life, means of purification and center of renewal. Lao Tzu made it the emblem of supreme virtue, because it flows freely and never quarrels. In the Bible, Jesus promises in John 4:14 a water that quenches thirst forever. In the orisha mythology gathered by Reginaldo Prandi, the fresh water of rivers and waterfalls belongs to Oxum, and the sea to Iemanjá.

Bringing both views together. Before looking for meaning, check the body: thirst, heat or a full bladder slip easily into this dream. Then tradition can offer its own question: what in your life is asking for cleansing or a fresh start?

Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols; Chevalier and Gheerbrant, A Dictionary of Symbols; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014; Prandi, Mitologia dos orixás.

Common variations of dreaming about water

• Clear, calm water: usually comes with a good, restful feeling.
• Dirty or muddy water: often shows up in tiring, uncomfortable phases.
• Flood or giant wave: a threat scene, common in overloaded periods.
• Drowning: tends to wake the person up; if it repeats a lot, keep a sleep diary.
• Swimming easily: a pattern close to flying dreams, one of the most reported themes.

See also: Dreaming about a waterfall and Dreaming about fire.

Dreaming about water in dream books

Livro do Sonho, a popular Brazilian dream dictionary, links clear water to the birth of a renewed soul, destined for great moments of happiness. In almost every tradition, water symbolizes cleansing, emotion and new beginnings, and its clarity in the dream is often read as a sign of your emotional state. The Brazilian dream book O Livro dos Sonhos, by L. P. Baçan, reads water as peace and harmony in life and faithfulness in love.

Freud described dream books as a kind of dictionary that translates each image into another with a fixed meaning. Artemidorus of Daldis, author of the oldest complete Greek dream book that has survived, advised looking at the dreamer's life before interpreting. If you see the dream as a message, both paths suggest the same thing: ask what this image brings to mind in your life right now. See dream meanings according to science and culture.

Source: Livro do Sonho, Brazilian dream dictionary; Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014.

Popular beliefs about this dream

In popular reading and in many symbolic traditions, water stands for emotion and life: clear water for calm and fresh starts, murky water for worry, rough sea for conflict. In several religious traditions water is tied to purification and rebirth.

These are cultural readings. They predict nothing and change with region and faith.

A better use for this dream

Ask what you felt inside the dream, not what water "means". Relief, fear, shame and longing usually point straight at what is going on in your life.

See also dream meanings.

Read also: when the water becomes an ocean and giant waves; dreaming about fish; dreaming about rain or floods; dreaming about a bath or shower.