I kept seeing some guy's artwork that was very distinctive style. He was known for painting rainbow butterflies. I had entered a little shop full of his art and I was looking at all of it. He had lots of other colorful paintings, clothes, and other interesting pieces everywhere. This artist was also a part of some band because I ended up on the floor talking to him. I couldn't look at his face when he was talking to me because I was being sucked in by one of his pieces. It was a little side sash with this peaceful buddha face of some woman. She was smiling and crying tears of joy. I moved to another piece which was a butterfly with yellows, purples, greens, and blues. I'm not sure what it was painted on because all of the man's artwork came to life. I remember staring at the butterfly and it took me to another part of my dream.
I was swimming in the fountain in front of some building that was facing an even larger body of water. In there was a giant serpent swimming about. I apparently was apart of some artist league where every artist had some super power. Mine was I could fly. I had silk black wings like a crow. I realized I was kind of an amateur there because I struggled a little to use my power. That struggle was the process of opening the wings out of my back to take off. Once I was in the air flying was no problem. However there was someone in the building putting hazy grey clouds in the air or smoke clouds because I could only fly so high until I couldn't see. There was some kind of pressure that would push me back down.
I kept trying to climb to the top of the building because the higher up I was the easier it was to spread my wings. I remember hanging out with some all white guru man in the building and he kept talking about swimming with the serpent in the large body of water. So, I found myself swimming in the water with the serpent but was trying to challenge me because the serpent was trying to attack me and I would move out of the way. I made a connection with the serpent... Every time I would move out of it's way, I would admire its fierce beauty. There were moments where its scales would shine in the light coming through the water. The serpent knew I was admiring it so, it coiled around me and we began to dance under the water. With no effort at all my wings opened up and I flew out the water as the serpent jumped for me.
If all symbols are really functions and signs of things
imbued with energy, then the serpent or snake is, by analogy, symbolic of energy
itself—of force pure and simple; hence its ambivalence and multivalencies. Another reason for its great variety of symbolic meaning derives from the consideration that these meanings may relate either to the serpent as a whole or to any of
its major characteristics—for example, to its sinuous movements, its common
association with the tree and its formal analogy with the roots and branches of the
tree, the way it sheds its skin, its threatening tongue, the undulating pattern of its
body, its hiss, its resemblance to a ligament, its method of attacking its victims by coiling itself round them, and so on. Still another explanation lies in its varying
habitat: there are snakes which inhabit woods, others which thrive in the desert,
aquatic serpents and those that lurk in lakes and ponds, wells and springs. In India, snake cults or cults of the spirit of the snake are connected with the
symbolism of the waters of the sea. Snakes are guardians of the springs of life and
of immortality, and also of those superior riches of the spirit that are symbolized
by hidden treasure (17). As regards the West, Bayley has suggested that the
snake, since its sinuous shape is similar to that of waves, may be a symbol of the
wisdom of the deeps (4) and of the great mysteries. Yet, in their multiplicity and
as creatures of the desert, snakes are forces of destruction, afflicting all those who
have succeeded in crossing the Red Sea and leaving Egypt (57); in this sense, they
are connected with the ‘temptations’ facing those who have overcome the limitations of matter and have entered into the realm of the ‘dryness’ of the spirit. This
explains why Blavatsky can say that, physically, the snake symbolizes the seduction of strength by matter (as Jason by Medea, Hercules by Omphale, Adam
by Eve), thereby providing us with a palpable illustration of the workings of the
process of involution; and of how the inferior can lurk within the superior, or the
previous within the subsequent (9). This is borne out by Diel, for whom the
snake is symbolic not of personal sin but of the principle of evil inherent in all
worldly things. The same idea is incorporated into the Nordic myth about the
serpent of Midgard (15). There is a clear connexion between the snake and the
feminine principle. Eliade observes that Gresmann (Mytische Reste in der
Paradieserzahlung, in Archiv f. Rel. X, 345) regarded Eve as an archaic Phoenician
goddess of the underworld who is personified in the serpent (although a better
interpretation would be to identify it with the allegorical figure of Lilith, the
enemy and temptress of Eve). In support of this, Eliade points to the numerous
Mediterranean deities who are represented carrying a snake in one or both of their
hands (for example, the Greek Artemis, Hecate, Persephone), and he relates these
to the finely sculpted Cretan priestesses in gold or ivory, and to mythic figures
with snakes for hair (Medusa the Gorgon, or the Erinyes). He goes on to mention
that in Central Europe there is a belief that hairs pulled out from the head of a
woman under the influence of the moon will be turned into snakes (17). The
serpent (or snake) was very common in Egypt; the hieroglyph which corresponds phonetically to the letter Z is a representation of the movement of the
snake. Like the sign of the slug, or horned snake (phonetically equivalent to F),
this hieroglyph refers to primigenial and cosmic forces. Generally speaking, the
names of the goddesses are determined by signs representing the snake—which is
tantamount to saying that it is because of Woman that the spirit has fallen into
matter and evil. The snake is also used, as are other reptiles, to refer to the
primordial—the most primitive strata of life. In the Book of the Dead (XVII), the
reptiles are the first to acclaim Ra when he appears above the surface of the waters of Nou (or Nu or Nun). The demonic implications of the serpent are
exemplified in Tuat, whose evil spirits are portrayed as snakes; however, these—
like the vanquished dragon—may also take on a beneficent form as forces which
have been mastered, controlled, sublimated and utilized for the superior purposes
of the psyche and the development of mankind, and in this sense they correspond
to the goddesses Nekhebit and Uadjit (or Buto). They also become an Uraeus—
the same thing happens in the symbolism of the Kundalini—constituting the
most precious ornament of the royal diadem (19).
As we have said, it is the basic characteristics of the snake which have
determined its symbolic significances. To quote Teillard’s definition of the snake,
it is: ‘An animal endowed with magnetic force. Because it sheds its skin, it
symbolizes resurrection. Because of its sinuous movement’ (and also because its
coils are capable of strangling) ‘it signifies strength. Because of its viciousness, it
represents the evil side of nature’ (56). Its ability to shed its skin greatly impressed ancient writers: Philo of Alexandria believed that when the snake shakes
off its skin it likewise shakes off its old age, that it can both kill and cure and that
it is therefore the symbol and attribute of the aggressive powers, positive and
negative, which rule the world. (This is a Gnostic and Manichean idea of Persian
provenance.) He decided finally that it is the ‘most spiritual of animals’. Jung has
pointed out that the Gnostics related it to the spinal cord and the spinal marrow,
an excellent image of the way the unconscious expresses itself suddenly and
unexpectedly with its peremptory and terrible incursions (31). He adds that,
psychologically, the snake is a symptom of anguish expressive of abnormal stirrings
in the unconscious, that is, of a reactivation of its destructive potentiality. This is
directly comparable to the significance of the serpent of Midgard in Norse mythology. In the Völuspa it is proclaimed that the deluge will commence when the
serpent awakens to destroy the universe (31). For Zimmer, the serpent is the
lifeforce which determines birth and rebirth and hence it is connected with the
Wheel of Life. The legend of Buddha tells how the serpent wound itself round his
body seven times (as in the effigies of the Mithraic Cronos), but, since it could
not crush him, it turned into a youth bowing low before Gautama (60).
The connexion of the snake with the wheel is expressed in graphic form in the
Gnostic symbol of the Ouroboros, or serpent biting its own tail; half of this
mythic being is dark and the other half light (as in the Chinese Yang-Yin symbol),
which clearly illustrates the essential ambivalence of the snake in that it pertains
to both aspects of the cycle (the active and the passive, the affirmative and the
negative, the constructive and the destructive). Wirth comments that the ‘ancient
serpent is the prop of the world, providing it with both materials and energy, unfolding as reason and imagination, and also as a force of the darkness’ (59). The
snake was an important symbol for the Gnostics, and especially for the so-called
Naassene sect (from naas—snake). Hippolytus, criticizing this doctrine, asserted that the snake was said to live in all objects and in all beings. This brings us
to the Yoga concept of the Kundalini or the snake as an image of inner strength.
Kundalini is represented symbolically as a snake coiled up upon itself in the form
of a ring (kundala) (29), in that subtle part of the organism corresponding to the
lower extremity of the spinal column; this, at any rate, is the case with the
ordinary man. But, as a result of exercises directed towards his spiritualization—
Hatha Yoga, for instance—the snake uncoils and stretches up through wheels
(chakras) corresponding to the various plexuses of the body until it reaches the
area of the forehead corresponding to the third eye of Shiva. It is then, according
to Hindu belief, that man recovers his sense of the eternal (28). The symbolism
here probably relates to an ascending force, rising up, that is, from the area
governed by the sexual organ up to the realm of thought—an interpretation which
it is also possible to justify by simple reference to the symbolism of level, taking
the heart as central. In other words, the symbol denotes ‘sublimation of the
personality’ (Avalon, The Serpent Power). Jung has noted that the custom of
representing transformation and renovation of figures of snakes constitutes a
well-documented archetype; and he suggests that the Egyptian Uraeus is the
visible expression of the Kundalini on a higher plane (32). There are also various
rites which accord with this concept of progressive elevation. The progress through
the six chakras—there is in fact a seventh, but it is unnamed and (like the central
point of certain mandala-like patterns) is not represented visually—may be regarded as analogous to climbing up the terraces of the ziggurat or mounting the
steps pertaining to the seven metals in the Mithraic ritual (11). Apart from the
circular (and cosmic) position it tends to take up, and the quality of completeness
which this implies, the snake is frequently related to other symbols. The most
common of these is the tree, which, being unitary, may be said to correspond to
the masculine principle, in which case the ophidian would represent the feminine.
The tree and the serpent are, in mythology, prefigurations of Adam and Eve.
Furthermore, by analogy, we also have here a situation of symbolic Entanglement—the snake curled round the tree (or round the staff of Aesculapius)—and
a symbolic image of moral dualism. Diel, who tends to favour this kind of interpretation, suggests that the snake coiled round the staff or club of the god of
medicine recalls the basic, Biblical symbol of the Tree of Life encircled by the
snake and signifying the principle of evil; the pattern here points to the close
relationship between life and corruption as the source of all evil. Diel goes on to suggest that it is this subversion of the spirit that brings about the death of the
soul, and that this is what medicine must, in the first place, set out to combat (15).
Now, the opposite to the encircling (or triumphant) snake is the crucified
snake, as it is to be found among the figures included in Abraham le Juif (Paris,
Bibl. Nat. Ms. Fr. 14765, of the 16th century) (32). This figure of the reptile
nailed to a cross—or the chthonian and feminine principle vanquished by the
spirit—is also represented mythically by the victory of eagle over serpent. Heinrich
Zimmer recalls that, in the Iliad, an eagle appears to the Greeks, carrying a
wounded snake in its claws. The seer Calchas saw this as an omen portending the
triumph of the Greeks (the masculine and patriarchal order of the Aryans subduing the predominantly feminine and matriarchal principle of Asia) (60). Since all
struggle is a form of ‘conjunction’ and therefore of love, it is hardly surprising that
man should have created a synthesis of opposing powers—heaven and earth—in
the image of the ‘plumed serpent’, the most notable symbol of pre-Columbian
America. This serpent has feathers on its head, in its tail and sometimes on its
body. Quetzalcoatl is another androgynous symbol of this kind (41). The symmetrical placing of two serpents, as in the caduceus of Mercury, is indicative of an
equilibrium of forces, of the counterbalancing of the cowed serpent (or sublimated power) by the untamed serpent, so representing good balanced by evil,
health by sickness. As Jung has shrewdly observed, this much-used image is an
adumbration of homoeopathy—a cure effected by what caused the ailment. The
serpent therefore becomes the source of the healing of the wound caused by the
serpent. This is why it could serve as a symbol of St. John the Evangelist (32) and
appear in association with a chalice.
The different forms which the serpent may take are not numerous. The seaserpent seems simply to emphasize the integration of the symbolism of the
unconscious with that of the abyss (9). If it has more than one head, this merely
serves to add to the basic symbolism, the extra significance corresponding to the
particular number of heads it is given. The dragon or the serpent with seven heads
occurs often in legends, myths and folktales simply because seven represents
multiplication of unity and locates the reptile among the essential orders of the
cosmos. The seven-headed serpent partakes of the symbolism of the seven Directions of Space, the seven days of the week, and the seven planetary gods, and
has a bearing upon the seven sins (9). The three-headed serpent refers to the three
principles of the active, the passive and the neutral. In alchemy, the winged
serpent represents the volatile principle, and the wingless the fixed principle. The
crucified serpent denotes the fixation of the volatile and also sublimation (as in
the Prometheus myth). Alchemists also saw in the serpent an illustration of ‘the feminine in Man’ or his ‘humid essence’, relating the reptile to Mercury (57) as
the androgynous god who—like Shiva—was doubtless endowed with a tendency
towards both good and evil (an aspect also portrayed by the Gnostics in their
twin serpents called Agathodaemon and Kakodaemon) (9). There are also serpents of unusual aspect—the snake with a sheep’s head, for instance, in reliefs on
certain Gallo-Roman sepulchres. In view of the favourable symbolic sense of the
sheep (connected with Aries, spring, initiation and fire), this adaptation implies a
degree of spiritualization (16). Finally, according to Schneider, the sacrificed
serpent is the symbolic equivalent of the swan’s neck and of the swan itself (and
it is by the swan that the hero is wafted heavenwards, plucking away upon his
harp) (50). That is to say, the sacrifice of the serpent (as a life-force) makes it
possible to accept death gratefully (like the swan) and to soar up to higher
regions. Father Heras has suggested that the snake is symbolic of fertility and
destruction and that it is in this sense that it appears on the menhir of Kernuz
(Finistère). It appears in opposition to the arrow in the effigy of the horned god
of Cerdeña (with another head on top alluding to the symbolism of the Gemini).
To see a serpent in your dream, signifies the balance of good and evil.
To see a winged serpent in your dream, denotes wisdom. You have overcome the negativity in your life.
Seeing a serpent in your dream means high intellectual power, deception, and the balance of good and evil. Seeing a winged serpent in your dream indicates wisdom and that you've overcome negative ways.
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 an artist painting a picture, signifies the creative and intuitive side of your character. The picture that you are painting in your dream may symbolize the way that you are visualizing your current situation in your waking life.
To dream of swimming, is an augury of success if you find no discomfort in the act. If you feel yourself going down, much dissatisfaction will present itself to you.
For a young woman to dream that she is swimming with a girl friend who is an artist in swimming, foretells that she will be loved for her charming disposition, and her little love affairs will be condoned by her friends.
To swim under water, foretells struggles and anxieties.
To dream that you are swimming, suggests that you are exploring aspects of your unconscious mind and emotions. The dream may be a sign that you are seeking some sort of emotional support. It is a common dream image for people going through therapy.
To dream that you are swimming underwater, suggests that you are completely submerged in your own feelings. You are forcing yourself to deal with your unconscious emotions.
Dreaming that you are swimming, suggests that you are exploring aspects of your unconscious mind and emotions. The dream may be a sign that you are seeking some sort of emotional support. It is a common dream image for people going through therapy. Dreaming that you are swimming underwater, suggests that you are completely submerged in your own feelings. You are forcing yourself to deal with your emotional difficulties.
If you are swimming in your dream you are most likely swimming through the ocean of your unconscious and through the sea of your emotions. The ease with which you are doing this activity will give you clues as to how well you are navigating through those very complex parts of yourself. Are you out of your depth or winning a race?
In the more general sense, wings symbolize spirituality, imagination,
thought. The Greeks portrayed love and victory as winged figures, and some
deities, such as Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite were at first—though not later—
also depicted with wings. According to Plato, wings are a symbol of intelligence,
which is why some fabulous animals are winged, depicting the sublimation of
those symbolic qualities usually ascribed to each animal. Pelops’ horses, and
Pegasus, as well as Ceres’ snakes, have this attribute. Wings are also found on
certain objects such as heroes’ helmets, the caduceus and the thunderbolt in the
cult of Jupiter (8). It follows that the form and nature of the wings express the
spiritual qualities of the symbol. Thus, the wings of night-animals express a
perverted imagination, and Icarus’ wax wings stand for functional insufficiency
(15). In Christian symbolism it is said that wings are simply the light of the sun
of justice, which always illuminates the mind of the righteous. Since wings also
signify mobility, this meaning combines with that of enlightenment to express the
possibility of ‘progress in enlightenment’ or spiritual evolution (46). In alchemy,
wings are always associated with the higher, active, male principle; animals with out wings are related to the passive female principle (33). It should also be
recalled that, since the foot is regarded as a symbol of the soul (15), the wings on
the heels of some deities, especially Mercury, stand for the power of spiritual
elevation comparable in essence with cosmic evolution. Jules Duhem, in his
thesis on the history of flight, remarks that, in Tibet, ‘Buddhist saints travel
through the air wearing a special kind of shoes known as “light feet” ‘(3).
To dream that you have wings, foretells that you will experience grave fears for the safety of some one gone on a long journey away from you.
To see the wings of fowls or birds, denotes that you will finally overcome adversity and rise to wealthy degrees and honor.
To dream that you have wings, suggest new found freedom. You are on the right track and are soaring to success without limitations. Alternatively, the dream means that you are trying to escape from a difficult situation.
To dream that you have the wings of an angel, indicate your sweet, angelic quality. Or you may be in need of some protection from life's stresses and problems.
To see the wings of birds in your dream, indicates your desire for a freer way of life.
Dreaming that you have wings indicates your sweet, angelic quality. You may be in need of some protection from life's stresses and problems. Or you may be trying to escape from a difficult situation. Seeing the wings of birds indicates that you have overcome your struggle to attain wealth and honor.
Wings are associated with flying, which in turn is associated with freedom and the heavenly domain. Dreaming about wings suggests that you may have a desire to be angelic, have a need for angelic protection, or want to transcend any current difficulties and problems. Consider the mood of your dream and what type of wings you were seeing. Superstition based dream interpretation books say that if you hear gentle flopping of wings you will hear good news. However, loud and powerful flapping of wings is said to be a warning against illegal or immoral activities, specifically those in which money is involved.
Wings are associated with flying, which in turn is associated with freedom and the heavenly domain. Dreaming about wings suggests that you may have a desire to be angelic, have a need for angelic protection, or want to transcend any current difficulties and problems. Consider the mood of your dream and what type of wings you were seeing. Superstition based dream interpretation books say that if you hear gentle flopping of wings you will hear good news. However, loud and powerful flapping of wings is said to be a warning against illegal or immoral activities, specifically those in which money is involved.
This page on the meaning of wings was born out of a class I taught last summer about extracting meaning from dreams.
Some of my students described dreams in which they sprouted their own wings and flew. Others recounted dreams they had of lions with wings. One dreamer even saw a pig with wings (yes, Marcus, pigs really do fly!).
Although the symbolic meaning of wings in dreams is certainly a relevant point to explore, it's not the only bone of contention in our reach for deeper digging.
Consider, mythology gives us oodles of winged beasts in the form of hybrids:
Meaning of Wings on Horses:
Known as pterippi (pteros in Greek means "winged" and hippos means horse). Pegasus is a pterippus, and a magnificent one at that. The symbolic meaning of the horse is pretty intense with themes of power and mobility. The horse alone also carries archetypal themes of unifying grounded stability (four feet on the ground) with higher ideals (from speed and mobility). This theme really comes to life when we add wings to the horse. The pterippus, or winged horse, is a symbol of aspiring to the greatest heights of accomplishment. These beasts embody the concept of harnessing magic in the material plane. That's right, altering the physical matter via nonphysical methods. These kinds of feats are accomplished by swallowing whole the reality of our physical presence and balancing that with our (mostly) nonphysical nature/essence.
That's heavy. To help grasp those implications, Pegasus offers great analogy because of the dichotomy it offers. Grounded by the stability of its body, yet in flight by the ephemeral power of its wings. High and low (mind and body). Pegasus (white in color) stands for clarity of mind, and how clean mental focus combined with stable footing can transform our lives in magical ways. There's scads more about Pegasus to chat about, but this page is on the meaning of wings, not Pegasus. You can learn more about Peggy here on Wiki.
You can also learn more about the enchanting symbolism of the horse here.
Symbolic Meaning of Wings on Lions:
In alchemy, the lion is symbolic of gold - a spiritual quality that is lusciously luminescent and gloriously rich in value. Bling of the heart. Alchemical texts and artwork will depict a lion when a specific magical/spiritual goal is to be achieved.
Conversely, winged eagles in alchemical texts are symbolic of the beginning of a process. Alchemical eagles are symbolic of youth, initiation and the unbridled exuberance felt when launching in a new direction.
So, when we see winged lions (a mix of eagles and lions), it's a message of combination - a juxtaposition between beginnings and endings, fact and potential, the seeker and the accomplished.
Griffins are considered a version of winged lions. They're typically viewed as guardians of sacred places. They're most often seen at the entrances of tombs, protecting the ancient souls of the deceased. I love how this symbolism plays right into the hands of the alchemical lion and eagle. Griffins guarding transitioned souls are at once honoring what has passed and protecting what is yet to be (in the form of evolved spirit - from death to rebirth). Cool, no?
See symbolic meaning of lions here, and more about lions on my blog here.
See symbolic meaning of eagle here.
And, I've written more about Griffins from a Celtic perspective here (last animal sign on page).
Meaning of Wings on Serpents and Dragons:
I'm completely biased about this topic. I love snakes, and most things typically classified as "creepy" or "crawly." So when I encounter party-pooper perspectives of (evil, death, sin, and other nonsense) I throw it right out the window and venture back to a more reasonable perspectives on these magnificent creatures.
For example, I suspect one of the many origins of the winged serpent comes from ancient Egyptian observations of the cobra. The hooded cobra, specifically. When the hood is spread open, it looks a lot like wings. And just like the meaning of wings on the horse and lion, on serpents (cobras) we're also dealing with a theme of duality. The Uraeus (Egyptian cobra associated with the sun god Ra and often seen on headdresses of kings and gods) is symbolic of sovereign rule and the power to take and give life. Life and death is about as polar opposite as it gets.
The winged snake evolved into dragons over time and through nomadic legends into other countries. It shares a lot of the same symbolism of the snake. Power, life, rulership, dominion and a kind of magic that is to be respected (mostly because of its mysterious nature).
Winged serpents and dragons are a paradox. At once a slithery ilk, with bellies pressed lovingly against the soft, yielding Earth - yet with wings, they are creatures of the limitless skies. Like winged horses, this speaks to us of being grounded, while having unhindered imaginations. Feet on the ground, head in the clouds.
See more on symbolism of snakes here.
And, I've written more on symbolism of dragons here and here (dragon totems)
Of course, mythological creatures aren't the only source of wing meanings.
Winged Humans:
Angels, of course. They are divine liaisons. They are messengers with the ability to move freely from the realm of earth-bound matter to the unlimited heavens. They're depicted with human attributes, and so we reason they have human interest at heart. They are gifted with magic and flight, they are creatures of the divine. They live betwixt worlds (indeed, Greeks thought angels were responsible for moving constellations and planets). More duality.
You can learn more about the symbolic meaning of angels here on my blog.
Gargoyles are fabled to be humans who have succumbed to base behaviors (greed, lust and other unsavory aspects of human nature)....like an antithesis to angels, I suppose. But, their wings are symbolic of the ability to overcome these crippling facets of personality. Essentially, gargoyles are the spokespersons (err, or spokes-creatures) for human potential. We've all got wings and inherent ability to glide above and beyond primitive, substandard tendencies. Gargoyles remind us that our conditions cannot determine our divinity.
Symbolic Meaning of Wings in Dreams:
If you're dreaming of wings, it's a clear sign of a desire to rise above a challenge. Dreaming of wings on animals may be a message to overcome base or animalistic qualities. It may also indicate the inner self's desire to escape from undesirable (primitive) living conditions.
Dreaming of wings by themselves may indicate it's time to work on your inner landscape, a prompting to fly into the realms of spirituality. It may also indicate for a spring cleaning of the mind (sweep away rubbish thoughts) and gain clarity in thought about a certain situation that's been troubling.
Dreaming of wings on people (i.e., angels) is a distinct message from the divine. The presence of angels in dreams are a call to pay attention to your environment and glean more information from it. Messages abound, "wake up" and pay attention.
Among the ancients, an emblem of the soul and of unconscious
attraction towards the light (8). The purification of the soul by fire, represented
in Romanesque art by the burning ember placed by the angel in the prophet’s
mouth, is visually portrayed on a small Mattei urn by means of an image of love
holding a butterfly close to a flame (8). The Angel of Death was represented by
the Gnostics as a winged foot crushing a butterfly, from which we may deduce
that the butterfly was equated with life rather than with the soul in the sense of
the spirit or transcendent being (36). This also explains why psychoanalysis
regards the butterfly as a symbol of rebirth (56). In China, it has the secondary
meanings of joy and conjugal bliss (5).
To see a butterfly in your dream, denotes your need to settle down. Butterflies signify creativity, romance, joy and spirituality. You may be experiencing a transformation into a new way of thinking. Or you may be undergoing a transitional phase. Consider the term "social butterfly" to describe someone who is popular and outgoing. Does this describe you? Perhaps you need to be more outgoing. Alternatively, the butterfly is symbolic of longevity.
To see two butterflies in your dream, represent a long and happy marriage.
To catch or kill a butterfly, suggests that you are being too superficial.
To dream that you are mounting a butterfly on frame, symbolizes sexual oppression.
To see a butterfly among flowers and green grasses, indicates prosperity and fair attainments.
To see them flying about, denotes news from absent friends by letter, or from some one who has seen them. To a young woman, a happy love, culminating in a life union.
Dreaming of a butterfly indicates your need to settle down. Butterflies also means creativity, romance, joy and spirituality. You may be undergoing a transformation into a new way of thinking. Dreaming of a beautiful colorful butterfly indicates the positive impression you will make at a future social gathering.
Some say that the butterfly represents the spirit or the essence of the individual: the soul. Butterflies are generally symbols of transformation because they go through a metamorphosis. They are beautiful, evasive, and, at times, inspiring. Your unconscious mind may be pointing out the most positive part of yourself or another.
If you dream that a butterfly is trapped in a room, you may be facing obstacles in waking life.
Butterfly Animal Symbolism
Overwhelmingly, cultural myth and lore honor the butterfly as a symbol of transformation because of its impressive process of metamorphosis.
From egg, to larvae (caterpillar), to pupa (the chrysalis or cocoon) and from the cocoon the butterfly emerges in her unfurling glory.
What a massive amount of transition this tiny creature undergoes. Consider for a moment the kind of energy this expends. I daresay if a human were to go through this kind of change we’d freak out!
Imagine the whole of your life changing to such an extreme you are unrecognizable at the end of the transformation. Mind you, this change takes place in a short span of about a month too (that’s how long the butterfly life cycle is).
Herein lies the deepest symbolic lesson of the butterfly. She asks us to accept the changes in our lives as casually as she does. The butterfly unquestioningly embraces the chances of her environment and her body.
This unwavering acceptance of her metamorphosis is also symbolic of faith. Here the butterfly beckons us to keep our faith as we undergo transitions in our lives. She understands that our toiling, fretting and anger are useless against the turning tides of nature – she asks us to recognize the same.
A quick-list of Butterfly animal symbolism:
Resurrection
Transition
Celebration
Lightness
Time
Soul
Interestingly, in many cultures the butterfly is associated with the soul – further linking our animal symbolism of faith with the butterfly.
In Greek myth, Psyche (which literally translates to mean “soul”) is represented in the form of a butterfly. Befittingly, Psyche is forever linked with love as she and Eros (the Greek god of love, also known in Roman myth as Cupid) shared an endlessly passionate bond together – both hopelessly in love with the other.
Greece doesn’t corner the market on associating the butterfly with the soul. Here are a few other ancient cultures that associated this elegant creature with the soul:
Asian (central)
Mexican – Aztec
New Zealand
Zaire
Even Christianity considers the butterfly a soulful symbol. To wit, the butterfly is depicted on ancient Christian tombs, as Christ has been illustrated holding a butterfly in Christian art.
It’s connection with the soul is rather fitting. We are all on a long journey of the soul. On this journey we encounter endless turns, shifts, and conditions that cause us to morph into ever-finer beings. At our soul-journey’s end we are inevitably changed – not at all the same as when we started on the path.
To take this analogy a step further, we can look again to the grace and eloquence of the butterfly and realize that our journey is our only guarantee. Our responsibility to make our way in faith, accept the change that comes, and emerge from our transitions as brilliantly as the butterfly.
The butterfly symbolizes intuitive transformation and consciousness. It teaches us to make changes to our lives, create new conditions, and make dreams come true. Every new idea and every step towards enlightenment reflects the development of the butterfly. The egg of a butterfly signals the birth of a life or new idea. The larvae stage represents lifes' learning and experiences. The cocoon represents the breaking free of misconceptions and beliefs for expansion. Finally, the hatching of the butterfly symbolizes the beginning of consciousness and new reality. The Butterfly reminds you that you are continually in a state of transformation and all is well.
The butterfly represents transformation and the ability to accept change.
Major transformations and transmutations taking place, outcome is different than expected. Symbol of joy, color, gentleness, lightness, and change in life. Awakens us to dance on the winds of life, teaches that growth doesn't have to be painful, allows us to discover the important issues in life for conscious transformation. Can you discern what is important right now? Don't sweat the small stuff, be joyful and thankful for your blessings.
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.
The symbolism of power has been subjected to an extensive study by
Percy Ernst Schramm in his Herrschaftszeichen und Staatssymbolik (Stuttgart,
1954). Power, as a symbol, represents irradiating force, but it is only latterly that
it has acquired this significance, for in totemistic and primitive times it was
generally understood more in the sense of an image of the forces of nature (and of
the animal world in particular) than as an expression of abstract or temporal
dominion. Hence, the principal attributes of a superior power are simply magnified versions of totemic emblems or of adornments derived from them, such as
necklaces of teeth and claws, hides, head-dresses, horns, and various kinds of
standards exhibiting these objects. It was probably with the dawning of the solar
cult that the diadem—the original form of the crown—came to be adopted as
another attribute of power. The immediate effect of the assumption of power upon the body and the attitude of mind is to confer impassivity, indifference—
either real or affected—and serenity and, equally, a tendency to ‘swell with
pride’. Hence the fascination of the hieratic gesture and its use on solemn occasions. Dynamic movements such as stretching out the arms or nodding or turning
the head may also be executed in a rhythm suggestive of hieratic strength and
calm. Ancient art gave expression to a basically similar attitude towards the
powers of the world. Height above ground-level, and the situation of a particular
symbolic element at the centre of a symmetrical pattern—the Greek Potne Theron
for instance—are further illustrations of power-symbolism, deriving from the
symbolisms of level and of the ‘Centre’. Differentiated expressions of power give
rise to the king, the priest and the military leader, each one characterized by his
respective attributes. The synthesis of power is denoted by ternary symbols
such as the triple crown. Certain other symbols embracing the threefold power,
such as the trident, are generally reckoned to pertain to the infernal regions, but
this has come about rather through the influence of traditional, mythological ideas
than by true symbolic logic. Magic power—a corrupt form of religious power—
is symbolized by the wand and sometimes by the sword. There are also certain
other objects linked with the idea of power, but they are attributes or instruments
rather than symbols proper.
Of great interest is the complex symbolic system behind the emblems of the
Egyptian pharaoh. The double crown denotes Upper and Lower Egypt, but it
also expresses the ideas of the masculine and feminine principles, and of heaven
and earth. Sceptres—straight (the lash) and curved (the crook)—are probably
attributes of cattle-raising and of agriculture respectively; yet at the same time
they denote the straight path (or the solar, diurnal, logical course) and the crooked
path (the lunar, nocturnal and intuitive). The Uraeus beyond doubt symbolizes
the sublimated serpent—raised, that is to say, in height (the kundalini), so as to
become a symbol of strength transformed into spirit or an aspect of power. In
itself, the idea of power embraces the notions of extreme self-awareness and
integrity, defensive concentration of forces, appropriation and domination of the
environment, and effulgence. Hence, to take these ideas in turn, the symbols of
power are names, seals, marks, standards and signs; masks, helmets, head-dresses,
swords and shields; sceptres, crowns, pallia and palaces; and effulgence is expressed by gold and precious stones. Domination also finds expression in such
forms of the quaternary as four-headed sceptres, hermae or thrones alluding to
the cardinal points. The crown, in its most highly developed form, embraces the
diadem or circle and the hemisphere or image of the vault of heavens; and sometimes it denotes the four points of the compass—or suggests them by means of four bands which rise up from the diadem to meet higher up, in the middle,
surmounted by another symbolic motif. The idea of royalty is, of course, linked
with sun-symbolism, and therefore the animals associated with it are such as the
eagle and the lion, and on occasion the dragon. Once Christianity had become the
official religion of the Roman Empire, various Christian symbols of sublimation
accrue to the symbolism of power, notably the crucifix and the fleur-de-lis. The
latter symbol is found in Byzantium, whence it reached Central Europe, Germany, France and the Western world by the 1st millennium A.D.
To dream that you have power, indicates your growing confidence, high self-esteem and increasing skills. Alternatively, your dream of power may try to compensate for a waking situation where you felt powerless.
To dream that you do not have any power, refers to a waking situation in which you felt unable to do anything.
Dreaming that you have power indicates your growing confidence, high self-esteem and increasing skills. Alternatively, your dream of power may try to compensate for a waking situation in which you were powerless. Dreaming that you do not have any power or feel powerless, refers to a waking situation in which you felt unable to do anything.