Drowning

A dream about drowning can be interpreted in multiple ways. Firstly, since water is a metaphor for feelings, it usually means that the dreamer is afraid of being overwhelmed by powerful emotions. If an intense relationship is going wrong, for instance, the person may experience a sinking feeling in their waking life that is subsequently reflected in their dream. If relationships are not the issue, the dream could reflect any situation where the person feels they’ve lost control. Perhaps they are finding it difficult to keep their head above water financially, or feeling out of their depth in some other area of their life.

Secondly, a dream about drowning can sometimes reflect a health challenge. If the person suffers from water retention, the dream could be a warning that their condition is getting worse. It would be wise to see a doctor as a precautionary measure.

Thirdly, drowning may simply mean death; or may be a symbol of death-and-rebirth. Water may be a symbol of the unconscious, so drowning may express a threat or fear of being swallowed up or taken over - overwhelmed - by unconscious forces. If there is such a threat, it will be from repressed and neglected contents of the unconscious. This can be resolved by consulting a friend or psychotherapist.

Fourthly, drowning may also indicate a perceived inability to handle a stressful situation around us at the time of the dream. We have allowed ourselves to be put in a situation over which we have no control. We may be ‘floundering around’ with no way of being able to escape from a difficulty we are in.

Lastly, drowning in a dream signifies the dreamer can no longer hide their feelings about a certain situation. These dreams usually occur when the dreamer is feeling overwhelmed in real life. The dreamer should face their fears and explore what they’re feeling over emotional about. This can be a dream response to losing someone very close. It can also mean that the person feels suffocated or dominated by someone in their life.

In conclusion, a dream about drowning can have different interpretations depending on the individual and their current situation. It may signify overwhelming emotions, a health challenge, the need to face repressed or neglected contents of the unconscious, a perceived inability to handle a situation, or the need to face their fears and explore what they’re feeling over emotional about. It is important to recognize the symbolism in the dream and seek appropriate advice or support if necessary.

(1) If there is some area of your life where you are - or feel - unable to ‘keep your head above water’, this is probably what the dream is about Dreams that follow may tell you what to do about the situation. You can cither change the situation or change yourself, so that you react differently, or remove yourself (physically) from the situation.

(2) Water may be a symbol of the unconscious, so drowning may express a threat or fear of being swallowed up or taken over - overwhelmed - by unconscious forces.

If there is such a threat, it will be from repressed and neglected contents of the unconscious. What have

you been bottling up? Consult a friend or, if need be, a psychotherapist.

See also Flood.

(3) Since water may represent the feminine, your dream may be asking you to do something about a mother-attachment that is stunting your development as an individual in your own right. A man’s failure to free himself from such an attachment (which may be largely unconscious) may have disastrous results in his relations with women - in whom he will always seek his mother. A woman, unlike a man, doesn’t usually have to cope with the effects of an infantile incestuous fixation of her libido on her mother; but both Freud and Rank stressed the crucial influence of the mother on both male and female children: for all infants, male and female, the earliest deep attachment is to the mother, the source of nourishment. Moreover, for the achievement of normal development the female child must - according to Freud - perform the additional task of transferring her libidinal attachment from mother to father. Jung, too, regarded the liberating of oneself from psychological bondage to one’s mother as the first great step in the process of self- realization. (For self-realization) See also Mother.

(4) Drowning may simply mean death; or may be a symbol of death- and-rebirth.

See also Baptism, Death.

Dreaming Lens: Were you drowning in your dream or was someone else drowning? Were you saved? Did you save another? Did you die? Did someone in your dream die? Was it frightening? Was there frantic desperation involved or was it peaceful?

Personal Focus: This image must be carefully considered through the Universal Landscape before adding the Personal Lens. Many people have free-floating anxiety associated with the fantasy of drowning. When this is the case, the universal meaning of peaceful surrender will often be overlooked when considering this as a dream image. No matter how deep your level of fear is around the frightening possibility of an actual drowning, the return to our watery roots and turning one’s self over to the gentle embrace of the weightlessness of water implies a very serene experience from the symbolic perspective.

Water, as a symbol, always connects to the world of emotions. To drown is to die. To die is to sacrifice part of the Self in order to be reborn again. Therefore to drown in a dream is a beautiful transformation that occurs by virtue of giving one’s self over to inevitable emotional processes that lead you to a new way of being in the world. The presence of panic in a dream of drowning is a signal of resistance to the emotional change that is afoot. The more intense the panic, the greater the resistance being expressed. Being able to breathe or, at least, function normally under water is a common dream image. While this is not generally experienced by the dreamer as a drowning dream, the meaning connects to the same concept of grace and ease with emotional overwhelm.