FISH

Water is the element in which fish live, so there may be a strong emotional factor in a dream about fish; fish can also represent unconscious insights, as the unconscious is often represented by the sea, the fish being ideas flitting through it. According to Jung, fish are symbols used in the dream to mimic impulses that suddenly dart out of the unconscious and which have a frightening or redeeming effect in waking life. In the realm of sleep, fish are considered harbingers of inspiration and creativity, so a fish or schools of fish glimpsed beneath the surface often represent unconscious material or truths hidden within yourself. To dream of a fish’s eye symbolizes a watchful and diligent nature, but to see a dead fish signifies a worry about the way you interact with others. Is your lack of emotional warmth turning you into a cold fish? If you dreamed of a fish leaping out of the ocean before returning to the waves or fish caught in the net and brought to the surface, this may indicate the brief emergence of intuition.

If the fish are dirty, injured or ugly, this doesn’t mean that you are too; it just means the phase you’re currently in may be painful and tough. This is a time for patience and gentleness with yourself.

If fish are swimming just below the surface, they may represent the wisdom you have not yet brought to consciousness in waking life, whilst dead fish in your dream may suggest you have failed to express your basic urges or emotions. If, in your dream, the fish are in an aquarium, this may refer to aspects of your personality that are prevented from expressing themselves, or constricting emotional conditions in general. The dream may also refer to aspects of yourself that need to be nourished emotionally; a goldfish bowl may simply suggest boredom or a lack of privacy or confidentiality.

If you dream of a fish that needs your care, it is likely that you are a creative, sensitive person who has become trapped in a lifestyle that inhibits self-expression. According to Freud, fish are a phallic symbol because of their elongated shape, and, because females spawn hundreds of eggs, he also associated them with fertility.

The symbol of Pisces in the Zodiac is a fish, and dream fish may perhaps be reminding you of a person you know born under that sign. The fish is also one of the oldest symbols of Christianity, so a dream of a fish, fishing or eating fish may also reflect your desire for spiritual nourishment. Fish may also appear in your dream as messengers telling you that something does not feel right, that something ’smells fishy’; alternatively, they may be telling you that you are feeling misplaced or you don’t belong, like a ’fish out of water’. A fish on a hook may suggest accepting something completely, without hesitation or question; but be attentive to what being a ’wet fish’ means.

See also PETS.

Universal Landscape: Ideas that swim in the unconscious.

Dreaming Lens: What was the container for the water that housed the fish? Was it natural or man-made? Was it the ocean? Was it clean and clear? Were the fish colorful? Was there one fish or an entire school? Did they feel dangerous or innocuous? Was the fish out of water? Was it dead? Was it being consumed as food?

Personal Focus: Bodies of water represent the unconscious mind. Below the surface and invisible from land is all the material that we are unaware of in our day-to-day lives. Most of the content of the unconscious mind is emotional in nature as symbolized by the ocean. The beings that inhabit these waters are the thoughts that swim freely about their watery habitat. Some are quite close to the surface while others dwell at depths of almost unimaginable darkness. This is also true of our unconscious thoughts. There are thoughts that are accessible from the surface and those that must be fished for, but that can be caught with intention and effort. Still others are completely inaccessible.

The size of the fish correlates to the scope of the idea being represented. Schools of fish are individuals that move in the same direction, so the more fish there are, the more agreement or concurrence of thought is being expressed. Fish that are colorful and interesting might indicate creative ideas that want to be expressed. The food chain of larger fish eating smaller fish is symbolic of the way ideas grow and get bigger in our minds. Fish that are dangerous or poisonous can relate to negative or destructive thinking.

Fish in a tank may be the ideas from your unconscious of which you are actually becoming aware. Containing them in a tank can indicate that you are ready to act on them, but containment could also indicate being stuck in a cycle of limiting your creative expression. A live fish out of water reacts violently. In a dream, this often symbolizes the awkwardness surrounding vulnerable expression. Eating fish is to experience satisfaction from the constructive use of your ideas and thoughts.

If your dream involves the act of fishing, there is an entirely different interpretation to consider. The act of fishing is the search for an idea that matches a particular desire. The process requires the proper tools, an element of attraction (bait), and the most important ingredient—patience.

(Sea life, Human being) In a dream, if their number is known, fish represent women, but if their number is not known, then they represent money from a doubtful source. Ifone sees a fish colony gathering at seabed, where he is fishing, bringing them up and eating them raw as he pleases, or ifhe places them into baskets and divides them into lots in the dream, it means that he will prosper and invest his wealth in different ventures and savings plans.

A whale in a dream represents the minister ofsea life, while the sea itselfrepresents the king or the country.

A whale in a pond with his jaws opened in a dream represents a prison.

A large fish colony in a dream represents despised earnings, or earning a large amount money one is accountable for its expenditure. Fishing in a well means homosexuality, or it could represent someone who tries to tempt his servant or his assistant to indulge in a loathsome act. Ifone sees himself fishing in murky waters in a dream, it conveys evil, sorrows, or distress however it may happen.

If one sees himself fishing in clear waters in a dream, it means money or hearing nice words or conceiving a son, while fishing in salty waters in a dream means difficulties. Ifone sees himselffishing with a fishhook in a dream, it means excitement, pleasure or losing benefits.

A soft skin fish in a dream means benefits for someone intending to trick or to swindle people’s money. Mostly fishing with a pole and a fishhook in a dream means difficulties or slow coming benefits, or a slow and loose business. Any large cyprinoid freshwater fish or a barbel fish (cyprinus bynni, barbus) in a dream denote positive benefits for someone intending marriage or to enter into a business partnership. Seeing a herring or any of its clupeid type fish in a dream represent evil work or toiling for something one will never get.

A fish in the pond in a dream is also a sign of benefits, though may be little benefits. Seeing dead fish floating in the water in a dream has an ominous connotation, or they could represent a hopeless case. Takingfish from the water and eatingthem alivemeansprofits, or an appointment to a high raking position in wakefulness. In a dream, if a sick man or a traveller finds fish in his bed it also connotes bad or a painful sickness or suffering from arthritis, or he may drown because he would be sleeping with them. Seeing sea fish covered with salt in a dream means lasting richness, because fish are preserved in salt, or it could mean burdens. Ifone’s wife is pregnant and he sees a fish coming out of his male organ in a dream, it means that his wife will beget a son.

If a fish comes out of his mouth, then it means speaking ill of a woman. Afried fish in a dream means that one’s prayers will be answered. Abroiled fish in a dream means travels or seeking knowledge.

A large fish in a dream means money, while a small fish means difficulties, burdens and stress, because it carries more spikes than meat, beside, small fish are more difficult to eat. Mixed sized of different kinds offish in a dream represent money, trouble, liking social events or mixing with all types of people, the good and the bad ones. Buying a fish in a dream may mean marriage. Eating a rotten fish in a dream means pursuing adultery and avoiding a lawful marriage. Ifone sees himself attempting painstakingly to catch a whale in a small pond in a dream, it means money that he will fight for, though he cannot get hold of it without having to cross major obstacles.

If one finds a pearl or two in the belly of a fish in a dream, it means that he will marry a rich woman and conceives one or two sons with her.

If he finds a ring in the belly ofthe fish in a dream, it means that he will gain authority and might. Finding fat in the belly of a fish in a dream means acquiring money from a woman. Seeing oneself fishing on a dry land means committing adultery, a sin, or it could mean hearing good news. Catching a fish with excessive bones and scales denotes the necessity to pay one’s dues or to distribute alms tax on one’s liquid assets, because one cannot enjoy his catch unless he first cleanse it. Seeing sea fish swimming toward sweet waters, or river fish swimming toward the sea in a dream means hypocrisy, falsehood or the rise of an innovator or an impostor.

If one sees fish swimming on the water surface in a dream, it means ease in attaining his goals, exposing secrets, unveiling hidden past, reviewing old books or redistributing an old inheritance.

If one sees fish that have the look ofhuman beings in a dream, it means business, trading or meeting with an interpreter, or a translator, or associating with people of good character.

If such fish with a human face look beautiful, then one’s companions are good. Otherwise, if the fish look ugly in the dream, then it means that he has associated himself with evil companions.

If one sees an aquarium in his house filled with all types of catfish, or angelfish or similar fish that live in a home aquarium in a dream, it means being charitable or taking care of orphans or adopting children.

If one sees himself reaching with his hand to the bottom of the seabed to catch fish in a dream, it means that he will acquire extensive knowledge in his profession and prosper from his trade. Otherwise, it could mean that one will become a spy.

If the sea opens and unveils its treasures, and ifone catches a goldfish from its belly in the dream, it means that God Almighty will reveal new spiritual knowledge to him in order to help him understand his religion and to receive guidance.

If the goldfish leaves his hand and returns to the sea in the dream, it means that he will join the company of righteous people and saints from whom he will learn about the inner spiritual knowledge, or that he will find a good companion for ajourney he intends. Ifone eats a fish without cleaning or cooking it in a dream, it means that he will speak ill of his own friends, slander his associates, commit adultery, acquire money from trickery and falsehood, or become inflicted with a dangerous disease or suffer from a stroke. Ifone sees fish on the shore rather than in the water in a dream, it means that he may change his profession.

The different types of fish in a dream representhuman beings and their professions. Afish in a dream also couldmean that death will take place where it is found, because of the departure of its soul, its stench, weight and one’s responsibility to bury the deceased. Eating a fish in a dream also means receiving easy, lawful and enjoyable earnings.

(Also see Meat)