river

Dreaming Lens: Were you in, near or on the river? Did it feel safe? Were the rapids swift or gentle? Did you want to cross it? Were you able to cross it? Were you traveling downstream? Were you fighting to move upstream? Was the river running dry? Did you know where it lead to, or originated from? Were there any boats or other people present?

Personal Focus: Any dream that involves water connects to emotions. In the case of a river, the essential meaning relates to the expression of feelings and emotional flow. All rivers eventually deposit their contents into the ocean, the symbol of all that is unconscious. This adds the perspective of emotions that move freely across our conscious awareness as they travel back to their ultimate mysterious source. The intensity of the river’s flow in a dream is a direct barometer of the level of emotionality of your life that is being expressed by this image.

The force of a river can run the gamut from a babbling brook to a torrential powerhouse. The volume of water involved can also vary greatly. A dry or barren riverbed indicates a lack of expression and a desperate need for emotional content. One that is overwhelmed by flooding might point to a situation that may feel dangerous and threatening to the stability in your life. An obstacle that blocks a river, such as a dam, reveals some level of emotional blockage. All of these distinctions will figure prominently into an accurate interpretation.

The underlying message to be considered when a river appears in a dream is that of surrender. Over time, the path of a river has enormous impact on the land surrounding it. With a mind of its own, it carves its way with force and determination. Symbolically, a river would be the emotional experiences in life that rush upon you. While sometimes frightening, if you surrender to them, you will be carried to the next destination on your journey, possibly even your heart’s desire.

Rivers often appear in dreams when you need to let go of things in your life as they are and go with the flow. A river is in charge of the journey it takes you on, often pushing you up against obstacles or inviting you to maneuver around them. The call to action here may indicate a need to trust your feelings, no matter how frightening they may be. Human beings, by nature, resist change and are often overwhelmed by the sense of vulnerability that comes with it. Your unconscious mind may be calling you to relinquish control and move gracefully from where you are to where you are going.

The river can be calm, in flood, or even dried up, representing our state of feeling about our en­ergy, sexuality and emotions—the energy which as anxiety can cause illness, or as pleasure sustain health. Similarly we can drown in the river (drown in despair), float on it, be carried along by prevailing feelings, or cross over, suggesting change or even death. Generally, then, it depicts the feelings which flow through us or we are immersed in; the process of life in our body, connecting with emotions, sexuality and changes of mood, the flow and events of our life or destiny. Being in river: being influenced by or immersed in one’s inter­nal flow of feelings and energies. Crossing river: making great changes.

If one is in the water to cross, it means meeting a lot of emotions in the process of change. Seeing someone cross river feelings about death; same as falling in river. Going against current: resisting one’s own feelings, going against prevailing influences or attitudes; going back to the womb.

Directing a river: channelling one’s emotional or sexual en­ergy. Stagnant river: restrained feelings or sexuality; holding oneself back.

If the river runs through the streets and markets, and if one sees people bathing in it or taking their ritual ablution in it in one way or another it in a dream, such a river then represents the justice of a ruler.

If the river floods the streets, or runs through people’s homes and damages their properties and personal belongings in the dream, then the river represents an unjust ruler, or it could represent an invading army.

If a river flows from one’s house and causes no harm to anyone in a dream, it represents one’s good intentions or deeds.

If one becomes a river in a dream, it means his death. Murky waters in a dream signify worries and fearing a great man. Crossing from one side of a river into another in a dream means dispelling one’s fears or worries. It also could mean severing one’s association with such a man only to meet with another one. Jumping from the middle of a river to the riverbank in a dream means escaping from the wrath of a ruler. Losing something in a river means suffering harm and damages from a ruler.

A river flowing inside one’s house in a dream means prosperity. Ifone sees people drinking from it in the dream, it denotes his generosity and sharing of his wealth with needy people, or it could mean imparting knowledge to others.

If a poor person sees a river flowing inside his house in a dream, it means that he will drive a member of his household out of his house because of an abominable and a sinful act, or adultery.

A river in a dream also means a good deed or a regular income.

A river with murky and putrid waters in a dream represents hell-fire. Seeing one of the heavenly rivers of paradise in a dream means prosperity.

The heavenly river of milk in a dream represents God’s gift of the innate knowledge and criterion which is given to His creation, and it represents submission to His sovereignty and obedience to His commands. Seeing the heavenly river of non-intoxicating wine in a dream meanselation and intoxication from one’s love for God Almighty. Seeing the heavenly river of honey in a dream means knowledge or the Holy Qur’an. Drinking from Egypt’s Nile in a dream means receiving a great wealth, gold and power.

(Also see Euphrates, Kawthar, Walking on water, Water)