Drowning dream interpretation with Tarot symbolism

Tarot symbolism may be used to approach drowning dream interpretation. Let’s see an example of this kind of dream analyzed with the Tarot, according to the OniroTarology method.

Exposition of the dream:

“Two or three days ago I dreamed of drowning, I don’t remember exactly where I was, but I remember there was dirty water (greenish). I was lying on an inflatable mat, and my boyfriend was there, on a boat. I was about to fall asleep and I wondered if my boyfriend would rescue me if I fell into the water. Then I fell asleep and I slipped gently into the water. As I went deeper and deeper under water I tried to struggle to wake up. ”

Drowning dream interpretation

The dream can be interpreted with the OniroTarological spread “Wheel of Fortune” and “Emperor”.

The Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card, may be associated with the recurring drowning dreams. This dreamlike situation reflects a plurality of meaning, which can be summarized as follows:

• The difficulty in “letting things go”.
• Fear of your own unconscious.
• A need to change, to be reborn.
• The need to establish a new, deeper contact with your unconscious.

The motif of green water may help to refine the interpretation. Water is described as “dirty”, and this reveals a relationship that is not at all clear with the unconscious, with one’s fears, with everything that is not known and familiar.

But green is also the color of vegetation, of vitality, indicating that this bathroom in water, although dirty, is actually a source of new life, a chance of rebirth.

We note that the dreamer is on a mat: it is an “amphibious” and precarious support that barely divides her from the so feared water. A further element for our interpretation is given by the dreamer’s boyfriend, who is on a boat: a definitely more stable and secure vehicle! Thus, in the language of the Tarot, we associate this idea with the Emperor. From the context of the dream we associate the boyfriend / Emperor with a hold, a stable situation which the dreamer can cling to in order to save herself from the waters.

OniroTarology and dream analysis

The dreamer has her boyfriend face a proof of love: “I want to see if you save me if I fall in the water”. Evidently, the dreamer has second thought about the boy’s real love and his willingness to give her concrete support in dealing with her problems. This sounds like the cry of a little girl who is afraid of being abandoned by her father and who requires constant attention.

At the same time, the idea of ​​the dream is that the dreamer feels “lost” without the boy by her side, or unable to “survive” in real life without the help of a male support. From this situation arises the feeling of anguish at the end of the dream. Instead of feeling at ease and in harmony in these purifying waters, the dreamer struggles desperately to wake up and re-emerge.

At a deeper level, the figure of the boy / Emperor may be a projection of the Jungian Animus of the dreamer, or the “male” part of his psyche, which concerns the ability to face concrete situations and dangers, material security, etc. It is a part of the dreamer’s personality that must obviously be strenghtened, without always leaning to a man by her side, and this is the deepest meaning of the dream!