What does a fish that swims, gets caught or floats in a dream mean?

Symbolism and Culture

In Mesopotamia, the god Oannes, half fish half man, came out of the sea each day to teach men writing and laws: wisdom came from the depth, and returned to the depth. In India, Matsya, the first fish of Vishnu, tows Manu's ship across the flood: the fish as savior of submerged worlds. In China, the carp climbs the falls of the Dragon Gate: the one who succeeds in the leap becomes a dragon, and the fish became the emblem of examinations and perseverance, its name, yu, also a homophone of abundance. In Ireland, the salmon of wisdom held all the knowledge of the world: whoever tasted it received the science of the ages, and the young Fionn took only one bite, by accident. The first Christians, for their part, recognized themselves in the fish: the Greek word ichthys hid the acronym of their faith, and the fish engraved on the walls designated their own without saying a word. Dreaming of a fish thus connects the dreamer to this tradition of depths: the science that comes from the water, the abundance that circulates, the faith that hides.

Psychological Interpretation

For Jung, the fish is one of the oldest inhabitants of the unconscious: what lives in the water describes what lives in the depths of the psyche, contents ripening far from the eyes and rising when their hour arrives. A fish appearing in the dream often signals a content surfacing: an emotion taking shape, a project taking form, a memory rising. Catching it is bringing a content to consciousness: the catch at the end of the line describes an intuition seized, a choice being made. But the fish is not easy to hold: what comes out of the water struggles, and the catch can escape if gripped too tightly. Freud, for his part, linked the fish to fertility and desire: the animal that spawns by the thousands, water as the element of the momentum. Dreaming of fish in great numbers can thus carry a fertile period: ideas, occasions or desires multiplying. A clear water, meanwhile, describes transparent emotions; a murky water, feelings not yet seen. The way the fish swims, lets itself be caught or escapes says more than its species.

Spiritual Dimension

Spiritually, the fish is the messenger of the depths. It lives in the element man does not breathe: water as the image of the invisible world, and the fish as what lives there and returns from it. The first Christians made it their sign: the fish drawn in chalk designated the believers without exposing them, the identity that hides to protect itself. The Quran tells of two catches: that of Jonah, swallowed by the fish that carried him three nights in its belly, the deepest darkness as refuge, and the prayer from the bottom, 'there is no god but You', that brought him out. And that of the young servant of Moses, whose fish came back to life in the water: the loss regaining itself, and the place of the encounter one was looking for. Matsya, the fish of Vishnu, tows the ark across the flood: the saving of submerged worlds. Dreaming of a fish can thus accompany a crossing: a period of darkness preparing to rise, a loss regaining itself, a faith said in a low voice. It invites, finally, to the discretion of the fish: what is precious is kept in the water, feeds in the calm, and only shows itself in its season.

Dream Situations

• Dreaming of fish in clear water signals transparent emotions: the inner life is seen without detour and circulates without trouble.
• Dreaming of catching a fish translates a content rising to consciousness: an intuition seized or an opportunity caught.
• Dreaming of a fish escaping your hands evokes an occasion held too tightly: what comes out of the water struggles.
• Dreaming of a dead fish signals an emotion that went out: a project that stopped ripening, a vitality running out of breath.
• Dreaming of a big fish evokes a content of size: an imposing emotion or a challenge taking form.
• Dreaming of swimming with fish symbolizes the accord with your depths: your emotions carry you instead of drowning you.
• Dreaming of an aquarium evokes contained emotions: an inner life observed behind a glass, held but exposed.
• Dreaming of a shoal of fish translates a fertile period: ideas or occasions multiplying.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What does catching a fish in a dream mean?

• What does a dead fish in a dream symbolize?

• What about a big fish in a dream?

• Why dream of fish in clear water?

Questions and Answers