Water dreams

Afterthought Disclaimer:
I was going to make this thread about just a specific water dream theme I have, but I realized in the middle of typing them up that I have a LOT of water themed dreams that I might want to expand on, so just a general water theme overall seems best.

To clarify off the top, I know the dream symbolism with water and driving into it is generally regarded as symbolizing being overwhelmed IRL with something. Personally, I don't think I am (certainly don't feel like it, anyway) but I am open to the idea that I may feel that way subconsciously. Also, I don't drive IRL (never have) but seem to be a competent one in my dreams.

Since I keep having this recurring theme over the years on a fairly regular basis, I want to describe the overall theme of the dreams where driving into/through a body of water is "normal" in the dream. And maybe get some outside-the-box perspectives on it that anyone may have, too.

In some dreams, a well-marked and busy, well-traveled main road can sometimes have a stretch inexplicably built right through a body of water. Bumper deep, or window edge deep. Not deep enough to completely submerge the car, but deep enough for me and passengers in the dream to wonder just what Einstein thought a road through the pond/swamp/shallow river/etc was a bright idea, it can't possibly be good for the car (lol) There's no panic or fear, just some annoyed people who weren't expecting the "water road" surprise. And there is other traffic, too, which never causes any water movement at all. It's quite the sight to see vehicles driving through water and not making anything beyond lazy ripples.

To the credit of the "designer", these "water roads" are always in a rather pretty area with gorgeous land features & vegetation and astonishingly crystal clear water. If these places existed in real life, I'd be there all day, every day just relaxing.

Other "water road" dreams involve bridges. Which are also always beautifully designed, have spectacular views, and sometimes have a center barrier filled with lush, impressive vegetation (not always, but sometimes) These dreams baffle me at best, because one side has a road clearly on land, while the opposite one typically doesn't. The stream of traffic going to the no-road side never seems fazed at all, and continue on to actual land just fine. It's just a much longer stretch of "water road" than in dreams without the bridges, like that causeway end of the bridge was never built and people just make do with the shallow underwater dirt road.
Approaching the end of the bridge/start of the "water road" sometimes makes me a little uneasy, but most of the time, that unease goes away as soon as I notice the water's insane clarity & calmness.

A common theme with weather for these types of dreams is absolutely perfect weather by my personal standards -- not too hot, not too cold (maybe somewhere around 65*F?) very low dew point/humidity (no clouds and never humid) and a gentle, but noticeable breeze. I've noticed the sun angle to be anywhere between a little after mid-day to a few hours before sunset, and the one closer to sunset is always more "golden hued", for the lack of a better way to put it. Regardless of where the sun is, the blue hue of the sky is always a consistent rich sapphire blue like in (northern) winter.

As for what we/I'm usually doing or going to in these dreams, it runs the gamut. Grocery shopping, picking the kids up from somewhere, date with hubby, driving for the sake of it, etc.

Other dreams with water themes include me being a marine biologist in submersibles doing underwater surveys of previously unsurveyed areas in trenches/around seamounts. These wrack my nerves quite a bit, it's damn dark, cold and the friggin' sub creaks like nobody's business. But that's all forgotten when the exterior light stumbles across some previously unknown deep water behemoth creature. Then we collectively clench orifices and try to GTFO of there as clandestinely as possible, lest we gain the attention of & piss off those giant beasts.

One of my favorites is being in a tropical area where it's littered with thousands of tiny islands set a ways apart from each other, but the water is shallow and you can walk in the water between each one. It's never deeper than thigh-deep, and very clear, warm water. The thing with this dream is I always end up looking at a map book to find my way to whatever island I'm going to, and notice it's Earth, but NOTHING is where it's supposed to be. Absolutely NOTHING, no country is where it should be. No continent has the countries it should have. Since when are Mauritania, Spain, Oman, Laos and New Zealand part of one land mass in the equatorial Atlantic? Lol, the maps definitely don't make sense awake, but make plenty of sense in the dream.

And there's always 2 or 3 new ones added to the mix that I can never remember the names of, they're usually a string of islands or inhabited atolls that do NOT exist IRL. These are always tourism hot spots, too.

For the most part, this "Weird Earth" has very few deep trenches in the oceans, and they're always very remote with no land anywhere near them. The rest of the planet's oceans are never deeper than chest deep ANYWHERE. It's wild, I tell ya, you could literally walk from the beach in one country to a beach in another halfway around the planet and never encounter deeper water.

I have many more general examples, but I think these are enough to start. And I could go into greater depth with specific dream details, but I figure I'll do that if anyone asks me to instead.

So, dream sleuths of ATS, what do you think the reason is for me having such heavy theme of water in my dreams? Growing up near it? Natural fondness for it? (I did spend the better part of my early youth wishing I was a mermaid, I love water & swimming) Something yelling at me from my subconscious that I keep missing?

Also, share your water dreams, who knows, maybe one of us will pick up described elements from someone else's and have a really neat one

a reply to: Nyiah

I had an argument once about the nature of dream symbolism. I was arguing dream symbolism is more often unique in meaning to the individual. They were arguing with me the symbols are more universal in nature.

I think dreams must be interpreted based on what you were feeling at the time.

Also, often, the symbols you are using actually represent other experiences you might be having during the day. Sometimes if you are doing long tedious work it sometimes translates into dream symbols as something you are experiencing in the dream. I just had a really intense water dream the other day. For me, water dreams are usually pretty cool things.

Animals in my dreams are really weird for me. I don't have a dog. I used to. When I experience a really happy dog during the day I have really strange dog dreams. Plus I still have dreams with my dog that died 20 years ago. I was really close to that dog. Her name was Maya. Usually Maya dreams are really good ones!

I think the traditional way of treating large bodies of waters in our dreams is our unconscious mind or the source of our thoughts. Water is kind of the source of our experience from within.

a reply to: dfnj2015

You need another dog!

a reply to: Nyiah

You are a skilled dreamer, water means a passage between different stages of dreamland.

Sometimes i enter and exit the dreamworld via water.

I had quite a few dreams wit water. Mostly flood and muddy I was never drowning (others were, but i never tried to rescue them, nor did others), though i was bathing/swimming/submerging, and i'm not always in the water.
Water and air always at the right temperature too.
I think it's mostly body of water that i dream (lake/sea), versus a river or stream. Maybe once it was a river, but the flood made it too big for a river?

it sounds like to me that you are comfortable with your feminine side - since water symbolizes femininity, womanhood, and the like. And you're comfortable because the water is never too deep, and has the right temperature. You'd be drowning if you felt overwhelmed with something in real life
I think the ones in which you are a marine biologist is an unfulfilled wish

a reply to: Nyiah

I see your core element is Water, this is why you see water everywhere and in all sorts of forms, ice, snow, dew, etc.

In the dreams as you explained the other traffic doesn't seem to affect the water that much i.e. no one else can control water the way you would. You have to embrace the fluidity of the experience, find yourself with the connection you make with the water. The water guides you on your path, while others may be annoyed by the water around them, you have to be one with it and seek the true meaning behind the experiences. Stop fighting the water or trying to control it, let it flow through you.

My core element is Fire. Although I don't dream of Fire everywhere, but I have had dreams of extreme energy coursing through my body, I had a dream of my past life where I used the core element of Fire. I think embracing your true potential is everything and then looking at this world through a different perspective.

Share your wet dreams here.