Dreams of Flying

Before we discuss flying dreams, let's think about what we mean by the word flying in the context of dreaming. Is it any mode of travel whereby my dream body is not in contact with something solid? Sounds reasonable? This would cover any dream where I was flying or floating  through the air without any mechanical assistance and would exclude those dreams where I was in some form of transporting machine, for example, an aeroplane or helicopter. We're probably right to exclude these forms of flying because they are possible in everyday reality and do not usually elicit any feelings of wonderment. Such dreams are usually about life situations we are currently 'travelling through'. An exception would be those dreams where the form of transport we are using is not possible in reality. So, for instance, if I dream of flying around with mechanical wings on my back or sitting on a magic carpet, I would say that these elements constituted a flying dream. So perhaps we should revise our definition to read, "Flying in a way that is not physically possible in everyday reality." Now we've established what we mean by a flying dream - what does it mean?

Depending on where you go for information, you'll discover a lot of different interpretations. In my dreams, flying usually means that I'm feeling joyful and happy and am experiencing lightness in my life. Sometimes though, the experience is so gloriously lucid and the scenery so vivid that I might conclude that a part of me was actually travelling through another reality in another dimension. Once I dreamed I was floating over open countryside in a hot air balloon. Although this is perfectly possible in everyday life, and was an experience I fulfilled in reality a few years later, the dream had a very numinous, ethereal quality to it causing me to ascribe it as a flying dream. Recent research studies seem to indicate that flying dreams can signify mental recovery after a period of depression or that they signify the integration of a learning experience. This makes more sense to me than the idea proposed by Freud about it revealing a desire to have an orgasm. I'm always drawn more towards metaphorical interpretations, for example "I'm flying high", "I feel light as a feather". But some cultures have seen flying in a dream as a prophetic omen of a death. The Crow Indians, for instance, believed flying dreams meant you were sick. In contradiction of this however, in Central Africa flying dreams meant you were in good health!

Some dream workers have categorised the different flying positions, assigning different meanings to each. I haven't yet found any resource that mentions the way I used to dream fly regularly, which was floating along on my back as if I were doing the dog paddle in water. I have to say though that my floating dreams had a completely different quality to them and were more like "normal" dreams. Usually, when we have a flying dream, the emotion of the realisation that we are flying unaided is so startling that we either wake up or become lucid, i.e. we realise we are dreaming. In my own experience, dreams where I am flying, rather than floating, always take place in a wondrously bright and colourful environment. Whatever interpretation you come across, alway remember the Golden Rule - only YOU can know what your flying dream means. It's not necessarily useful, or advisable, to stick to rigid categorisations or definitions suggested by complete strangers; these should only be used as suggestions - as should what follows below. Use your own interpretation, not someone elses.

Psychological Flying

From a psychoanalytical stand point, it's advisable to first ask yourself what are your own personal associations to the way you were flying in your dream. May be your associations will be on the lines of: bird, freedom, flying high. My associations with the dreams where I was floating on my back, were: floating, laid back, relaxed, resting. Once I was flying on a magic carpet; Arabian Nights, Eastern magic, jewels. You should see from these examples that your associations may be different to mine and, therefore, the conclusions you come to, about the meaning of your dream flight, may also be different. If you take your associations and relate them back into the dream, you should be able to ascertain what the dream was about and how you are experiencing that life situation on a subconscious level. The feeling the dream left you with, will be a clue to this. Most dreams of flying leave us feeling exhilarated and happy. Of course, this is not surprising when you consider that dreams use metaphorical associations to relate their stories. We're hardly going to be feeling low or weighed down by worry if we dream we are flying. Yet if we were feeling bad when we went to bed, but dreamed we were flying, we can be sure that we'll feel better when we wake up.

Spiritual Flying

There are some flying dreams that leave us with a deep sense that we have experienced something out of the ordinary; for instance my hot air balloon ride! Some dream flying experiences seem so real, especially if we gained and maintained lucidity, that it's hard to believe that our soul, or spirit, or astral counterpart, or whatever you want to call it, was not actually flying. Such dreams should be given special attention as they can open the door to healing or spiritual, or religious, transformation.

It's a commonly held belief that we all possess a spirit or dream body and that these sort of dreams may be out of body experiences, (OBEs).  Exploration of these dreams can provide information about the spiritual or psychic landscapes that can be visited and re-visited during conscious relaxation. Even more exciting is the exploration of these landscapes, and the people or animals you meet there, whilst in a state of lucidity. This is true Shamanic dreaming, enabling you to visit other realms of existence, whether these be internal or external landscapes. It may be, at some time in the future, that these subjective experiences will be allowed as empirical evidence that will eventually lead us to a deeper understanding of the totality of human existence.

Copyright J C Harthan (2006)

Man Flying courtesy of www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Flying Fish courtesy of www.cuttergallery.com