The appearance of fish in a dream is a surprisingly common dream symbol and one that I have frequently. Fish always evoke a range of emotions in my dreams, as they are powerful symbols that carry with them a lot of spiritual significance.
So, what is the spiritual meaning of dreaming of fish? Dreaming of fish represents your physical and spiritual alignment with the material world. These dreams often represent your beliefs around value, self-worth, and abundance. Fish can appear to communicate your deep beliefs on your mindset around success, your feelings around being deserving, and what you are attracting into your physical world.
Depending on the context of what was happening when you dreamt of a fish, and the emotions you felt during and after your dream, your fish dream can have many different meanings. This article will go over the various meanings of fish dreams.
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Spiritual Symbolism of Fish In Dreams
The symbol of the fish has long been valued for its source of sustenance and spiritual significance. It serves as a placeholder for prolific abundance, limitless creativity and the dangers of desire. It represents the eternal struggle of being a spiritual being with an earthly nature: we have the power to manifest anything we want, but will we manifest a world that reflects our spiritual pursuits or egoic desires?
In Christianity, a popularized symbol for declaring their belief was an Ichthys, which is the commonly seen symbol in modern times on bumper stickers, showing a fish that is made with two intersecting arches.
This symbol represented the dualistic nature of Jesus, being both fully human and fully divine. A struggle that humans have with their own nature as well, having both a spirit and a physical body.
The symbol of the Ichthys also served as a reminder of the story of divine multiplication when Jesus created an abundance of fish and loaves. Fish have remained a spiritual symbol of multiplication, abundance and the power of manifestation.
In the Tarot, the symbol of a fish appears on all of the cup cards in the Royal Arcana. Cups are related to the element of water and represent feelings, emotions, and intuition. The royal arcana represents our own self-governance and set of beliefs. It shows how we make decisions, and who or what those decisions are based on.
Similarly, fish in dreams provides information on the lessons you are currently learning about the realms of your emotion, creativity, and your unconscious.
The questions you can ask yourself after waking up from a fish dream are:
- Are you in control of your feelings or emotions and can you accept them without allowing them to throw you off course?
- Can you lean on your emotional intelligence and maturity to help you navigate the turbulent sea of challenges that life throws at you?
- Do you lean on your core values for strength? Or do you let the whims of your emotional desires or desires of others make you spin out of control?
- Are you allowing your creative pursuits to blossom, regardless of the risks involved? Or are you fearful of others rejecting what you are creating?
- Is the feeling of poverty or a sense of “lack” holding you back from fulfilling your dreams?
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Dreaming of Fish in Water
As a spiritual symbol, fish often represents the element of water. Water is related to feelings, emotions, intuition. Water often appears in very spiritually charged dreams to give you information about your deeper feelings and intuitive insight on something you are processing in life.
Like reptiles and amphibians, fish are cold-blooded animals, which means that their body temperature is dependent on the environment they are exposed to.
The nature of fish adapting to its environment gives a lot of insight into what the spiritual message is when you see or dream of a fish.
The water is the flow of life and the flow of the universe. You adapt to whatever those conditions are, whether it is positive or negative.
The spiritual message of fish in water dreams is to pay attention to your spiritual life, which will give you clarity as to what is pouring over into your physical life.
Paying attention to the conditions of the water, as well as the condition of the fish are both important aspects to look at in fish dreams.
If the water is murky or unclear, it may be a sign that some spiritual detox may be in order, and you do not have enough clarity on an emoitonal matter. If the water is crystal clear, it might be a sign that you are having clear intuitive insight on an emotional matter.
What does it mean to dream of fish jumping out of water?
Dreaming of a fish jumping out of water is an interesting dream, because it brings in the element of air, along with the element of water.
Air is all about mental stimulation and inner-knowledge. There is an aspect of inner knowledge and inner wisdom that you are diving into. It is the connection of body (fish), mind (air), and spirit (water).
Many people have associated dreams of jumping fish as the holy trinity (body, soul, spirit) and a symbol of divine connection.
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Dreaming of Different Types of Fish
What Does It Mean To Dream of Goldfish?
Dreaming of a goldfish often represents abundance, but I often interpret them to mean a hidden gem or unexpected and pleasant surprise.
Goldfish are known to be messengers of good news, so when you dream of a goldfish, you may be receiving a message about a solution to an emotional issue, intuitive insight, or a new creative project.
This may be a new job opportunity, new love interest, or surprising news about a baby.
The message of a goldfish is that in your waking life, be ready to receive whatever unexpected surprises that the universe wants to send you. The time will be right, so receive it with open arms and gratitude.
What Does It Mean To Dream of Koi Fish?
Koi fish are powerfully symbolic animals and are often represented as an animal totem. They represent pride, intensity, confidence, wisdom, inspiration, rebirth, determined and spiritual desire.
Dreaming of a Koi fish invites you to have an open and curious mind. It is with the power of investigation and introspection that you will discover new aspects of your true self. This opens up layers of inspiration and ideas that will lead you towards self-growth.
If you can keep an open mind to all possibilities that may extend beyond what you see in your physical reality, you may be able to unlock deeper secrets of the universe and understand the nature of your intuitive language.
After having a Koi fish dream, in your waking state, go after your impossible dream, and explore the magic of your fullest potential, even if it seems out of reach. A Koi fish is asking you to embrace your inner child and believe that anything is possible.
Here is a video giving a more in-depth explanation of the symbolism Koi fish through various cultures and traditions:
Dreaming of Colorful Fish
When you dream of many different colorful fishes, each fish is asking you to explore a new part of yourself.
This dream is inviting you to go out and explore hidden parts of yourself that you have not yet discovered. For example, sign up for a dance class, an art class, or attend an event that you normally wouldn’t. You can learn a new language or travel to a foreign land.
Every time you stretch outside your comfort zone, you understand a little more about how you handle the unknown. The more you do it, the more resilient you become. And you also may come to learn that you had undiscovered passions in life that will make you feel refreshed and enthusiastic about the endless opportunities in your life.
For example, I once had someone ask me about a dream they had about colorful fish. They were in a boat looking into the water and saw many fish below the surface of the water. They wanted to see the fish closer but were too afraid to get out of the boat.
When asking more questions about their personal life, it became clear that they wanted to find their soulmate, but didn’t know how to or where to begin.
Based on this dream, I suggested that they start to attend events that they are interested in, or go spend more time doing activities that you would like to do with a partner. The message of the dream was that there are many fish in the sea, many opportunities, but you have to get in the water and swim with them.
What Does It Mean To Dream of a Big Fish?
To dream of a big fish suggests you are being tested by the universe regarding how emotionally mature you can remain while being faced with drama and the negativity of others. This is a season to strengthen your ability to set personal boundaries with others, letting others know that you will not take responsibility for other people’s emotions.
This is a period to stay level-headed and in control of your emotions. Use your emotional intelligence to see all sides of an emotional issue before making rash decisions. Lean on the core of who you are to make your decisions, even it means letting people solve their own problems.
A big fish represents the balance between your decision making power and the softer decisions of the heart. You cannot navigate emotional issues by logic alone; you also have to lean on your intuition and your true nature of unconditional love, compassion, and kindness.
This symbol represents leadership and is a sign that you are more emotionally developed than your smaller counterparts. This role is about fulfilling your goals and aspirations but also taking into account how your decisions impact others.
A big fish may also represent master energy that will come into your life, such as a mentor, teacher, coach, spiritual guide, or force you to take on one of these roles that another has assigned to you.
If you dream of a very large goldfish or a large fish covered in diamonds or jewels, this may be a sign that abundance beyond your wildest imagination will soon come into your life.
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What Does It Mean To Dream of Dead Fish?
Dreaming of a dead fish means that you are encountering a lot of doubt when listening to your intuition. You are trying hard to listen to your intuition, but when the messages come through, you are left wondering if it’s your inner guidance or your ego.
The message is to learn to trust your intuition and see where it takes you.
A dead fish in a dream may be showing signs that you are emotionally blocked, overly dramatic, or is manipulative with your vulnerability to get what you want. You may be resorting to emotional outbursts and tantrums to get your way.
Another interpretation of a dead fish dream is showing that your dreams and desires that you want to manifest are not grounded in reality. Those pursuits will lead you to a dead-end or further unhappiness.
When having a dream of a dead fish, it may be a good idea to ask yourself if you are wanting to manifest something in your life because it will make you more spiritually evolved, or is it a distraction to further escape emotional issues that you need to address.
For example, wanting to manifest a bigger house, fancier car or bigger paycheck may make you feel as though those items will bring you more happiness; however, they may be just ornaments to disguise a deeper wound that needs healing.
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What Does It Mean To Dream of a Fish Tank?
Dreaming of fish in a fish tank suggests that you are keeping your creative inspirations and ideas secret. You may worry about exposing your passion projects to others for fear that they will reject it. Or you are suffering from imposter syndrome and don’t feel as though you are capable of being successful.
Instead, you are choosing to keep your plans private so you can develop them further without the influence of others.
On the flip side, you may be over-exaggerating your successes, needing to be validated by others in order to keep the project moving forward.
This is a sign that your inner critic may be working over-time and making you feel self-defeat. It may also mean that others don’t believe you can accomplish your dreams and are telling you to give up.
With fish tank dreams, the issue that is being brought to the surface is about self-imposed limitations or limitations that others are placing on you.
The message is to listen to your intuition to understand if fear is getting in the way and whether it’s time to go for your dreams regardless of the outcome.
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Summary
If you have a reoccurring dream about fish, it may serve you to write it down in a journal and take a moment to reflect on the events or emotional states of your mind in your waking state.
Fish dreams can be summed up in two ways:
- Positive fish dreams often mean: Ready to step forward with creative opportunities, intuitive exploration, curiosity, possibility, emotion maturity and setting emotional boundaries
- Negative fish dreams often mean: Abandoned ideas, doubting your intuition, creative blocks, emotional immaturity, feeling a poverty or “lack” mentality, or feeling spiritually stagnant.
Like everything on this site and on the internet, use your intuition when deciding what symbolism works best with you. While this is one interpretation of the spiritual meaning of a fish, everyone has their own intuitive language. Sit still and listen to your own answers about what your fish dreams mean to you and your spiritual journey.
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