Flying Dream Meaning

It can be great fun to fly in a dream. It can even fulfill the innate human desire to break free from the earth and soar in freedom. Flying dreams are much more than wish fulfillment, tho.

Flying dreams mean you’re breaking free from being confined to limited terrestrial thinking. One dreamer can have a flying dream to be shown aspects of their spirituality they didn’t know about. Other dreamers might have flying dreams to encourage them to go to a higher place. Ultimately,  the individual meaning of flying dreams is hidden within context.

The limited nature of dreams affords that your flying dream can mean either of these or neither of these. In this blog I will show you how to figure out what your specific flying dream means.

Collision with Power

One foundational principle of flying dreams is that they’re not usually about the act of flying. We dreamers often think flying dreams are about the act of flying because they’re so memorable and fun. This doesn’t mean the act of flying isn’t crucial to the dream. A dreamer told me a flying dream a few years ago that I found really interesting.

Here’s the dream.

I was running along the ground and jumped in the air and didn’t fall back to the earth, I started to fly instead. I went really high and was able to turn any way I wanted to go as well as adjust my speed and height.

Then I saw power lines, the ones where the lines run along the really tall metal pylons. I was immediately drawn to them and soon realized I was being pulled into them and had no control. When I hit the power lines I got a rally bad shock and was thrown to the ground. I got up, started to fly again and the scene repeated itself over and over. The power lines pulled me into them shocked me and caused me to fall to the ground.

I woke up.

In this dream, the metaphor of going higher means the ability to soar above everyday mundane things of life. The dreamer was able to fly high and maneuver all around before she collided with the power lines. So, what’s the most basic definition of power lines?  They are simply lines that carry power. As soon as the dreamer saw these power lines, she was drawn in by them. She was pulled in so close that she collided with them, which allowed her to access the power they carried.

The most basic definition of that collision with power is that she encountered power in a dangerous way. There is a right and wrong way to access power. Take smartphones as an example. The batteries are always running out and need to be charged. You never see people climbing up those tall pylons carrying power lines to charge their phones. That could kill somebody! We all know the correct way to access power is an electrical outlet.

Interpretation of the Flying Dream

The fact that the dreamer is flying so high gives this dream an additional layer of meaning. Flying in the context of this dream represents spirituality. This is especially true given her height and her ability to control her movements. When we apply the symbol of the power we understand she encounters power as she’s flying high, or practicing her individual spirituality. A direct encounter with this kind of raw power is dangerous in spirituality. It not only causes her to be earthbound again, but also keeps her going in circles.

The interpretation of the dream is simply this: In exploring you’r individual spirituality you’re being drawn to power but access it directly without built-in safety of any kind. Although you’re initially able to go high in your spirituality, it causes you to fall and keeps you going in circles so you don’t make any real progress.

After everything, this dream isn’t about flying at all, but it’s showing the dreamer she’s trying to access spiritual power the wrong way.

What Do Flying Dreams Mean-Psychology?

Dream psychologists tell us flying in dreams means …”we’ve risen above something that had previously been weighing us down, bringing us down, making life hard and heavy.”

This all sounds well and good, yet I’ve discovered flying dreams mean way more than just “a sign you’re feeling weightless in your everyday life.”

Every dreamer I’ve encountered who have told me about a flying dream hasn’t once mentioned they feel heavy, burdened or weighed down. They feel really good and delighted that they’re about to fly. This euphoria comes from the ability to gain altitude and see their life below from a higher level, a higher perspective. Unfortunately psychology isn’t equipped to explore this spiritual side of life.

Here’s an example:

In this dream I ran and tried to catch air. I lifted off the ground and struggled to keep a float falling up and down 5-10 feet high. I flapped and flapped my arms and tried to keep my momentum going. Until I got high enough that if I had fallen I’d be seriously injured. The area between my shoulder blades and at my shoulders joint got tired and sore as I tried to hold my arms against the wind. I was afraid I’d lose my strength and fall. 

Exasperated, I look down and saw my shadow soaring across the dirt. I flapped and flapped until there was a transition. The pressure dispersed lower across my back. I kept flapping hoping to learn how to better fly. Then my legs felt a change and I learned how to relax and glide with minimum effort across the sky. I felt the pressure on my back decrease and I felt myself noticing local updrafts and learning to manipulate my maneuvers by taking advantage of them. I looked down again and my shadow had completely changed into a bird’s. It was strange seeing me fly over another shadow that now belonged to me. I had not only learned how to fly, I had turned into a bird. I looked around and decided I better avoid power lines until I got more skillful.

The psychological interpretation of this dream is: 

    “You’re learning to go with the flow of life instead of wearing yourself out going against it.”

Makes some sense, but there’s so much more hidden within this dream.

Learning How to Fly

This dream speaks more about learning how to fly and navigate through the air than anything. At first, the dreamer is expending great effort, flapping and flapping their wings feeling how much work it is within their shoulders and back. Then something changes within the dreamer’s legs. They learn how to relax and glide with minimal effort. The reason the change begins within the legs is because legs in dreams often refer to how an individual walks through life. Their life walk has changed and they’ve become more relaxed and able to allow local updrafts to carry them along instead of expending so much effort.

The psychological interpretation focuses on this aspect of the dream, but there’s so much more to it.

The fact that the dreamer looks down twice and sees shadows, their own at first, then that of a bird, speaks of the skill at which the dreamer is able to maneuver themselves through the air. What was once difficult and a lot of work is now more natural once you relax.

So what exactly is this dream about? It’s about learning how to rise above the circumstances of life and how better to navigate through it. You can go through life exerting all kinds of effort and stress, or you can relax and soar through life. But there’s also another important message here. The dreamer decides they’d better avoid power lines. This is quite interesting given the first dream we walked together a few paragraphs up.

This dreamer recognized that with this flying ability they are given access to power, and that power can be dangerous when accessed the wrong way. Because of that the dreamer decides to avoid power all together. 

Other dreamers have reported the ability to start flying by simply jumping into the air. Once they are free from the ground and defying gravity, it all become mental for them. This is more of a mental ascent than a spiritual ascent. It doesn’t mean this dreamer isn’t attempting to access spirituality, but that they’re attempting to do it by means of their own mental energy and ability.

Then there are some dreamers who fly by willing it to happen. Take the following dream, for example.

“Often I find it’s like a force of will that pulls me forward in my dreams. In the last year or so, I’ve looked down in a dream to see I’m floating in the air cross legged.”

This dream is very telling. The position in which this dreamer “flies” reminds me of meditation. Notice how the dreamer says they’re floating in the air not flying through the air. Again, this dreamer is ascending higher in a spiritual sense however, they’re accessing it through the force of their own will.

Many, many people have spent their entire lives attempting to reach spiritual heights by their own human effort. This method ends in very little results and often causes exhaustion. Many of us spiritual people have found the Divine reaching down to us and lifting us higher by truly spiritual means that does not and can not originate within ourselves.

Dream Flying and Lucidity

Being able to fly within a dream, go higher or lower, accelerating and decelerating in speed is a sign of dream lucidity. Being lucid within a dream simply means the dreamer has the realization they’re dreaming as well as a certain level of control within the dream. Flying in your dreams can be a sign that you’re entering the lucid dream realm.

I have had a multitude of lucid dreams in the past, and have been able to somewhat experiment with it. Most of the time when I realize I am lucid, the first thing I attempt to do is fly…It’s a thrilling experience to soar the skies.

I’m genuinely curious for you, dear reader, to share your flying dreams. Can you tell you’ve gone lucid? Does it feel like a spiritual experience? Please share your comments below.

EB

                       Here’s more information on Flying Lucid Dreams

    How To Have Lucid Flying Dreams