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Dreams of Rain – Meaning and Interpretations

What are your feelings about rain? When it’s pouring outside, are you happy or sad about it? The ancient Egyptians were overjoyed about the yearly flooding of the Nile because of the promise of new green growing things. But people living around the Mississippi River in the US feel quite different about it today. They see their annual flooding as a ruinous burden.

It’s the same thing in the realm of dreams. When you dream about rain, it could be a good or bad thing depending upon how you feel about it. This is true during the dream and upon waking up. One thing is certain, however: dreams of rain are some of the most ancient and have existed as long as humans have.

A World of Varying Interpretations

There are several schools of thought in regards to dreams about rain. There’s an underlying religious tone for some people while others come at it from a more psychological perspective. Yet there are those who combine various elements to come up with one cohesive whole.

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So, while it will be difficult to pinpoint an exact interpretation for this kind of dream, there are some things to explore. If you’ve had a dream about rain, it’s important to stay open to the wealth of meanings available.

Rain in Dreams – A General Overview

Because rain is related to water, and water is related to our feelings and emotions, dreaming of rain is typically associated with feelings, desires, and hopes. Because of this, rain dreams are positive, pointing to happiness, good fortune, and prosperity.

Water is also a necessity of life and something that humans can’t live without – when it falls as rain, it appears as a gift from the heavens. If you’ve ever lived through a drought, you know the sense of joy and almost spiritual reverence to see water falling from the sky. This connects rain to blessings and gifts, especially unexpected but well-deserved ones.

However, rain can also be negative in that if it rains too much, there will be floods, which can cause devastation and destruction. Rain can also spoil your plans for the day and can be a downer. If, in your dream, you experienced rain in a negative way, then the rain could symbolize frustrations and foiled plans. The bottom line is that the meaning of the dream will depend on the details – how you felt in the dream, the people in the dream, the location, the activities you were engaged in, and so on.

Religious Implications

rain dream types

Depending on your faith, rain can have a specific meaning or message. For Muslims, Jews and Christians, such a dream can be an answer directly from God or his archangels in regards to a deep, heartfelt prayer you recently made.

In regards to Christians, the Bible tells us that dreams are responses from the Almighty to our prayers and communications with Him. The Bible even makes mention of such a thing in Acts 2:17, 1 Samuel 28:15, Daniel 1:17, Numbers 12:6, and Job 33:14-18.

But the message to interpret from a dream of rain in such a way will rely on any recent prayers (or sins) you presented. This will also include how you felt about the rain in the dream, what you thought upon waking up, and if it was light or heavy.

In the event that it was a storm, that’s an entirely different dream theme altogether. If your dream about rain also involved storms, lightning, or thunder, the meaning is generally more negative, conveying sorrow, impending troubles, or loneliness. 

For Hindus, a dream of rain is more of a direct message about the circumstances surrounding your life. According to Dr. V.K. Maheshwari, a sociology and philosophy professor from College Roorkee, India, dreams are reality and reality is the dream state.

But the interpretation of a rain dream in Hinduism has similar connotations to Christianity and conventional psychology. It could mean you have either a happy, fulfilling life or domestic trouble. But this will depend on if the rain was a gentle mist or an overpowering deluge.

Jungian Theories

However, there’s the Jungian idea of water as an archetype that comes through as rain which equates to fertility. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychoanalyst pioneering in the art of dream interpretation, believed that water in a dream is a vital aspect of the subconscious. From his perspective, this equates to fertility, new growth, and the potential for life.

Modern therapists employing Jung’s theories, like Brian Collinson, place rain as a particular archetype that’s essential to the basis of life. Rain is what nourishes the earth and activates plants and grass to grow. It washes and purifies. But rain can be torrential and destructive too. It can destroy houses, carry cars away and tear down power lines.

So, if you want to take a Jungian approach to this kind of dream, it’s essential to evaluate other things that occurred. Was the rain a good thing in the dream? Were you terrified of the rain? Did the rain destroy things? What kind of rain was it? Was it light and refreshing or was it a total downpour?

Feelings Towards Society

dreams of rain

Alternatively, the views of Calvin Hall are an interesting prospect to consider. He believed dreams of rain indicate a dreamer’s perception and feelings toward the world and society at large.

His “Cognitive Theory of Dreams” written in 1953, takes a very scientific approach to analyze dreams, with a particular focus on ones that involved rain. It was Hall’s belief that rain indicates a person’s feelings about society or the world.

“Although rain had an effect on the dreamer in two thirds of the dreams and is often not accompanied by explicitly mentioned emotions, the negative emotions (48 dreams) outweighed the positive ones (4 dreams) indicating that rain dreams may picture negative conceptions of the world, i.e., the emotionally negative perceptions of their world experiences. However, the large variety of topics in rain dreams also support the idea that rain in dreams might depict a variety of different world-conceptions, from obstacles in waking life to ‘real’ danger.”

For instance, a light and pleasant rain that you enjoy in a dream could mean that you are a happy-go-lucky person, regardless of the troubles and struggles that may come your way. However, if you were stuck in a flood and it influences your ability to move in the dream, you may view society and the world as a heavy burden to wade through.

Blessings and Benefits

One of the most accurate and celebrated mediums in recent history is Edgar Cayce. Many of his predictions and forecasts came through in dreams, all of which he documented well and precisely in his many tomes and journals still kept at his library in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

According to him, rain in a dream generally denotes blessings and benefits. But they can also indicate conditions coming down or lowering. For instance, if someone is a stockbroker, a dream about rain can point to a lowered market, and thus a loss of money.

But depending on other elements in the dream, it could indicate emotions or a release of deep-seated feelings. It can also be a reflection of sadness or grief you experience in waking life, obstacles to achieving goals, a cleansing process, deliverance from a dry spell or it could be as simple as needing to drink more water and your body is telling you through dreams.

In Brief

It’s plain to see, having dreams of rain are common throughout the ages and across many different cultures. But the concept of rain in one’s waking reality combined with spiritual inclinations will be a big factor in what it means to each individual. When you add together the varying schools of thought, it opens up a whole new world of perspectives that are worth taking into account.

The most interesting thing to note and what most people tend to agree on is that rain will directly relate to some aspect of your emotions and its relationship to an emotional experience in reality. Whether it be a prayer you made, a sin you committed, a feeling you have toward society, or depression you’re experiencing, a dream of rain connects to such emotions.

You can also view the interpretations of these dreams about fire and trees.

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Dani Rhys
Dani Rhys

Dani Rhys has worked as a writer and editor for over 15 years. She holds a Masters degree in Linguistics and Education, and has also studied Political Science, Ancient History and Literature. She has a wide range of interests ranging from ancient cultures and mythology to Harry Potter and gardening. She works as the chief editor of Symbol Sage but also takes the time to write on topics that interest her.