Dreaming About a Waterfall

Ask somebody about a waterfall dream and they describe the noise before they describe the water. That roar, and the sense of standing near something far too large to be stopped, is what nearly every reading is built on. The image has long been interpreted as release: feeling that was held back for a while and is now going somewhere, at a rate nobody is choosing.

Release rather than damage

Older dream books draw a firm line between this and a flood. A flood is water in the wrong place. A waterfall is water going precisely where it has always gone, and only the speed is alarming. That distinction is why interpreters generally treat the falling water as relief, occasionally an overwhelming one, and not as ruin. Many people who dream of standing under it describe waking tired but lighter, which suits the traditional reading and also suits the ordinary fact that the most vivid dreams tend to come late in the night.

Watching, standing under, going over

Position changes the interpretation far more than the waterfall does. Watching from a viewing point is usually taken as feeling acknowledged but not yet properly felt. Standing directly beneath it places the dreamer in the middle of whatever is moving. Going over the edge is conventionally described as loss of control, although a surprising number of people who dream it report exhilaration instead of fear, and their own reaction outweighs the label attached to the image.

Falls you have actually stood at

Anyone who has stood at the foot of a real waterfall carries that day into the dream, and it will usually beat anything a reference book can add. For a person who honeymooned beside one the picture is joy. For a person who slipped on wet rock nearby it is nerves. Whatever association you already hold gets used first.