Mermaid Dreams are relatively common. However, it is usually not clear what they mean. To bring a bit of clarity into this huge topic, I’ve done a bit of research into the possible mermaid dream interpretations.
A mermaid in a dream means something different for every person. The meaning depends on your circumstances and personality. For example, it can mean that you have recently met a mermaid, want to be a mermaid yourself, or are overwhelmed by your feminine side.
How to determine which meaning is the right one? In this blog post I will explain how you can find out what meaning your personal mermaid dream might have. I have also written down a few examples of possible meanings of common mermaid dreams.
Mermaid dream meanings
Every person dreams about 2 hours per night, during the so-called REM sleep phases. But why we dream at all is still an unsolved mystery. However, people have been trying to interpret dreams for thousands of years. And so, over time, several approaches to the interpretation of dreams have emerged.
There are 3 major approaches to dream interpretation. In the following table you can see what they are and what a mermaid dream might mean according to these framworks, respectively.
| Approach to dream interpretation | Meaning of mermaid dream |
|---|---|
| Messages or prophecies | There will soon appear a mermaid in my life |
| Psychoanalysis | I am very aware of my femininity or have problems admitting my femininity |
| Scientific explanation | I came into contact with mermaids in my everyday life and I process this in my dream or they appear because I associate something specific with them |
If you google meanings of mermaids in dreams, you will mostly find only dream interpretations that fall into the category of psychoanalysis. However, it would be wrong to think that these meanings would apply to every person and every mermaid dream.
Psychoanalytic dream interpretation was developed in the 1900s to 1930s and deals with the interpretations of a few psychologists who studied the subconscious mind.
However, today’s neuroscience and psychology cannot confirm these interpretations. This is because they are far too general and cannot describe the experiences, feelings and associations of all people in the same way.
Therefore, it is more useful not to reduce dreams only to the mermaid that appears in them, but to look at the dream as a whole. Above all, remember that it is about what the action was and what feelings you feel when you think back to your dream.
You can ask yourself the following questions to help you interpret your mermaid dream:
- In which action was the mermaid involved and what does this action have to do with me?
- What feeling did I have towards the mermaid or in general during the dream?
- Do mermaids have a certain meaning for me personally?
o Am I rather fascinated by them or am I afraid of them?
o Do I really want to be a mermaid myself and do mermaiding, do I already do mermaiding myself or am I not interested in mermaids?
o Am I afraid of the depths of the sea and the creatures that hide there?
o Do I have a longing for the sea?
o Have I recently encountered a mermaid in my everyday life (in real life or in a movie, book, etc.)?
In the next section I’ll show you how important the context is for dream interpretation and give you a few examples of the possible meanings of a few common mermaid dreams.
What mermaid dreams mean according to science
Today it is considered that we dream about the things that occupied us during the day. The brain tries to process these experiences in dreams. This can be all kinds of situations of everyday life, relationships with other people, work, school, studies and so on.
However, the experiences of the day are not only repeated, but old experiences are creatively mixed with new ones. But new elements can also appear in the dream, such as when you dream that you are flying.
Thus, dreaming can also help solve problems that one faced during the day. In addition, dreaming helps store learned material into long-term memory.
Some dreams can be interpreted in a similar way for most people. For example, falling often refers to the fear of losing control or nervousness in a new situation.
But often it is very difficult to interpret dreams based on the individual dream elements, such as a mermaid. That is, people, objects, and environments often say less than the underlying feelings and patterns of action in the dream.
Accordingly, to interpret one’s own dreams, it is usually most helpful to look more closely at the actions and feelings of the dream.
So, for example, if you dream of gliding through the water like a mermaid and feel strong feelings of happiness, it probably means that you feel comfortable and free in the water. Or, that you have recently been mermaiding or are interested in the sport 😀
On the other hand, a nightmare of being chased by a vicious mermaid while swimming, coming closer and closer, can also indicate that you are running away from something out of fear.
The point here, as I said, is to understand the feelings and patterns of action. Fear and running away, for example, often indicate avoidance behavior, such as not wanting to go to the swimming pool, avoiding learning to swim, or running away from something in general.
However, it is very important to keep in mind that the same dream interpretations can not apply for everyone. In order to understand a dream, it is much more important to know what is happening in your life and what kind of personality you have.
Let’s look at a few common examples of mermaid dreams and what they might mean.
Keep in mind, that for all of them, many different interpretations are possible depending on yourself and what exactly happend in the dream. Think about what patterns you recognize in your life and what that means to you.
Dreaming about an evil mermaid
Dreaming about an evil memaid could mean that you are afraid of something specific that might be connected to the water or swimming.
You should think about what exactly the evil mermaid did in your dream. Did she appear in your local swimming hall or where were you? Why do you think she is evil? Did she steal something from you or threaten you? Did you experience feelings of fear, helplessness and why do you think that is?
Dreaming about a baby mermaid
Dreams about baby mermaids could mean that you were torn between two worlds as a baby or child, being symbolized by the human and fish part.
Again, it really depends on the context. What did the baby do? Did the dream take place at your parent’s home or somewhere unknown to you? What did you feel like seeing the mermaid baby? Did you have a feeling of warmth or shock?
Dreaming about killing a mermaid
If you dream about killing a mermaid that could mean that you try to protect yourself from something that is trying to lure you in.
This one especially depends on the context. What exactly was happening in your dream? Did the mermaid attack you and you defended yourself or did you kill it acidentally or even on purpose? Did you feel scared or full of revenge?
Dreaming about a mermaid statue
If you dream about a mermaid statue, you might have visited one recently and now your brain is processing the travel experience.
Did you recently visit a mermaid statue or saw one on TV? What happend with the statue in your dream and how did you feel?
If you still can’t find a meaning for your dream, then it can also help to have a look at the other two dream interpretation approaches.
Even if these cannot be confirmed scientifically, they are still interesting and may also help you in the interpretation of your mermaid dream.
Mermaid dreams as prophecies
Already in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the Greek oracle of Delphi as well as in the rituals of the North American Indians dream interpretations played an important role. It was assumed that dreams were messages transmitted to people when they were asleep.
These were, for example, prophecies and other messages that come to us from outside. Even though this sounds very unlikely, it sure is fun to think about.
If you dream about the appearance of a mermaid, this could mean that a mermaid will soon appear in your life.
Subconcious meanings of mermaids in dreams
In 1900, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud published his book “Interpretation of Dreams”, which strongly influenced our current image of dream interpretation. He was convinced that dreams represent repressed subconscious desires and longings.
Through dreams, he said, one could learn more about how a person unconsciously really perceives his or her life. Thus, it is about the hidden depths of people’s psyche, that is, our inner life. Freud’s approach, however, is often criticized today as being very one-sided.
A similar psychoanalytic approach was taken by C.G. Jung, who in the 1930s described the archetypal primal forms of human beings, which are unconscious but show themselves in dream symbols.
These are symbols of the subconscious, including the part that, according to the psychoanalytic conception, one represses. Suppressed personality traits then make themselves felt in dreams.
The mermaid as a dream image of femininity
The symbol of the mermaid, siren, mermaid etc. is one of the main symbols of the archetype Anima (engl. soul), which represents femininity. It specifically represents personality traits that are often considered feminine, such as empathy and sensitivity.
The anima is described mainly in terms of appearing in dreams of men. According to the theory, men dream of female figures such as mermaids mainly when the man tries to deny or suppress his own feminine traits.
This would then lead to the man not only suppressing these traits in himself and only openly displaying his masculine traits and ultimately developing a hatred for these feminine traits in women as well.
According to C. G. Jung, this creates a mental imbalance, which was also influenced by the expectations in society. These dreams are a kind of warning signals that indicate to the man that these typical female traits are not a bad thing and to accept these traits in order to balance the inner imbalance and to develop further.
So, following this approach, dreaming of a mermaid would mean that women are very aware of or overwhelmed by their “feminine” side and that men suppress their “feminine” side too much.
On many dream interpretation websites you can find interpretations that follow this approach. It is often said that when a woman dreams of a mermaid, she deals a lot with her feminine side.
If she dreams of a mischievous mermaid, i.e. a siren, it can also mean that her feminine side is causing her worries or problems. This is associated with strong emotions such as jealousy.
When a man dreams of a mermaid, it is sometimes interpreted to mean that he feels insecure about the female sex or feels easily seduced.
