Tornado Dreams, anyone else?

Question

I have dreamt about tornados for at least 6 years, it's not a reocurring dream, the tornados show up anywhere. The first time I ever had a lucid dream, I cleared away the black skies with a wave of my hand where I knew a tornado was about to form. I have been lucid dreaming all the time since.. but I still dream about tornados. I usually look off in the distance and I see the tornado, sometimes I know that it will come near but it never directly hits where i'm taking shelter... sometimes I find myself trying to protect others. I often wonder what that tornado is representing and why I always see them in my dreams, far more than any other thing.

Answer 1

To understand a dream, it’s helpful to keep in mind why and how we dream. When we sleep, the body and perception systems are shut down, but the brain stem continues to fire and the cortex remains active. The thoughts that have been most active during waking hours—perceptions, experiences, thoughts and feelings, processed consciously or unconsciously—are still “peaked” and they associate with other images already linked in your cortex. In other words, the brain references this content, but not in a rational way, not using input from the external real world as in waking hours. So the story connectedness isn’t like everyday experience, but rather a strange flow from one image to the next. Therefore, dreams aren’t magical messages to guide our life, but sequences of associated images taken from everyday experiences - thoughts and feelings that matter a lot to us during our waking life. So it’s a mistake to apply one-size-fits-all symbols, such as Freudian meanings or standard “dreammoods” formulas. All you need to do is think about what kind of imagery it is and how it relates to your daily life.

Tornadoes are threats to our safety and well-being, so associating a tornado image in a dream is probably caused by feelings that there are threats to your security in your life. It could be the IRS, a boss, another person, debt...whatever has the potential to disturb the life you have built for yourself. If you have concerns about this - consciously or unconsciously - the feelings will remain active when you go to sleep, causing you to associate the images in your dream sequence.

Answer 2

There appears to be a little somethin somethin threatening your well being. You're harbouring some intense feelings (most likely anger) which actually needs examining, yet, you've managed to keep it "at a distance". (for fear that you may appear as destructive as the torando).

Hurricanes, tidal waves, blizzards, typhoons - all are natural forces of nature. So it is with tornados. Nothing can stop natural forces...they are inescapable and while keeping a safe distance may (on the surface) be working for now, if you don't acknowledge your real feelings you'll eventually be confronted by your own 'inner torando', quite unexpectedley.

You say you've successfully been able to dodge the tornado by taking shelter. In real life, who's sheltering you? And, who are you sheltering? Why and for what reason? Sometimes, what appears safe and secure on the surface is actually quite deceptive.

If you view it from this perspective you can see how your true feelings about a situation in your waking life are clearly mirrored in your dreams.

You can only protect yourself from reality for so long and it looks as though the dream is urging you to take personal responsibility for your emotions and a situation with which you're not genuinely happy about - something which has been bothering you for a very long time (6 years now).

Perhaps confiding in someone you trust, possibly even a counsellor, will give you the outlet you need to help you identify and deal with what is really bothering you. Once you do, these dreams will stop - and perhaps you will gain a new lease on life which will offer you more freedom to be yourself.

It's possible you've been lulled into a false sense of security by another person, a sittuation or even by your own unconscious beliefs - I don't know, but something deep inside you... does know.

Answer 3

Tornadoes are, at their most basic, a concentrated force of nature. In other words, tornadoes are the by-product of alot of things (in nature, forces) coming together and staying together.

Because of this, many natural phenomenon in dreams can represent outside forces and/or influences. A tornado is usually interpreted as being 'destructive', so the dream uses the tornado to represent forces beyond ourselves which we have no control over but which we need to protect ourselves from.

Also, tornadoes don't just happen; which means that many people (like in real like) can see the 'signs' that a tornado is forming. The same is true in dreams; the tornado can be a signal from your brain that a 'storm' is brewing and that you need to start preparing for it. But since the storm is psychological/emotional, it usually means that the problem is seeing a tornado as 'inevitable'.

Let's say the holidays are coming up. That means: relatives visiting, food and decoring needing to be done, supplies need to be purchased, possibly gifts, social and psychological 'pasts' need to be brushed off (are you still upset at Aunt Harriet, or does the thought of your 4 cousins running around give you a migraine already) and any number of related activities or thoughts need to be done.

Such a confluence can create a 'tornado' dream, especially if one feels 'obligated' to participate, which would reinforce the helpless feeling.

Part of what a tornado is meant to do is make us evaluate how 'helpless' we really are. Are we helpless because we really are helpless or are we helpless more because we believe it to be so, and thus have the capability of doing things to 'thwart' its occurence.

The appearance of a tornado can also be triggered by our emotional reaction to one. If you've ever been in the presence of one, or you've ever watched a movie that made a strong impact on you (like Twister), then a tornado is more likely to figure into your dream imagery than someone who isnt prone to them (but, because they live in Florida, is more likely to dream of hurricanes instead.) Your dream imagery takes on the personal 'slant' of the life you live, so two different people can dream of the same exact thing and it can have slightly different or even totally different meanings.

Dream books can start the process of helping you build a dream imagery index, but only you can really interpret it (or accept the interpretation.)

Answer 4

Without going into a long discription, here is my idea:

The tornado represents danger, or something/someone that has the intent to harm you. As you have indicated, you know it is there to harm and you attempt to rid yourself of it (waving the hand).

I believe, in simple terms, that dreams represent something your mind has put on the "back burner". It's been in your mind but hasn't surfaced in your conscious mind yet. I hope I have been of help, and that your dreams are soon resolved.

Answer 5

yea ive had a couple of tornado dreams too they too pop up every now and then. I once had a dream where a tornado was coming and i grabbed it, twirlled it around like a lasso and threw it back to the sky.

Answer 6

Probably a site like http://www.ihadadreamlastnight.com will help you out. There is a lot of content regarding dreams there