Fire is a metaphor for our emotions, the most intense and strong ones, both positive and negative.
We use so many different expressions featuring the element of fire, in order to explain how we feel or how have we understood something. We have ‘burning desires’ and ‘fiery spirits’, we ‘burn from the inside’ out of anger and frustration (or a positive feeling!).
Someone is ‘on fire’ for numerous reasons and one has a flame burning inside their heart. Some of us often ‘play with fire’, putting ourselves to danger. So many of our emotions and conditions are explained through the metaphor of fire.
Fire is one the four elements that in most of spiritual and religious systems represent the essence of life. Fire has been warming us through long, dark and cold winter nights, it gave us tasty food and brought smile on our faces.
The core of our planet is on fire and we are, in a way, on fire, being warm and alive. No flame inside us, no life in our veins.
On the other side, fire can be raging, devastating and dreadful. Wildfire, that mercilessly burns vast areas of forests to the ground, destroys our settlements and takes lives, represents the alarmingly destructive power of fire.
Therefore, fire is a dual symbol. It could be seen both as a positive, life-giving symbol and as a merciless and cruel destroyer.
Fire symbolizes many things, in addition to being a strong metaphor and mirror of our emotions; it stands for creativity and creation, for power and strength, for bravery and fierceness, for glory, purification and light.
On the other hand, fire symbolizes cruelty, death, mercilessness, invincibility, danger, threat, devastation and destruction.
In both metaphorical and practical sense, it is always risky to play with fire. Fire gives us life and takes it, as well. As a symbol, fire is present in all traditions, folklores, cultural conceptions, systems of belief, spiritual and religious paths, for there is no human society that is independent from fire.
Since prehistoric times, fire has been an essential part of our existence. It is featured in numerous legends, mythologies and folktales.
Fire has many meanings in all traditions around the world. Universally, we think of it as beautiful, powerful, incredibly important, but dangerous, at the same time.
Fire warms, but it also burns and it is not easy to manipulate and control fire. In various systems, fire is associated with magic and sorcery and it is connected with the idea of the power of prediction and clairvoyance. Sometimes, it is associated with deceit, mystifying and illusions.
In some societies, fire is used as a medium to communicate with the Other side, in order to understand events taking place or to predict things that are about to happen.
Fire is commonly identified with the power of love and the energy of life.
It also stands for charisma, drive, motivation, ambition and hopefulness; as long as the fire within our hearts burn, we are alive and we are capable.
It has been an overall powerful symbol, present in all of people’s traditions throughout our history, until the day.
Dreams about fire
Dreams about fire are usually related to intense emotions from our waking life. It rarely happens that those are emotions of which a dreamer is unaware, for they have to be strong, in order to be translated as a fire element in dreams.
Dreams about fire are most commonly identified with emotions of anger, fear and strength, in a vast variety of meanings.
For example, dreams about fire could be related to the emotion of anger that comes out of fear or out of grief. It could also reflect the sense of having power over things or exactly the opposite.
There are other equally important concepts, ideas and emotions related to symbols of fire and they include love, lust, passion and desire. Most commonly, fire in that sense reflects unsatisfied romantic desire or simply reflects intense emotions someone has over something or someone in their life.
Fire could also represent transformation, enlightenment and purification. It reflects great creativity and great disaster, sometimes even in the same dream it could have both meanings.
Many times, fire in dreams is a warning sign to be cautious, to take care for yourself, to be more observant, thoughtful and not to rush into things, guided by your fiery heart. There are thousands of meanings and all can be applied to dreams of fire.
In order to understand your dream and make an intimate, deeply personal interpretation, try to remember all the details and see what emotions did the dream trigger, in the first place.
Dreams about fire are pretty common and full of symbolism. In fact, they often carry deep messages and meanings, except in situation when dreams of fire are directly induced by traumatic events (e.g. if a dreamer was caught by fire, if he or she witnessed a large, devastating fire, if their home was burnt down or so).
In all other cases, fire in dream is a metaphor for emotional state of a dreamer. It is a good mirror and a good channel to vent out suppressed emotions or to ease those unleashed.
Fire in dreams can take many forms, if you think about details of your dream. It could be a tiny flame, a candle’s flame, but it could also be a dangerous, threatening and devastating wildfire.
You could only see fire in your dream, sit beside the fire and warm up, but you could also dream about burning, about you being caught with fire or so. Many of fire related dreams could be very disturbing. Let us find out more about specific dreams related to fire motifs.
Dreams about seeing fire
Dreams in which you only see fire are related to your emotions, definitely. The flame or fire you are seeing symbolically represents what you are feeling at the time of your dream.
For example, if you are looking at a candle’s flame, it represents hope. It means you are a bit down in reality, for any reason, but you still believe there are things to be done to improve your situation.
This dream could also be related to feelings of sadness about loss of a dear person. It is your intuitive, inner way to deal with loss, gain hope and heal..
Many of us find it hard to believe someone is gone or has left far away and we feel as we are lost ourselves. The tiny flame in your dreams represents hope for starting over, for new beginnings and new paths.
If you have seen a larger fire, that only means you are growing stronger and that, day by day, you feel as if things will eventually turn out good, no matter the loss.
Dreams about seeing fire and being calm about it means you are in control over your emotions.
On the other hand, dreams about seeing fire could mean you are in danger, that you are feeling endangered by something or by someone. The fire may burn steadily and it does not burn you, but you feel that it should stay that way if it is not possible to shut it down.
Such a dream means you should avoid certain people or certain situations, until things calm down. You will know who that people might be or what situations you should stay away from; just listen to your intuition.
Dreams about sitting beside the fire
Dreams about sitting beside the fire are good, positive dreams, usually full of memories and nostalgia. These dreams are often associated with mixed emotions of sadness and happiness, a bit of grief and hopefulness and a lot of melancholy, not in a negative way.
Dreams about sitting beside the fire also symbolize safety, security, feeling content, calm and serene. The exact meaning depends on your feelings about the dream and of details in the dream.
For example, if you dream about sitting beside the fireplace, in a cozy, warm room on a cold, freezing winter night or day means you feel very content with yourself. You feel as if things have finally got in place.
Perhaps it confuses you a bit and makes you feel anxious and asking yourself what would you do if something goes wrong. The dream suggests you should take a deep breath and relax. Perhaps you have trained yourself to always be on the watch and restless; now it is time to relax and recharge.
Dreams about sitting beside the fire with friends are positive dreams, but they could be related to sadness and longing. You long for times passed by and you wish if you could turn back time and return to days in which you felt incredibly happy.
Maybe you long for a friend that has left or a broken friendship. This is the dream that helps you channel both your memories and your emotions. Such things are always hard to let go, but dreams are a wonderful and helpful channel.
Dreaming about sitting beside the fire outside means you feel alone, but, yet, you still have yourself. It reflects your feelings of being lost and being hopeful, at the same time. You have no one else to rely on, except for yourself. It is sufficient, if not particularly perfect or pleasant.
This dream is a bit sad, but it is not a negative one. It usually occurs in people who came to the point of life where they do not know what to do next.
It also happens to people who have pushed everyone away, either deliberately or unintentionally.
Dreams about wildfire
Dreams about wildfire and people’s homes and settlements burning are disturbing and frightening dreams. It means you feel endangered and threatened on a great scale o that you are about to face big changes.
The actual source of your fear does not have to be a negative one, but you are extremely unwilling to accept something like that.
Dreams about your town or your house burning, or even a forest burning, are dreams about huge transformation and change. They reflect both your need and unwillingness to change or to accept changes.
Dreams about wildfire also represent emotions you feel out of control of, usually anger.
You are either furious about something in your waking life and you do not even try to hide it, but it is so strong that it affects your dreams, or you deeply suppress intense feelings of anger, which is even more scary.
These suppressed emotions are always trying to find the way out; in this case, it happens through a dream about devastating fire.
Dreams about controlling fire
If you dream about controlling fire, such as if you have special powers over the element of fire, means you are a tactful, well-organized, calm and observant person who knows how to deal with things in life.
You feel as if you have all strings in your hands and you do not let negative emotions overwhelm you. You are capable of making balance between positive and negative emotions that are natural and common for all humans to feel. You are in charge of your life and you do not let anyone shake you.
Dreams about controlling fire could also mean you are too strict and stiff in your life. Maybe you are trying too hard to control things that are manageable, but difficult continuously to have them in place.
For example, you try to control how people react, by doing certain things you actually are unwilling to do, because it is stressful.
On the outside, you seem calm and in control, but in fact, you waste your energy. You should be more flexible and sometimes let your heart decide what is good.
Being reasonable over things is cool and useful, but it could make us feel a bit artificial, robotic.
Sometimes, we should let go of that kind of pressure; the truth is, no one is forcing us to feel the way we feel or to do things we do. Open up your heart and let emotions overwhelm you. It is the fear that keeps you so restrained and reserved.
Many people who seem strong are actually afraid of their own emotions, because they do not like the idea of appearing weak. It is in human nature, just keep that in mind.
Dreams about being burnt by fire
If you dream that your whole body is on fire, it must be a terrifying dream experience.
However, such a dream does not have a fully negative explanation; in fact, it could be a very positive dream.
On one side, this dream literally means you are out of control of your temperament and even that you willingly let it take over. You misbehave, you are angry, frustrated and furious and you do not even want to control such feelings.
This dream is a warning sign; it means you will be hurt by your own actions, eventually. Try to calm down and behave yourself.
On the other side, dreams about being caught with fire or burning are dreams that represent transformation from deep within, purification, renewal, rebirth and recharge. Such dreams may be disturbing and they usually occur in people who have faced great difficulties in life and are now starting anew.
It is a dream that helps you face the facts of your reality and start over, renewed and revitalized. It is also a dream of enlightenment, spiritual purification and cleanliness; overall, it is a dream with positive vibrations.
Dreams about burning something
Dreams about burning objects are positive dreams that help us go through difficult phases in life. It usually happens that we dream about burning certain things when we are about to let go of the past, to change something or so.
Even if in reality we are unwilling to do so, dreams about burning things make that easier for us.
Just as in reality a person could burn a photograph of someone who has gone or someone he or she is angry with, in order to let go of negative emotions and move one, dreams about burning things serve the very same purpose.
The exact meaning depends on what objects do you burn in your dream.
Depending on the object, the dream could mean you would like to change something about your personality, to let go of certain habits and improve yourself or that you would like to let certain events or people rest in the past or whatsoever.
In all of the cases, these are dreams of relieving, letting go and starting fresh. They are sometimes hard, but positive.