Throughout history and around the world, people have seen tornadoes as manifestations of God’s will. In the Book of Job in the Old Testament, God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind. In Hosea, the whirlwind is the punishment of the wicked. The fearsome power of tornadoes, and wind in general, is associated with the omnipotence of deities. Because of their shape, tornadoes are also associated with spirals and so carry the weight of the created universe, from galaxies to the human ear. Yet a tornado has a wildness to it that suggests vengefulness and fury.
When a tornado shows up in a dream, it often carries with it the metaphorical meaning of a message from the Divine, or our spiritual selves. Jeremy Taylor has a thorough article on tornadoes on his website, and states that in his extensive experience, “The dream ‘tornado’, over and over again, turns out to be symbol of the dreamer’s own personal relationship to the deepest unasked and unanswered psycho-spiritual questions is his/her life, and these issues always have transpersonal implications as well.” When I dream of a tornado, then, it’s worth asking what questions I’ve been grappling with, or should be grappling with, in my psyche or spirit.
We have many images of tornadoes in our collective awareness, from the one in The Wizard of Oz to the ones that are caught on video by bystanders and tornado chasers and news cameras. It’s easy to see how such an image could influence a dreamer’s night time dreams, especially if those images were first seen at an impressionable young age. But it’s simplistic to “blame” a movie version of a tornado for repeated tornado dreams. Millions of people have seen The Wizard of Oz, yet not every person who saw it for the first time as young child has recurring tornado dreams. A more interesting approach, to me, is to ask why the image captures some people’s imaginations so strongly, while not affecting others. My projection is that the tornado shows up in dreams because, as the dreamer, I have a spiritual calling or a deep issue within my psyche that needs my attention. The tornado gets my attention in a big way, especially if the dream feels nightmarish, and by its intensity suggests that the spiritual question is of the utmost importance in my life.
The tornado in the Wizard of Oz acts as a transformative agent, taking Dorothy out of her familiar life and depositing her in a strange world where she discovers that she has more power than she’d ever imagined. This symbolism holds true in many tornado dreams, where the new, strange world is a metaphorical one, but the dreamer’s ability to discover unexpected abilities and powers is literal.
84 thoughts on “Tornadoes as a Dream Symbol”
Acts 28: 25-27 and Isaiah 6: 9-10 stand out to me as an appropriate answer to your searching. But don’t worry, we can’t change what is coming. It’s too late now. Just pray, share it, and pray for peace in your heart. You’ll be just fine. ♥️
This morning I woke up late even though I set my alarm, it didn’t go off. My dream was very vivid. I was in a very populated area like NY city in a nice office building and many people were there with me. A large storm cell of tornadoes appeared. Many people tried to take shelter but not all of them were safe. The super cell hit many buildings leave a wake of damage. A husband and wife I didn’t know was with me. After the storm was over we ran together to avoid more tornados coming.
We ended up in a hardware style store or warehouse. It was abandoned but full of stuff. There were ladies in the group who were arguing over drinking and if anyone should be doing it. It was ultimately an argument about sin as the storms were coming. The husband with me was telling me to hide in a car as the storms approached and I helped him tape the business Windows to keep the wind out. There were many tornados in my dream and this is not my first tornado dream. I’m always in a very populated area and people are with me who are strangers. So many times in my dreams I’m not myself so I never know what to think. They are getting stronger, that’s all I know.
I had a dream of 3 tornadoes and scary dark clouds also had a dream of red and blood also of the dead that I didn’t know but my grandmother it was terrible I don’t know if it was a warning or what I’m not sure
I dreamed last night that I was back on my family’s land, where I spent a big part of my childhood growing up. Its a place where we held many family gatherings & I always felt safe there. I dreamed it was a lovely day out that instantly turned dark and out of no-where the wind picked up and I could barely keep my balance. I went inside the house and looked out the window- I saw a huge tornado collecting clouds and everthing in its path. Then I ran to the back of the house, looked out the window and there was another one very big that split into two. The house is in the middle of a big open field and I felt cornered with no place to go or hide and immediately thought, this is it for me, I cannot outrun any of these tornadoes. I felt scared and alone and then I started to remember that our grandmother used to tell us that this entire land was blessed & prayed overlong before we were thought of (growing up as kids) and that we never had anything to fear because God was always in control. I stood up & faced the window to watch the Tornadoes literally miss our home but continue to travel towards the dirt road to only then dissapear before my eyes. When I tell you that my faith has never been more re-affirmed that God is always in control and no matter what I have been thru, there was NO need to worry because God has always provided and brought me through my storms.. Well I have had alot of worry on my brain lately about alot of things, work, family, finances, etc… you name it.. I felt that this was Gods way of speaking to me to remind me ( you need not to worry, be still & steadfast).. I woke up with so much peace and actually had a smile on my face driving to work, just thinking about God and how he has always made a way! I hope that this inspires someone!
I dreamed we were out side looking up at the sky from a distance and a tornado started to form. We started to run then it switched up to me being with my ex old best friend who he no longer talks to trying to please him by helping him make money. Very Weird!
I was walking home and as I made it over the hillside I saw two black tornados approaching circling in the distance. I knew I had to find shelter. As I ran to find somewhere I ended up joining a family in their brick house as it would have been a good solid foundation to protect myself. I wasn’t frightened or panicking. I woke up at that point quite calm.
Good Evening,
I was reminded of a dream when I was 5 years old (37 now). I woke from my sleep in my dream and went to the kitchen over looking the back patio/yard. The sky was purple and black and the sky opened up and a tornado moved upward (upside down tornado). From here the memory is fuzzy. I don’t remember if something tried to interact with me or not or my mental state. But I do recall this feeling as though it actually happened.
I remember this being incredibly vivid and shared it with my mother. I wish I could remember more. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks for the article. Been trying to figure out my dream. I was in a city outside when a tornado came, but I wasn’t scared at all. Instead I was helping others to hold onto things so they would’nt fly away. When the tornado came over top of us, it did no damage and everyone was safe holding onto trees.
In my dream last night I was with 2 friends outside at a park. While my friend was telling a story I could see behind him in the distance a street light falling over and could hear it crash (the street light was double the size of a normal one). It was beautiful where we were sunny and hot but in the distance we could see a big white tornado coming. When everyone in the park realized what was happening it became chaotic and people started running away, I could hear warning warning coming from a town speaker. I felt worried as I was running away and in front of me a small boy fell and was laying there, without thinking twice I picked him up and carried him towards his teacher as I was approaching her i could feel that it was close since it was windy but I didn’t look back to see how close it was. When I got to the teacher with the child the dreamed ended. Currently been pretty emotional and overwhelmed in life with many changes taking place, if anyone knows anything let me know.
I have repeated dreams of tornados. Im in a big green open feild in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but mountains. I see the tornado approaching and come across a very old little white wooden church standing all alone on luscious green pasture and i take cover inside it. The tornado passes over the church with me in it but the church is unmoved, unshaken throughout the tornado trying to swallow it whole, as though it isn’t even being touched by the turbulence and the tornado passes over leaving the church and i completely untouched or harmed.
Looking for the meaning of this dream. In the dream I am outside with a group of people some of them family members. All of a sudden a storm approaches, the sky darkens and the windpick begins blowing strong. Everyone starts to run inside this house. I see my family members and I motion to them with my hands and tell them to come on inside. They run inside but the door that they enter leads to a stair case going to the 2nd floor.Before my daughter enters she say. “Wait a minute isn’t there a basement” I looked to the owner asking the same thing where is the basement? Then I looked up at the sky and I saw a huge tornado that split into 3 smaller tornado’s and the tornados seem to have red tails. I remember thinking we don’t have time to find the basement. The dream ended as I was going into the door of the house and I was the last person to enter purposely to make sure everyone else made it in safely.
I had a dream last night that I was sleeping over at someone’s house I didn’t recognize. I woke up, looked out the window and saw large hail falling. I got up to look out the window and there was a gray tornado in the distance. I felt no wind, rain, or even heard it, but we went to hide in a child’s closet in its anticipation of coming our way.
I then woke up.
I just woke up from a dream where there were multiple mini tornadoes chasing me and my family members. Each person was being chased by a tornado individually. Each time it would come for me i would duck and it would miss me by a hair. What does this mean??
I had a dream that I was in my appartment complex parking lot with a few family members (some that I hadn’t seen for a minute, but we were kids but thinking like adults and my mom was there much younger than she is now) and I noticed a tornadic waterspout. In reality, the lot is next to the ocean, but there is a marina and no sand. But in the dream, the lot and the ocean were separated by sand, like an actual beach. We all looked at the moving tornado on the water; it was close enough but we felt no wind or heard nothing. It got closer and I pointed a boat floating around the tornado… weirdly enough, it got closer and the boat turned into an infant high chair (where toddlers or infants eat) but no baby on it. I could see clearly. I wasnt scared and noticed people on the sand just minding their business, almost like they were unaware that it was there. AWKWARD…
Nush, this dream makes me think about the problem of climate change. The boat could be a symbol for all of us being in the “same boat” when it comes to human habitation on the planet, and the high chair feels like a reference to the generation that is being born now, which will have to deal with the impacts more than the older generations. The people who aren’t paying attention could represent the tendency for humans to ignore problems whenever they can, rather than confront them, especially big problems like a changing climate.
THANK YOU Laura! You have a gift°•~▪︎¤○●♡ Give thanks.
Thanks! I’m glad it resonated with you. I hope you stay healthy and keep dreaming!
I had a dream that I was in a house and we heard the tornado warnings, I ran to look out the window and I seen a huge tornado heading straight towards the house and fast. I yelled for everyone to take cover as I ran to find a secure place to hide. As I scrambled to pull things out of a closet the house was shaking and coming apart, the windows were shattering and glass just exploded and flying everywhere. I made my way into the closet but culdnt close the door and as I watched a part of an putter wall collapse I could see outside and I saw the bottom of the tornado approaching and it slowly moved surrounding the house and for a moment it was quite and I could see it It swirling with great strength then the house started to shake again and the noise from the wind was scary loud and then it was gone and the next thing I recall that I was looking for grandma (whom passed away many years ago) and I didn’t understand why but I was looking for my oldest son whom is 17 and I kept saying he’s with my grandma, I sent him to be safe with her and I eventually found her in a room of a house that was in pieces and she was peacefully resting and I heard a voice telling me LUKES not here, here’s somewhere safe and I woke up.
I had a dream last night that a storm was coming so my husband, my son, a friend, and myself went into the bathroom and covered the door with a mattress, the storm moved our house off of his foundation but we all were okay. Our house seemed to be moving or floating around the neighborhood with us in it but our house was the only house that was moved from it’s foundation and everything/everyone around us was acting as if everything was normal. When our house stopped it was laying beside the foundation, we went to talk to someone about fixing or rebuilding the house and we were told we where the only house that wasn’t build on a solid foundation. I also recall my husband walking away and saying he didn’t want to rebuild the home. I can make many assumptions about what the dream can mean but I am not sure.
DE, when I imagine this dream for myself, it makes me wonder what in myself doesn’t feel like it has a solid foundation. Houses are often about the physical body in dreams, but can also represent the waking life home. Perhaps a new foundation is needed.
I had a dream where I had the ability to fly and I couldn’t understand it. It all felt so real… I could shrink to whatever size I wanted but shrunk when trouble was near. At a point in my dream a tornado and babies appeared in my dream.
I dream of tornadoes often – like sometimes a few times a week; not usually in the same place, nor the same tornado or same type of tornado even. Last night, the tornado in my dream didn’t touch the ground and I was only a few feet away from it, inside of a house. Inside the house, were my family and friends, to include my children. All of which I had asked to please get to safety. my parents (in real life) live across the road from me; they did so in my dream last night as well, and after the tornado passed by our home, it went behind my parents home (again not touching the ground) and then quickly back into the clouds, with a ton of rotation still present. It was a wedge tornado (for those familiar with the storms themselves) and it was like a silverish/whitish color (IRL, most tornadoes do not necessarily take on “color” (dark grey, black), until they start picking up debris). Throughout this entire process, I didn’t seek shelter. Instead, I was a bystander, taking pictures! lol This is interesting to me because a) I LOVE the weather and tornadoes fascinate me, so it would be something I’d be likely to do and b) If tornadoes indeed signify Divine change in our lives (I DO believe God communicates to us through dreams, very much), then my being a “bystander” (to me) indicates, I’m at peace with whatever change is coming and not fearful – which in today’s times, is kind of shocking to me with all of this COVID-19 stuff going on. In addition to the tornado, I dreamt of a blue horse (strange right)? I wasn’t riding it. He was just chillin with me in the driveway. Trotting around a truck (I don’t own a truck). Anyway – any thoughts???
I had a dream last night where I was standing at the window of a two story house looking out towards a nearby town, because we were told there was going to be bad weather. As I’m looking out I see one white and gray tornado fall out of the sky and a little further in the distance another and another. In a shocked state I count out 13 active tornadoes on the ground (all in varying size and color) in the town next to ours presumably headed our way. I yell to my mom, there are 13 on the ground. I’m in shock in the dream at this point because there were 13 so we go downstairs to take cover in the small bathroom but there is a water leak and for some reason we don’t shelter there because water is all over the floor and it feels like a dungeon. But for whatever weird reason I wasn’t terrified or full of fear, just shock and awe. After we couldn’t take shelter in the bathroom, that part of my dream ends. The thing that has stuck out to me this morning when I woke up was the tornadoes of course, I’ve never dreamed about them before, but the number 13 which I felt like was significant. I also dreamed about large yellow snakes which is weird for me too! Just trying to understand the meaning of this dream.
I dreamt last night of these stumps that used to be pillars. Three tornadoes revolving each stump in synchrony. The stumps were in the form of a square and each stump at a corner that outlined a square. Each stump also had some sort of line engravings. I recall witnessing this in my dream and it was beautiful. There was something in the middle but I can no longer remember. What does this mean?