What does it mean to dream that you are flying?
Dream traditions disagree about flying dreams. Freud tied them to childhood pleasure in being lifted and, in his later reading, to sexual excitement. Jungian analysts read them as an image that depends on how the flight felt and what the dreamer was rising above.
Last reviewed October 20, 2026
What each tradition says
Psychoanalysis, Vienna, from 1900
Freudian dream theory
Freud traced flying dreams back to the pleasure of being lifted and swung by adults as a child, and he also linked them to sexual excitement. Critics point out that this reading is so general that it says little about the individual dreamer.
Depth psychology, Jung's branch of psychiatry, Europe, from the 1910s
Jungian analysis
A Jungian reading starts from how the flight felt. Effortless flight, anxious flight and flight that cannot get off the ground suggest quite different things, and the analyst asks what the dreamer was leaving behind or rising above. There is no fixed answer from the symbol alone.
How to weigh it
Many people describe the feeling as one of the best of their dream life, and the feeling matters more than any symbol list. Whether flying dreams are rare or common varies across surveys, so be wary of anyone claiming a precise rate. If a flying dream stays with you, write down how the flight felt and what was below you.