Tornadoes are one of nature's most awesome displays of power. The swirling vortex is fascinating to watch, with some people actually going out on tornado vacations -- adventures where one actually hopes to chase down a tornado in the hopes of seeing the sight in person rather than on The Weather Channel.

Tornadoes can also be seen in dreams as well as in waking life. What do they mean when they swirl into our dreaming minds?

Air Symbols -- Thoughts and Emotions

Tornadoes are massive funnels of air and in dream symbology air represents the thoughts and the thought processes. The swirling funnel in a dream may symbolize one's own thoughts running amok. Violent emotions can be another symbol the tornado may represent. It is important to look at one's life and see if there is a situation that is building to a dangerous level.

Symbols of Destruction

There is no disputing the fact that tornadoes leave massive amounts of destruction in their wake. They have the power to level anything that lays in their path and the destruction often appears random. It is not uncommon to see one home untouched by a tornado while the home next door lies in ruins. In dreams tornadoes can symbolize feeling that some form of destruction or ruin is imminent. It can symbolize a situation over which one feels powerless or feeling like some random misfortune is soon to enter one's life.

Tornadoes may be symbols of fear. In waking life, tornadoes rip away everything one cares about most. Is there some situation in your life that you fear will cause you to lose it all?

Warning

In waking life, when conditions are ripe for tornadoes, watches and warnings are issued. Sirens wail and television and radio stations blare out the familiar emergency tone. Dreaming of a tornado can actually be a warning that one needs to get one's affairs in order, that one needs to calm one's mind before the situation builds into one with the potential to cause devastating destruction.

Change

When tornadoes arrive in waking life they bring immediate change. Dream tornadoes may indicate the same -- abrupt, life-altering change. Change is something most people abhor yet it is sometimes necessary. If one has become completely set in one's patterns it may take some kind of monumental event to free one from what is perhaps comfortable but no longer healthy or life-affirming. A tornado dream may indicate that warnings have been issued but not heeded and therefore something out of one's control is arriving in order to clear out that which should have been abandoned long ago.

Carried Away

A less common interpretation of a tornado dream comes from the Wizard of Oz. In that story, the tornado is the portal to another world, carrying Dorothy far away from her Kansas home and off into the Land of Oz. If you associated strongly with that story as a child, ask yourself if you are wishing you too could be carried away by the tornado that appears in your dream. Alternatively, ask yourself if you are getting carried away with your thoughts or fantasies. Remember, as much as Dorothy desired escape, she realized that happiness was in her own backyard!

Until next time, sleep well and dream out loud!

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*~Aisling Ireland~* is an ordained Spiritual Counselor providing dream interpretation and Tarot readings. To make an appointment check out her website at: web.mac.com/aisling.ireland