- A dream about smoke is traditionally read as doubts and fears, and in psychology as an emotion whose source the dreamer cannot yet see.
- Miller (1901) says smoke foretells perplexity with doubts and fears, and to be overcome by smoke means dangerous people are victimising you with flattery.
- Folk tradition reads smoke as gossip, a hidden quarrel or news that is not yet clear; smoking a pipe or cigarette as a pause or a habit examined.
- Research shows that smells and breathing difficulty during sleep can be woven into dream imagery; smoke is a common form.
- Dream interpretation is a tradition of reading symbols; it does not predict events.
What does it mean to dream about smoke?
Dream books read smoke as trouble that has not yet shown its flame. Miller (1901) says to dream of smoke foretells being perplexed with doubts and fears, and to be overcome by smoke means dangerous persons are victimising you with flattery. English folk dream books read black smoke as bad news or a quarrel brewing, white smoke as a matter resolving or a message of peace, smoke without visible fire as gossip or a hidden dispute, smoke rising straight as a prayer heard, smoke that chokes as a suffocating situation at home or at work. Smoking a cigarette or pipe in a dream is read as a pause before a decision, or, for someone who has quit, as an old habit tested.
Three ways to read a dream about smoke
| Reading | Who says it | What the dream is taken to mean | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dream books | Folk tradition, Miller (1901) | Dream books read smoke as trouble that has not yet shown its flame. Miller (1901) says to dream of smoke foretells being perplexed with doubts and fears, and to be overcome by smoke means dangerous persons are victimising you with flattery. English folk dream books read black smoke as bad news or a quarrel brewing, white smoke as a matter resolving or a message of peace, smoke without visible fire as gossip or a hidden dispute, smoke rising straight as a prayer heard, smoke that chokes as a suffocating situation at home or at work. Smoking a cigarette or pipe in a dream is read as a pause before a decision, or, for someone who has quit, as an old habit tested. | Custom |
| Psychology | Freud, Jung and later authors | Psychology reads smoke as feeling that hides its own origin. Something is burning, anger, desire, grief, but the dreamer sees only the haze it makes; this is why smoke dreams appear when a mood has settled without a clear cause. Jungian writers treat smoke as the shadow's atmosphere, the vagueness that surrounds what the dreamer does not want to look at, and rising smoke as something passing from the material to the spiritual. Freud's followers read smoking as an oral habit and a stand-in for comfort or for desire. For the dreamer the question is what fire the smoke comes from, and whether they moved toward it or away. Choking on smoke often accompanies a situation that has become hard to breathe in awake. | Clinical interpretation |
| Sleep research | Sleep laboratories, surveys | Sleep research documents that sensory stimuli present during sleep can be incorporated into dreams: sounds most readily, but also smells and, in people with breathing problems, the sensation of not getting enough air. Smoke in a dream may therefore carry a real smell in the room or a mild obstruction of breathing, and people with sleep apnoea or asthma report more dreams of suffocation and haze. The continuity hypothesis adds that smokers, people trying to quit and people who have recently seen a fire dream of smoke more. Dreams of a smoky, unclear scene are also common in periods of general anxiety, when the emotional tone is present but the object is not. | Measurements and surveys |
Smoke in the dream books
What each source says, in its own terms. Dream books are quoted as tradition, not as fact.
To dream of smoke foretells that you will be perplexed with doubts and fears. To be overcome with smoke means dangerous persons are victimising you with flattery.
Black smoke is a quarrel brewing, white smoke a matter resolving; smoke without fire is gossip; to be choked by smoke is a situation that stifles you.
The vague and obscuring elements of a dream belong to the shadow, that part of the personality the conscious mind prefers not to see clearly.
Smoke dream meaning, by variation
The details change the reading.
| In the dream | Traditional reading | Psychological reading |
|---|---|---|
| Black smoke | Bad news; a quarrel brewing. | Anger or grief that has grown heavy without being named. |
| White smoke | A matter resolving; a message of peace. | A feeling clearing; a decision settling. |
| Smoke without fire | Gossip; a hidden dispute. | A mood with no visible cause; anxiety looking for an object. |
| Choking on smoke | A stifling situation at home or at work. | Not being able to breathe in a relationship or role; check your sleep breathing too. |
| Smoke coming from your house | Trouble in the family that has not surfaced. | Something smouldering in the private life. |
| Smoking a cigarette | A pause before a decision; for a former smoker, an old habit tested. | A wish for comfort or for control; the pull of a familiar escape. |
| Smoke rising straight into the sky | A prayer heard; a wish granted. | Something passing from the body to the mind; release. |
| Being surrounded by smoke, unable to see | Miller: doubts and fears; flattery clouding judgement. | Confusion; a period when nothing is clear. |
When in the night do such dreams happen?
Vivid, story-like dreams happen mostly in REM sleep. REM periods are short early in the night and get longer toward morning, which is why a dream like this is often the last thing before waking.
Spiritual meaning of smoke in a dream
Spiritual writers read smoke as the visible form of prayer and of transition, the element that carries what burns from earth to sky. In this reading rising smoke is an offering accepted and a sign that something is being released; thick or choking smoke is a warning that the dreamer's clarity is being clouded by another's influence. Some writers read smoke as a veil between worlds, present when the dreamer is close to an insight but not yet through it.
What is burning in my life that I have only seen the smoke of?
Did I move toward the source or away from it?
Was there a smell in the room, a candle, a neighbour's fire, or trouble breathing in the night?
Questions people ask
What does it mean to dream about smoke?
Miller reads smoke as doubts and fears, and being overcome by it as flattery from dangerous people. Psychology reads smoke as a feeling whose source is hidden. Research notes that real smells and breathing difficulty during sleep can appear as smoke.
Is dreaming of smoke a bad sign?
Folk tradition treats it as a warning of confusion or gossip, but there is no evidence that dreams predict events. The dream is better read as a picture of a mood whose cause you have not yet located.
What does black smoke mean in a dream?
Dream books read it as bad news or a quarrel brewing. Psychologically black smoke is heavy feeling, anger or grief, that has thickened without being named.
What does smoke without fire mean in a dream?
Folk books read it as gossip or a hidden dispute. Psychology reads it as anxiety without an object, a mood that has not found its cause.
What does it mean to dream of smoking?
Traditionally a pause before a decision, or for someone who has quit, the habit tested. Psychology reads smoking as a wish for comfort or control; quitters commonly dream of relapse without any real risk.
Why do I dream of choking on smoke?
Folk books read it as a stifling situation. Research also links suffocation dreams to breathing problems during sleep, so if these dreams recur it is worth mentioning to a doctor.
- Miller G. H. Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, 1901
- Jung C. G. Man and His Symbols, 1964
- Schredl M. Dream content analysis: basic principles. International Journal of Dream Research, 2010
- Hall C. S., Van de Castle R. L. The Content Analysis of Dreams, 1966
- Folk dream books
Each symbol page sets three readings side by side and names where each one comes from. Dream books are quoted as tradition. Last reviewed on the date in the header.