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Dreaming of fish: meaning in Korea

For Korea, fish in a dream are money and opportunities swimming toward you. If you catch a big one, the reading gets even more generous.

What they say in Korea 물고기꿈

In Korea, fish are said to be a form of wealth on the move. A live, shining fish, especially a big one, announces income, business opportunities or good news. Catching one with your own hands is read as earning something through your own effort, and filling a net or a bucket with fish is read as abundance. The carp (잉어) is the queen of these dreams: a symbol of perseverance and, as a taemong (태몽), tied to a bright child. The water they swim in also counts. If it is clear, everything flows; if it is murky, luck still comes, but you will have to work a little harder to see it.

Depending on the details

if you catch a big fish

The luckiest version. An important achievement, a valuable client or a gain that comes from your own merit. Some people also count it as a taemong.

if the fish gets away

An opportunity slipping through your fingers. Not a bad sign in itself: it is an invitation to prepare better for the next one, which tradition says will come.

if you see dead fish

It is read as a plan that has lost steam or a matter worth closing. A perfect moment to let go of projects that no longer give you energy and start a new one.

if the fish jump out of the water

Fish leaping happily are tied to good news on its way, rising spirits and a zest for life that rubs off on everyone around you.

And luck?

A Korean who had a good fish dream might treat the family to a fish dinner to celebrate, or buy a small lottery ticket.

In other traditions

In Western readings fish are usually tied to deep emotions, the unconscious or fertility. Fishing is read as searching for inner answers, and dead fish as stagnant emotions or disappointment.