Swan Meaning and Symbolism

Black swan: Symbolizes the protective power of romance, the joy and freedom felt in helping others as well as equality. It also stands for your deep inner mysteries that are desperate for a creative expression to be set free.

White swan: Representing purity, it symbolizes letting go of all your negative thoughts.

A Swan’s Feather: A swan feather symbolizes the love, support, and healing effect provided to your physical and emotional self by those who have guarded you in life.

As Your Spirit Animal (Totem Animal)

To have a swan as your spiritual guide means that being farsighted, you can easily accept life’s ongoing changes. You do not fret and adapt yourself according to the needs of a particular situation.

You value love greatly, and often finding affection at a tender age, form a romantic bond for life. Thus, the qualities of constancy, devotion, faithfulness, and support are always found in you.

Endowed with the capacity of healing others, you inspire all with your words of hope and wisdom, and naturally, crowds and gatherings do not intimidate you.

However, this does not mean that you have no time for personal solitude. Firmly maintaining your individuality, you balance work and family perfectly.

When the occasion demands, you rise to defend your rights and are neither meek nor submissive.

Dreaming About Swans

Dreams of swans symbolize wellness in personal life, ushering in the assurance of purity, beauty, wealth, dignity, and good luck. Besides signaling the occurrence of happy occasions such as a marriage, they also point to your satisfaction in happily dwelling with your loved ones.

Dreaming that you are feeding a swan suggests the happiness you will attain in love.

Seeing yourself flying on the back of a swan is an indication that you are dealing with an emotional issue gracefully. If you see a lone swan flying, it suggests that something you have long hoped for will come true.

A swan attacking or chasing you signifies restfulness, worship, and confraternity.

To see a baby swan in your dream is an indication of respect and poise.

Seeing a swan screeching can symbolize that you will soon receive bad news, maybe of someone’s death. If the swan sings in your dream,  it is a prediction that the person will have a painless death.

A group of swans floating upon placid waters is a hint of future prosperity and security.

Dreaming of a dead swan symbolizes satiety along with discontentment. It seems to warn you not to get involved in any immorality or vice.

If you see two swans, it may indicate that someone special to you will fill your life with happiness.

Swan eggs in your dream stand for the coming prosperity in your life.

Different Colored Swans in Dreams

To see a white swan is a hint at your idealism and an inclination for perfection.

Seeing a black swan suggests something that is mysteriously alluring and forbidden. It foretells worries and misunderstandings between you and your partner.

If you see a blue swan, be ready to relish the pleasures of peacefulness, fervor, and ardent friendship.

A dream with gray swans suggests peace and contentment.

When a Swan Crosses Your Path

If a swan crosses your path, acknowledge that when aided with a better insight into your future, you can accept every possible change with love and delicacy.

Spiritual Meaning in Different Cultures and Religions

In Native American Culture

Embodying charm, swans here teaches one to flow with the rhythm of the universe by surrendering every concern or the mortal world.

In Celtic Culture

The migratory nature of swans leads the Celts to associate them with movement and mood changes. Further, swans are linked with their deities Belanus, Lugh, and Bridgid.

In Bible and Christianity

Upholding grace and purity, a swan is seen by Christians as representing Virgin Mary.

In Indian Culture and Hinduism

The Hindu Goddess of learning, Saraswati, rides a swan. So, the bird consequently stands for self-realization and knowledge. In Hindu mythology, the white-colored swan, or “Hansa,” (in Sanskrit), is believed to live in the Manasarovar Lake near Kailash Mountain. Moreover, it is held that the bird is mute and its diet comprises pearls.

In Buddhist Culture

The Buddhists look upon it as an emblem of purity, freedom, and spiritual attainment.

In Chinese and Japanese Culture

In Chinese mythology, a swan is seen as a solar bird. In the Ainu folk tales of the Japanese people, swans are regarded as angelic birds residing in heaven.

In Greek Culture

In Greek mythology, swans are linked with a host of deities such as Apollo, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Artemis. There are several stories like the one about Zeus that recounts how he took the form of a swan so as to seduce Leda, an Aetolian princess.

In Shamanism

According to Shamanic beliefs, swans influence us to awaken our powers of self, balance, inner beauty, innocence, and self-esteem.