What it usually means
Clouds are never still. They form, drift, change shape, darken and disappear. Dreams about clouds usually draw on that changeability: passing moods, temporary worries, and states of mind that feel heavy now but will not last.
White, light clouds tend to go with calm and ease. Floating clouds on a summer day suggest daydreaming, imagination and a relaxed mind. Such dreams often come in quiet periods, when thoughts can wander.
Dark clouds tend to go with worry. A sky filling with storm clouds is one of the most familiar pictures of trouble approaching, and dreams use it the same way: a problem gathering, a mood darkening, something about to break.
Clouds also hide things. They cover the sun, veil the mountain tops and blur the view. A cloud in a dream can stand for confusion, uncertainty or something you cannot see clearly yet — a decision, a relationship, your own feelings.
Clouds also bring water. Every rain begins in them, and in dry countries a cloud is a blessing rather than a threat. Whether a dream cloud feels like a promise or a menace often depends on what the dreamer is waiting for.
And clouds invite imagination. People have always seen faces, animals and castles in them. A dream in which clouds take on shapes is often about the mind's own pictures, projected onto something formless.
Worth saying plainly: some people dream of fog and clouds when they are simply sleeping poorly, waking often, or feeling unwell. A hazy dream can match a hazy night, and need not mean more than that.
What changes the meaning
White, fluffy clouds. Calm, ease, imagination.
Dark storm clouds. Worry, conflict or crisis approaching.
Clouds covering the sun. Hope or happiness temporarily obscured.
Clouds clearing. Relief; a problem resolving; clarity returning.
Walking on clouds. Elation, idealism, or a plan with no solid ground.
Being inside a cloud. Confusion; not being able to see the way.
Clouds forming shapes. Your own thoughts or fears projected outward.
Fast-moving clouds. Rapid changes; moods shifting quickly.
Red or coloured clouds. Strong emotions; a dramatic turn.
A single cloud over you. A personal worry that follows you around.
Looking down on clouds. Perspective; being above the troubles of the moment.
Rain falling from clouds. Release of feelings that had been building.
When it keeps coming back
Recurring cloud dreams often accompany periods of uncertainty, when the outcome of something important is not yet clear.
They also appear in low moods, when the sense of a grey sky has become part of daily life. Such dreams often lighten as the mood lifts.
People who fly often, or who live in mountains where clouds come down to the houses, may dream of clouds as part of ordinary life. The meaning begins where the dream clouds behave in a way real ones would not.
If you keep dreaming of clouds, notice whether they are moving. Clouds that pass in a dream are often a reminder that this state, too, is temporary.
In Jungian terms
In the fourteenth century an anonymous English author wrote a guide to contemplation called *The Cloud of Unknowing*. Between the soul and what it seeks, the author said, lies a cloud that thinking cannot pierce. The way through is not to clear the cloud by reasoning, but to stay in it patiently, with love and attention.
Jungian readers find in this an image of how the unconscious presents itself. It does not show itself in clear outlines; it appears veiled, in shapes that change. Leonardo da Vinci advised painters to look at stained walls and clouds to find new forms, and dreams do something similar with their clouds.
A cloud dream, then, may not be asking you to see clearly at once. It may be asking you to stay in the uncertainty a little longer and watch what takes shape.