Dream About Money — Are You About to Get Rich?

so last tuesday i had this dream where i was putting on my big winter coat and i shoved my hands in the pockets and felt, like, a whole wad of cash. bills, just stuffed in there. i woke up and for a solid ten seconds i was fully convinced i was richer. i even got out of bed and checked the actual coat hanging in my closet. nothing but an old receipt and some lint. but then, my phone buzzed. it was a venmo notification for $12 from my friend sarah, finally paying me back for boba from like three weeks ago.

coincidence? probably. my brain probably knew she sent it before i was even awake. but my dad, master ming himself, would absolutely say no. he’d give me that look and say the dream knew before my bank app did.

my dad’s whole thing is bazi, right? your four pillars, your day master element. wealth in that system isn’t just dollar bills. it’s the element your day master controls. so if you’re a wood person (like me, apparently), your wealth element is earth, because wood controls earth. when you dream about money, he says it’s your subconscious registering a shift in that energy. “the qi moves first in the dream world,” he told me once, which sounds incredibly cool and mysterious. i’m not sure i totally believe it, but i’ve seen enough weird timing in my life—and his clients’ lives—to not just dismiss it.

it’s not just “dream of money = get money.” the context matters so much. like, finding money, like i did? my dad would say that’s an opportunity that’s already arrived but you haven’t noticed it yet. it’s in your pocket, you’re just not feeling around for it. losing money in a dream? he never jumps to “you’re gonna go broke.” it’s more about something draining your energy or resources, which could be a person, a job, a habit. not necessarily financial.

counting money over and over is usually anxiety about control. someone giving you money is about receiving support you haven’t acknowledged. and stealing money… okay, one of my dad’s clients dreamt she stole a whole cash register. she was so scared it meant she was a bad person. my dad just asked her, “what have you taken lately that you feel you don’t deserve?” she started crying. turned out she’d gotten a huge promotion over a more experienced colleague and was drowning in guilt. it wasn’t about theft at all.

this stuff gets twisted, though. my roommate jess once dreamt bitcoin hit $500k. she woke up and was immediately trying to figure out how to buy crypto. i was like, “jess, that is not how this works. the dream is probably about, i dunno, unrealistic hopes or something volatile.” she did it anyway. it dropped 15% in a week. i felt kinda bad but also… i did warn her? that’s a tangent. but it shows how literal people wanna be.

tbh, sometimes a money dream is just a money dream. you’re broke, you’re stressed about rent, your brain serves you a fantasy of finding a blank check. not everything is five elements and shifting qi. my dad would hate me saying that, but he’s not reading this blog. (he might be. hi dad. love you.)

there’s also the whole zhou gong dream dictionary thing in chinese culture. it’s super old and super literal. “dream of gold coins = promotion coming.” “dream of paper money = beware of gossip.” i think the truth is way messier than that. dreams feel symbolic because our lives are symbolic. they’re messy because we’re messy.

so ngl, if you dreamt about money last night, i’m not gonna tell you to buy lottery tickets or quit your job. but maybe, while you’re drinking your coffee, ask yourself: what changed this week that made your brain think about abundance, or lack, or guilt, or surprise? that answer is usually way more interesting than the dream itself.