5 Ways of Contemplating Snake Dreams and Symbols to Reveal their Hidden Meaning
Snake dreams are at once personal and mythical.
Any attempt to explore their meaning must take into consideration the dreamer’s personal relationship with snakes.
However, all dreams have multiple layers of meaning, and the most obvious reaction, like fear or curiosity, is only a clue about what your snake dreams might mean.
So … what if these dream snakes have pertinent messages that can change your life?
Like to help you heal illness, let you know about a possible problem or help you release latent psychic-spiritual talents?
You’d want to know what they mean, right?
Right!
Well, here are 5 possibilities to get your creative juices flowing.
But first, the Key to Understanding the Complexities of Snake Dreams
Smart dreamers know that dreams are linked to ancient archetypes or universal themes that predate modern man by thousands of years.
As a result, the imagery in your dreams may parallel ancient dramas you are not consciously aware of.
Therefore, when you explore the mythic quality of your dream images, you connect with the unseen, deeper implications of your dreams. You can more easily access the many layers, plumbing the depths beyond the obvious layer or two you immediately grasp upon waking.
So without further ado, let’s get started.
The Healing Snake
Snakes appear throughout recorded history as a symbol of healing.
You are likely familiar with the caduceus, the medical symbol with two snakes wound around a staff.
Perhaps you also know of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing who was often depicted holding a rod with a snake wound around it. Asclepions, healing temples erected in honor of Asclepius, had floors covered in non-venomous snakes. These sacred centers drew crowds of people who sought to incubate dreams in order to heal.
Maybe you even know of Nehushtan, the bronze snake staff Moses carried to heal Israelites of snake bites.
But did you know that the image of a snake wound around a rod first appeared circa 4000-3000 bc on a Sumerian vase dedicated to Ningishzida, the Lord of the Good Tree? Not only was Ningishzida the son of Ninazu, the Lord of Healing, Ningishzida was also depicted as a snake with a human head. He was one of two gatekeepers who protected Anu, God of Heaven, as well as a traveler through the netherworld (underworld.)1
How the healing snake relates to you
On some level, you know that snakes are related to healing. Whether you are the direct descendent of Ascelepius himself or have simply seen the modern emblem of medicine, your subconscious is aware that snakes and healing go hand-in-hand.
Considering this, ask yourself how your dream snake may be trying to help you heal.
Whether it bites you, swallows you, antagonizes you or hugs you, this snake is one part healer and it wants to help you find your way toward wholeness.
Life Calling and Initiation Dreams
Note: dreams of being bitten and swallowed may have the added layer of being initiation dreams. In some indigenous cultures, surviving a waking-life rattlesnake bite, for instance, is evidence that the person is called the path of healer. In most indigenous cultures, dismemberment, or in this case, being swallowed, is an initiatory aspect of becoming a shaman.
The Fertile Snake
Minoan Snake Goddess
Snakes were worshipped in every corner of the ancient world as creatures who symbolized fertility, birth, death and resurrection.
One common image is of a snake wrapped around the earth. From the Nordic Jörmungandr to the Hindu Ananta, this image portrays the snake as responsible for holding the world together.
Similarly, The Cosmic Serpent winds itself around an egg, clearly a symbol of fertility and rebirth, as well as creation of the universe.
The Snake Goddess sculpture from Knossos, the famous gowned female figure holding two snakes, may be representative of the Mother Goddess.
Of course, we must include in this section the Freudian view that snakes are sexual, phallic objects.
How the fertile snake relates to you
When you dream of snake(s), reflect on how it may be a divine messenger coming to tell you about fertile possibilities. Where might you have unrecognized potential? What creation is waiting to be born?
The other side of creation, though, is destruction. In this regard, how might your dream snake be a premonition about the need to shed an outmoded way of being or an outgrown relationship or object?
The Psychic and Spiritual Snake
19th Century Kundalini Illustration
In Kundalini Yoga, the snake represents dormant psychic and spiritual powers that lay coiled in the base of the spine. When awakened, this energy climbs through the chakras up the spinal cord like a snake.
To awaken this power, deep and intentional meditation is often required; however, kundalini awakenings can happen spontaneously to individuals not prepared for this potent experience. When this happens it can result in spiritual emergency that requires counseling and guidance from a skilled mentor.
“Individuals experiencing such episodes may feel that their sense of identity is breaking down, that their old values no longer hold true and that the very ground beneath their personal realities is radically shifting. In many cases, new realms of mystical and spiritual experience enter their lives suddenly and dramatically, resulting in fear and confusion.” This quote comes from Spiritual Emergency, When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis by Stanislav Grof, M.D. and Christina Grof. It is an excellent resource for anyone who suspects they may be undergoing a difficult spiritual transformation.
How the psychic/spiritual snake relates to you
How might the psychic, spiritual snake appear in your dreams? It may be surrounded by water, the element associated with intuition and emotion, or air, the element associated with inspiration and spirituality.
Where in your life might there be a need to connect more deeply, from a spiritual place?
Where in your life might you need to open to your inner senses so you can receive psychic or intuitive information?
The Destroyer Snake
Medusa
One bite from a venomous snake, one entanglement with a boa constrictor, and most people die. Perhaps this is why snake is also viewed as evil in many parts of the world.
Medusa, for instance, was a Greek Gorgon, part snake, part women, whose gaze turned people to stone.2
Nidhogg, a Nordic snake, was an evil creature whose body wrapped around Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, and tried to destroy it.3
How the destroyer snake relates to you
Death in dreams is always a sign of transformation. If you feel your dream snake is attempting to destroy you, either by biting, constricting or swallowing you or any other means, consider how it might be an invitation to let go of a cherished aspect of life (e.g. belief, relationship, object) that is preventing you from living a healthier life. In other words, your dream snake may want you to relinquish something so you can receive something better.
Snakes can also foreshadow illness. If your dream snake is injured or looks unusual, it may be a sign that something is not working for you. Similarly, if the snake tries to bite you, it may be sending you a message of possible illness.
Note: only you will know what your snake dreams mean. Exploring these possible layers may reveal important information, or nothing at all. Not all dreams of being bitten foreshadow illness.
The Elemental Aspect of Snakes
The Rainbow Snake
Water
The Aboriginal Rainbow Serpent lives in a waterhold and is related to fertility and life-giving powers.4
Earth
The Snake Goddess is an earth goddess associated with earthly, household goods.5
Air
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name means “feathered serpent.” This deity may represent fertility since wind or air was associated with fertility in this culture.6
Fire
Xiuhcoatl was a serpent associated with the Aztec fire deity, Xiuhtecuhtli.7
How the elemental snake relates to you
There are aspects of each element that are experienced universally (although some cultures experience the elements differently – trust your intuition to lead you toward a meaning that fits you).
Water, for instance, is fluid therefore often equated with emotion and intuition. Earth is solid and grows our food so it is equated with nourishment and with being grounded and present. Air is associated with the breath or “pneuma” which links it to Spirit or Soul because we cannot live without air. Fire consumes nearly everything it touches and is therefore a destroying element as well as a creative element, encapsulating passion as well as destruction.
Notice the environment of your dream snake. How might the elements surrounding it be a reference to one of these universal or archetypal themes?
Share Your Snake Dreams Below
In order to create a community inspired dreams and symbols resource, we’d love it if you’d use the comments section below to share a brief description of your snake dreams and the meaning you’ve gleaned from the imagery.
Include any waking life life connections, like illness, recovery, initiation, transformation, anything you feel relates to your dream.
Sources:
1 http://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/gods/lords/lordninazu.html
2 http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/medusa.html
3 http://www.pantheon.org/articles/n/nidhogg.html
4 http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/culture/rainbow.php
5 http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/minoan_snake_goddess.html
6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl#cite_note-0
7 Fernández 1992, 1996, pp.107, 160.
I dreamt i was cleaning up our overgrown backyard, i was in the northwest corner, near and old vegetable garden bed, when i suddenly felt a pain in my left forearm. It was then i realized i heard rattling, rustling and hissing which i didn’t notice before, and i instinctively jumped backwards several feet. I was not afraid, or concerned. I saw a young, sort of fat medium sized rattlesnake in a loose coil under some brown leaves.
I looked at my arm and wasn’t sure if i was really bit. I saw one small puncture wound and a scratch underneath it. I had a fleeting thought about getting the snake out of there, but i figured i’d address my arm first. As i looked at the puncture wound, the hole began to open up and i was seeing the insides of my arms sort of falling apart. I wondered if putting garlic on it would heal it, or if i should go to the hospital. That’s where the dream faded out. My attitude throughout the whole dream was non-chalant, unattached.
In my ‘waking’ life, i’ve been on a revolutionary internal spiritual journey. I feel myself wanting to keep transcending time, and just be. I go through periods of activity and periods of complete withdrawal; i am learning to go with the flow and not judge what that flow is for me.
I’m starting to feel an affinity with snakes and would like to adopt one, though i do not like cageing any living beings, and my husband is deathly afraid of snakes. On a side note, i am also feeling a strong affinity with bees, and horses.
I don’t know what’s going on with me, but for some reason, i’m not really concerend either, haha.
Snake dream:
I was going to an amusement park with my 3 year old son.
we were in the field office and someone mentions snakes. I was trying to be cautious, we saw a snake and try to go around it but it bit my foot. I think it was a rattlesnake. Then another snake landed on my head and bit my head about 10 times. I made it to the office to get help. and kept saying it is going to hurt please put me under. If I die please tell my sister to take care of my son.
I saw a human god who has more spiritual power and also snake attack to people and he saves their live … i didnt involve anything … but its so strange by the way … but this human in the dream has more power and snakes coming after the people if people do something wrong…
Whats the meaning of this dream please…??
I often dream of snakes.Right from my childhood.But it is not scary for me i just see them .And i belong to a place in Rajasthan in India where i used to see snakes in reality,i mean once i saw it in my house in a pair.,and once while walking.Last night again i dreamt of snake ,i think i forgot what they were doing but for sure i was not frightened to see them .Its like i could feel the presence of them .The question is why i see them ??
I had a dream of a white and orange snake . that was at our back door in a pond. came out at my dog and pig. I had my kid and 3 nephews in the living room. all of sudden I started screaming get upstairs because the snake had came into the house from under the door. my sister caught it in some kind of thing I waz lookin at its eyes. then my bird squaked and scared me awake. what does this mean?
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i found a stone or trash and threw it into a you know small dirty (blaskish water) open drain provision for rain water. then i heard a hisssss. the stone had injured a snake unintentionally. the injured snake crawled into my house and went under some place with cloth etc near to where my mother was sleeping on a mat on the floor. i told my mother to look for the injured snake. she looked but couldn’t find it and went back to sleep. then even i slept off…. wat did the injured snake mean in this dream. nybody?
The dream opens up that that I am a snake swimming in a body of water which seems to be a river. I realize I am being chased by another snake. I continue to search for an escape but every time I think I found a way out the other snake whom is now transformed into an evil man is already there blocking my way out. I come to find out that I too can transform into a man. As I am still swimming as a snake I look over to see a restroom which looks like a normal restaurant restroom. There were two men standing in the room looking up at an open air vent. I run past them and climb into the vent because it was a way out. After entering the vent I crawl through the system(still in human form) I come to the end where a woman dressed in very modest attire was stuck at mechanical device which required a very specific entry(password like but not words or numbers—they were levers and buttons) the mechanism was very ornate inscribed with all sorts of images. I only remember a few of these images but here were of men almost like those on a coin. At this point my view was no longer first person. I am now looking at the other side of the wall where the mechanism was. On the other side there was some sort of gathering occurring—maybe a ball, the wall then opens up and we escape together. After this there is one more scene, the evil man is standing with a look of disappointment and anger that we had escaped….
Any interpretations would be taken kindly.