What Does It Mean When You Dream About Snakes

Snake dreams are in the top five most common dreams. Few who experience dreams about Snakes wake feeling great. Even those who understand Snake symbolism and meaning will report being creeped out when Snakes come a’ slitherin’ into their dreamstime.

Snake Dreams Table of Contents

• A Gift from the Great Spirit
• Snakes Biting, Chasing, & Squeezing
• Aggressive Snakes in Dreams
• Linear & Cyclical Snake Symbolism
• Serpent Kundalini & Healing Symbolism
• Serpents and the Unknown

Dreams About Snakes
A Gift From the Great Spirit

Consider the following Snake dream scenario…

You find yourself in a rowboat which is floating on water. You have no idea where you are going and don’t know how you got there. The sky screams to pay attention. The storm of the century is almost on top of you. Looking over the side of the boat, it seems water smells and looks likes rancid oil.

The boat takes on the thick black liquid. Desperately looking around for land, nothing is out there. Water falls off the edge of the earth in every direction. In the same moment, you sense movement down by your feet.

In an instant, a long black form explodes from the viscous fluid, now just above your ankles . In a flash, you recognize that it’s a snake – coiled and poised to strike. The snake throws back its head, cottony mouth open wide – its fangs as long as your arms. Before you can scream the snake’s fangs clasp your left thigh and rip completely through it. The scalding venom entering your veins in unbearable.

Terrified and flailing, you struggle to wrestle the snake off. Its emotionless eyes watch your pathetic efforts. You’re grossly outmatched. The snake begins wrapping itself around every inch of you. In the deepest part of your soul, you know you’re already dying. Then, you wake up. Sweating, screaming, and tangled in the top sheet you struggle to become fully awakened. And therein lies the secret code to interpreting Snake dreams – awakening.

Snake dreams come to us when it’s time to awaken – spiritually awaken. Just as when Snakes appear as your Spirit Animal, dreaming about Snakes is a call that the time has come to ‘shed your skin’, renew your spirit, and free yourself from anything and every one who no longer serves your highest and best purpose. This is include outdated thought patterns, harmful habits, and toxic actions. Though the Snake dream described above seems more like a nightmare, it’s actually a gift from the Great Spirit and your higher-self.

Now, I can hear you saying, “Can’t the same lessons be taught to me by a beautiful dream filled with baby Bunny Rabbits and Butterflies? Maybe even a Unicorn?” Sometimes, yes. But, often times, it is the cataclysmic events in our life which teaches the most profound lessons.

Bummer. I know.

But, take some time to really meditate on the symbolism and meanings in this article. Dreams about Snakes should not be taken lightly. Plus, when animal spirit guides show up we must give them the honor and respect they deserve. Even if they do sometimes scare the bejesus out of us! 🙂

What Does It Mean When You Dream About Snakes
Biting, Chasing, & Squeezing

To answer your question about having softer, gentler dream narratives, the simplest response is: NOPE! The reason your Spirit Animal is connecting with you in this way is that the best ways we learn are sometimes through a process of suffering. WHAT? Yes, it sounds terrible, but it is true, for it is the greatest lessons we master, remember, and never forget when there is personal pain or loss. Scary dreams of Snakes and serpents are vivid, shocking, and are meant to instill fear: This fear expresses the importance of the dream messages you are receiving. Your fear allows you, through a very clear memory of all dream events, to analyze the dream narrative for additional messages the Higher Mind shares through symbols.

When this creepy-crawly creature makes its way into your unconscious and dream world, many equate the Snake with nightmares and something to be feared. Rightfully so as this fear has been deeply ingrained and is likely woven into our ancestral DNA due to traumatic events our long gone distant ancestors experienced at the hand of a Snake bite and the lack of any anti-venom to cure the injury. What our ancestors endured, and some still do in countries all over the world, is a painful Snake attack, a bite that becomes an explosive wound due to the toxic venom entering the body, and the dreadful effects that follow. Many poisonous bites lead to death without treatment.

Of course, there are other types of Snake injuries, if we consider Snakes like boas and the giant anacondas that can squeeze a human being to death with absolutely no difficulty whatsoever. These creatures can steal breath and life within mere moments. Yes, snakes are going to invoke fear! OH, and by the way, if you ever have a chance to watch those ultra-fun documentaries where they replicate a depiction of the creatures of old, and you happen to be lucky enough to watch the show on the Titanoboa … yes, a word that literally means “Titanic Boa:” A creature from 60 to 58 million years ago weighing in a cool 2,500 pounds and measuring up to 42 horrendous feet, your fear of Snakes is now probably assured for all time!

Yet, for all the fear this creature evokes, the serpent is an unbelievably rich source of wisdom. What the Snake animal spirit teaches you are universal lessons, rites of passage, and necessary human experiences on the path to unraveling your deepest wisdom on the path to spiritual enlightenment. Without further ado, consider casting aside the terror you associate with these slithery creatures. Only then will it give you an opportunity to explore the lessons of Snake Spirit Dreams so you can truly AWAKEN and your soul can experience its full, blessed unfolding!

The Significance of Aggressive Snakes in Dreams

When dreaming of larger snakes, consider the time it took the snake to grow to its size. Then you can recognize the image as being one of the primitive or primal forces. In some cultures, the snake as a primal force is not a new concept, and it is a creature thought responsible for shaping the world.  Also consider the number of times that large snake shed its skin, a process if continuous transformation or rebirth.

The skin around the eyes falls away through the shedding. At first, the skin covering the eyes is opaque and blocks the serpent’s vision.  Once the skin sheds in its entirety, the snake can “see.” Clearing visual blocks alludes to clarity, epiphanies, inspiration, clairvoyance, and AWAKENING: A running theme you will see in spirit snake dreams and symbolism across cultures. Dreams of snakes can point to seeing conditions or the world through new eyes.

 
The aggressive action of the snake, on the surface, stirs up fear. It makes the dream memorable, but this same aggressive action is comparable to the pains of creation and birth. The Cosmic Serpent must burst forth from the egg without aid and come into being on its own accord; just as the person dreaming about the spirit snake must AWAKEN and achieve enlightenment in his or her own time.

Would you believe that if you are bitten by a snake in your dream and you receive an injury, the act itself actually suggests healing? WTH? Come on that’s just crazy, right? I know, but it is true … serpents have been symbols of healing for hundreds, even thousands of years. Even the modern medical symbol featuring two winding serpents wrapped around a wing-capped rod which comes to represent healing.

When we see a snake in our dreams that bites, it signifies life changes, challenges, and periods in your life where healing comes into play. This snake has come into your life as a spiritual teacher and to forewarn you with a hint of potential illness or injury to come (emotional or physical), in which you face significant challenges in order to endure.
The snake is one who can teach you how to heal and prevent from further draining of personal energies. Some cultures associate this snake imagery with the Kundalini, the life force, chi, or prana. If we consider the association with prana and chi, which is so rightfully called the “Serpent Fire Within,” it is the snake spirit that can, in turn, teach us how to harness the chi energy the body creates in order to put it to the best use in our physical world.

The snake is an icon representing movement and primal energy; this purely muscular being slides along ever so gracefully along the belly of the earth, and for a creature without legs, a snake can move at considerable, seemingly unnatural speeds. So too, can the snake practically stand up in some instances, as if defying gravity. These skills can be looked at as lesson in defying obstacles, in being able to move freely in one’s world despite conditions that might otherwise hinder one’s ability to do so, and at the same time, the serpent’s muscular body teaches us of the true power and undeniable strength of not just our Serpent Fire Within, but our Spirit.

Interpreting Snake Symbolism in Dreams

The snake is a symbol of how one becomes wise and continues growing. How so? A learning process is often linear in which a person starts at point A with a base knowledge — the individual moves to point B where they learn something new. Upon acquiring new knowledge, it changes the way the person thinks and behaves: This is point C. Progressive learning creates a straight line out of the three points; this straight line matches the snake’s physicality when it is stretched out from head to tail.

But we all know that snakes are not always lying around stretched out somewhere… They are often coiled up like a spiral: A symbol connecting the serpent with the Divine Feminine, creation, and life. Indeed, many goddesses have snakes associated with their mythology or physical depictions.

Snakes can also form a circle, and this is the representation you get with a symbol like Ouroboros: An image of a snake consuming its tail. According to Greek myth, the Ouroboros was the very first living creature to exist in the Universe, later turning into the Earth itself. The circular formation links the snake with transition, metamorphosis, transformation, and the movement of the seasons. The same cyclical force is part of the idea of how people incarnate: Birth, life, death, and rebirth, thereby bringing the process full circle with each new incarnation or “skin shedding.”

As you dream of the serpent, if any of the above symbols ring true for you, your subconscious is using dream language to help you focus on the cyclical and linear nature of things, to recognize natural cycles and tap into your natural rhythms. These same images can encourage you to seek a deeper connection or a reconnection with the Feminine Divine, and in this way, you can achieve spiritual balance.

Serpents, The Kundalini, and Self-Realization

Remember the coiled serpent was mentioned earlier and how that coil symbolized a spiral? Well, there’s more to the coiled serpent motif your dreams can teach you. For example, the Kundalini, a word in Dharma religious systems literally meaning, “coiled one,” refers to the shakti or primal energy force as a snake coiled at the base of every person’s spine. There are myriad methods for “awakening” this creature, which represents mother energies, instinctive force, and the unconscious.

The goal of awakening the sleeping serpent called Kundalini, which is accomplished through intense meditation, mantras chanting, asana, and pranayama breathing, is the achievement of bliss and enlightenment. It is said the Kundalini, once awakened, moves through the central part of the torso until it reaches the top of the head where the Shasarara Chakra is located. As the Kundalini travels up one’s spine it produces the feeling of a current of electricity.

There are two energy channels helping to guide the Kundalini to the Sushumna, the ida and pingala, both of which appear like two serpents entangled and that look much like the caduceus of the god Hermes: The Healing Symbol. These Kundalini energies move through the body and come in contact with meridians or pathways in the body that reach all of the chakras in the body thereby energizing them. It is the unimpeded movement of the fiery snake known as Kundalini that activates all chakras and moves through a person’s body leading to self-realization…or AWAKENING!

Dream Scenario Revisited

In considering what you’ve learned thus far about snake symbolism, let’s revisit the dream scenario introduced earlier on in this article and see if we can discover the meaning behind it. The main symbols in the dream include you, the snake, and the following:

• Rowboat
• Black water
• Your fear
• Your reflection on the water
• The inability to make the snake release you
• No help comes when you seek it

So let’s break this down for some deeper understanding. First, you are alone in a rowboat with nothing but water surrounding you. Water symbolized the deep subconscious. The boat is slowly taking on water … this signifies a slow introduction into what the subconscious holds. The rowboat is what separates you from the deep unconscious, and its blackened waters make it impossible to see but one thing, your reflection, which is really what the subconscious holds: A far deeper reflection of who you are. Now, the snake bites you and you feel extreme fear; this is a natural reaction to the bite, but it will also trigger the mind to remember the dramatic event you’ve experienced in dreamtime.

The snake clings to you for dear life, injecting you with as much venom as possible: Consider this venom as a hallucinogenic of some kind, one that might otherwise have been used by shamans of old…you’re about to take a deep journey to a world where only spirit can travel! It is an experience you must endure alone: hence, why no one comes to help you in the dream. The result of such a journey is self-realization and the attainment of wisdom.

Serpents and the Unknown in Dreams

Remember when I mentioned the strange abilities of snakes to sometimes seemingly defy gravity as if they have some supernatural ability to stand upright? Snakes are commonly associated with things related to the unknown. That being the case, you might be entering into unfamiliar territory in your waking life and will soon face challenges you might not anticipate. Snake Spirit may be coming to you in your dream time to let you know about the potential trouble that lies ahead.

One way you can face such challenges is to take on some snake like behaviors; For example, take the issue “head on” and be respectful. Since the snake crawls along on his belly it is a sign reminding you to remain connected to the Mother Earth. keep calm, collected, and “grounded.” Snakes go into the earth to hide or hibernate as well, and this is an action serving as the spiritual suggestion to return to the arms of the Divine when you are need of rest. Through meditation you can make these connections and begin awakening the spirit, heal yourself, and learn about parts of yourself you have yet to discover.

Consider Some Simple Symbol Connections

Of course, snake symbolism can also have some very simple connotations. The way to judge the level of intensity behind a snake message, consider the vividness of the dream, the action that occurs, and the intensity of your feelings during and after the dream experience. The more intense and vivid the dream is, the greater the likelihood the dream symbols has meanings of tremendous import. Nevertheless, even the most important dream symbols can be translated simply.

Consider the word “snake,” as also meaning danger, sabotage, traitor, liar, trouble maker, and from the “snake in the grass” connected to the idea of a liar, sneak or cheat. With these connections in mind, you can take the meanings as a hint to look into your mundane life more carefully. Ask yourself:

Who is it you should not trust?
Are you too trusting?
Is someone cheating you?
Is someone betraying you emotionally?
Do you feel like you are being lied too?

Or do these dreams hint at something you’re doing and therefore testing your moral fiber? Are you cheating or betraying someone? Are you trustworthy in all your dealings? Are you lying to somebody? The snake imagery may be calling on you to straighten up your act!

Personalizing Snake Dream Symbolism & Meaning

The symbolism you have read about here is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rich and fascinating meanings behind snakes and serpent symbols. As you research snake symbolism you’ll be able to decide what resonates with you and what the Higher Mind is trying to convey. If you want to learn more about snakes and dream symbolism here on What Is My Spirit Animal.com. You’ll also find in-depth dream meanings on our sister site Building Beautiful Souls Online. I invite you to use all the dream interpretation resources available so you can master the unique and fascinating language of the Higher Self and use the message you receive to build your beautiful soul!