What does it mean to dream about snakes? (Dream interpretation snakes)
What does it mean when I have dreamt of a snake? /how to interpret a dream about snakes.
There are several angles on snake dreams – as described below.
Dreams of snakes as a symbol of our unconscious.
Some time ago I was in Singapore. I fell into a conversation with a woman who continued to dream of snakes that show up all the time – and her reaction in the dream is that she is struggling frantically to kill all the snakes.
She does not want to have anything to do with the snakes. At the same time she tells me that she has always been told that one should not engage with one’s dreams – that it is dangerous for your health!
So for me it is very obvious what this is about – she is fighting with all her strength not to engage in a dialogue with her unconscious. In my terminology, she refuses to listen to herself and what is actually happening in her. And surely it must be painful to spot all that one contains, but rarely so dangerous that you have to leave it! The dreams want to tell us something, and therefore one should not deny them.
Dreams of snakes as a symbol of instinct.
A snake is an animal, and when we dream about animals, it is often something instinctive; the animal-like in ourselves. The snake is also one of the very oldest animals, and therefore most primitive species. When we dream of a snake, it is often an indication that we may deny/block out some more deep and “primitive” layers of our psyche, and with snakes in our dreams, our unconscious tries to connect us with this.
For example, the fact that we dream of a snake we want to kill, may be a symbol that we do not face the fact that we sometimes are primitive and that we have some more “dark” instinctive layers in our thoughts and behavior. If we deny/reject them for a long time, it will typically be seen in our dreams.
How we handle the situation/meeting with snakes in a dream is a picture of how we in our waking life relate to these aspects of ourselves. Are we trying to kill the snake (and therefore deny these sides), or do we get in “dialogue” with the snake, i.e. “Respect” it? These snake-like sides of ourselves are potentially dangerous if we relate well to them, so it’s not that we should not be afraid of the snakes in our dreams – best of all, we need to somehow engage with the snakes.
It is about accepting and integrating these instinctual, dark and primitive aspects of our personality and behavior.
If we have good “communication” with snakes in our dreams, then this indicates a healthy and good connection to these aspects of ourselves – sometimes as a good communication between body and mind. My own first snake dream was very fearful, and to me the snake represented the meeting with the unconscious.
It happened immediately after I had really gone into working with my dreams. I was attacked by a green-yellow snake, but in the dream I threw a towel over the head of the snake, which is an okay way to deal with it if I say so myself …
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When trying to understand your dreams it is important to know that your dreams are… your dreams. As such, you are the best person to figure out the true meaning of your dreams.
However, it is important to learn how to generally approach your dreams. Dream dictionaries like this one are only a supplement, and if you want to fully utilize the potential of your dreams, you should start at a different place.
My online course “Unlock your DREAMlife” gives you a great foundation for understanding (and recalling) your dreams.
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Dreams of snakes as a symbol of transformation.
Snakes shed their skin, and to have dreamt of a snake can therefore also be a picture of undergoing a transformation or important development in one’s life. It may be the transition from child/teenager to being an adult (which in dreams often appears as one loses one’s teeth), or it may simply be a fundamental change in the way you look at yourself and your life, and therefore also reflects in one’s thinking and behavior.
The snake as a symbol of something sexual.
Freud always saw the snake as a sexual (phallus) symbol and linked it with the idea of the “primitive animal-like ” in man. If we see a snake in our dreams, according to Freud, it meant that it may be a picture of a possible sexual problem in us, perhaps that we let our “primitive sexuality” steer us too much, because of course there are limits to how much our surroundings “allow” us to live out our sexual desires.
Dream of a snakebite – an attack from within.
Dreams of snakes are sometimes a symbol of an inherent fear in us. Snake bites are usually toxic and if we dream that we are bitten by a snake, it is often an image of some internal destructive or outright deadly force/thoughts that make life difficult for us, but which we might not have spotted yet.
Adam, Eve and the serpent.
Finally, it is also worth remembering that in the Biblical telling, the serpent convinced Eve (who persuaded Adam) to eat the apple from the tree of knowledge. Therefore, the snake – an extension of the idea of the snake as a symbol of the darker forces within us, can also be a picture of the deceptive/manipulative in us.
For example, a 6-year-old girl had a nightmare where a snake came out of her father’s mouth. This could be a picture of how the girl begins to see that not everything that comes out of her father’s mouth is true. This is a frightening experience for a 6- year-old girl (who of course also gets scared of the image itself).
Dream dictionaries are a very helpful tool when interpreting dreams. However, generally learning how to approach your dreams, will give you a better foundation for understanding them. My online course “Unlock your DREAMlife” teaches you how to much better utilize – recall and understand – your dreams.
Return to the index of dream themes and symbols:
Dream interpretation A-Z ↵
Also read: Why I no longer interpret dreams for free
NOTE: Dreams are 100% individual, and when you dream about snakes, it’s almost certainly about something else for you than it is for your friend, who also dreamt about snakes. Dream interpretation / dream analysis is sometimes a difficult art, and a particular interpretation of a dream is only correct if you feel “affected” by it. Therefore, it is not certain that the above mentioned interpretations are relevant to you.
I saw a snake in our bathroom floor…
I threw a towel over the head and started hitting the head with a stick in my dream.
Please what does that mean?
Snake bites my father in my dream … what does it exactly mean?
I dreamt 2nights ago that i was fighting with the blavk and white striped snake the snakes bites mevin my hand and i get angry and cut it but suddenle i didnt notice that it was two and the other one bite me in my finger feet but i manage to kill those snakes after, then continue walking i encounter cobra snake, i suddenly pick at cut snake head because i dont let once again was bitten by a snake, and im happy that iwas able to killed snake with out any bite got from it..
My son and I are walking in a huge ditch or empty river vein in woods. And its woods above use too like we need to climb out of ditch’ there are snakes in it about every 20 feet there’s a snake after a wile of walking and see about 5 or so snakes. My son gets bitten by a big colorful snake it makes me feel panic and fear. He gets bit again. We get out of ditch, I get him to hospital. Whole time I can’t calm down. He lives and nurse keeps telling me I have to calm down.
I dream a big nsake plz guys i dont know what do u mean pls help me about that.
I had a dream about struggling to get an orange snake off me. The snake bit me and I finally killed it after several bites
i had a dream of my wife becoming a snake in bed during the night. time 2.30AM during the night. what does that mean thanx FR MASHELE
I dreamed that my brother bought snake to home and I am getting afraid and requesting him to take away snake from home and finally he took snake and threw away
Hi Arjun,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I dreamed of chasing a little yellow snake trying to kill it. I was only able to cut the tail off.
Hi Mayra,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
Dear Michael, I dreamt that I had taken two snakes with me to the vet. One snake had swallowed another snake, which in turn had swallowed another snake. So this snake needed help in getting the other snakes out. The second separate snake was just there, as a mate…maybe. So while I wanted the vet to help them, I was also very aware that they could bite me and so was watchful. The vet meanwhile was dealing with a large white swan, which attacked him with its very red beak. The vet was upset, but decided to check the swans eyes, and found it had painful growths in them. And so he said ah that’s the reason why it is upset. I will treat that. And the dream ended. What could this be about?
Hi Jayantika,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
3 days ago I dreamed about a cat bit a snake head off I sad I did not won’t to look. Lest night I dream that a person had a white snake give it to someone saying u have to take it home
Hi Candy,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
You should ask her what happened to the snake at the ned of the dream. if she killed the snake, thats a good thing.
Hi Daniella,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I had a dream That A Small long snake was coming out of my finger? And then there came two more out. I woke up and was freaked out! Please this is not the first time. I also had a dream that I was popping a pimple then a green worm came out.
Hi Sadye,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
I dreamed that a snake was in my bathroom. While i was doing my hair it came outthe bath tub. What does this mean
Hi Prentella,
And thank you for your comment, Apologies for my late reply, but I receive many comments every day, and I simply cannot keep up with them. That is also why I have decided to no longer do interpretations for free. Instead I offer the following options: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
Hi,
I always have very weird and vivid dreams. I could nearly write novels with some of them. I had one last night and it was of a snake. I was in my grandparents house and my grandfather was there (he has passed) so I like seeing him in my dreams it comforts me. However, I was in bed and my sister was there too (we always shared a bed in there house as kids) and I woke up to a snake wrapping itself around my torso with its tail coming out from my top. So I slowly pulled the snake and as it was coming out I grabed its neck by the head, so once I had it locked I ran out side and hit its head off a Kirb, to shock it. Then I ran to a field up the road and threw it away, so it wouldn’t find its way back. I could see it going off. When I came back to the house my grandfather and aunt asked me was I ok. I then looked at my finger and I realised I had been bitten. So I tried to extract the venom. Then I woke up.
I do have a very busy work life at the moment and I have been off work work with a chest infection for the last 1.5 weeks. So it might be the going back to work that I’m dreaming of I’m not sure. It did startle me though.
Hi Sorcha,
and thank you for your very interesting dream! Unfortunately I no longer offer interpretation for free, as I get many requests every day. Instead I offer the following: http://www.michaelrolsen.com/dreamcoaching. Best regards – Michael
My three year old daughter dreamed bout snakes,and I know there is a lot going on in her life right now,so I’m worried that it has to do with something
Hi Jennifer – and thank you for your comment! Since I do not know exactly what is going on in your daugthers life it’s hard for me to guess what’s going on. Snakes can symbolize many things, and anxiety and anger can be some of it. But also other elements. It might also simply be her own “animal instincts” (as in we are all animals within) that she is having a hard time to control (which would be normal for a three-year-old). Best regards – Michael Rohde Olsen