Dream of Snakes

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The West...

Many people experience dreams about snakes, but the scenarios vary: being chased by snakes, bitten by them, seeing dead or injured snakes, encountering cobras, or witnessing snakes in the house or fighting each other.

Tzivia Gover, a certified dream specialist at Third House Moon, notes that snakes are one of the most common dream symbols experienced across various countries and cultures. Among animals that appear in dreams, snakes rank highly, often among the top 3–5 most frequently encountered. In dreams, snakes symbolize hatred, temptation, evil, and danger, often forewarning ominous events.

Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, a dream analyst, suggests that every element in a dream is a puzzle piece. The larger or more numerous the snakes, the bigger the problem or threat they represent. She explains that we unconsciously associate snakes with health due to their presence in symbols like prescription bottles, ambulances, and medical facilities. Thus, dreaming of a snake crawling on your body might indicate a health concern in that area. For instance, black snakes, often non-venomous in reality, may symbolize benign health issues in dreams.

For Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, snake dreams could reflect unconscious sexual desires. Freud interpreted snakes as phallic symbols representing sexual organs. Hence, snake dreams might signify repressed, forbidden, or guilt-laden sexual needs, male virility (for male dreamers), or experiences with men (for female dreamers).

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung viewed snake dreams as manifestations of internal struggles. He explained, “Snake dreams always reveal the disparity between the attitudes of the conscious mind and instinct.” In Jung’s view, the snake personifies fear within the inner conflict.

Barbara Condron, a scientist with 50 years of experience teaching and researching dream meanings, offers a distinct perspective that snakes represent the dreamer’s creative urges. She argues that snakes are neutral symbols, with their interpretation heavily influenced by the dreamer’s cultural and personal viewpoints. For example, while snakes symbolize general fear in Western cultures, they hold reverence in Eastern ones.

The East...

In ancient Chinese literature, many records describe snake dreams. For instance, the Bible notes “Dreaming of snakes signifies childbirth.”

An ancient Chinese text recounts “On his way to Qi, the Duke of Sui saw a snake with a bleeding head. After treating its wound, he continued his journey. That night, the Duke of Sui dreamed of stepping on a snake and later discovered two precious gems.”

The Chinese revered dragons, seeing snakes as their ancestors. Thus, dreaming of snakes was considered auspicious. The Dream Interpretation Book records “Dreaming of a snake entering one’s stomach foretells the birth of a noble child.”

From a modern medical perspective, snake dreams might relate to health issues. Some individuals with neurological disorders report dreaming of playing with snakes, only to wake up with pain in their back and limbs, later diagnosed as blood stagnation in the back. Snakes’ soft, flexible bodies are analogous to the human form. One patient, dreaming of snakes nightly, was found to be sleeping on a small piece of tile, causing her pain.

Some Eastern scholars suggest that snakes also symbolize ancient kings, guardians of power, wealth, and secrets. A dream of a snake shedding its skin represents renewal and transformation, often reflecting a desire to change personality, outlook, or attitude positively.

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