Dream meaning
Snake
The short answer
Dreams of snakes are among the oldest and most debated dream images. They often reflect fear, a hidden threat or a person you don't trust, but they can also point to healing, transformation and life energy, like a snake shedding its skin.
22.1% of people in the study had had this dream. More common in women: 24.4%, against 16.4% of men. No. 34 of the 55 typical dreams · Nielsen et al., 2003
What does a dream about “Snake” mean?
What psychologists say
In the Canadian typical dreams study, snakes were reported more often by women and grouped with insects and spiders as a cluster of negative themes. Researchers also note that fear of snakes is widespread and may have deep evolutionary roots, which helps explain why snakes so readily stand for threat in dreams.
Nielsen et al., 2003; Revonsuo, 2000
The Jungian reading
Jung saw the snake as a symbol of the instinctive unconscious and of transformation, as in the shedding skin or the healing serpent of Asclepius. A Jungian reading asks whether the snake attacks, guides or simply watches.
Jung, 1964
In history and folklore
Snakes carry opposite meanings in different traditions: temptation in Genesis, healing on the staff of Asclepius, wisdom in the Gospels, fertility in many folk cultures. Artemidorus gave them several meanings, depending on the snake and the dreamer.
Artemidorus, Oneirocritica
How common is this dream?
22.1% of people in the study had had this dream. More common in women: 24.4%, against 16.4% of men. From a survey of 1,181 first-year university students in three Canadian cities. No. 34 of the 55 typical dreams.
Common versions of this dream
What if the snake bites me?
A bite often matches a sudden hurt or a warning about a person or situation.
What if the snake is calm?
A calm snake suggests that change or instinct is not threatening.
What if there are many snakes?
Many snakes can match many small worries.
Had this dream? Tell it to Oneiros.
Oneiros reads your own dream, not a dictionary entry: what it was about, how it felt and what it may mean for you, and it notices when it comes back.
Oneiros offers reflective readings for self-discovery and entertainment. It is not a medical or psychological service.
Sources
- Nielsen, T. A., Zadra, A. L., Simard, V., Saucier, S., Stenstrom, P., Smith, C., & Kuiken, D. (2003). The typical dreams of Canadian university students. Dreaming, 13(4), 211–235. doi:10.1023/B:DREM.0000003144.40929.0b
- Revonsuo, A. (2000). The reinterpretation of dreams: An evolutionary hypothesis of the function of dreaming. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23(6), 877–901. doi:10.1017/S0140525X00004015
- Jung, C. G. (Ed.) (1964). Man and His Symbols. Aldus Books.
- Artemidorus of Daldis (2nd century CE). Oneirocritica (The Interpretation of Dreams). Translated by D. E. Harris-McCoy, Oxford University Press, 2012.