What Does it Mean to Dream About Snakes?
Snake dreams continue to be the most popular type of dream here on Dream Prophesy. The reason for this is pretty clear and totally understandable, however that’s of little comfort when someone has such an unsettling dream!
The reason snake dreams are so popular and common is this: Snakes are (deservedly or not) a universal symbol of everything evil, wrong, scary, frightening, and bad.
Thanks, Eve.
Snakes represent, to most of us anyway, great fear and uncommon anxiety. Granted, there are those who love snakes with the same type of adoration the rest of us have for our cats, dogs, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and so on. As a matter of fact, when a lot of people talk about their beloved pet, they’re referring to a snake. And when these snake-lovers have dreams about snakes, they usually symbolize something entirely different. When they dream about snakes, they’re no more alarmed that I would be if I dreamed about cats. As someone with four cats, this is completely common for me and I never give it a second thought.
For most of us, however, snakes do represent BAD (fear, anxiety, frustration…). Common symbol for BAD = A common dream.
Here’s something that I find to be extremely fascinating. I’ve been a dreamologist for over 10 years. That’s a lot of dreams to be analyzed and studied! I’ve noticed something over the years that fascinates me. MANY adults who work with kids, particularly teachers, frequently have a similar dream involving snakes:
They’ll confront a snake (or another representation of evil) that they’re trying valiantly to destroy. Many will even say things like, “I know it’s going to hurt a lot of people and I want to stop it…” However, they can’t get anyone to get on board with them and help out. The frustration of the dream stays with these dreamers as much as the image of the snake or snakes do. One of the reasons I believe this is so common is that teachers, undoubtedly, often feel very much “up against it.” They love kids and sincerely want to help them. They’ve dedicated their lives to them, so they obviously feel very strongly about young people. However, they can’t do everything.
They feel very overwhelmed, at times, due to a lack of parental support and/or a lack of support from the school system, principal, school board, etc. Teachers aren’t even paid as much as they deserve – no doubt the frustration sometimes gets to them. How could it not? Although most handle it admirably and you’d never really know the lack of support they sometimes encounter, their subconscious mind ALWAYS knows. the subconscious mind realizes just how much the individual sometimes feels as though he or she is fighting for a child or children without anyone backing them up.
Enter the snake.
Honestly, this is such a recurring theme for people involved in education and kids that books could be written. Needless to say, the theme is actually beautiful – the thought that people who are in charge of kids care so much about “saving” them and protecting them that it carries over to their dreams.
Snakes, for most people are dream symbols for something (anything, really) that’s evil, bad, scary, or undesired in any way. When we have things on our mind during the day that are negative, to put it simply, they show up in our dreams dressed as snakes.
Appropriate attire for evil.
Whether you work with kids or not, snakes symbolize something that you are afraid of, intimidated by, anxious about, or worried about. It may be a tiny seed of fear deep inside of you – one that you barely even know exists. The thing is, your subconscious mind knows it’s there. Dreams are its way of getting the fear out into the open, allowing you to confront it and deal with it.
If, like teachers, you find yourself trying to do something about the snake but can’t seem to find any support or help – your dream interpretation is similar to the teacher’s. You feel, in your waking life, a lack of support from the people around you. You often feel that you’re fighting a battle alone.
Snake dreams will usually subside once you realize that this fear, and possible isolation, exists. A word of caution, however: As with all unsettling dreams – try very hard not to dwell on them, especially right before going to sleep. Doing so only invites the dream to RECUR, and when it comes to snake dreams, that’s the last thing any of us want.
What Does it Mean to Dream About Your Own Death?
Easily, one of the most disturbing dreams you can have revolves around your own death. Some of these dreams involve just KNOWING that you’re about to die. Other dreams actually take the dreamer to Heaven, allowing them to visit with loved ones who have previously died. Many times, when this is the case, it simply indicates that the dreamer has been missing at least one of these loved ones. It can also mean that the dreamer is missing a period of time in their life – one that they shared with this person. Many times we’re kind of nostalgic for our childhoods and we’ll either dream that people from that period of time are still with us, or that we’ve gone to Heaven to see them.
Similar to illness dreams, dreaming of dying isn’t so much about sickness or death as it is about TRANSITION, LOSS, or CHANGE.
Here’s an example:
Claire, from Detroit, e-mailed me about a troubling dream she had about a week ago. She dreamed that she knew she was dying. In her dream, she was watching her husband and children play in the yard and wondered how (after she’d died) she could let them “know” that she was watching over them. She decided that she’d give them “signs.” They each knew that she loved the color orange, that roses were her favorite flower, and that her favorite bird was the oriole. She decided, in her dream, that she’d take these forms every day for her family – to let them know she was still with them.
As it turned out, Claire and her family were going through a lot of changes. Her husband had recently been laid off, their oldest son had been diagnosed with asthma, and a close family member had moved several states away. As the family dealt with many transitions, Claire undoubtedly felt stressed and anxious. She wanted to keep her family strong and do her best to help everyone deal with the changes positively.
When we go through transitions in our lives, we realize that we need to CHANGE inside as we cope with the changes outside. Sometimes we simply have to change the way we look at things – as well as changing our expectations and goals. Death dreams are simply a by-product of these transitional phases of life. They’re entirely normal – and actually kind of therapeutic. For one thing, they remind us that we can handle anything…. after all, we’re still alive!!!
One other cause of death dreams is guilt. Sometimes we say or do something we really wish we hadn’t. The guilt can overwhelm us if we don’t do everything in our power to apologize and make it right. Many times this guilt will become symbolized in our dreams as self-inflicted harm, illness, or even death.
If you’ve had dreams about your own death, rest assured, they are not prophetic – they are simply an indication of stress, change, transitions, or even anxiety. Dreams do not tell the future – they tell the present.
Dreams About Losing or Gaining Weight
If you dream that you’ve suddenly gained or lost a great deal of weight, you are probably dealing with some sort of change in your life.
Some dream experts and interpreters believe that this type of dream is an indication that you are having trouble adjusting to or accepting this change but I don’t think this is a 100 percent hard and fast rule. Personally, I think the weight gain (or loss) is simply a dream symbol for change – whether or not you’re handling it well or not.
Take, for example, a woman from Massachusetts who dreamed that she had gained over 20 pounds. She wasn’t alarmed by the dream, whatsoever. In fact, it amused her greatly! She pointed out that the weight gain “took a good 20 years off” of her appearance.
When I told her that these types of dreams were usually symbolic of change she e-mailed me back, listing the following changes she’d gone through in the past 3 months:
- She married “Mr. Right”
- She and Mr. Right moved to a new town
- Both of them started new jobs
- They’d bought 2 Siamese cats
This uncommonly warm and friendly woman was very excited about her new life and family. She embraced all of the changes and was, in her words, “happier than anyone deserves to be.” Her dream was simply her brain’s way of reveling in her new found bliss and joy. Her brain realized that so much had been added to her world… hence the additions it made to her weight!
Dreams of Losing Weight
Dreams of losing weight aren’t always negative either. If, for example, an individual wants to lose weight, they may dream of doing so. It makes a great deal of sense, given the fact that they probably think about weight loss a lot during the day.
It’s extremely common and perfectly logical to dream about the things we think about the most.
However, if you have lost weight (in your dream) as a result of sickness or unhappiness – you are more likely than not struggling with recent change or changes. You feel that you are losing a part of your life – and maybe even yourself.
Whether you dream of losing weight or gaining weight, ask yourself the following question (and try to answer it as soon after the dream as possible): “How did I feel during the dream and how did I feel as soon as I awoke?”
- If you felt alarmed, sad, worried, anxious, or scared in the dream – the dream symbolism is a negative one. This dream indicates that you are having a great deal of trouble with recent changes. You’ve probably been trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation, but you simply aren’t adjusting to the change. The dream indicates that you need to take a good, long, honest look at the changes in your life and ask what you can do to help yourself adjust better.
- If you felt nonchalant, that is neither good nor bad – this indicates that the dream is simply acknowledging the changes. It’s not passing judgment on whether it finds the change to be good or bad, it’s simply acknowledging that it does exist!
- If you felt happy, joyful, and excited in your dream (and felt good upon waking), it indicates that you embrace the change or changes and are in a very, very good place.
I hope that the last one is exactly where you find yourself!
What Does it Mean to Dream About Dolls?
Dreaming about dolls, in one way or another, symbolizes childhood. It could either be symbolic of the dreamer’s childhood or could symbolize a child (or “wanted” child) in the dreamer’s life. Many couples who are trying to have babies often dream about dolls. These dreams are simply the mind’s ways of handling the intense desire to have children.
Many people will dream about dolls when they have been thinking and/or talking about their childhood. The mind sort of goes back in time to “revisit” the magical time of childhood.
Dreaming of dolls can also symbolize children in your life -either your own children or other’s. If the doll is broken or lost, the dreamer is most likely quite worried about a particular child. If the doll is in perfect condition and (in the dream) brings about positive feelings, it’s simply the mind’s way of expressing love for a particular child (or children).
If – somehow – the doll is associated with negative feelings in the dream, the meaning could be altogether different. Many people will have negative dreams about dolls… even nightmares… when they have negative events in their daily life. Due to the fact that there is a doll present in the dream, these negative events either involve a child OR childishness.
Adults who are either dating or have married an individual with a child or children from another relationship sometimes feel jealous or “left out.” These unfortunate feelings can carry over into dreams and, quite often, star dolls or toys.
In yet another example of doll dreams, we often symbolize someone’s actions (or even our own!) through symbolism in our dreams. If we think someone is acting childish, we’ll find child-like symbols in our dreams – such as dolls. Even if we’re the one who has been acting childish!
Finally, I remember one particular dream where a woman dreamed that she had a doll that looked JUST like her. It turned out that she felt like her husband and children never listened to her. She felt as appreciated and acknowledged as a doll, basically – hence the dream.
What Dreams Mean: Dreaming of Holidays and Christmas
I’ve gotten a recurring question lately: “What does it mean to dream about Christmas (holidays)?” Of course, there’s the obvious influence of all the Christmas lights, music, and gifts everywhere now – as well as the Thanksgiving and Christmas commercials and decorations.
However, it actually goes deeper than this.
Whether we dream about holidays and Christmas around November and December, the dream symbols mean pretty much the same things.
Dreaming about holidays is similar to dreaming about vacations: They’re indications that the dreamer needs a break from his/her day to day grind. Dreaming of holidays means that the dreamer is feeling stressed, anxious, and over-worked.
This dream analysis would indicate that the dreamer needs to do all he or she can to slow down. They need to realize that their dream is trying to tell them something and they’d be very wise to heed the message. Even if it means taking just 30 minutes each day or evening to do nothing but relax and unwind… pretty much giving their mind the “holiday” it craves.
Naturally, a few days would be a wonderful luxury, but that isn’t always possible. Think of it this way, if you take 30 minutes each night, and do so for the rest of your life… you’ll be WAY past the “few days” holiday!
One other implication of Christmas dreams is this: Sometimes life gets chaotic and hectic for adults. It’s not easy being a grown up and often we crave the carefree, happy, and fun existence of our childhood. What better time is it to be a child than Christmas?!
If this sounds like it could be your dream interpretation, try to incorporate more fun and, yes, even more play into your life. Instead of teasing your kid(s) about their video games, play with them and/or buy your own. You know what they say about all work and no play!
Holiday and Christmas Dream Symbols
The symbols of Thanksgiving and Christmas simply support everything we’ve discussed above. Anything related to the holidays – wreaths, trees, angels, Santa, baby Jesus, the Nativity Scene, snowmen, gingerbread men, candy canes, bells… – is symbolic of either the need to slow your pace or the need to return to the carefree happiness of childhood.
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