I had a dream three nights ago that I can’t shake. I was in the yard, at a picnic or something like that. I looked down and saw a snake coming toward me in the grass. No matter where I tried to run, there he was following me. I felt so scared and helpless because no matter where I went, he came.
I ran into a circus type tent and thought I was safe. But then the ring leader, who looked more like a talk show host, held the snake up in the air and started walking toward me with it. The snake still had grass on it and was, at first, playing dead. Then he reared up and looked really angry. I knew he was mad that I had tried to get away from him. Thankfully I woke up before the ringleader and the snake got to me.
I can’t get this dream out of my head and keep expecting a snake to be everywhere. I hate snakes anyway, so this is a really horrible deal for me. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It may sound silly, but I don’t even want to go outside.
I can totally relate to you – snakes are one of my own biggest fears, so I don’t think it sounds silly. You will get over this feeling in a few days, though, so don’t worry about it too much.
A few things strike me about your dream.
- The fact that you said you couldn’t “shake” the dream and that it is affecting you so strongly that you expect a snake to be “everywhere” mean a great deal. It takes a particularly powerful and vivid dream to stay with a dreamer like this. This is almost always an indication that there are extremely strong emotions tied to the interpretation of this dream.
- Most dreams involving snakes stay in our minds because of a snake’s symbolism. We associate snakes with satan to a great extent, thanks to the Garden of Eden. It’s hard to get any scarier than that, right?! Even thought any animal could have been used to speak to Eve, the fact that satan chose a snake stays with us.
- Your snake was so persistent! This is another indication of the importance of this dream’s interpretation.
- The fact that you said you were scared and felt helpless are huge.
This dream seems to indicate that you are feeling more helpless lately than you have ever felt before. Because of the impact this dream is having on you, I’d say that feeling helpless is a feeling you aren’t at all familiar with. The fact that your subconscious mind chose something you hate so passionately (snakes) is a clear indication of the inner turmoil you’re feeling. You probably aren’t even fully aware of just how much stress you’ve been under or how helpless you’ve been made to feel.
Once you realize that the snake in the grass was merely symbolic for this emotion, you’ll realize that you don’t have anything to fear around the next corner – not even outside! This snake in your dream only symbolizes whatever it is in your day to day life that you feel helpless against.
When you find a way to deal with this particular problem, you will have won the battle!
Until then, here’s something to keep in mind about snakes – so many of us are afraid of them, but we can’t name one single person we know who has ever been bit by one. Yet, most of us can name several people who’ve been bit by dogs or cats – yet we aren’t afraid of them in the least! Or cars – most of us know of people who’ve been badly hurt in car wrecks, but we get into them every day without fear. I, myself, have been in 3 car wrecks and have never been approached by a snake EVER, yet I’m terrified of one and can’t imagine life without the other.
Try to focus on solving whatever it is in your life that has made you feel helpless and overcome it. Try not to dwell too much on snake dreams. When you do think about it – be thankful! He may have helped draw attention to something in your world that you need to address before it gets the better of you.
A lot of people have the mistaken idea that dreaming of death foretells of a loved one dying.
First of all, dreams are a many things, but psychic they are not. Our dreams reflect what is going on inside our minds and hearts. They deal with (and sort out) things that we are currently experiencing or things that we have currently experienced.
Now having said that, we can take the information and symbolism found in our dreams to help us in the future. So, in that regard, they can provide warnings and admonitions. However, please don’t ever think they foretell bad omens or that dreaming of darkness is a prediction for upcoming darkness.
If you have had a dream which involved death, rest assured that you are far from alone. We’ve all had death dreams and, while troubling, we all know that they slink out of our lives just as fast as they slunk in.
Death dreams generally mean that you are anxious or worried. You may not fully realize how much anxiety you’re actually feeling. Many times, troubling dreams like this wave a flag for the individual and cause them to realize just how much stress they’ve been under. The dreamer can then realize that they need to pull back a little bit – enjoy life more rather than just anxiously trying to get from point A to point B!
Almost all dreams of dying can be traced back to an overworked, overly anxious individual very much in need of some time off!
Below is a dream submitted this past week:
I every once in a while have this dream. I am eating something sometimes, but there are other times it just happens. I get a string caught during swallowing and I have to loosen my throat muscles to pull it back out. When i attempt to pull it out, it is a never ending string that just goes on and on and on. I see myself and feel myself pulling for a long time. The thing that is weird is that I can feel this and I dread dreaming this. It is soo uncomfortable. Is this a common dream? What is your interpretation of this dream? Thanks!
I’ve read your dream through four times to try to get a really good handle on it. If you had just had this dream once I would have thought it was connected to something like flossing before bed. I have a tendency to floss too hard sometimes and if my gums bleed, I can expect to be harmed at some point in my dreams. Needless to say, I’ve started being more careful when flossing!
The fact that you’ve had this sort of dream more than once leads me to believe that there’s a little more to it than just this sort of “association” type of dream.
When I read your dream I get the feeling that your predominant emotion during the dream is frustration. Sure, it’s uncomfortable and the situation puts you in a bad position, but I think the most important thing to notice is that you feel frustrated by several things:
1. You’re frustrated that the choking occurs in the first place – as you said, sometimes even when you aren’t eating in your dream.
2. You’re frustrated that you have to contort your throat muscles in a manner to try to prevent the choking.
3. You’re frustrated that you pull and pull but can’t get to the end of the string.
In dreams that I call “Frustration Dreams,” you can usually expect to hear the dreamer use the following phrases:
- It went on and on and on…
- It seemed like it took forever…
- No matter what I did, I couldn’t…..
- No one would listen to me…..
- Never ending…
- Impossible…..
They also will frequently comment about something lasting a long time. When I read “…it is a never ending string that just goes on and on and on….” in your dream description, I knew we were dealing with a frustration dream of some type. It’s an absolutely beautiful example of this type of dream.
Usually frustration dreams are brought on by things in our day to day life that we feel powerless against. These things are either courtesy of other people (things others do that frustrate us) or they’re courtesy of our ourselves (things we, ourselves, do that frustrate us).
The fact that your frustration dream involves the face is very, very important. This is a key symbolism that means the frustration is extremely personal. When we dream about a part of our body, it means that that dream meaning is a very personal one.
The tricky thing is that this could mean one of two things, and only you will know for sure which one it is. Your dream is an indication that you are either:
- Frustrated by a habit or thought that you can’t quit doing or thinking. Many people have this sort of dream when they can’t quit procrastinating, can’t “get over” an ex, can’t stop a particular habit such as biting their nails or smoking, etc. I once had a string of frustrating dreams when I consistently failed to make time to exercise!
- If you aren’t frustrated with something that the person in the mirror is or isn’t doing, then the dream would indicate that you are frustrated with something someone else does. This person would be someone extremely close to you – someone who would be of the utmost importance to you. The symbolism of your mouth would indicate that it is probably someone you are connected to in a romantic way.
I want to mention something about choking dreams. If you had experienced an isolated dream about choking and your emotions were primarily fear and/or embarrassment, I would suggest that you had recently said something you regretted. However, you have had several of these dreams and you just don’t strike me as a person who puts their foot in their mouth on a daily basis!
Also, as I said before, the primary emotion seems to be frustration.
As for bringing an end to the dreams, my first suggestion would be to try very hard NOT to think about the dreams or their details. Before bedtime, think about anything and everything BUT these dreams – or about anything that frustrates you at all. Read a great novel, watch television, or take a blissful bubble bath.
Finally, if you can pinpoint where the frustration is coming from, you’ll double your odds of ending these dreams.
Best of luck!
When you combine the active imaginations of children with dreams, very disturbing nightmares can occur. Adults often feel helpless when it comes to dealing with a child’s nightmares. It helps to keep a few ideas in mind:
- Never, ever brush off or dismiss a child’s fears. When you say, “Oh, that’s nothing, you’re being silly,” you are insulting the child as well as diminishing their concerns. If they are legitimately frightened, it’s far from “nothing” and they aren’t being “silly,” they’re being children.
- You don’t want to blow the nightmare or the dream up larger than they should be, of course, but you should listen to the child as she or he tells you what happened in the dream.
- Instead of saying, “Monsters don’t exist!” – ask the child if he/she has ever seen a monster. Tell them that you haven’t either (which will carry a great deal of weight, since the child probably thinks you’re about as old as old gets!). Allow them to come to the realization that it was just a dream and that monsters (or whatever) really don’t exist. Stay calm, casual, and never tease or make fun of them.
- Help them understand that dreams are like little movies our brain creates to entertain itself while we’re asleep. Tell them that, apparently, their mind thought it was time for a scary movie and that it will probably want to create a comedy next. Let them know that watching several cartoons (lighthearted) before bedtime the next night will probably encourage their brain to keep things funny!
- If the child is afraid to go back to sleep, ask yourself this question: “If you were their age and felt totally afraid of your dreams and the dark, what would you want your mom or dad to do?” You’d want them to let you stay awake for the time being – with the lights on! If you try to force them to go back to a frightening place, you aren’t going to be much of a hero, are you?
Nightmares are a part of growing up, so are “monsters under the bed” and “creepers in the closet.” Just try to be as calm and reassuring as you can and you’ll help them disappear soon.
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