Dreaming of snakes: what does it mean?

What does it mean to dream of snakes? Is there a meaning to be interpreted by studying these symbols?

To dream of snakes is a relatively frequent experience that usually produces feelings of anguish and discomfort in those who experience it.

In addition to the anxiety that these animals usually produce in most people, there is also the disturbing component of the symbolism. For this reason, many people wonder.... what does it mean to dream of snakes? Can Sigmund Freud's theory of dream interpretation tell us anything about this? Let's take a look.

The interpretation of dreams and the subconscious mind

The mysterious nature of dreams is something that has always aroused the interest of mankind, even long before the emergence of psychology as a science. Closing our eyes, disconnecting from the world around us and passing without realizing it into the world of dreams is a difficult experience to understand. Among other things, because while dreaming, almost anything is possibleeven situations that in the real world could only be attributed to magic or the supernatural.

However, although the realm of dreams offers a potentially unlimited repertoire of situations, in practice most of these visions, stories or sensations refer to the real, objective world in which we are sleeping in a bed, an armchair or a hammock. And that is why even the most surreal situations with non-human beings usually consist of animals that really exist; snakes are an example of this.

Now then... what does it mean to dream of snakes, creatures that appear relatively frequently both in dreams and nightmares? Is there an interpretation for this dream experience?

The idea that dreams and nightmares have a meaning is linked above all to the theories of psychoanalysis proposed by Sigmund Freud. According to this neurologist, one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century, dreams are forms of expression by which contents of the unconscious part of the human mind emerge to consciousness disguised as something they are not.

That is to say, that in the dreams we would find emotional and repressed contents that can only be allowed to appear under the appearance of oniric elements whose true meaning is not literal, but must be interpreted as we would interpret any symbol. as we would interpret any symbol.

What does it mean to dream of snakes?

Knowing what we have seen so far, it is understandable that it is common to ask the question of what it means to dream of snakes, with all its variants: the meaning of dreaming of snakes that attack, that stare at us, that talk to us, that ignore us, etc.

From the orthodox psychoanalytical perspective, these reptiles would be symbolic elements to decipher, that is to say, symbols that express messages that the body sends to the conscious part with which the subconscious relates indirectly when we dream, moment in which the mechanisms that normally repress the contents far from our consciousness lose power and relax more.

And as Freud's ideas have been very influential for decades, even among those who have never read the father of psychoanalysis has permeated the idea that in the experience of dreaming of snakes there is a sense, a hidden meaning that reveals aspects of our personality or of the nature of our traumas, memories, etc., etc.etc.

However, we should discard the idea that dreaming of snakes has a fixed and very concrete meaning, although it can have a more diffuse and abstract one. Let us see why.

The limitations of Freud's work

Freud is much criticized for reaching contradictory conclusions: on the one hand, he claims to know general principles of the functioning of the human mind, and at the same time, he establishes that all this is determined by the autobiographical history of each person, especially during his childhood years. That is to say, that his ideas apply and at the same time do not apply to all human beings..

Therefore, even for Freud dreaming of snakes would not have a predetermined meaning, but to understand this symbology it would be necessary to explore the particular case of each person, since one of the characteristics of symbols is that depending on the context we can give them literally any meaning.

Of course, this defect of Freudian psychoanalysis does not imply that we cannot attribute a meaning to dreaming about snakes; it only implies that we cannot link it to a message. we cannot link it to a very concrete and elaborated message, one that reveals something fascinating to us.one that reveals something fascinating about who we are and what our past is, as we shall now see.

Snakes and Anxiety

If there is a key to understanding what it means to dream of snakes, it is the way in which evolution has predisposed us to be anxious. evolution has predisposed us to fear these animals..

The fear of snakes is not something purely learned; Biological evolution has made our brains particularly adept at detecting these animals, very quickly detecting snake-like shapes and provoking in us an almost automatic emotional impact. and provoking in us an almost automatic emotional impact..

It is true that it is possible to enjoy the company of these reptiles, but this is usually the product of a learning process by which we "train" ourselves in the task of tolerating their company; the first option we contemplate when we see these creatures near us is to move away quickly.

Thus, the snakes that appear in our dreams are a way in which anxiety is embodied while we sleep. While at rest we tend to relax more than we do while awake, if there is something in our lives that worries us, that anxiety can "seep out" of us, that anxiety can "seep" into our dreams., y fácilmente producirá pesadillas o experiencias como que nos visite uno de estos reptiles alargados.

Referencias bibliográficas:

• Freud, S. (1900). The Interpretation of Dreams. London: Hogarth Press.
• Hoehl, S., Hellmer, K., Johansson, M., Gredebäck, G. (2017). Itsy Bitsy Spider…: Infants React with Increased Arousal to Spiders and Snakes. Frontiers in Psychology, 18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01710.
• Vedfelt, O. (1999). The Dimensions of Dreams. Fromm.