What Does It Mean When You Dream About Snakes?

Dreaming About Snakes


According to Freud’s classic dream interpretation theory, a snake featured in a dream represents a phallic symbol that could relate to a male figure, male energy or how you experience your sexuality.  Interpreting what your dream about snakes means does not stop there however. To fully understand its meaning, you need to look deeper into the interpretation of this rich symbol.

What Does it Mean to Dream about Snakes?


  • A snake is a symbol of the unconscious



A snake can appear in your dreams as an animal spirit guide or animal totem, bringing guidance about life direction and healing opportunities. >> Get more information about the snake as a spirit animal (Source: www.spiritanimal.info)

Dream Interpretation Tools

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“Tony Crisp, a dream therapist, shares with you his knowledge based on 22 years of research. Crisp offers you useful techniques for processing your dreams quickly and easily. … He has included the terminology about key concepts in the field of sleep and dreaming, such as archetypes, anxiety dreams, the collective unconscious, ESP in dreams, lucid dreaming and out of body experiences.”

3 Keys to decode the meaning of your snake dream:

  1. Look at general dream meanings.
  2. Translate the elements of your dream into meaningful dream interpretation clues.
  3. Connect the content of your dream with your daily life.

If you know how to interpret your dream, you may discover ways to resolve these issues and encourage your personal growth. Like the snake that strikes when it feels threatened, the presence of the serpent in your sleep symbolizes a wake up call to look at fears about your own feelings or a threatening situation in your waking life.

Dreaming About Snakes

Go further with the interpretation of your Snake Dream

Woman Dreaming about a Snake

What does it mean when I dream of a snake?

If you feel fear when you see the snake in your dream, it indicates that you are having difficulties facing the unknown or uncertainty in your life.


When the presence of the snake in your dream is neutral or friendly, it suggests that you are dealing with fears or concerns with assurance. It is an indicator that healing is taking place.

If you’re dreaming of a wild snake, it may denote negative aspects associated with the animal, such as worries, fears or concerns about something that going out of control.

If you’re dreaming of a pet snake, it could relate to an opportunity for healing or positive changes in your life.

When you are fighting with a snake, it means that you are resisting a change or struggling with a decision or feelings in your waking life. It may represent a power struggle in your intimate relationship or at work.

Being chased by a snake means that you are facing an intimidating situation in your life that is haunting you. Emotions that you have not dealt with are coming back at you.


If you are dreaming of being bitten by snake, it means that you need to pay attention to something that you’ve been avoiding because it was too intimating or uncomfortable.

If the snake spits its venom at you, it suggests that there’s a negative influence in your life that’s difficult to handle. It may represent a “poisonous” relationship or negative words or rumors around you.

Talking to a snake suggests that you are engaged in a process of understanding higher knowledge about yourself and your world. It indicates that you are open to receiving information of a more mystical nature.

If you have a dialog or if the snake talks in your dream, it signifies that your potentials are being realized and your opening up to new possibilities in life.

For more interpretation of snake dreams, consult the snake dream meanings section.

Connect your Snake Dream with your Life

Here are dream interpretation hints to guide the analysis of your snake dream. A general interpretation method consists in associating traits that belong to the animal you dreamed about with situations in your waking life or aspects of your personality. You may find that the following generic snake characteristics are present in your dream, as well as in your daily life.

  • Snakes are wild, untamed animals that cannot be trained. They are beyond our control.

Interpretation hint: Look if you are currently experiencing feelings or a situation that feel that way in your waking life; look withing to see if you need to pay attention a an untamed part of yourself that needs more space to express itself or develop harmoniously.

  • Snakes are unpredictable. They tend to strike by surprise; they appear unexpectedly and disappear as fast as they showed up.

Interpretation hint: Can you associate these qualities with a fear you may be having or your own behavior when facing a challenging situation?

  • They primarily evoke aversion and fear in humans.

When snakes and humans meet, there’s a danger that the snake will attack, mostly as a reaction to fear or feeling threatened.

  • Snakes move close to the ground and are associated with the earth.

Interpretation hint: Feel into your own connection with the earth; whether you feel grounded, with your feet on the ground or not; how you relate to your primal instincts.

  • Snake shed their skin when they grow, leaving behind the old during their transformation process.

Interpretation hint: Snakes are great symbols for personal transformation; look at what’s changing in your life or in yourself or what you hope to change or leave behind in order to move on.

  • Some snakes’ venom is poisonous, even deadly, if they bite.

Interpretation hint: Death or the fear of dying in a dream is not to be taken literally. It’s often symbolic of the death of the old and the opportunity to leave behind what you no longer need. It could also represent grieving a loss of something or someone who was important to you.

  • They possess the antidote to their own venom.

Interpretation hint: Often, a challenging situation is also an opportunity to discover something new and take on an opportunity. Look at how this relates to your life right now.

Dreaming About Snakes

Conclusion: Key Points to Enhance your Dream Interpretation

Here are two key points to refine the interpretation of your dream.

Reconnect with the Snake in your Dream


For example, you can project yourself back in the dream, recall all sorts of details about what the snake looked like, how it was moving, how you were feeling. You could even imagine you can ask the dream snake questions about its intentions, what message it has for you, etc. This will get you started in decoding what the snake in your dream could symbolize.

Snake Dream & Call from the Unconscious


Dreaming about a snake is usually an indicator that you need to pay attention to something important that you perhaps have been avoiding or that has escaped your awareness until now. Interpreting your dream will help you discover what it is and what you could do to about it.


Bonus: Snake Symbols in Popular Myths and Traditions

The symbolism in a snake dream is primarily anchored in the personal life of the dreamer. Because the snake is a powerful symbol in many traditions and cultures, a snake dream can also be influenced by a wider meaning given to the snake or serpent in one’s culture.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the snake tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is tinted with negative connotations and a symbol for temptation, evil, and sin.

In the Hindu tradition, Lord Siva wears a snake around his neck, as a representation of the control of dark forces and temptation. It also symbolizes the power of kundalini, the life force.

In ancient Greek mythology, Medusa is a Gorgon, represented as a woman with snake hair who can turn into stone whoever she looks at. According to the psycho-analytic perspective, it is a symbol for castration or repressed sexual energy.

Another popular Greek myth is about Aesclepius, Greek god of healing and medicine, who inspired rituals where snakes were used. Today, the rod of Asclepius is what we know as the Caduceus, symbol for modern medicine. In our dreams, it represents the opportunity for healing.

The feathered serpent from the Aztecs of South America is a symbol for the creator of life.


Still Confused about the Meaning of your Dream?

If you’re still confused about the what your dream means after researching symbol definitions and dream dictionaries, don’t panic. You can post your snake dream below and get feedback from other dreamers passionate about dream interpretation.

Post Your Snake Dream Now!

394 Responses to Snake Dream

  • Jynell Pettit

    I had a dream of 2 snakes that were friendly they were helping me by going thru the tall grass looking for deadly snakes so that i can cross a field after i crossed the field they came to me and i fed them green grapes and they were pleased and i felt safe with them i wish i understood the meaning of this dream i believe it is trying to tell me something

  • Lulibeth Torres

    Last night I had a dream of hundreds of snake hanging from the tree try to chase me and I was just standing there screaming my lungs out as my mother passed by laughing telling my boyfriend to bite me and as he do so the snake slowly moving back. Than I told my boyfriend to stop and as he was getting up the snake again slowly moving towards me but the second my boyfriend was on top of me go protect me the move back.
    Weird dream.

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