Snake bite dreams

Snake Bite Dreams

Snake bite dreams have something specific to say about your personality and the way in which you live your life. As a dream symbol, the snake means something from beyond has penetrated your awareness.

Snake bite dreams let you know in no uncertain terms that it’s time to wake up and pay attention to something that you have been neglecting or to something on your horizon.

Is its venom healing or harmful?  It can be either one, so don't assume it's always bad for you. Even if the snake bite causes your hand to rot off, still, treat the dream image as something from which you can learn.

In this post we'll look at an example of a snake bite dream, along with an in-depth interpretation. Remember that dream interpretations will vary according to the dreamer's situation.  Looking at dream examples is a really good way to get an idea of how to go about interpreting dreams of snakes biting  you. 

I don't tell you what to think about your dreams, but rather, how to think about your dreams.

Snake Bite Dreams and Typical Dream Dictionaries

Too many dream sites and dream dictionaries say negative things about snake dreams.  Don't pay too much attention to that.  As with any of your dreams, the meaning of snake bite dreams depends on your current life situation, something which always includes your attitude toward life.

In addition to your life situation, you also have to consider your general  associations to snakes.  For some people, snakes are wonderful creatures and to others, they are frightening. 

To get to the deeper meaning of a dream about snakes biting you, you need to know something about the archetypal symbolism of the snake. 

As I said in the post about serpent and snake symbolism, the snake is an extremely old symbol, and as such, it has many different meanings and attributes.  Any of these attributes could be behind the meaning of dreams about snakes biting you.

The most important thing to remember is:

Snake bite dreams are attempts to get your attention

Reflections on your snake bite dream

The first thing you want to do after you have a dream about snakes biting you is take down notes. Record everything you can remember about the dream. Hopefully, you are already keeping a dream journal where you record your daily life events. This helps you keep track of your conscious situation and your general attitude about life.

Examples of dreams about snakes biting you

Dream of a young woman

Generally speaking, snakes in dreams can symbolize something: we have rejected, do not know, or have forgotten about ourselves. Anything that falls under this category can include positive or negative qualities. 

Looking at a snake bite dream: the dreamer’s situation

One year prior to the dream the dreamer had suffered a brutal attack from a boyfriend whom she was trying to leave. 

As a result of that attack, she had since distrusted men and avoided sexuality.

The woman's reaction is totally understandable.  She needed time to heal herself, so she withdrew from her normal life. 

However, if we stay for too long in a withdrawn state, it becomes unhealthy. Our normal life is disrupted.  Prudent caution turns into paranoia. Self-preservation becomes isolating.  A once vital, sexually active woman is now cold as a snake.

Here we can say a little about our instinctual nature: it wants to live freely!  When we put unnecessary restraints ourselves, it causes problems.

Snake bite dream: the color black

In snake dreams, the color of the snake is significant. In the dream of the woman, the snakes are black. Their blackness could indicate that something is coming out of the darkest depths of the unconscious.

This doesn't necessarily mean something negative or evil. Darkness simply means really unconscious and something really unknown. 

In this case, it seems to be something instinctual, perhaps related to two things: feminine instinct and sexual instinct, both of which have been thwarted by a traumatizing experience.

Snake bite dream: a dream interpretation

Now let's look at the context of this snake dream:  she is sleeping on the floor with her loving cat, who's there to protect her, but yet the snakes still bite her.  In addition to that is her inability to move.

Cats are profoundly deep, highly intelligent, and exquisitely affectionate creatures. They are very sensitive to the emotions of their human companions and will offer comfort in times of need. These thoughtful, purring medicine kitties will do things such as lie on your belly if it hurts or across your chest if you are sad. It is possible that their ability to tap into and calm humans in times of stress is why cats were once worshipped as gods who could ward off evil.

That she cannot move in the dream, combined with the cat who's there to protect her, suggests that she must be subjected to the biting snakes.

If you translate that into psychological language, it looks something like this:  something in her wants to be realized. By realized I mean two things. One is that she must become conscious. The other is that she must do something concrete.

Symbolically speaking, sleeping typically means a state of unconsciousness.  In a dream this can mean that you are unconscious of something about yourself.  It be a quality you could realized, but don't know you have, for example, an artistic quality.

Sleeping can also symbolize that you are unaware of how your attitude affects your life or the life of those around you.  

And finally, sleeping could symbolize that a crucial part of yourself is asleep.

In the case of our dreamer, you can probably see two correlations: the young woman's sexuality has been  put to sleep and she is unaware of how this attitude affects her life.

In addition to that, I want to remind you that she now has a general fear of men. A general fear means that we no longer have access to our instinctual awareness about whom we should and should not fear.

Instinctual awareness is the wisdom of the body, something  many people have lost access to.  Because of this people get themselves into dangerous situations, such as stepping into an elevator with a stranger, when your body says, "don't do it".

Snake Dreams and Sexuality

If I had to make a guess, I'd say that the association between snake dreams and sexuality is probably the first that people make.  Generally speaking it's a bit over-rated, not to mention cliche.  

Snakes can certainly symbolize sexuality, but that’s really only a small aspect of their general symbolism – and the sexual aspect is only relevant in certain cultures.

However, with that said, given the dreamer's conscious situation and the fact that she had suppressed her sexuality - sexuality is relevant in this snake dream.

Snake bite dreams and Denial of Our Instincts

Anything we reject or deny about ourselves - especially something as natural as our sexuality - will have a negative impact on our lives. When you deny it or suppress it for too long, then some part of you is psychologically dead or dying.

Whenever we deny something to the point of psychological death, the unconscious will often take on a dangerous image, such as that of a snake biting you. Again,the dream wants to get your attention, so do not be afraid of the image. Be thankful for it.

William Blake - The Temptation and Fall of Eve (Illustration to Milton's Paradise Lost)

Sexuality is ultimately about relatedness.  People who deny or suppress their sexuality can be as cold as snakes. They lack a certain kind of warmth and vitality to their personalities. 

I have also noticed a general lack of intimacy in them, even in their close friendships.  Relationships seem to exist only at the surface level.

Sexuality is part of our instinctive life force, meaning that it needs an outlet for its expression.  To repeat, when you deny your instinctive life then in dreams, snakes may strike or chase you, crawl inside your mouth, or appear in some other aggressive form.

Back to our snake bite dream

The above snake bite dream is an indication that her instinctual energy is coming back to life. The presence of her cat means that it's safe to let this happen.

Also, consider that in the dream, she's not in the bed, but on the floor of her living room. A living room can be a general reference about how one lives life, that is, it's  a reference for a general attitude about life.

The dream is not necessarily about sex per se, but rather sexuality coming back to life. Also, the snakes bite her legs and body, indicating that her body is waking up after recovering from a traumatic attack.

To bring this part of herself back into life is to come into contact with another attribute of the snake:  renewal and rebirth.

Snake Bite Dreams: Shedding the past

A snake can shed its skin, and thus symbolically shed its past. 

Related to our current dreamer, can she shed the past and become renewed?  

Again, the presence of her cat (typically a symbol of femininity) suggests that it’s safe to let this process begin.

Another question she could ask herself is:  as I emerge from this terrible phase of my life, how can I be reborn?

This kind of question is essential for anyone who wants to live a life beyond trauma.  If we truly want to live, then we absolutely cannot let trauma define us. I go so far as to say that you should let go of the whole victim/survivor mindset.

Reconnecting with innate wisdom of the body

As I mentioned earlier, this dream about snakes biting could be connected to her general fear of men.  She has something to  learn from her terrible encounter - a tragic way to learn, no doubt.  But to let it stain her entire outlook on men is not the answer. 

Snakes can represent the wisdom of the body to react appropriately in dangerous situations. This is the true wisdom of the instincts.

Related to the wisdom of our instincts,  this dream could indicate the possibility of a reconnection to her instincts as a woman. As women, all of us need to listen to the wisdom of our body.

Go with your gut in certain situations. I mentioned this earlier: if your body signals that something is unsafe about a situation, get out of that situation immediately and don’t let your mind talk you out of it.

Now, let’s look at the possible meanings of snakes biting you on specific parts of your body.

Whenever you have a dream of a snake biting you somewhere specific, such as the hand or the foot, you need to know the symbolism of that body part.

Of course, any dream meaning will vary depending on your circumstances and conscious attitude, but I'll show you some general guidelines on interpreting  these kinds of snake bite dreams.

So, let's start with a dream about snakes biting your hand.  Before look at the dream, let's look at the general symbolism and associations with our hands.

Dreams of snakes biting your hand

Our hands can express ideas of action, power, dominion, resistance, and fear. As the primary instruments of our creative activity, our hands represent our human evolution.

Our opposable thumbs coincided with the evolution of our brain, making it possible for us to grasp things and thus make tools.

Hands are a direct expression of our level of consciousness. Whatever we can imagine, we can bring to life with our hands.  In many mythologies, the hands of the gods and goddesses shaped and molded the earth and all things which arise out of it.

Some of our idiomatic expressions illustrate the symbolic manner in which someone wields power:

• Someone with a slight of hand is a trickster.
• A person who is evenhanded is fair and impartial.
• If you are underhanded, you have an intention to deceive.
• Single-handed means to accomplish something on your own.

If you have a dream about snake biting you on the hand, then you need to take into account, everything that the hand means.

Do some honest self-reflection. How capable are your own hands?

Can you bring into life that which you imagine? How do you wield your personal power?

Feel free to post your dreams about snakes biting your hands in the comment section below.

Dreams about Snakes Biting Your Foot

Dreams about snakes biting your foot have some mythological references, probably the most notable being from the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis.

Jung told a story about one of a 27-year old army officer who came to analysis complaining of attacks of pain in the heart region, a choking sensation in his throat, and piercing pains in his heel, for which no organic cause to be found. The pain in his heel was so bad that he had a difficult time walking, resulting in his exemption from the military.

He gave the impression of having a cheerful, rather light-hearted nature, perhaps a bit on the tough side, as though saying theatrically: “You can’t keep us down.” As the anamnesis revealed nothing, I asked about his dreams. It at once became apparent what the cause was.

Just before the beginning of his neurosis the girl with whom he was in love jilted him and got engaged to another man. In talking to me he dismissed this whole story as irrelevant—“a stupid girl, if she doesn’t want me it’s easy enough to get another one. A man like me isn’t upset by a thing like that.”

That was the way he treated his disappointment and his real grief. But now the affects came to the surface. The pains in his heart soon disappeared, and the lump in his throat vanished after a few bouts of weeping. “Heartache” is a poeticism, but here it became an actual fact because his pride would not allow him to suffer the pain in his soul. The “lump in the throat,” the so-called globus hystericus, comes, as everyone knows, from swallowed tears.

His consciousness had simply withdrawn from contents that were too painful to him, and these, left to themselves, could reach consciousness only indirectly, as symptoms. All this was a rationally understandable and perfectly intelligible process, which could just as well have passed off consciously, had it not been for his masculine pride.C.G. Jung, The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche

Snake Bite Dreams: Snake Bites in Mythology

The mysterious part of this case was the pain in the heel, which had still not been resolved. Shortly after, the man had a dream where he'd been bitten in the heel by a snake and instantly paralyzed.

In this snake bite dream, the snake bite symbolizes the meaning of his heel pain. And what about the snake?

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.Book of Genesis

As Jung said, "when the girl jilted him, she gave him a wound which paralyzed him and made him ill."  Further analysis revealed something more about this man.

This tough guy had been thoroughly babied by his mother, making him an object of ridicule in school. In other words, he was a proverbial Mama's Boy. To compensate for this, he swung to the other side and became a Macho Man. So, in a sense, his mother had also lamed him.

In this man's case, the snake symbolizes that the women in his life had caused him pain.

There is also an Egyptian myth where Isis put a snake in the path of the great god, Ra, in order to bring him down from power. This isn't to say that women are as treacherous as snakes. The dream is simply a fragment of an old mythological motif.

The unconscious speaks in this old motifs in order to get us to reflect on our lives. Once the man realized where he need to work in his life, then his healing could begin.

Being a macho man without feeling doesn't serve his psychological development. He needs to feel his feelings, which included not only experiencing the grief caused by his break-up, but also the grief caused by his childhood ridicule.

So, I think I have given you a lot to work with here. If you dream of snakes biting you on some other part of your body, use these dream interpretations to help you explore its meaning.