The meaning of dreams about snakes is always situation-specific and relies as much upon the dreamer’s interpretation as any other interpretation. But it helps to know how such things have been interpreted throughout history. The snake, for example, plays many roles in dreams, and not all of them are negative.
One of the first studies of dreams, the Oneirocritica by Artemidoros, lists several potential interpretations – from the women who dreamed of snakes before giving birth and birthed sons who were orators (because of the snake’s forked tongue), thieves (because a snake never moves in straight lines), priests (because snakes are sacred to the gods) and more.
The same is true of many texts on dream interpretation. Carl Jung, for example, believed that snakes were ‘chthonic devils’ (spirits of the underworld), but also that ‘[the] serpent is an adversary and a symbol of enmity, but also a wise bridge that connects right and left through longing, much needed by our life.’
In dreams, snakes can be primal, sexual creatures but also oppressors. They can, in venomous snakes, represent death by stealth. They can also mean rebirth through shedding one’s skin or relate to health and spiritual problems. And according to Freud, they may even represent the phallus. However, it is interesting how such meanings share significance in some areas and diverge in others across religions.
According to Islamic dream interpreter Ibn Sirin, seeing your land filled with snakes can indicate a plentiful harvest on the way. In contrast, a similar dream for a member of the Jewish faith could be a sign that enemies surround a person. If a Hindu dreams of killing a snake, he can expect misfortune, while the reverse could be valid for a member of the Abrahamic faith.
All this is to say that dream interpretation is a culturally led practice, driven at least in part by the memes (in the anthropological sense) that pervade the individual’s upbringing.
