"Snakes in my dreams"

Image from alchemicalmagic.com by Irene Payne

“Snakes in my dreams”

Dreams are full of metaphors and symbols we often don’t understand. We can theorize, we can look up the many different interpretations online or say “well, I saw that yesterday so that must be why I dreamt it.”  Dream images are layered with conscious and subconscious associations and experiences we personally and collectively have.  They are also full of mysticism and mystery.  Snakes, are definitely one of them.

My dear friend Jennifer lost both her parents last year.  This year has been one of the toughest times of her life. She was very close to her mother.  She is looking at her life differently now because of this. I believe her perception is changing.  She had and is continuing to have snakes in her dreams.  A boa constrictor, loose in the house. One playing tricks on her – she knew in the dream she was seeing the snake again and thought “I should’ve known you were here!”  This snake keeps coming and going.  Another, she was able to escape from in a field.

Sometimes dreams are hard to figure out and they take time to work with and integrate the energy of a symbol or an archetype. We have to ask questions. We have to let the dreams speak to us, explore them, honor them. I discussed a couple of these dreams with Jennifer.  I had all my knowledge of snake symbolism and its transformative power ready to go. I’ve had plenty of snake dreams and worked many times with Ted Andrew’s Animal Speak.

So I know the snake is about death/rebirth, the shedding of skin and its mystical nature because while in this state its eyes cloud over and it is said to have the power to live between worlds.  The snake has perception, wisdom, transformative and healing powers.  Dreaming of a snake may be an initiation -  an awakening of your life force.  This could be creativity, sexuality – all energies found within Kundalini, subtle energy that is within each one of us.  In yogic culture, kundalini is symbolized as the snake coiled up at the bottom of our spines, until it is aroused, then we quickly begin to experience its power unleashed in us.  

So we talk about health, jobs and wealth (inner/outer).  But the power of the snake was not resonating solely on any one of these topics. We discuss forgiveness, and we remember her “mama”.  We feel her mother at the core of our conversation the entire time. But we were missing something, just as she felt she didn’t know in the dream but then she knew! It had to be something that goes in and out, the wisdom is there but not acknowledged all the time.

Then I remember “…look into the hearts and souls of others…look more closely into your own heart and soul.” (Andrews, p363).  I ask her “what are you most afraid of?”

“Not being loved,” she says.

Her mama would love her no matter what and now that she is gone, how could she be sure she would ever be loved again?

The dream is talking about everything we discussed, but in order for the shift…she has to love herself as a mother would – her own mother within.

We all have blocks around loving oneself. If not, then you have worked on it for a long time and that is amazing! I’m sure you are sharing this love with the world and that is very important. In this dream, the snake may be here to help transform these blocks within Jennifer. This dream being shared, is a reminder to me of one of the most important aspects of understanding your dreams, which is to develop a relationship to your inner self, which is here to guide you to loving yourself more - to live wholly through the integration of all the aspects of yourself – the dark/light, good/bad, masculine/feminine, etc.

So when you think you know what a dream is about…keep digging…keep asking questions.  When you touch on what your soul is trying to get you to hear – you will know. Your world as you experience it may come crashing down, but trust its for a change in perspective for building it back up again.

This dream guidance would not be here without Jennifer’s recurring dreams of snakes and her fearlessness to share. Our stories and dreams are vulnerable and collectively powerful. I am grateful for you and your dreams Jen.  I hope more of you will be willing to share yours, for they hold wisdom and transformative healing abilities for all of us.

NOTE: Posts may only include part/s of the dream. 

*BOLD TEXT = DREAM IMAGE

*italicized text = interpretation and/or what resonates for the dreamer

Me, Too - The Intruder in Our Dreams

Image from Marie Louise Van Franz's Interpretation of Fairy Tales

Me, Too - The Intruder in Our Dreams

There is one that penetrates me deeply to the bones and it’s the man within my own psyche.

I feel this fear every time I have this dream. I can feel it now as I am writing about it.

Recurring Dream:

I am running from someone. A man. Him. I am trying to find a place to hide. It’s dark out. Night. I go through multiple places, sometimes an empty hotel or convention center or a house. Trying to find the best place to hide...I run through showers, spa like areas and locker rooms until I find a bathroom to hide in. (Bathroom, a place to express oneself.)  I crouch down, I am silent. I sweat. I feel the cold, damp floor. I wait and listen to see if I hear him coming. My heart beats. I’m terrified.

He, is the Intruder, that prevents me...all of us...from furthering. From owning our own power, beliefs, identity. 

I recognize him as my masculine shadow aspect in the self that "manifests as the spirit of courage" in all that we do including our thoughts, feelings, using your voice to express your needs and developing one's own spiritual beliefs. (Clements, Analyzing Your Dreams Dictionary).

I see him as the collective unconscious’ masculine energy energy associated with doing, creating, destroying, opposed to the female which is being, containing, nurturing. (Clements, p106).

In dreams, we may meet him and experience him through feeling fear of him.  He is the dark man in the shadows. In my dreams, no light ever sheds on his face or his build. I never see him hunting me, but he is behind me, coming after me. He is the intruder in our psyche.

The intruder doesn't only show up in women's dreams - he shows up in men's too.  You may be running from someone, authority, conflict or fighting with another man.  This would reflect the shadow not acknowledging this unconscious aspect of yourself, there is conflict between it and the ego.

I was unconscious of him for a very long time. Night/darkness unconscious. I had many different versions of this dream over the years. My sister recently shared one of hers with me, which was similar and carried the same weight of dread upon her. It wasn’t until I was well into dreamwork, studying Marion Woodman’s theory of feminine consciousness when I spoke of one of these dreams. It was suggested to me to begin reading “Women Who Run With the Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estés.

There it was! Chapter 1: Stalking the Intruder, the Beginning Initiation - the story of Bluebeard. For those of you who do not know this tale, Estés will indeed tell it better than I, so please do read her stories. She also has a live performance series called “Theatre of the Imagination”, which is very powerful to listen to. Her storytelling is healing and truly transformative.

Bluebeard is a tale of a frightening man with a blue beard who entices the youngest of three sisters to marry him. This young woman is lovely and innocent and naive. Unlike her sisters who had the intuition that something was not right with Bluebeard, he had some sort of power over her. The young woman was not in touch with her instincts yet. There was no mother or father to teach her these things. As the story goes on, her sisters attempt to guide her. Through her unconscious desire she does something she was told not to do, which leads to the undoing of Bluebeard’s power over her life and so many other women like her.

I finally stopped dreaming of running and hiding in the bathroom, when I began to acknowledge my strength as a spiritual being.  I began embracing my power within and honoring my own beliefs, gifts and creativity. All the things I wasn’t authentically doing.

THIS is how we change consciousness. Tuning in, listening to the dreams, sensing, feeling - in order to become aware of the beliefs and belief systems handed down to us from generation to generation and making a conscious decision to believe you have the power within to change them, the power to think and act differently, the power to use your voice and discuss with each other - as I see so many sharing "Me, Too" stories on Facebook. 

So how do we share this power of awareness to those that were never taught differently or our young? How do we build trust in our feelings and instincts through our sensing abilities when something doesn't feel good or right? How do we protect our innocent, vulnerable, and delicate youthful beings? This is a discussion that I would love to be having.

I believe we all have to live this way. We have to trust our inner guidance, use the power of our voice and support one another through feeling. And stop letting others make poor decisions for us, our communities and our country. The transformation begins within. 

NOTE: Posts may only include part/s of the dream. 

*BOLD TEXT = DREAM IMAGE

*italicized text = interpretation and/or what resonates for the dreamer