What dreaming about many snakes usually points to
Dream interpretation is not prediction and not diagnosis. This article separates what sleep research observes from what popular interpretation associates with the theme, always saying which is which.
Dreaming about many snakes does not mean you are surrounded by enemies, or that several people wish you harm. The scene usually appears in phases of overload, when problems arrive together and none of them seems resolved: bills, pressure at work, a sick relative, a decision you keep putting off. Each snake can stand for one open front.
Two snakes usually have a different reading, more tied to choices or to two people in conflict. The general meaning of the serpent in dreams is covered in dreaming about snakes; here the focus is on the number.
Read also: Dreaming about a big snake and Dreaming about a snake in bed.
Why the snakes show up in large numbers
Snakes are among the typical dreams that many people recognize having had at least once, as the questionnaire used by Tore Nielsen and colleagues in 2003 showed. Research on typical dreams goes on: in 2014, Mathes, Schredl and Göritz published an online study on how often these themes appear in people's most recent dreams, and not only in their memories of a whole lifetime.
The number has an explanation in the hypothesis of Antti Revonsuo, for whom dreaming rehearses threats. One snake is a danger; several make up an entire hostile environment, where there is no safe place to step. That is exactly the feeling of someone whose head is full: there is not just one problem, there is a whole floor taken over.
Sources: Nielsen and colleagues, Dreaming, 2003; Mathes, Schredl and Göritz, Frequency of typical dream themes in most recent dreams, Dreaming, 2014; Revonsuo, The reinterpretation of dreams, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000.
Two snakes, several snakes, a nest: the scenes
| Scene | What usually goes with it |
|---|---|
| Two snakes together | A choice between two paths, or two people close to you in friction |
| Several snakes on the floor of the house | Household problems piling up, a feeling of having nowhere to rest |
| A nest of snakes or many hatchlings | Worries that are just beginning, small things that could grow |
| Snakes coiled around one another | Matters tangled together, hard to tell where one problem ends and the next begins |
| Falling into a hole full of snakes | A sense of sinking into responsibilities, fear of losing control |
| Many snakes that do not attack | Great tension, but threats that may never materialize |
If they were striking, read dreaming about a snake attacking; if you were running from them, dreaming about being chased; and if the scene ended with you killing one of them, dreaming about killing a snake.
See also: Dreaming about a rat in the house and Dreaming about a yellow snake.
Do snakes really gather in groups?
Most snakes live alone, but there are exceptions that help explain the image. In Canada, the Narcisse Snake Dens, in Manitoba, become famous every spring, when tens of thousands of garter snakes come out of hibernation together. Off the coast of the state of São Paulo, in Brazil, Queimada Grande Island is home to the golden lancehead (jararaca-ilhoa), a species found nowhere else, and visits are forbidden without authorization.
There are also the young. In Brazil, lanceheads (jararacas) and rattlesnakes give birth to fully formed young, several at a time, and other species lay eggs. So finding many small snakes together is not impossible. If it happens for real, do not touch them: move away, keep children and pets at a distance and call your local wildlife or emergency services (911 in the US); in Brazil, people call the fire department (193) or the city's environmental agency. Many Brazilian species are harmless and protected by law.
When this dream calls for attention
A single dream about many snakes does not call for any action. It deserves attention when it keeps coming back, several times a week, with waking up in panic or a fear of going back to sleep. Frequent nightmares have treatments with good evidence, and a health professional can help. If the overload of daily life is weighing on you to the point of costing you sleep, that is also a conversation worth having. See how to have fewer nightmares.
Source: Morgenthaler and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018.
Many snakes for Freud, Jung and faith
In Freud's psychoanalysis. In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud cites Wilhelm Wundt, who saw the tendency of dreams to show identical objects in great numbers (birds, butterflies, fish) as an effect of the spots of light we see with our eyes closed. Freud records the idea but notes that sources of this kind are hard to confirm. His own method would be different: to ask what each snake brings to mind, one by one.
In Jung's psychology. In Man and His Symbols, Aniela Jaffé treats the animal as a symbol of the instinctive nature of human beings. In that key, a floor taken over by snakes can speak of an energy that overflows, of emotions that have not yet found a shape. It is a psychological reading for reflection, not a rule.
In symbols and faith. The Bible has two scenes with many serpents. In Exodus, Aaron's rod becomes a serpent and, in the words of the King James Version, "Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods", the serpents of Pharaoh's magicians (Exodus 7:10-12). In Numbers, "fiery serpents" attack the people in the desert (Numbers 21:6), and the healing comes right after, with the bronze serpent. For many believers, both passages say that the number of threats does not decide the outcome.
Bringing both readings together. Science points to overload; psychology and faith ask which of so many fronts deserves to be looked at first. Sometimes it helps to count the snakes: how many worries are you carrying right now?
Sources: Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900; Jung (ed.), Man and His Symbols.
Many snakes in dream books
O Livro dos Sonhos, a Brazilian dream book by L. P. Baçan, has no entry for many snakes. The entry for the snake (cobra) says: in life, problems; in love, dissatisfaction. The one for the serpent (serpente) speaks of danger and betrayal, and the one for the nest, which serves anyone who dreamed of a nest of snakes, of tribulations in life and offenses in love.
Freud called this way of reading decoding: each image turns into another through a fixed code. The number, which is at the center of your dream, does not enter the book's calculation. See also dreaming about a nest.
Sources: L. P. Baçan, O Livro dos Sonhos, 2014; Freud, Die Traumdeutung, 1900.
What folk tradition associates with many snakes
In Brazilian folk reading, many snakes are usually tied to envy from several people at once, to falseness within a group, such as at work or in the family, or to a phase full of obstacles. Two snakes would be two false people or a hard choice; a nest of snakes, problems being born; walking among them without being bitten, a narrow escape. These are traditional readings, which change from region to region, not predictions. See what dream meanings look like according to science and culture.
Sources
- Nielsen TA et al. The typical dreams of Canadian university students. Dreaming, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:drem.0000003144.40929.0b
- Mathes J, Schredl M, Göritz AS. Frequency of typical dream themes in most recent dreams: An online study. Dreaming, 2014; 24: 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035857
- Revonsuo A. The reinterpretation of dreams. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00004015
- Morgenthaler TI et al. Position Paper for the Treatment of Nightmare Disorder in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Paper. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2018. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7178
- Freud S. The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung), 1900. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66048
- Jung CG (ed.). Man and His Symbols, 1964. Portuguese edition consulted: O homem e seus símbolos, Nova Fronteira/HarperCollins Brasil. https://www.skoob.com.br/book/8435
- Baçan LP. O Livro dos Sonhos (Brazilian dream book). Self-published, 2014.
Frequently asked questions
Is dreaming about many snakes a sign of envy?
That is a folk reading, not a proven meaning. In a psychological reading, dreams with several snakes may go with phases of overload and accumulated worries.
What does it mean to dream about two snakes?
It usually goes with a choice between two paths or friction between two people close to you. In folk tradition, they would be two false people. It is interpretation, not a warning.
What about dreaming about a nest of snakes?
The nest usually speaks of worries that are just beginning and are still small. In real life, Brazilian lanceheads and rattlesnakes give birth to several young at a time, and other species lay eggs.
Does dreaming about many snakes on the floor of the house change the meaning?
The house places the worries in the domestic setting: family, routine, rest. The feeling of having nowhere to step is the main clue.
What is the spiritual meaning of dreaming about many snakes?
For many believers, it recalls passages such as Aaron's rod swallowing the magicians' serpents: the number of threats does not decide the outcome. It is a reading of faith, without scientific proof.
