"The Snake" Dream
Linda Dion
July 4, 2021
This following dream was submitted by another dear friend of ours, who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even though Michelle woke up screaming from the dream and felt a tremendous amount of fear within the dream, it still contains many very positive symbols that should encourage her to believe that God is definitely at work in her life in order to bring healing and restoration not only to herself but to her bloodlines.
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I'm glad that Michelle shared this dream with us because it contains a symbol that probably most of you have encountered in your own dreams. We hope you find this night parable helpful in elucidating any snake dreams that you may have had over the years.
The dream started with me looking over a beautiful sunny day at the beach. The sky was a perfect blue, the sand gleaming, and the waves rolling in softly.
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I was excited about being at the beach and wanted to walk down to the water. Instead, I found myself in a large beach house with many, many people. I recognized some to be my Italian relatives on my father's side. We were sitting around the house talking and having a good time.
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I became aware that I was sitting on a couch with one of my aunts. I was uncomfortable because I felt something large and lumpy behind my back. It started to move all around my back. Then I saw a snake come up from behind my back over my left shoulder. It was only the top part of the snake. It was about 12 inches long. Its head came in front of my face and looked me straight in the eyes. Quickly I grabbed the snake with my right hand about six inches below its head. I held the snake away from my face and it did everything in its power to get out of my grip, thrashing around in my hand.
I started yelling for someone to get the snake off my back but no matter how loud I cried out no one did anything. They just kept on talking and smiling and having a good time, not paying any attention to me. I looked at the snake and noticed that it had a deep gash all along its body.
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I continued to beg them to find my husband John, by saying, "Find John, find John, he can help." The next thing I remember is my daughter Katie coming into my bedroom to wake me up from the dream. My husband who was in our kitchen sent her into the room to wake me up because he could hear me screaming.
Anyone who has ever had snake dreams knows how disturbing and unsettling they can be, especially when these slithering creatures seem to be coming right for us! We can see here how frightening this dream was to Michelle. Her terror was so real that she was actually yelling out loud. So what would the Lord be telling her and was this dream in fact from the Lord?
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One very clear way of determining whether a dream is from God is to consider if there is any colour in it. A lot of dreams that come from the devil are in tones of grey or they can also contain a lot of dark, black tones. Dreams that come from our own soul can often have "heavy", muted colours. If a dream is very colourful or if the sun is shining, then we can usually conclude that the dream is from the Lord. Since Michelle's dream contained a lot of colour, it was truly a message from the Lord, even if there were some scary elements in it.
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So let's begin breaking this dream down. The Focus of this night parable is very clearly Michelle, since all the action takes place around her.
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Next come the Sub focuses. Decoding a dream really isn't an exact science and everyone can break down their dreams in the way that will help them most, but in order to decipher this one, Michelle and I determined that there were 4 important elements:
The beach
The Italian relatives
The snake
The struggle with the snake (Michelle's response)
Finally, we have the Details that add extra information about the 4 sub focuses. For the sake of expediency, I have placed them in the diagram up above. You can see that in this dream, there are lots of details and that there can actually be details off the details. But once again, you can arrange them in such a way that they make sense for you. Over time, you will come to see that some details add a bit of "texture" and are somewhat secondary, but in this dream, they really do add important information that will help Michelle come to a greater understanding of what the Lord is trying to say to her.
Because I've come to know Michelle, it's pretty clear right from the start that this dream is pointing to some generational issue that needs to be healed. Now why would that be? Well, in her waking life, Michelle's father has passed away so when a deceased parent shows up in a dream, it will often point to some familial issue, either positive or negative. She also states that many of the people in the beach house were on her father's side of the family and that they are of Italian descent, elements that further add to the family theme. Finally, there is the snake, and snakes in dreams are for the most part negative symbols. So with just those three elements, we begin to see that the Lord is pointing in the direction of a need for cleansing and healing.
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The first sub focus is a very peaceful and beautiful one: the beach. Everything about that element conveys a sense of beauty and tranquility. The sun is shining, the waves are gently rolling in and the sand is gleaming in the sun. Michelle says that she is very attracted to that place. This would make sense because beaches can often symbolize the meeting place between God and man. Think of Jesus first meeting some of his future disciples along the shore of the lake of Galilee or his meeting with them on the beach after his resurrection or of his preaching from a boat to the people on the shore.
But the next scene reveals something that is getting in the way of this meeting place. Michelle is in the beach house interacting with family members on her father's side. She's actually enjoying talking to an aunt and is seated on a couch which should be a place of rest, relaxation and fellowship, but then the Lord begins to show her that there's a problem. There's something that is moving all along her back, disturbing her conversation. As this thing makes its way over her left shoulder, she sees that it's a green snake.
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Snakes as a dream symbol are usually always negative (Genesis 3:1-5). They are a symbol of lies or tales/from their long tails, of fabrications or deceptions, either from the devil himself or lies that Michelle has unwittingly believed and which have been handed down to her through her bloodlines. It's something that's been "on her back" - see the play on words? (Psalm 129:3) and impeding her call and mission in life (represented by the left side).
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Then she sees that the snake is green. Since the colour green is on the snake, we can assume that it takes on a negative meaning such as pride, envy or jealousy. We need to remember here that these strongholds have been formed in the former generations so that they are now impeding the dreamer in her desire to connect with God. She also states that the part of the snake that she can see is 12 inches long. I found that detail to be very interesting. The number 12 shows up in the Bible from Genesis to the Book of Revelation and is often associated with the meaning of "governance" or of "rule". This then refers to a stronghold that is ruling or governing the family bloodlines.
But what happens next is very interesting. Michelle courageously grabs the snake and begins to wrestle it down with her right hand. This means that she is moving out in faith and in the power of the Lord (psalms 18:35, 20:6, 21:8, etc.).. The interesting detail associated with this piece is that she grabs it 6" below its head. The number 6 will often refer to humanity or to mankind, since God created man on the 6th day (Genesis 1:26) but it also refers to the labour he must undertake. Man works 6 days but then rests on the 7th day. So even though Michelle is moving out in faith to deal with this problem, the Lord is saying that there is still a "labouring" she will have to undertake in order to get mastery over this generational stronghold that is ruling over her and the people in her family, a stronghold based in lies and deceptions that have had great influence over their thought life. But she's quite aware that she needs help in order to overcome because she can't do it alone. That's when she begins to yell. It's like she's got the faith to do this, but she still feels the fear of having to wrestle with the demonic entities behind the structure. However, it's clear that no one else in her extended family seems to be aware of this stronghold or that they even care about its existence. Since Michelle is one of the few in her family who really knows the Lord, it isn't really very surprising that no one comes to her side to help her as she's frantically trying to deal with this problem. They're just not aware that it's there or that it's even a problem! That's when she calls on her husband John to help her out. This might point to her actual husband coming alongside her to help her out or it can be a symbol of the Lord her "husband" coming to her rescue since the name John means "God is gracious". Or it can mean both!
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And then the Lord gives her a great deal of encouragement. He shows her the gash all along the side of this snake. This symbolizes that the stronghold has already been dealt a blow. In essence, the Lord wants her to know that He is with her and that even though the snake is putting up a good fight, he is in fact already wounded and will eventually be overcome.
So how would we sum up the interpretation of this dream? I would say that the Lord is giving Michelle revelation about a stronghold in her father's generational tree and is showing her that even though she is struggling with the snake's lies and deceptions associated with the stronghold, she will eventually overcome if she moves out in faith and in the power of the Lord. She will have to "labour" in this and will most probably need help to overcome, but once she does she will then be able to meet the Lord in that place of peace and repose, basking in the sun/"Son". The Lord is promising her that He will indeed fulfill the very deep desire of her heart, which is to come to a place of greater communion with Him and that His blessing will rest upon her in much greater measure.
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Interestingly, around the time of this dream, Michelle was contacted by a sister who told her that she had just discovered some very interesting facts about their father's Italian side of the family. These revelations came as a bit of a surprise but they really confirmed the events taking place in her dream! How good and gracious is the Lord!
Psalm 18:37-38
I pursue my enemies and overtake them,
not turning back till they are annihilated;
I strike them down and they cannot rise,
they fall, they are under my feet.
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Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
In grassy meadows he lets me lie.
By tranquil streams he leads me to restore my spirit.