Paging Dr. Freud

waxbird

12-09-2008 | 08:05 AM EST

I was walking through a forest with my two year old son. Suddenly, a large venomous snake sprung out of the shadows and aggressively came forward, as if to attack us. There was no hope of running, so the only defense was to seize it by the throat, so it couldn't bite. In a surge of adrenaline, somehow I managed to do this... I had it by the throat, but then it wrapped its tail around my arm, and held fast... if I tried to let go, I wouldn't be able to get away, and it would still be able to attack. And then I realized there was no way out of this predicament, but to kill it. So I choked the snake to death. I felt so sorry at having killed such a beautiful animal, that I cried. It was only being a snake.

INTERPRETATIONS

12-09-2008 | 10:24 PM EST

Posted By: fergus

I'm guessing by the title of your dream that you're thinking someone might want to jump to some sort of Freudian take on the potential symbolism of the snake, it attacking your son, you choking it, etc. And, maybe there is something there, but let's go with another one of Freud's more famous (but totally unsubstantiated) quotes, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Actually, snakes seem to have a lot of different images associated with them. In the Bible, the devil appeared as a snake. Asclepius, an ancient Greek god of healing and medicine, is often shown holding a staff with a serpent wrapped around it. Snakes actually show up in a lot of healing and medical imagery. And, for other cultures, they represent re-birth through the shedding of their skin. So, with so many potential symbols for a snake, maybe the overall situation in your dream says more. Something was attacking you and your son, and you did whatever it took to protect the both of you. And, even though you didn't feel like the snake was doing anything wrong, you had to choose your son's (and your) well-being over it's. Maybe it had to do with something in real life where you had to choose your son's well-being over someone/something else's even if you did so only reluctantly?

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