On your mark. Get set. Go! Snails have a top speed of 45 m (50 yards) per hour. Making the snail one of the slowest creatures on Earth. These little creatures tend to be quite useless, however in our dreams they can be considered highly symbolic.
Since dreams like to use specific symbols as metaphors we can view the snail in many different ways. Snails or slugs in dreams often represent slow movements, protection, and connecting the dreamer to transformation or a rebirth.
In your dream the snail will provide you with clues that help you decode the meaning of your dream. A minor detail such as the size, no shell, picking or perhaps one that bites; alters the meaning of your dream. Depending on the context you will soon come to find out if the snail is a positive or negative omen.
Snail Dream Meaning
So how do you know if the snail is either a good or bad symbol? Well, lets get the bad out of the way first. Essentially your interaction with the snail determines if its a positive or negative symbol. Lets say for for instance the snail attacked you in a dream, or perhaps you noticed a giant snail in the distance.
Snails that bite you in your dream can be considered a negative traits that are unconscious to the dreamer. Being bitten by such a slow moving insect might reflect aspects of your slow moving nature, “procrastination” that is effecting you.
Noticing a snail without a shell in your dream draws your attention to feelings of vulnerability or comfort in your life. The location of where you noticed the snail is a clue to find the answer.
Picking up a snail seems to be a popular dream symbol that might suggest you are “picking up” traits – or – can be seen as a connection with the self (see below).
Alternatively the snail may appear when you are feeling vulnerable and slow with some aspect of your waking life. Could it represent what might be hard on the inside is actually quite soft on the inside? So you have to ask one question. Do you possess the so called “metaphoric” qualities of the snail?
The Importance Of Snail Dreams
Carl Jung understood the snail represented of the ‘self’ in dreams. The self can be considered the unification of consciousness and unconsciousness in a person, and representing the psyche as a whole. The shape of the spiral directs you to the core of your existence, a realization or what Jung called “individuation”; the process of making the unknown parts of your personality conscious.
It is realized as the product of individuation, which in his view is the process of integrating various aspects of one’s personality. Psychologically speaking the soft inside might be a symbol of the unconsciousness as the shell is your consciousness. Seen as your interaction with the world (society) shaping us to become hard, to hide our weakness and vulnerabilities from others.
Snail Dreams: Spiral Symbolism
The Spiral has been known in mythology and human history as a sacred symbol that representing the journey. A symbol of transformation, inner change, and rebirth. As life takes you on a journey, unfolding, guiding in some sort of labyrinth like movement leading you to the self or source.
Metaphorically speaking the spiral can be represented as consciousness of nature beginning from its center expanding outwardly.
This might have been reflected as the shell mirrors the spiral. The spiral is one of the oldest geometric shapes found throughout the ancient world are spirals. This is not just a recent occurrence, the Petroglyphs of spirals date back to around the Neolithic period. Its archetypal roots takes you on the path that brings you closer to God in different stages.
- Inner transformation,
- Rebirth,
- Connection with the self.
- Spiritual development and our identity with the universe.
- Higher level of consciousness.
Biblical Meaning Snail
Snails or slugs seem to have a bad reputation in the Bible as they are seen as unclean or creeping things ( Leviticus 11:30 ). This was probably the sand-lizard, of which there are many species in the wilderness of Judea and the Sinai peninsula. Also noted in Psalms 58: Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.