Spider

Often the dependent emotions and conflicts one feels ‘caught in’ connected with mother or family; any emotions you don’t want to ‘handle’, such as those surrounding a spouse leaving; wanting to ensnare, or feeling trapped by someone. Sometimes symbolises a mother’s power, as in the way we are caught in the web of her desires and emotions. So inability to become independent of the mother.

But it can also be feeling caught and wrapped up to be eaten later sort of feeling, so being ‘handled’ by someone; or having all the time to watch for subtle signals in order to survive. See big spider dream

The spider can also be used as a symbol of sexual orgasm, but only if we are terrified, disgusted or guilty about such feelings.

The spider can also depict any emotions you don’t want to ‘handle’, such as those surrounding a spouse leaving; wanting to ensnare, or feeling trapped by someone; the basic survival instincts in us such as a spider might have – can I eat, or will I be eaten in this meeting/relationship? This level of our sensory and feeling perception is important. Like a spider it keeps one of your feet/fingers on the web or influences that connect you with other people and the world. Like the spider, if you are wise, you thereby know something of what is coming your way – do you advance or run? See: Web.

Portugal 128a The following waking fantasy by a man undergoing depth therapy shows an aspect of the spider.

I realise there is something I am looking for, and I don’t find it in my wife, or at least I don’t sense it in her. It is a frightening thing and partly exciting. This leads me on to fantasising a struggle with a young woman. It is about wanting to have sex, but seems to be some sort of power struggle. The image was of a smart very confident and aggressive young woman. She was attractive and attracted, but her approach was one of attack, so to have a relationship I needed to fight her. What I appear to be meeting is that I have the sex drive, but what I am facing is a monster. In fact I have the image of a huge spider that comes out from hiding and drags me helpless into its lair, its many eyes shining. I’m afraid. It’s not that my sex drive abates, but within this fantasy you have to time it just right. One must wait for the ‘beast’ to become passive then dash in and plunge into the wonderful hairy cavity. Otherwise the ‘beast’ will rip you apart. It is exactly like the horror films one sees of the monster that drags men or women back to its lair. It is actually all about my fear of women based on past pain. I want sex, but to get it I have to confront memories of being torn apart emotionally by a woman.

Here is fascinating dream about spiders, and its exploration:

I found your email on the internet for dream interpretation. If this is not correct, I am sorry to be bothering you.

I have had the same dream as I fall asleep for several years. I have it nearly every night just once, sometimes, rarely, twice as I fall asleep.

I dream that I find a dried piece of skin or scab somewhere on my body, usually my foot or my hand, tho it has varied over the years. I begin to pick at the skin/scab and scratch it until it comes off. When it comes off it unleashes a flood of seed spiders that engulf me. Another variation is I find some odd black hairs growing out of my body and when I examine them more closely they are regular sized spiders crawling out of me and they begin to engulf me.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Again, if this is not correct, I am very sorry for the disruption of your time. Best C

Here is a interpretation:

Dear C –   What I see with your dream of spiders is that there is a possibility of an underlying fear, so that when you begin to sink just below waking, just under the surface of your mind, this feelings of being overwhelmed arises. If it were a big thing that emerged it would be easier to deal with. But thousands of little things are difficult to handle because you kill some but there are so many left to get at you. A big thing you could hit with a cricket bat or kill it in some way, but the small things are more difficult. They are a sort of ultimate enemy. You need to find an image that enables you to deal with those feelings. An image that might be helpful is that of jumping into a very hot shower, one you can just about cope with. The water is pouring down and is going to burn up the little bugs. Another image might be that you walk quickly through flames that you are big enough to pass through with perhaps only your hairs being burnt, but the little spiders are going to get burnt up.

Were you at some time frightened of sickness? A sickness that could engulf you and you would be powerless against? If not that, then perhaps an image of something, or an idea of something that has stayed with you just under the surface of your mind. Tony

Dear Tony: Thank you….THANK YOU for getting back to me with the dream information. I am fairly well educated about things but could not come up with anything for myself. I think I may have been too close to it.

You mentioned several things that seem to “hit the nail on the head” and I will explore those. The most important thing you mentioned was that of being “powerless against” illness. I do have a life long disease that is manageable but could be fatal. I think this is where I am going to start as that is what seemed to really set off bells.

I really do thank you for this. It has not been interfered with my sleep and the dream only occurs as I fall asleep….once asleep, I am fine.

I thank you so much and I am sure that my partner thanks you as well……

Thank you…thank you….thank you…. With gratitude, C

So having seen spiders in a dream occasionally indicate an illness, if you are in any doubts it is wise to have a health check.

Covered on spiders: If they are large it might mean you feel someone will smother. Or that you have no way of escaping from someone or something.

 

Comments

-Natalie 2016-01-10 23:22:32

I dreamt that a big black spider bit me on my foot but it was with all 8 legs in one action I screamed in agony then my mum pulled it out with her hand. It was terrifying, but after my mum pulled it out of my foot it kept trying to jump back on me. Then I woke up and my foot was really itching. One of the oddest/terrifying dreams ive ever had. What does it mean?

-Nelisha 2015-12-18 18:17:59

Hi, I just had this dream today. And it freaked me out so much. In my dream, I was laying in my bed and then dream me sees two really giant spiders just hanging above my head. I’m not scared at first, and dream me just sits up and looks at them. They’re not doing anything but hanging there, they’re both hanging from just one long thread for each of them, not a giant web or anything. Anyway I just stare at them for a long time, and then I get the feeling that I need to get rid of them somehow, cause they’re hanging above my head and that’s kinda freaky. But before I can do anything in the dream, they start swinging slightly and then they just drop on my head and I wake up screaming. I have a horrible phobia of spiders and it took a while to calm down, I’m still kind of freaked out. I found it odd that I was so calm about the spiders in my dream, they were giant and very dark but had a little white on the underside. All I could see was my bed and the spiders in the dream. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you 🙂

-Kathleen 2015-11-17 20:17:21

Hi,

I couple of time recently I’ve been having dreams that seem to transition from sleep into waking. Not like when you wake up, for example, crying because you started crying in the dream and feel like the dream was real… more like as you start to awake (last time I was having a completely different dream and then just came out of it and started to wake up, only to realize there was a spider on my wall…). So the other night, I’m have a separate dream, start to wake up, and look up in my room, from exactly where I was sleeping, to the string lights on my wall, where I “see” this huge spider, which as I notice it starts to crawl up the lights away from me. I immediately run over to my light switch and turn the lights on. Upon going back to bed (with lights on) I think to myself that I know the spider isn’t there b/c it was just a dream… but when I saw the spider it’s like the dream-ness of it transitioned into waking life – it was seen from where I was on my bed, in my room the way my room looks, and created a physical reaction of fear and repulsion and action. It seems like a cross between a dream/ daydream/ hallucination… This scenario has happened before, but with me feeling like I was being pulled out of a deep black sleep to see this twirling smoke in the shape of what I instinctively thought was an eyeball… a medium/ psychic I saw, who I trust, thought it might be the opening of my third eye. But I had an intense physical reaction of fear – heart pounding and racing, hyperventilating. Anyways – if you could shed any light on this it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -K

-Toni 2015-11-13 12:33:34

I had a dream of a tan colored spider, small/medium in size but I can’t remember if there was a smaller one also. Anyway I just remember wanting to get them away from me and I am not entirely sure if I killed the tan one because I focused on another spider. Spider total 2-3 not sure but this spider I seen last was a spider that had a glowing body very much like a firefly because its body glowed exactly like one but wasn’t flying nor did it have wings. I remember squashing it and it did feel like a firefly being squashed. Any reason for this dream?

-Evie 2015-11-08 15:19:24

I had a dream last night that I was fighting a HUGE spider. It looked like a daddy long-leg but came up to about my waist. He attacked me with jagged teeth, not fangs, and when he barred his teeth at me there no sound like a roar or a growl, just the showing of the teeth. I was not afraid at all, instead I was dismayed and annoyed that he was attacking and when I swatted him, he kept attacking like I had no effect. I was annoyed that he is not dying or retreating.
About a month ago, I had a very similar dream but this time it was with a snake. The snake came up to about my waist and was attacking me. I had the same warrior-like mind set toward the snake as I did toward the spider. Neither of them ever bit me or came close to biting me.
Also, my attack moves were very similar. I attacked both with sword-like movements; big sweeping motions with my arms going upwards to hit the jaw line and then downwards to hit the top of the head.
I did some research but can’t seem to find a connection to these even though I know there is one. Any help please???

-Reagan 2015-10-21 22:10:52

I had a dream that I was standing under a tree at night, and two black widows dropped down on threads above my head and began fighting each other.

-Kris 2015-10-07 12:46:59

I dream I was in this strange house so new an beautiful I come down the stairs to a side room in the upper corner I see a small black spider with its eggs,then it trys to run back to its nest fast as I go in the living room I see more small spiders running an throwing webs trying to trap me in one spot,then I see my brother coming he says he will help me jill them… I wake up.

-mia 2015-09-30 9:42:14

Hello, i woke up around 5:04am sept 30th,15..I legitimatlly bolted out of my bed and onto the tile kf the floor. In my dream, i was in my old basement, i cannot remember what day, but i had a feeling i was searching for something. I walked forwarf and infront of me were webs of all sizes, and chunky looking spiders. What grossed me out even more, i could FEEL the spiders hit my head and feel them run across my skin. Why can i feel them? *sad scared face* Half awake, i looked to my right and saw a huge translucent pale looking spider begin crawling up and thats when i plummeted to thebledt side of the bunk bed tile.. i ran to the other side of the room and flicked on the light– nothing.

A bit of my background, ive been living in a shelter for over 5months, plus 1 month in my car, my mother whose bipolar and cancer threatened me with cops and forced me out on a Wednesday morning around 6am..,ive been heavily depressed amd a cutter and struggling and my Colombian bf now ex cheated on me with his cooworker.. yes, my life feels like utter crap.. why spiders? ='(

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-10-19 17:01:08

    Dear Mia – Why spiders? I believe the spiders reflect the troublesome relationship you have with your (inner) mother; See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-dictionary/mother-mum-ma/#InnerMother
    It takes a lot of confidence and inner strength to release the deep pain and to heal the relationship with your INNER mother, so that you can learn to take care of and support yourself in a loving and caring way.
    Sometimes it takes time and patience to develop enough ego strength to “turn on the light”. I know because I too have been at the lowest point possible before I was ready to start the inner journey to free myself from a painful past.
    Sometimes we need a loving, helping hand with that while we work with our dreams – http://dreamhawk.com/forums/index.php – which I found two years ago in the Forum with Tony.
    Sometimes it is enough to understand that we have an inner world – http://dreamhawk.com/inner-life/inner-world/#MakesInner – and that we can release the pain that is part of that world – http://dreamhawk.com/body-and-mind/peoples-experiences-of-lifestream/ – so that we can perceive Life as a supportive, caring power again.
    Perhaps you have to try some of these approaches to learn what really works for you, for we are all different.
    What I do know now is that Life or God or whatever name you want to give to our Life Force is always willing to help us; even when we keep on pushing it away for years the way I used to do – http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/defence-mechanisms/.
    Anna 🙂

-Elise 2015-09-16 15:25:34

Hi,
I keep having dreams that I have plans to get back together with my ex boyfriend. We planned a weekend getaway. Except he leaves while waiting for me to pack to play tennis with his friend and gets bitten by a spider. He is rushed to the hospital and his mom meets us. I’m just wondering what the spider bite has to do with him or maybe myself. My ex was verbally and physically abusive.

-Kat 2015-09-01 9:12:29

Last night I saw that I was trying to fall asleep but there were one big spider hanging above my head and trying to land on me, so I tried to cover myself with my blanket but it kept hoping on me. I remember I cut its string once while trying to get rid of it and then it run under my bed. Next moment it was back and i was tired of fighting him so he just walked on my face and curled himself around my finger. So basically it didnt attack me but was looking for connection. I’m so confused now as I recently I have been seeing so many dreams I remember almost in detail. Maybe some Full Moon effect? I am quite spiritual and believe that dreams have some sort of message and I also have had many deja vu moments in real life when I know that I have experienced the same situation before in my dreams. Anyways, back to that spider. I tried to research and and relate the findings with the things I have been going through but the fact that this spider didnt actually attack me left me puzzled. By the way I am not scared of spiders in real life.

-Fadi 2015-08-25 6:26:19

Last night I dreamed of variety species of spiders ( some of are gray and one is brown) in my house. I saw giant gray spider and a small one are climbing a rob and the the brown one bitten me while I am saving my mother form it. And i ripped it eventually.
I looked at the mirror and my eye turned to black.

What does this mean?

thank you

-Robin 2015-08-14 22:19:03

I keep dreaming of spiders. The one before this last one was about a HUGE bright yellow spider. Someone had come in my house and brought me a present, a box wrapped really nice, and when I opened it, a HUGE, hairy yellow spider jumped out. THAT was when I woke up. But then last night I dreamed that I was asleep in my bed and when I opened my eyes, there was a very thick black web all the across my whole ceiling of my bedroom, and as I laid there looking at it, a big black hairy spider came through the web and was going directly above my head – that was when I woke up from that dream. I’m TERRIFIED of spiders, no matter how big or small they are, they ALL scare me. But I”m beginning to think it’s something subconsciously causing me to dream about them. I wish I could get some insight on my dreams about them.

-Iram 2015-08-07 9:17:43

I had a dream that i was cleaning walls, suddenly in a corner i saw a big white spider, as i tried to clean the corner it fell on my neck and i woke up with fear

-Tyler 2015-07-31 14:44:11

I had a dream I moved in with some roommates. Once I am all settled, I start seeing spiders in my room, on my bed and clothes. So naturally, I start looking for ways the spiders could be coming in my room. I eventually found out that the box spring that my bed lays on top of.. Was where all of the spiders were. When I looked down there… Some spiders would peek out or slide down their webs. I poked a pencil up in the corner of the box spring and a lot of spiders different sizes and colors start coming out. So I run out of my room and while I am freaking out I find a spider in my hair. I let the roomates know I am not staying in the room. They don’t want we to leave, and offer to fumigate my room. I take their offer and my dream ends with the room beginning to be fumigated. I see the spider poison being detonated and instead of fumes it’s poisonous foam. Mutliple cans were set off and one went right up in the corner of the spring box where I found the spiders. Then I wake up.78th

-Scarlette 2015-07-14 8:16:08

hi I have a reoccurring spider dream which used to happen once every few months and now has increased to 2/3 + times per week. In my dream I can see the spider in the dark on the ceiling and then it drops on me into the bed. It causes be to bolt out of bed and whilst still half asleep I am convinced it is still there my husband will have to get up and a calm me down and advise it was a dream. When I fully wake up I get back into bed but I have palpitations and it makes me very distressed. I have a severe phobia of spiders anyway but it is getting to the point where I am scared to go to sleep through fear of having this same dream, The spider can be any size or on occasion it can be a few little ones (or a nest). it can happen at any point in the night either when I am dozing off at about 10.30pm or from deep sleep at 3am (these are usually the worst) on occasion I have left the bedroom and gone to sleep in the living room with the light on.

    -Anna - Tony's Assistant 2015-07-20 12:48:08

    Dear Scarlette – Recurring dreams can arise because there is a need to learn, or – in your case – to unlearn something. Also the growth instinct is incredible powerful one and pushes us through growth, sometimes unwillingly. And if we resist it can cause recurring dreams.
    So ask yourself if you are motivated to overcome your fear for spiders and what you are willing to contribute to make that work?
    Power Dreaming can help you to create a virtual reality in your mind while being awake in which you can overcome your fear for and dreams about spiders.
    See http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/
    Good Luck!
    Anna 🙂

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