Last night I had a relatively frightened dream about oversized snakes again. If you have been following my work over the years, you will see three things in the title of the post that are clues to giving insight into how to process the dream.

1. Oversized. When something is oversized and negative, it tells you that there is a significant fear that has to be transformed. Fear can manifest in many ways in the ego mind, but the most common form is size. When something is big and negative, it induces fear. A big oversized snake maybe 10 times larger than normal is fear- producing. I know because of the size and its negative nature that I am dealing with fear. It tells me that the negative memory is stored and remembered by using size.
2. Again. Again here means that it is not the first time an oversized snake has showed up. When a metaphoric figure reappears, it lets you know that this is a recurring issue. If the figure appears, but the context is different, like in this dream, then the positive outcome that the dream is trying to take me to is slightly different than before. If the figure and dream are exactly the same, it means that you have made no progress on your issue, that you cannot and should not avoid attending to it.
3. Negative Metaphor. The goal of a negative dream is not necessarily to get rid of or do battle with the negative metaphor. The goal is not about getting rid of the snake. The goal is always to develop something positive and brand new that is in direct opposition to the negative metaphoric image.

Here is the dream.

I am n a body of water, almost like tropical waters. It is mostly full of possibility in terms of exploration, but then I am aware of a very large snake, bigger than a python in girth. After awhile it rears its head with a big mouthful of teeth. It is threatening in its stance. My grandson is standing next to it and then begins to punch the snake. It is shaken and does not respond. My brother is also in the dream waiting to deal with the snake. And then I wake up.

What does this mean? The snake is a big negative force swimming where there is a lot of possibility determined to get me to stop going boldly for things. I am fearful of going boldly for possibility because of the snake. The snake represents memories of jealous individuals who wish to keep me from going for interesting and positive possibilities because they do not want to lose the power and recognition that they currently have. When the snake comes out of the water and shows itself rather than staying hidden, then it gets pummeled. It is safe and can do its bad stuff when it is hidden. When it is in the open doing it, it cannot survive.

How to Change the Fear. The fear is sustained by the size that my ego mind makes the snake to appear. When I let go of the size that my ego mind makes of the jealous memories, then I can see the possibilities in a very positive way and encourage myself to go for them boldly. When I hold the size, I stay in fear. Possibility opens when I let go of the size. The size of the snake makes me focus on it. If the size is not real, if it is imagination, then I can just let it go and make the positive possibilities extremely attractive. I can see people as really positive and open. The key for this dream is to realize that the threat that my mind thinks the snake is in my imagination. I blow it up. Jealous people really don’t stop me. I stop myself when I blow them up to make them bigger than they actually are.

Also, If I change the negative image of the oversized snake into a positive metaphor of what a snakes represents, then I see that snakes are extremely flexible and go through places where other animals cannot get through. It is calling me to flexibility in my practice.

Exercise:

1. Find a place where you have fear in your life. Write it down. Name the fear.
2. What is the fear like metaphorically? Is it like a big bear, a big shark? A phantom?
3. Tell yourself that the size or quantity of the fear is sustained by your ego mind’s imagination. It is not real. It is fiction.
4. If the fear were much smaller (the bear, the shark) then what kind of positive energy would be open to you? What is you had positive bear/shark energy in your life? How would this help you?
5. Write this new energy down in a journal. Notice that when you realize that the fear is mostly imagination, that you can enhance the new positive energy and start using it in your life.
6. Ask the new energy what it wants to do in your life. Go for it.

Caveat. There are two types of realities in dealing with fear. First there is there is the type of fear that is real and still present in your life, such as when you are in an abusive relationship. It requires outward protection like going to a safe house. Then there is the kind of fear that used to be real, but is no longer a reality. The problem with the ego mind is that it cannot easily differentiate between what is an actual fear and what is imagined, but not real any more. An imagined fear feels just as real as a real fear. That is why it needs to be processed and transformed.